Autumn is Awesome

October was an exciting month! We had some much anticipated visitors come into town with in a week of each other. First off, Joel, Bonnie, and Katelyln came to visit from Virginia. We had so so so much fun! So much in fact, that taking pictures of all of our fun just went to the back-burner in my mind. We were so enthralled with spending precious time with our family that we just didn't document it all...and now, I do regret that! But, the memories live on in our hearts. :) Highlights; seeing Jack and Katelyn play so well together...they do love each other and it is so sweet to see. Katelyn is darling! She is so loving and caring towards all her cousins, she's like the mother of the group. I loved talking to Bonnie, Oh, how I miss talking with her face to face about meaningful things and life. She is so faithful and such a beautiful person, inside and out. I miss having Joel around! He is always so calm and steady and he plays so well with all the kids! We loved going to the zoo with every one...

Phoebe with cousin Gracie.

Jack and Katelyn and Jade too...so cute! He was being a "real" gent and letting the damsel sit in front :)

We also went to the park and enjoyed watching Joel play "jail" (an andrews family favorite) with all the kid cousins. Phoebe was hilarious! She chased Joel around and growled at him, and then rescued him from his prisoners. She fell in love with JoJo that day and hasn't stopped talking about him since. Another highlight was the adult sibling game night we had at the "main hub." Wow..I don't think I've ever laughed so hard as we all did watching Mike reminisce about growing up in our family and do impersonations! He is hilarious and it was just so fun being all together..but we missed Rachel, who came to visit for a short while from BYU-Idaho, but wasn't there that night. Sitting around smelling Scentsy bars and talking as sisters was an insightful and fun night. So, all in all, it was great seeing Joel, Bon, and Kate and we love them and now miss them again.

After they left, we had a few days' time before my Dad's siblings came into town to visit from Maine. Aunt Carol came and Uncle Gerald came and brought his girlfriend Sandy, who we hadn't met yet. It was so great seeing them and catching up! Maine just seems too far away! Aunt Carol is beautiful! I wish I would've gotten a picture...but, she has the most soft, olive colored skin I've ever seen! Hope it's genetic and gets passed on :) Gerald was a crack-up as usual, teasing every one and joking with us all! I'm glad he brought Sandy, it was so nice meeting her and getting to know her. They are all so wonderful and fun to be around. We enjoyed going to Gardner Village with them, playing games, watching BYU football and eating breakfast at Callies.



Here's a shot of Gerald and my Dad with all the kids, waiting for us girls to be done in one of the shops. Gerald was so funny with Phoebe...I think she tried to ignore him most of the time, and then the last day they were here she finally warmed up to him and we couldn't keep her away!


Here's Jack on the pony at Gardner Village. He loved it!

After all our family visitors left, we had to get ready for Halloween! Jack had a Halloween costume parade at his preschool. For me, it was one of those moments that makes motherhood so sweet. I enjoyed watching with pride as Jack paraded around as a Tiger, then sang spooky fun songs for all us parents. He loved it! And I loved it because he loved it and soaked it up!



Jack has so much fun at preschool and loves his teacher...(and Sofia...more on that later. Right now...he's just sad, because Sofia had to move and isn't coming back to preschool.) :(


To keep the tradition alive, we visited Hee Haw Farms as a family. Jack and Phoebe were all bundled up and had a blast together riding the animal train, seeing the animals, sliding down the massive slide, and running all over. It was fun for Nick and I to watch them play together and have so much fun. It was a good night and they slept well!







We had a great night at the Baird's for their annual Halloween Party. Nick took all the photos on his phone, so I don't have any to share. But, wow...Scott and Lisa put so much work into the party. The dinner was amazing and included brains, guts, fingers, witch's brew, monster lips, and many more fun halloween treats. The games the kids played were so creative and fun. I think Nick and I had perma-grins on our faces the whole night just lighting up watching them have such a great time. Grandparents are awesome! That's all there is to it!

Well, Halloween night came and we got together at my parents house for soup and dancing and trick-or-treating. All the kids had a dance party before dinner. We ate and then headed out for our traditional route around the neighborhood. It was a super night!


Sorry for the blurry shot...the kids were all getting a little antsy to go by this point and were not thrilled about sitting still. Phoebe is the little lion in the front sitting next to Jack the tiger. My mom made that amazing owl costume in the back! So creative!