Photos from Phones - November 2023 Round Up

Here's our November Round Up! I can't remember what we did! But I'm glad I have pics to remind me and I'm glad to have some time and inclination tonight to just crank out November. Feelin' good. Feeling like the ball is rolling and I can catch up soon. But first: November!

11.1.23
(the kids loved their fall installation of the Mountain Arts
and Music class with teacher Jenny)

11.4.23
(checking out the newest installation at the Eden Founders
Memorial monument at the park - they put the statues
and rocks with text up last year, but this last panel didn't
get installed until sometime this fall)

11.4.23
(Sometimes it’s really fun to sit down and start a book and an hour later close it on the last page. (I always feel so bad when I do it with a graphic novel though, since I know it took so long to draw all those stories!) This is one I had heard a lot of hype about from various library blogs and pods and such, so I was really excited to finally get to read it and it was delightful! Definitely recommend!)

11.6.23
(Cal's activity days group made treats and took them to the bishop)

11.7.23
(I just had to laugh at this post on Cake Wrecks this
morning - and of course had to share with my creeper
loving kiddos)

11.8.23
(Our family book club novel this season was Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, but we modified that and read another in the series, Starry River of the Sky, since we had recently read Moon and were in the mood for something new. As usual, Grace Lin is a master storyteller and artist! We loved watching her zoom visit to RAR and then promptly put a pile of her books on hold to enjoy. Her newest one, Chinese Menu, is huge and so thorough so we’re reading a story a day and loving it!)

11.8.23
(just some nerdy info we found about galls
and then I sent to Heather because she's a gall
nerd, too)

11.8.23

11.8.23

11.9.23
(I picked up 31 (!!) holds for this boy this week
(not all are pictured here) and he may finish
them all by next week at this pace.)

11.9.23
(We have been loving this book for our early (early, early!) American History studies. I just read a short chapter or two or three each day and we add some dates to our hallway timeline. I don’t know about the kids, but I have been learning so much! I also love that it’s so accessible, balanced, and even funny! We finished volume one today, so onto the next one in the series: Making the Thirteen Colonies.)

11.9.23
(Kim's salsa recipe she shared with me
when Kylie specifically asked me to make
some for her birthday party)

11.9.23
(We’re studying safe passages for wildlife in our science class right now and these books are great extra reading! Actually, I read a book during every class that goes along with the subject of our day. (Science + books = my happy place!))

11.9.23
(This is a book I won a few years ago but just barely got around to reading. I chose to read it during Hispanic Heritage Month, though it did take me longer to finally finish it, not because I didn’t like it, but mostly because I only read it at night in bed and didn’t get very far each time. I thought about reading it aloud to the kids, but I’m glad I didn’t since it’s quite intense, being a war story and all. It’s one of those time periods/events in history that I know barely anything about: The Mexican Revolution in 1913. But I am amazed at how much was similar between this, based on true events, and Solito, a much more modern story of someone traveling through Mexico looking for peace and hope and safety in America. Wow.)

11.9.23
(Also just want to share this last page of the Author’s Note from Petra Luna. This story was based on her great-grandma’s story. I love the family history connection and love what she said about sharing stories of our ancestors.)

11.10.23
(a new dumpling book from the library
and a new dumpling recipe in the back - can't wait
to try this one!)

11.10.23
(we had some free hour passes to Fly High in Ogden
from when Cal was in kindergarten (!!) (luckily they didn't
expire!) so we finally cashed them in for a Friday Fieldtrip.
Needless to say, it was a huge hit!)

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23
(This was like a diving board platform that you
jump off of into a giant balloon. They lapped this
one over and over and over.)

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23
(Sam lapped this obstacle course over and over
and over. He would leap from platform to platform
like a little frog and because he was hanging onto each
slanted spot so hard, his arms were so sore the next day!)

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23
("39 years old and younger suggested"
womp, womp for Gregg!)

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.10.23

11.11.23
(I think this was a pomelo I bought on a whim
at winco.)

11.11.23
(spoiler alert: it was not great. I think it was not ripe enough?)

11.11.23
(a flyer at Heather's library in Heber of their upcoming programs.
Grace is going to folk dance with the Bailes Foclorico group!)

11.11.23
(we were at their library to see the Smithsonian's Rural Places
display but also to watch Native American dancers performing
their dances, including the hoop dance - fun outing!)

11.11.23
(Oh my goodness! This was completely delightful and clever and funny and tender ... and it’s all told from the point of view of a dog, which is completely hilarious. Such a fun adventure story full of friendship and heart. I absolutely loved it! 
PS when I first heard about this book I thought it was a picture book, but it is not. It’s a chapter book, but the size of the book is kind of big for a middle grade novel. And there are full color paintings inside, so yes to pictures. It’s so unique and so good!
Update 1.23.24: Two things: this is the 2024 Newbery Medal winner! 🥇 I don’t think I’ve ever read a Newbery before it won an award, so that is cool! Also, we just started listening on audio as we do puzzles and the narrator is truly fantastic! Highly recommend either version!)

11.14.23
(This was really fun. My neighbor let me borrow it months ago (her cousin is the author) but I finally sat down and read it just this week. It’s a scrapbook and stories from the week-long trip to Zion of a handful of University of Utah students, all women!, right before the park was opened to the public as a National Park in 1920. A railroad company had paid their way in exchange for taking tons of photos to use in their promotions. Ha! It reminded me a bit of my spring break trip to Zion in college with Heatha and Shauna and Jessie back in the day.)

11.14.23
(Cal and Sam will have art in this show!)

11.14.23
(this intrigued me: a play about the life of Henrietta Leavitt,
who I've read about in books, and I also wonder if we're related
too. I wish I could've made it work to see the show!)

11.14.23
(today's teatime treat came from the Minecraft cookbook!)

11.14.23
(fun and tasty treat!)

11.14.23
(another cake wreck that I had to share
with my kids, especially Sam, since he's the ramen
lover in the house)

11.15.23
(Four books that have nothing really in common other than we enjoyed them in the past month or so (and now I have enough single photos to turn into a collage and share them 😉).)

11.15.23
(It's November so I'm on the lookout for roka blue, which I only found
one jar of in my Lee's, but luckily my mom's Lee's is fully stocked!)

11.16.23
(the Thanksgiving Cactus is blooming in the library!)

11.17.23
(Two more audiobooks we finished this week during our morning puzzle time. Fritz’s novel is definitely on the historical side of historical fiction, and Cal didn’t love it quite as much since it didn’t seem like a story she was expecting. But I learned a lot from both!)

11.17.23
(we tried a new art project this morning with homemade air dry clay)

11.17.23

11.17.23
(we were trying to make leaf print plates. it
was tricky)

11.17.23
(it wasn't a favorite activity)

11.17.23
(they sort of looked cool. until they dried
a few days later and cracked and we just tossed
them)

11.17.23
(big leaf!)

11.17.23
(ready to air dry for a few days)

11.17.23
(Thanksgiving dinner prep - Cal's cranberry sauce!)

11.18.23
(Sam and Cal got to have a sleepover Friday night

at Grandma Elwood's house and then Saturday morning

Grandma took Ev and Cal (because they were the kids the right

age) to an Engineering Day at USU. They had a great time!)

11.18.23

11.18.23

11.18.23

11.18.23

11.18.23

11.18.23

11.18.23
(then on Saturday afternoon we all gathered
in Grandpa's garage to celebrate Ky's 30th birthday
with street tacos by Mike and the Aggie game projected
on the wall. Such a Ky kind of party - so fun!)

11.18.23

11.18.23
(it was chilly in the garage, but enough space
heaters spread around made it not unbearable -
unless you were Ev who went full bundle mode)

11.18.23
(snuggly cuzzies)

11.20.23
(Most of our Thanksgiving books this year have been repeat favorites, but these were new to us, and they tell the same story from different perspectives, which I thought was nice.)

11.20.23
(a wampanoag recipe from the back of Keepunumuk -
I love books with recipes! (though we have not tried this one yet))

11.20.23
(we made a gaggle of pinecone turkeys for Thanksgiving
place settings with the Elwoods)

11.21.23
(our latest art project was a chalk pastel
picture of the northern lights)

11.21.23

11.21.23
(when the kids have the phone on the drive
to the library)

11.21.23

11.21.23

11.21.23

11.21.23

11.21.23

11.21.23

11.21.23

11.21.23

11.24.23
(we stopped by the art studio to see Cal's and
Sam's displays)

11.24.23
(some pieces were ones they made in their
class and others they did at home and brought in)

11.24.23

11.24.23

11.24.23

11.25.23
(Early morning reading by Christmas tree light. Tis the season! 🤩)

11.25.23
(someone made this pattern at Grandma's and
wanted it documented, but I don't know who haha)

11.25.23
(probably it was Cal!)

11.27.23

11.27.23
(It was nice to have this one on audible. I had bought it for super cheap (you can find a lot of classics for really cheap on audible and you don’t have to have a membership!) a bazillion years ago, just waiting for the day when we’d all be into listening to it. That day arrived back in October as we drove across the country toward home. (We listened to hours at a time while waiting for construction in Colorado.) And then we got home and didn’t drive much for a while. We finally finished on our drive to Christmas Meadows to get our Christmas tree. What a delightful treat it has been to share this story that I love with my fam. Gregg was probably most into it, actually. And Cal loved it. And Sam never said no when we were turning it on, so I call it a win! We watched the movie together on the day after Thanksgiving while decorating said tree. A perfect way to wrap up this story together. 💗
P.S. I didn’t super love the narrator at first, but she grew on me. She did pronounce some words rather strangely (or maybe I pronounce them wrong?!). But Gregg liked her from the start.)

11.27.23
(creeper lover)

11.27.23

11.28.23
(another teatime, another minecraft recipe.
this time? dirt blocks (=oreo fudge))

11.30.23
(these are the books I read (at least parts of) aloud at the beginning
of our two weeks of learning about flight in science)

11.30.23
(a cozy sight to come home to)

11.30.23
(bring it! we're ready!)

11.30.23
(little did I know that half these lights would die just a little way
into the season)

11.30.23
(everyone was sharing their spotify unwrapped, so
we checked ours - ha, you can see who listens on
my account most!)

11.30.23
(Ky shared this in our family thread where we
were all saying the same thing!)

Every other round up here (whew!):

2023: Oct | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan 

2022: Dec | Nov | (I got really behind last year, but I'm working on catching up!) | June | May | Apr | 

Mar | Feb | Jan 

2021: Dec | Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2020: Dec | Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar Quar + Mar | Feb | Jan
2019: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2018: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2017: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2016: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June