Yesterday Grace played soccer (scored first GOAL of the season!), waited a few hours then had a Halloween recital where she played monster mash on the piano and sang “It’s A Hard Knock Life” with her piano teacher and voice coach accompanying her. She nailed the piano part, but you could tell she loved the singing part. She dressed as a princess…bit of a stretch. Today Gavin and Grace were in the primary program. Gavin talked about our ancestor who was the head stone mason on the Logan Temple and Grace talked about her cousin with cancer who has seen many answers to prayer.

Shannon found a baby bird of some sort wandering the streets late at night (the bird was). Guessing it’s a chicken or a hawk? Tried to rehab it, but it only lasted a day.

Gavin is feeling better more often. Still gets nasty headaches mostly in the afternoons.

Last night we had dinner at a fancy restaurant in Riverside with a large Hearst party in the next room. Must have needed a night away from the castle?

Plans for the NFL stadium 20 miles from our house are moving right along, clearing some significant hurdles recently.

The regular running back was sick, so Dylan got to start at RB this afternoon. The first play was a pitch to him that he bobbled and dropped. Next play he took the hike and ran it half the length of the field, setting up a touchdown. Had a solid game on defense as linebacker, too. They were down 12-13 most of the game, then scored a couple TDs off interceptions at the end to win 25-13.

Gavin is on week 4 of feeling yuck. Headache, no fever, no energy. Seems like mono, but blood tested negative for mono. Trying a different MD tomorrow.

Dodgers are KILLING me!

We made a quick trip to SF for the weekend to meet some friends from Portland. Had a great time, gorgeous weather, great food and good company. We ate at Scoma’s, Tommy’s Joynt and Kate’s Kitchen…a few favorites that have been around forever. We biked across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito and took the ferry back. Saw Beach Blanket Babylon for the 3rd time, which is always fun. Saturday was the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake!

Halloween fun here.

Thursday afternoon and evening we got to hang out with family when Jim, Margo and their 3 youngest stopped by on their way to Disneyland. Always great to have family visit. I had to eat crow for passing along to Will what I had heard the NFL preseason prognositcators saying about the prospects of the Denver Broncos. They had just traded away their pro-bowl quarterback, they had an unproven 33 year old rookie head coach and they had been STRUGGLING in preseason games. OOPS!! They are undefeated and even beat the Patriots last weekend. Will was quick to set me straight.

Grace borrowed the first book of the Fablehaven series from Gavin a couple months ago. Now she is well into the 4th book. She’s always loved books, but she is now an official BOOKWORM.

Went to the Ducks game at the Rose Bowl Saturday.

Grace’s soccer team finally played a team that was equally timid. They tied.

Dylan and Gavin are on the same roller hockey team. They had two games last night against the same team: lost the first one 1 to 3 and the second 3 to 4. Dylan played well with one goal in the first game and two in the second. He had an amazing shot near the end of the second game that would have tied it up, but the goalie stopped it at the last possible second. Gavin wasn’t feeling well enough to play.

Dodgers finally clinched…took them long enough!

Dylan ran the ball in for a touchdown yesterday!! He started out on the kicking team then, when the team got up by a couple touch downs, he got to play running back. He bobbled his first lateral, but held on and advanced the ball. A couple carries later he ran in for 6 points. He even had a couple tackles. He was super excited. Their QB has a great arm, throws very accurately. They even had cheerleaders! The Panthers beat the Pioneers 30-6.

Gavin is sick again. He wasn’t feeling well last week, but healed up enough to go to visit the cousins in No. Cal last weekend. We had a blast! Ty’s central line was out, so he could swim and rough house for the first time since March. He was in great spirits and very energetic. Got to watch the Ducks beat up on Cal and saw most of the Utah game. Don built an amazing motocross course on their property: almost a 1/2 mile with jumps, berms, whoop dee dos, etc. I was foolish and didn’t wear gloves at first, so my delicate girl hands got giant, painful blisters.