Halloween Partying

October was so busy (particularly for Aubrey, who had play practice 6 days a week) that it was hard to find a time when everyone was available for our traditional Halloween dinner. However, both kids said that this was a tradition which was important to them, so we fit it into the first sunny Saturday in October, the 28th, right after we got back from the pumpkin patch.

The kids choosing their meal options. 

What you can't see: spooky music in the background (well, spooky a la Dan's Halloween playlist, which is spooky in a Disney sort of way), pumpkin spice Scentsy in the air, and Dan delivering food with his best scary zombie impersonation. Good times!

 Our day at the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, all of Vancouver was at Bi-Zi farms by the time we could get there after Aubrey's rehearsal. And, the ground was VERY muddy after a month long rainstorm. But, the weather was awesome. I would have to say, though, that the magical days of young kids and holiday traditions are waning. Mostly the kids went along with the pumpkin patch because it's a nostalgic thing and I wanted to do it. They really weren't that much into it. Why do kids have to grow up?

Pumpkin launching

 Posing by the pigs because I said they had to

 Getting lost (and mired in mud) in the corn maze. Thank goodness the kids followed the map expertly and led us out!

 Getting our pumpkins in the pumpkin fields. It was a beautiful vista, but Joseph wasna't able to enjoy it suddenly had an intestinal issue and spent a long time in the porta potty. Afterward he quickly found his pumpkin, posed for a picture, and then we climbed back on the wagon to return to the main part of the farm.

 Joseph attended a trunk-or-treat church party with friends in 3rd Ward. Our ward also had a chili cookoff/trunk-or-treat (in the pouring rain), but apparently I didn't take any pictures.

We paused between October activities to rake the leaves which covered our lawn, street, and neighborhood. Our trees in the front are getting so big!

 We didn't get a chance to carve a pumpkin until Halloween after school! Joseph carved outside in the beautiful late October sunny afternoon. He and his friend Ian designed a pumpkin which was vomiting its guts. Ha ha - not sure why I neglected to get a picture of the final product!

This is the only shot I got of Aubrey on Halloween. She wore her owl onesie to school. Her school is the only one in the district which encourages (and allows) costumes on Halloween! 

 Halloween night we hosted Joseph's 3 friends (Ian, Gabe, and Matt) for dinner and then trick-or-treating and the all-important candy trading. Too bad it was a school night so they couldn't hang out very late!

 Some friends from school came over to trick-or-treat through our neighborhood with the boys. The big news this year . . . . they all went through the haunted house our neighbors run across the street in our cul-de-sac!

Meanwhile in Utah, Bailey arranged a filming of a music video for the book/movie Holes. She had bought the awesome orange jumpsuits online! Their acting and then the video editing of the finished product was impressive!

They wore their Holes outfits at school on Halloween as well.

And that was the end of October. It was a good one.

October

Feasting

October began with our big General Conference celebration/spiritual and physical feast. It was really fun! We ate great food (crepes for Saturday morning and two kinds of soup for lunch, cinnamon rolls and apple crisp Sunday morning, Mexican fiesta for Sunday lunch). We had lots of visitors: the missionaries serving in our ward (Elder Holloway and Elder Porter, who is a distant relation!), a teenage boy from a neighboring ward who is getting re-acquainted with the gospel, and the Harringtons. Joseph made a big fort and we all were super comfortable and relaxed. And we loved hearing the counsel from the prophets. It might have been the best year ever for discussing the messages. After each session we talked about what had impacted us. I think that having the missionaries there especially helped elevate the discussion, and our kids are old and mature enough to really understand and seek to understand applications. So, it was just great all around. 

 Good Lookin' Guy

Joseph has become very interested in having his hair look good, and so is amenable to regular trips to the barbershop to tidy up his 'do. Afterward we got a slice of pizza to celebrate.

 Two dudes at the Piano Guys

We are all fans of the Piano Guys, but maybe especially Joseph. I bought tickets when they came in concert in July of 2016, but Dan and Joseph were on a campout so Aubrey and I attended. The cello/piano duo returned to Portland in October 2107, and this time it was Joseph and Dan's turn. They said it was an incredibly entertaining concert!

Celebrating a wedding

Ashlyn, Kara's oldest, married Dawson on Friday, October 13th. They are such a great couple! I flew to SLC and met up with Bailey and we drove to the wedding in Idaho Falls. There we were able to hang out with much of the family!

The weather was SO blustery as we waited for the just married couple to leave the temple.

The wedding luncheon was at a pizza place.

 The reception was in a barn, and so cute!

 The night of the wedding the blustery wedding gave way to a snowstorm! And Bailey had the chance to practice driving on slushy roads, as she drove all the way home to Provo.

 Fall colors everywhere, and lots of sunshine!

 I have a rule that if the sun is shining I find a place where I can feel the sun on my face and I sit for at least 20 minutes. In October I took time to read outside on the porch in the late afternoon sun.

 Sorting through, Giving away

I finally sorted through and organized our stacks of music books and sheet music. I realized that I have had a child taking piano since 1997!

 I'm changing the color scheme in our house. So, I piled up all the bedding, pillows, decor that don't match anymore and passed them on to DI.

Wisdom Teeth no more

Aubrey got her wisdom teeth out on October 21st. The surgery was uneventful and she was awake for all of it (but a little loopy because of the laughing gas). Her recovery was fine, but as of this date has  had two infections in one of the surgery sites and needs and additional small surgery tomorrow!

 Here she's exaggerating how swollen her cheeks got, but they were definitely pretty swollen. She had lots of soft foods that week, including mashed potatoes made from purple sweet potatoes. Strange looking but delicious!

 High Places

We toned down the yellowish color in our entryway/stairs/hall upstairs. First I tried out every iteration of greige on the wall for a few weeks.

 Finally, I chose the color on the wall in the foreground. Here you can see the difference between the old and the new color. 

 Painting high in the entryway/above the stairs was tricky, but we were lucky to borrow a painter's ramp from our friends. It made reaching the really high parts a breeze! I did still get to hang off the top of a tall ladder to get the entryway, which is something I really love to do!

Random stuff

Joseph pretends to tolerate (but secretly likes) the affection his older sister showers on him.

 

And I'm not sure what this is? Joseph's YM leader sent me this picture from a youth activity - apparently they had to construct outfits from paper towels and aluminum! I hear that Joseph really rocked his outfit.

 Snippets of Bailey's BYU fall

Meeting up with friends from high school, three who recently returned from missions.

 Helping at New Student Orientation

 Taking pictures in the canyon on Conference Sunday

  

Seen from my kitchen windows

Joseph cutting the lawn

 Our deck being demolished and replaced by a concrete patio. Hooray! This has been a long time coming!

Before

 And the huge dumpster we had outside our house for a few days. We cleared out a lot of junk from the garage, as well as loading up all the discarded wood from the deck! And we invited several neighbors to add their stuff too.

And seen inside the kitchen - Aubrey making our last batch of zucchini chocolate chip muffins of the year. Now, on to pumpkin spiced things!