October Happenings

October was a fun month as we got to see Madeleine smile and grow more alert each day, and we had some beautiful fall weather to enjoy lots of outside time.

Watching General Conference:  We always do the conference store, where the boys earn a dollar for each talk they are quiet and listen to, and another dollar if they can tell something about the talk.  They were having a hard time remembering what to say at the end of each talk, so I told them they could take some notes or draw some pictures to go with it.  Here are some of their notes:  1.  James’s picture of the great and spacious building with the Holy Ghost on the top telling the right way to go, 2.  Landon’s notes to have faith, not use bad words, that our body is a temple, and to give it your all, 3.  Davis’s picture of the bike ride, 4.  James’s picture of the bike ride through the dark tunnel. 

       

The boys spending their conference cash, and Davis’s animals all set up watching conference with us.

 

For family night, we made Lego creations of some of the stories from conference.  The boys really enjoyed doing this and made some great Lego creations:  1.  The bike ride through the tunnel; 2.  Sister Stephens and the story of Chloe and her car seat; 3.  Elder Ballard’s talk on how to stay in Old Ship Zion; 4.  Elder Ketch and the surfers seeing the sharks beyond the barrier; 4.  Elder Haynie, the mud hole, and the grandma not letting him in until he was sprayed clean.

     

Enjoying our time with Madeleine – Asher loves hanging out with her all day while the boys were at school, and she looked super cute in her cherry pajamas that Grandma Morris got for her in France.

   

Beautiful October fall weather meant lots of fun afternoon playing in the neighborhood.

   

Davis lined up all the Lightning McQueen cars like this, Madeleine had her first Sunday at church (and I had my first Sunday back), and Asher was pretty stylin’ in his Nike gear from head to toe.

   

More time admiring Madeleine:

   

Precoa 1 mile run and 5K!  The boys did great, and Shane placed 2nd in the 5K.

     

Christie came to visit and to meet Madeleine!  We all loved having her here, especially Asher

   

A warm summer day at the truck park, and more admiring of Madeleine! (“Take a picture Mom!”)

   

Lots of cousins on the couch, and Davis and his best buddy Luke playing two-square on yet another beautiful fall afternoon.

 

Croissants and hot chocolate for breakfast, James the apple-pie assistant, and Shane’s set up for his all-nighter resolving an issue at work.

   

One tuckered out Madeleine, story time with a full lap, and sweet sleepy smiles.

   

Fun dressing up for our ward chili cook off, and I can’t seem to get enough of this cute girl sleeping in my arms.

   

Halloween Carving

We did our traditional Family Home Evening night carving pumpkins while listening to Flying Purple People Eater, Thriller, and the Monster Mash on the Halloween Pandora station.  James helped me make some pumpkin-shaped Rice Krispie treats for dessert.  The boys each designed their own pumpkin, including Asher, who showed Shane what face he wanted the pumpkin to make.  Landon carved most of his pumpkin by himself for the first time.  I love carving pumpkins – definitely my favorite part of Halloween.  Maybe next year I’ll get time to carve one of my own after helping four others carve theirs!

               

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze

Friday afternoon, it was dry and sunny, so we decided to go to the pumpkin patch with all the kids after Shane got home from work.  We normally go to a different pumpkin patch, but this year they were charging an admission, and Landon wanted to try the corn maze that was at this one, so we decided to try Baggenstos instead.  We checked out the hay maze and playground before heading out on the hay ride to the pumpkins. 

         

 

When we took the picture of all the boys below, Asher was disappointed that he wasn’t the one holding Madeleine.  He insisted he get a picture holding her before we got back on the hay ride. 

 

After the hayride to the pumpkins, we went through the corn maze.  Landon has been asking to go through a corn maze for quite awhile now.  They gave us a map of an aerial photo of the corn maze, so we put Landon in charge to lead us through.  He did a great job, and we ended up at the exit without having to help him out at all.  We even passed several adults lost in the maze, using the same map Landon had. 

 

When we got back to the pumpkin patch, the boys wanted to play for just a few more minutes on the hay.  It was getting dark, but they ran around for a little bit longer before we had to take off.  James got it in his head that he wanted to jump up onto this hale bale, so he kept backing up for a running start, then running and jumping up onto the hay bale.  After four or five unsuccessful attempts, he went super far back to get some good momentum, but still couldn’t quite make it.  He stood for a second, then finally decided to try it up from close up – and he finally made it up there.