Trick-or-Treat

What an eventful Halloween weekend we had. We kicked off the Halloween fun with a school parade on Thursday, Oct. 29 followed later that same day with Stephen's first piano recital. He did great on both of his spooky music pieces. He has great stage presence. He'll tell you he was nervous, but you couldn't tell by the way he played. On Halloween night we fed Harry Potter and Little Witch a fun jack-o-lantern pizza and headed out for the fun. I took the kids to a few houses and then Stephen and dad finished up while Emma and I ate, I mean passed out the candy. The little trick-or-treaters were quickly transformed back into Stephen and Emma and put to sleep. Too much excitement (plus early church the next day!) made for an early night.

10 Years and Counting!

Greg & I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary by spending some "couple time". We dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa Price's, hopped in the get-away car for some relaxing time together. We first treated ourselves to pedicures - yes even Greg had his feet done and they look fantastic! We decided to stay local so we spent two wonderful days in downtown SLC at the Little America. Wow! We forgot how much you can get done without kids around! We stayed up late, slept in, went to movies that didn't include talking animals or was animated and walked everywhere. The special highlights for us was the temple session and attending the Tabernacle Choir broadcast. After picking up the kids we wanted the magic to continue a bit longer so we drove to see the Mt. Timpanogos Temple where we were married on October 23, 1999. Stephen enjoyed walking around with me while I showed him all the places we had our pictures taken. It was hard to come back to reality - dirty diapers, homework, work and laundry. We had a great time reconnecting and can really see how far we've come in ten years. We truly have a wonderful life!

Run Cassat's Run!

All summer long we've been dragging the kids out to train for our annual 5K run in August. Through the sweat and tears we reached our goals and completed the Midvale Harvest Days run on August 8, 2009. Dad and Emma finished first. Mindy came in next and Stephen, who ran the whole way by himself, rounded out the Cassat team. It was a fun run for us all. Stephen did great! He didn't complain and only stopped to get a drink. Afterwards we stayed for breakfast and watched the city parade, which Stephen was in with his elementary school. We had a long morning but it was fun. Go Team Cassat!

Lovin' Summer

Between all the camps, military weekends and summer school, piano and swimming lessons, we didn't take a family vacation so we tried to make the most of our summer days. The kids spent time at the local outdoor pool, taking walks in the evening, going to the zoo, jumping on the trampoline and various other activities. Check out our summer!

Stephen had a busy summer. He started piano lessons, went to cub scout camp and took swimming lessons! He finally got enough courage to jump off the diving board by himself and actually swim to the edge of the pool just to do it all over again! Yeah!

Emma also had a busy summer. She has been growing so big, she learned to walk, grew some new teeth, and thinks she is such a big girl that she can do what the other big kids do. She's becoming a little princess. She likes to take walks and sit in her carriage (I mean stroller) and wave to her royal subjects (aka neighbors, dogs, plants, anything!).

Greg Turns 40!

WOW! Greg celebrated his 40th birthday on August 5th working! That's just what you do on a Wednesday, right? After work, he really celebrated by going to a brazillian steakhouse and ate all the meat he could stomach. It was really good, just waaayy too much food. But, you only turn the big 4-0 once! A few days later we had a big birthday openhouse where family and friends came and ate lots of cake and ice cream (but not enough since we are still eating it up!). Check out all those candles and we didn't even have 40 - fire hazard! We had a great time celebrating Greg's big year!

Mommy's Little Helper

Emma's taking after her mom - loves to clean, or at least follow mommy around "helping" to clean up. She had taken the feather duster, brandishing it like a sword, while wearing a Wii numchuck control around her neck and went to task. Anyone need a housekeeper? Emma works for cheap and she's really cute too!

Greg's Last Command

July 24th marked Greg's last day as Commander of Company B in Logan. It was an emotional day for us all. Logan has a big 24th of July celebration. All soldiers marched in Logan City's parade. Boy, did we cheer for daddy!

After the parade, the Change of Command occured. It is a quick ceremony but very significant. The company flag (guide-on, for us non military speakers) is passed from the company to the commander, the commander passes it to the battalion and the battalion then passes it to the new commander. Greg gave a little farewell speech and was then given a gift from him soldiers - 2 new basketballs (one was camo signed by his soldiers) and a ball bag.

Greg and I are sad to say good-bye to Company B and to Logan. Greg will now be in Draper for drill weekends and will now serve with Headquarters. It will be nice to have him closer and have him back in the evenings. We Love You Major Cassat!