Uncle Bryan

My brother Bryan was presenting a paper in North Carolina and decided, since he was only a few hours away, that he would drive up to visit us. We were so excited to have him here, even if it was only for a few days. My kids love their "funny Uncle Bryan", as they like to refer to him, especially little No.

Bryan got here on Friday and then all of Saturday was spent going from soccer game to soccer game. It was the one Saturday the entire season that the kids didn't have any conflicting games so Bryan was able to watch all of them play!

The weekend went by way too fast but we soaked up all the time we could with Uncle Bryan. We talked about so many different things, laughed, played, watched movies, and just enjoyed having him here and the fun and laughter he always brings with him. All too soon it was Monday morning and time to say goodbye. The kids enjoyed some last silly moments with him.

Serious.

Silly.

Sad.

Mad.

Surprised!

Excited!

Just plain cute.

One last hug, sniff, sniff.

He's planning on visiting us again in March and we can't wait!

Halloween Festivities!

Halloween is one of our family's favorite times of the year! We always have lots of fun festivities to keep us busy during the month of October. One of those activities was our ward's Trunk or Treat. This year Noah was a ninja;

Savannah and her best friend Celine were fanatical 49ers fans (Savannah didn't really have to try hard for this one);

and Xander was an evil jester. Xander was a little bummed about not being able to wear his skeleton mask to the Trunk or Treat but I think David did a good job on his face paint.

I had no idea what I wanted to be but at the last minute I threw on the Medusa costume I had borrowed from my sister several years ago and have never returned. (Yes, I'm a bad sister.)

Once we got to church, we roamed around, looking at all the great costumes. I love that the people in our ward, including the adults, really get into the Halloween spirit. I see some of the best and most creative costumes at this event. Some of my favorites this year included characters from The Princess Bride, the Fragile Box along with the Christmas leg lamp from the movie The Christmas Story, and Little Red Riding Hood accompanied by her husband dressed as the wolf disguised in granny's clothes.
Hanging with friends!

This year I made Halloween sugar cookies for the women I visit teach and I roped the kids into helping me decorate them, the part that I like doing the least. They did a great job! I only had to remind Noah a few times that once he licked a knife he could no longer use it. No worries, I kept his cookies out of the plates I gave away.

Carving pumpkins! We barely made this year, carving them on Halloween afternoon and getting them on the front porch just as the first trick-or-treaters were coming by.

What is becoming a tradition - a tasty Halloween themed dinner!

Getting ready to head out and get some candy!! Thank goodness the evening was warm and the kids didn't even need jackets. Love when the weather cooperates! Notice Xander's cool skeleton mask!

Xander got TONS of compliments on his costume! I must agree, it was pretty cool. What wasn't as cool was the $16 jester stick he talked me into buying at the costume store because it was essential to his costume and then was subsequently left at home because he didn't want to carry it. Nice!

This was the first year that Savannah got to go out on her own with her friend Celine. We live in a very safe neighborhood but a parent always worries. But they had a great time together, covered A LOT of ground, and came home on time and with a full bag. David escorted the boys around leaving me to hand out candy. I loved it and think we'll stick to the same plan next year.

Savannah's puking pumpkin that got a lot of comments. I told all the little kids who mentioned it to me that that's what happens when you eat too much candy.

When Noah got home he quickly took over my handing-out-candy responsibilities.

The kids always spend lots of time sorting and trading candy. David was there to sample the goods...I mean he was there to "supervise".

The Pumpkin Patch

Our fall months are always extremely busy and I was having a hard time figuring out when I would fit in a trip to the pumpkin patch with the kids. Then one day I saw on Facebook that the little preschool that several moms in our ward had formed was having a pumpkin patch field trip and had opened it up to anyone who might want to join them. Guess what? Savannah and I crashed that party!!
Hanging with the preschool kids!

Addie (who I used to watch) and Libby, two of our favorite preschoolers. They love Savannah and were so excited that she had come on the field trip.

Picking out the perfect little pumpkin.

Enjoying the yummy cider. The little boy sitting next to Savannah had insisted on sitting next to her on the hay ride and holding her hand.  He definitely had a little crush!

Okay, so we went on a field trip with preschoolers...we had a blast and I got at least one of my kids to the pumpkin patch!

Corn Maze

In October Savannah's soccer team had a "team building activity" - making their way through a corn maze! We have always talked about taking the kids up to Pennsylvania to go to one of those huge corn mazes so this activity helped us make it happen. The team manager chose to do it at night so we headed up with our flashlights, hats, and heavy coats because it was cold!
While we waited for everyone to get there, Noah had a great time just climbing and jumping off all the hay stacks.

Savannah's team broke up into smaller groups and they had to work together gathering clues throughout the maze, hoping to eventually make their way out!

Once Savannah headed off with her teammates, David, the boys, and I headed off on our own.

The boys really enjoyed finding the clues and we were having a really great time...until it started to drizzle. And then it started to pour! Trying to make our way through a humongous corn maze in the dark during a rainstorm is not really that much fun.

Thank goodness workers were there to help us quickly find our way out of the maze and into one of the barns to wait out the storm.

It had taken us over an hour until we were finally out; Savannah, with her little group, had made it out in half that time and was just waiting around for us. Those amazing young girls. Savannah had a great time with her team which is good since that was the whole point.

Longwood Gardens

Savannah and I decided that we needed a fun field trip so one day we headed up to Longwood Gardens with two of my good friends, Heidi and Kara. Located in Pennsylvania, Longwood Gardens has over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows (yes, I totally just stole that from a brochure). We had such a great time looking at all the beautiful varieties of flowers, plants, and trees. It was a great way to spend a day!
Our first stop of the day was at the musical fountain display.

We spent a lot of time in the conservatory...there were so many flowers!

Savannah and I both loved the humongous lily pads!

Watch out for the Venus Flytrap!

Savannah's favorite was the Chimes Tower; she said it looked like Rapunzel's tower. I totally agree!

Climbing the tower stairs. Thank goodness we didn't have to climb up any one's hair.

I loved the topiary garden.

Savannah always finds the cats!

It was a beautiful day!