Where Did October Go???

I can't believe it is already November!!! I guess that means it's time to catch everybody up on what's been going on with our family.

Michelle and some friends went to an apple orchard and picked some delicious apples. Allyson had a lot of fun picking and eating the apples (and she looked super cute in her sunglasses).

Michelle used the apples to make some awesome apple pie (I'm assuming it was awesome even though I didn't eat any of it, because the pie was gone in less than an hour)

She also mixed up a yummy apple pie mix and bottled it. She's really become an amazing homemaker in the last few years. She bakes amazing bread and treats and now she bottles fruit and meat. Who knows what she'll start doing next!!!


We also took a trip to Omaha with the Moores and the Blairs. We had a great time. We went to the Winter Quarters Temple and to the Omaha Zoo. We love going to the temple, and we are excited to have one closer to us sometime in the near future so that we can go more often. It was kind of funny because it was cold and rainy the entire day that we went to the zoo. Michelle and I were worn out by the end of the day, but then we babysat for the Moores and the Blairs while they went to the temple Friday evening. Then, Michelle and I went on Saturday morning (and afterwards we discovered that we both had the hardest time keeping our eyes open). Note to self: get more sleep before going to the temple next time. Thank you Moores and Blairs for watching our kids for us!!!



One of the more exciting things at the Zoo is this rope bridge in the Jungle exhibit (very impressive). The kids all built up the courage to trudge across the bridge.


Amber, Michayla, and Ashley were the 3 amigas during the trip. Here they are being very mischevious in the Desert Dome. It looked a lot like Arizona and made us appreciate how beautiful the midwest is during the Fall.


The zoo has a really cool aquarium--with sharks, sea turtles, mana rays, penguins, and every other kind of water creature you can think of. We thought this headless penguin (right in the middle of the picture) was pretty cool.


Then, of course, there was all of the Halloween stuff that we did. Overall, we had an amazing Halloween experience this year. The weather was amazing, our kids were great, and we spent time with wonderful people--what more could you ask for??? Allyson was an adorable cowgirl on a horse (Brown Sugar)


For Halloween dinner, Michelle made Halloween Mummies for the kids. I thought this was pretty cute, and the kids really liked it. You rock Michelle!!!


Blake was Batman again this year--3 years in a row. He claims he's going to retire as Batman next year and go as Darth Vader, but I'll believe it when I see it.


We made jack-o-lanterns with the Moores for family home evening before Halloween. Blake and Michayla each designed one of our jack-o-lantern patterns. I thought they did a great job!


The kids had a Halloween parade at their school. They were all dressed up and walked a LONG way (approximately 2 miles). That ended up being a huge blessing--that night, we went trick or treating for about 20 minutes and then all three of our kids said "we're tired, can we go home now?" Man, Halloween doesn't get any easier than that!!!

Well, that pretty much sums it up. Bring on the HOLIDAY SEASON!