October

Hello again. I have been wanting to blog for months, but as always the task of catching up is daunting. Not to mention there just never seems to be time. But now that the big move is finally behind us it's time to get serious about it. :) I had decided I was just going to blog about a couple of really big events, like the kids' birthdays and Christmas and then just try to stay current, but then I saw pictures from lots of other things and just couldn't leave it all out. It still won't be everything, I mean I'm still skipping two whole months. But it won't be short. I apologize.

October brought with it some pretty fine fall weather in Iowa. We tried to enjoy it as much as we could. It also brought visitors! Rex, Jennifer and Quinton all came to see us which was great. It was our first time seeing Quinton since he got home from his 2 year mission to London so it was extra special to see him. 

Grandma had to got to read lots of stories.

We went bowling. I'm not sure Quinton enjoyed himself ;) but the rest of us had fun.

We checked out a nearby, and quite disappointing, fall festival.

Grandma Jennifer brought a set of Frozen games for Tatum and she was so excited about it. They were all good sports and played them with her over and over and over again.

Last time they were here we took them to Kalona and they requested to go back for some more of the hot cereal from their grocery store. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed getting some goods from the Amish stores. Tatum loved seeing the horses and the fuzzy caterpillars on our short walk between stores.

Rex had a birthday while they were here so we got to celebrate with him which was fun. We made a new cake, pumpkin better than anything cake, and boy was it good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now. I think my intake of baked goods is going to be significantly lower than usual here in Singapore. Good for my physical health, bad for my mental health. :)

We carved one big pumpkin and got a little one for Tatum to paint.

Holiday traditions are so much more fun with the excitement of children.

I'm not even sure this picture was taken in October but that's what folder I found it in. I just thought it was a cute one. She loves to color and sure concentrates hard when she does it.

One Saturday in October my dad was nice enough to watch the kids all day so we could go to the temple. They had a good day with him and fell asleep on the way home, perfect!

Too bad we made the mistake of stopping by nearby Kroul's Farm to get some pumpkins. We got a flat tire! So we had to hang out longer than we planned while Brennan changed it to a spare and then we hurried home so we could see Whitney and Eric briefly. Always so fun to see friends!

Lovely visit with the Ruggles.

Some October park time. I hate wood chips.

My birthday was in October! It was pretty low key. I can't even remember now what we did. But a few days later we met Brennan in Cedar Rapids for lunch at Red Robin. Such a simple thing, but so fun to do something out of the ordinary. And you can sure tell these two were cut from the same mold.

The Lights and the Rices came over for dinner and we took the required picture of the babies with Declan in the middle. So crazy how fas they grow up. And so grateful for such good friends.

We hung out with Dukey because he is our favorite. :)

Possibly one of my favorite pictures ever.

This was our first year checking out our town's pumpkin patch and we are so glad we did. They had a giant corn box for the kids to play in which they could have done for hours (I only wished they were open during the day so I could take them while Brennan was at work!). Then they had a barrel train and a bounce house and a few other climbing things that were all free for under 3. Jackpot! Somehow we only managed to get there once the whole season. :(

And finally, we finished the month off with an awesome Halloween. We brought some pizza to dad's and celebrated with him and the Eskelsens. Tatum and Declan were the Berenstain bears. Tatum loves the Berenstain bears and just like my parents did for me, I use hers and Declan's name when I read them to her so she would often tell people she was "Tatum bear". Of course they were equally confused by saying the Berenstain bears. Apparently they are even less well known than I thought. Declan's costume was super easy and my mom was nice enough to make Tatum's shirt. A huge shout out to Brennan for the awesome masks. That guy has got some artistic talent that I keep telling him is going to get taken from if he doesn't start using it more! He free handed these very quickly and they looked just like the Berenstain Bears. I, on the other hand, have no artistic ability. I ripped apart one of the kids' stuffed animals and bought some dye to dye it brown (from white) so they could have furry arms/hands/feet. I them wear them to the trick or treating day at the local grocery store and they just didn't work at all. Declan wouldn't wear his mask and then had these furry arms. He totally looked like a werewolf. It was awesome.

Love this picture of these too. Tatum sure loves Kelbie.

 A pretty cute Brother and Sister if I must say so myself.

A few final playing pictures from October. It was a good month. I miss it. But I miss everything right now.

Had to document these two playing nicely if not together, then at least in close proximity.

Check out those blue eyes!

And I will leave you with this final gem from the month. Can you say gomer baby? haha