Oregon, Utah, Illinois and Phoenix all in one month!

Our October was full of travel.  Brent and I were just tag teaming all month with trips.  We started with a soccer tournament, then Brent flew to Oregon.  When he got back, I left for a girls trip to the Midwest, and then came home for a bit before flying up to Utah for a week.  It was busy!

First, Aiden and Taylor had a tournament in Phoenix.  Brent and I both went and watched.  Fortunately, all their games were perfectly timed so we could go watch them all.  It was so hot, though!!!  I am so sick and tired of being hot.  The good news is, Aiden's team won the tournament.  It was so fun!  I love this photo of him celebrating with the trophy.

Their team had a lot of guest players from the EA team.  In the past, this usually meant little play time for Aiden.  But, he has really improved as a player the past year and his coaches had him play most of every game.  He is moving around positions a lot since his team lost some defenders and gained some forwards so there is a bit of a learning curve but he is doing fantastic and it was so fun to watch him.  Brent couldn't stop talking about how proud he was of Aiden's improvement! 

Taylor's team hasn't had a lot of wins this year, but she is still learning and improving.  I couldn't help but take this amazing sunset photo of her at the fields one night.

Then, I spent a weekend in Illinois/Wisconsin with these lovely ladies.

Summer and Annie couldn't make it, but we still had a great time together.  I was hoping to see some fall foliage, but it was still pretty green (mid-October).  We spent a day in Chicago (saw Hamilton for the 3rd time), went on lots of walks and then spent a few days at a house in the farmlands of Wisconsin. We stayed up laughing until we cried, unburdened our heavy loads, gave advice and love, and had a really fun time.  As always, these girls uplift and encourage me in a genuine and positive way.  I am beyond grateful for them!!  

Brent and I also spent the month helping family.  He flew to Oregon for a week to help his parents.  His dad has been bedridden for several months (knee replacement surgery and it's complications) so Brent spent a lot of time getting some home projects done and just spending some time with them.  After Chicago, I spent a week at Shanlee's house helping her pack and move into Ben's apartment.  We worked 14 hours/day and so there were no time for photos.  Brent and I agreed that these two trips did not count as vacations but were more of work trips.  I arrived home on Halloween just in time to get see these kids in costumes before they headed out for the night.

Taylor Swift, a store mannequin, and the mom from "The Shining"