Jenny's Birthday

For a special birthday outing, Mom, Kate, Beth and I went to a cat show that was going on that weekend. We had never been to one before and were interested to see what it was like, and of course I LOVE cats!

We watched some of the judging sessions. In between sessions, the judge was really nice and told us about what he was doing and the things he was looking for, and let us look through his book of breed standards. I didn't know a whole lot about pure bred cats, so that was interesting to look at. They also have a category for pet cats that don't have to be pure bred, and they can win a ribbon. I was pretty amazed how good the cats were with being handled by a stranger and staying on the little table. I think they have to get them used to it starting when they are very young, because there is no way my cats would do that, haha.

We also walked around the tables and looked at the cats that weren't currently being judged. Their owners/handlers told us about them.

Watching the Bengal Cats being judged

Sleepy little champion

Some of the cats had some very fancy set-ups on their tables

This one was a huge Maine Coon cat, cuddling with his little buddy

After the cat show, we had a yummy dinner at P.F. Chang's

The next day we celebrated with the whole family at Sunday dinner

It was a great birthday!

Oliver Phelps at South Town

This is the second year that the special "Christmas in the Wizarding World" shop has been set up at the Shops at South Town, based on the world of Harry Potter. To kick off the season this year, they had Oliver Phelps come for a special Q&A event. Kate and I thought this sounded super fun, so we went really early so we could get a good seat.

Oliver Phelps played George Weasley in the Harry Potter movies

This was the selfie they took with the audience from the stage - I circled Kate and I. Haha

They asked him questions that people had submitted through Instagram, and it was fun to learn more about his experience in auditioning for, and filming the HP movies.

I was pretty excited that he answered the question that I submitted - hehe

After the Q&A, Kate and I went to take a look at the Christmas in the Wizarding World set up this year. It is really fun to go look at all the shopfronts and in all the windows

Niffler up to mischief in one of the windows

Ollivander's Wand Shop

The Owlry

Kate won a prize in one of the games they had before the Q&A

October Misc.

Here are a few more pictures from what we did in October:

Evie bought a slime making kit at the book fair, and made several different types

We had a special manners luncheon with our Activity Days girls

The new season of Doctor Who started this month! I think the 13th Doctor went back in time to 1997 and got this shirt out of my closet. Hahaha!

Evie's assignment about what she would do it she was in charge of the US

Dorie sitting like a cat (with all her legs tucked under)

We went to see The Scarlet Pimpernel at Hale Centre Theatre this month, and it was fantastic. I especially loved the costumes and sets.

Kate is very popular when she comes to visit

A cat holding a cat

The office is a popular napping place for critters

Dorie barking in her sleep

Mike and I tried out Fong Asian Dining for a lunch date, and really enjoyed it

Nora and the kitties - this is one of the last pictures we have of Max's mattress in the background. I finally arranged to have it picked up by the mattress recycling company!

Dorie always loves to hang out during practicing time

Nora learned how to cut up a melon

Sam on a walk with Dorie (I have bought him a bigger coat and bigger pants, but for some reason he likes wearing the ones that are too short on him)

 Beautiful mountains

The kids love playing Apples to Apples at Grammy and Grandpop's house

Evie with her robot art project

Oliver is very curious about the printer

Some fall color at the park!

One of the things we did over Fall Break was film some little comedy skits the kids did about Doctor Who. They were inspired by the Studio C Doctor Who skit. Hehe.

Sam dressed up riding his bike back from the park where we were filming. Hehe

In the first skit, Sam was the 9th Doctor, Evie was Rose, and they were investigating some strange readings the TARDIS had picked up

In the second skit, Evie was the 10th Doctor and was accompanied by K-9 on a trip to Hogwarts

In the third skit, Nora was the 11th Doctor who came to get some help from Amy and Rory during the holidays

We had a fun joint birthday celebration for Kate and Grandpop

The kids were very brave this year at the flu shot clinic! 

I am always very entertained by sleeping kitties

Baby Olls cuddling with Mike

For "crazy hair day" at school, we used the hair chalk kit

Sam went with the school colors -  blue and orange

Evie wanted rainbow hair

Nora painted pumpkins for a YW activity

Another lovely sunset

Oliver loves being a trip hazard on the stairs 😦

Beth, Kate, and I rented our Halloween costumes this year from the Archive, which is attached to Hale Theater Orem.

I loved this mural on the stairway going down to the rental area, haha

While we were driving around Orem, we stopped at Starbucks to try their Halloween special - Witch's Brew Frappuccino. 

The official description: "The charming concoction starts with a purple blend of “toad’s breath” and orange crème Frappuccino and a swirl of green “bat warts” (made with chia seeds). A topping of vanilla whipped cream and dusting of green “lizard scale” powder finishes the beverage."

The guy at the drive thru was pretty funny when we were ordering, and asked "Are you sure you're ready for that?" Haha. He also told us that the chia seeds would sprout hair if they sat for too long. So it pretty much tasted like orange creamsicle with chia seeds. I thought it was good, but Kate and Beth were not big fans. 

Trying to take a selfie with Dorie, hehe

I painted one of the rooms in the basement, and Evie and Nora helped me out

We finally got rid of "Max's mattress" that has been leaning up against the wall in the master bedroom for the past 2.5 years. Since then, he has adopted this plastic bag. Whenever I got into the bedroom he runs and sits on it

Dorie looks so small from this perspective, hehe