October 2-8, 2016

  This week was pretty much a normal week at the Sutherlands.  On Sunday (and Saturday of course), we watched General Conference.  The kids are still pretty wiggly during the whole thing....I have no idea how they make it through a whole 6 hours at school when they can't sit still for 2 hours for conference.  But oh well, we made cinnamon rolls and Dorito dip and everyone at least felt the spirit a few times I think.  :)  I love hearing all the speakers talk.  I may get more out of some talks than others but I always know that what they are saying is from my Heavenly Father and that it is helping someone in the world.

Conference is so soothing for Jeff...he falls right asleep.  Haha.  I do too actually

We made some yummy cinnamon rolls.

Daniel likes to be tickled.

Tatia sent me this picture of my mom at her new assisted living home.
I think she will like this place more.  It seems nicer.

On Monday the kids didn't have school.  Here in New Jersey we get off some holidays that not everyone gets....the Jewish holidays.  So Monday was Rosh Hashanah.  Jeff took the day off work and we found a hike in the Catskills.  It was just called North-South Lake which is a pretty simple name but it was really pretty.  We did the hike around the lake that was about 3+ miles.  The kids love to be outdoors and everyone loved it.  They had fun collecting acorns and as I could have predicted soon an acorn war started and things got crazy.  :)  Then we got ice cream cones at McDonald's and came home.

Tuesday and Wednesday Anne had a few activities.  She got to read to a dog at the library which she was really excited about.  Then on Wednesday she had a Girl Scout fieldtrip.  On Thursday Anne went in for an orthodontic appointment.  Pretty soon she will be getting the 1st phase of her braces.  Why do all these kids have bad eyes, bad teeth, etc.  It's so expensive.  Oh well, they're worth it.  ;)  On Thursday Jacob got to go to his Social Skills Scholars club that he has been very excited about.  Sometimes he struggles a little socially and he has trouble controlling his emotions so this sounded like a fun group to learn about those types of things.  I figured it couldn't hurt.

Other than that the week was pretty normal.  On Friday Jeff got home and we left to go camping for Friday night.  We went to the same campground where we went hiking on Monday and I think it's our new favorite place.  It's remote, but still plenty of campers around so you don't feel too secluded.  There are lots of bears in New Jersey/New York and so you need to be careful that way.  But this campground is really nice with clean bathrooms and even showers and the area is so pretty.  The fall colors were great up there.  By the time we got up there it was dark so we set up the tent and started getting dinner ready.  The kids loved it.  We had hot dogs for dinner and sat around the fire making s'mores.  Then we got cozy in the tent.  It was kind of cold and since we only have one air mattress (and Jeff and I are old and we snagged that), the kids probably got a little chilly.  But they still loved it.  In the morning we made a fire again and made breakfast.  It was quiet and peaceful and so nice.  After a while we packed up camp and went and found a hike to do.  We did a hike to Inspiration Point which was probably about 4.5 miles all together.  The kids all did so well and even Daniel walked most of the way.  He did ride on dad's "shurdles" as he says shoulders for a little while.  By the time we came home we were all tired and smelly but had so much fun.  Oh and we got ice cream cones on the way home again....tradition!!

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