Happy Halloween!

Trunk-or-Treat event at church the Saturday before Halloween

Even though we had a colder (and SNOWY!) Halloween, it was still packed with fun and we made some wonderful memories.

This year, Hylie wanted to be a little character from the cartoon show "Bluey".  She dressed up as "Muffin", a tiny cousin with a huge personality.

Eliana was pretty excited to dress up as Zelda, but not just any outfit would do--it had to be from the video game "Breath of the Wild".  She knew I generally use a hoodie to serve as the 'base' of the costume, but this year when she told me she wanted to be a princess, she hesitantly asked, "And can it not be a hoodie costume?" Ha ha!  I was grateful to assure her I can attempt costumes outside of the hoodie realm.  I won't lie, this costume presented it's challenges...and I also found out how much I didn't know about sewing with metallic, four-way stretch fabric.  Yikes!

After we had our trunk-or-treat event at the church, I could tell Eliana was a little less enthusiastic to dress up for Halloween.  Eventually she shared she was 'embarrassed' that not very many people recognized who she was dressed up as.  

Well, thankfully the kids at school pulled through on that one.  There were a TON of boys dressed up as Link and many of them expressed excitement when they saw Zelda was there with them.  I was delighted to see Eliana's smile in the (cold) school parade as she enjoyed being in character.

Lillian decided to take a little break from her Panda obsession and dress up as a squirrel.  She was pretty specific on wanting the tail to stand up and not hang down--so I was pretty excited to have found this costume online for the same amount of money I would have spent on the fur alone to make the tail!

At first, Kyron said he wanted to be Mario...but when he announced that he got pretty quiet and then hesitantly revealed, "Actually, I want to be Bowser."  Bowser terrifies Kyron.  Whenever the kids are playing their Mario games and Bowser makes an appearance, Kyron leaves the room.  And when we watched the Mario movie, Kyron was pretty quick to disappear when a scene with Bowser in it was even hinted at.  I truly think this was a 'facing his fears' move, ha ha!  But he LOVED the costume and even helped make it!  

When I told him I was working on the spikes, he slowly looked up and asked, "Are they going to be hard or soft spikes?"  And the grin on his face when I told him "soft" told me he approved.  He then sat next to me as I sewed and turned the spikes right side out and pushed the pointy part up with a pen cap.  

Lots of kids (and adults) expressed excitement when they saw him coming and it was fun seeing his slightly bashful responses.

As we were out trick or treating, I loved watching them go up to each door together and just as I thought Kyron was teetering out, he burst into a run and shouted, "I LOVE this, I LOVE this, I LOVE this!"  Ha ha!  Me too.

Carving Pumpkins

 I'm happy to report that this year we all came out of pumpkin carving with all fingers intact!  I thought letting the kids draw their design and then you get to figure out how to cut it was stressful...Geoff and I have reached a new milestone in parenting where the kid does all the carving!

Eliana patiently waiting for Hylie to scoop out her pumpkin 'guts' because she definitely was NOT touching the stuff!

I captured Kyron just as his big scoop of pumpkin goop got away from him.  He recovered pretty quickly from the ordeal.

Lillian's 7th Birthday

 We got to celebrate this ball of energy turning 7!  I found myself giggling when my Mom and I were discussing what we could get Lillian for her birthday, because I feel she still loves the same things she has for five years: crafts and stuffed animals!  Lillian loves snuggling, being creative, and sharing her art.  Often we'll come to dinner with little notes and drawings on each person's plate that were hand drawn by Lillian.  For her birthday this year, she wanted to make sure each classmate got a little personalized drawing and a handmade 'pacman' from her.

Even though going to school is not something she prefers right now, her learning has not been stifled at all.  She continues to read up a storm, writes like crazy, and figures out math like it's nobody's business.  Lillian is one bright, lovely, and energetic girl and we're excited to see what's in store for her this year!

She wanted a chocolate squirrel cake to match her upcoming Halloween costume.

Anytime you see a picture of Lillian, you can almost guarantee that two pictures were taken.  Above is the typical first take...

and then we show her the picture to remind her that her super cheesy smile is a tad overload and then we get this take!

Trip to Historic Nauvoo

 We were able to spend two days in Nauvoo during the second weekend of October.  And if that wasn't special enough...Jared, Genevieve, Hyrum, and Amy happened to be there at the same time!  It was a wonderful, memorable visit and we already can't wait to go back.  

Lillian volunteered to dance a jig with one of the performance groups!

Admittedly, we were pretty non-stop while there.  We'd bounce from demonstration, to tour, to performance one right after another.  The kiddos were incredible and engaged the entire time.  There were a few moments where we weren't sure if Kyron would make it through a tour, but he truly was amazing...and exhausted.  When we were at the Family Living Center, I turned to Geoff and told him I was going to the restroom.  Right when I got back, Kyron said he wanted to go to the restroom so Geoff took him only to return a very short time later with a funny grin on Geoff's face and a disgruntled look on Kyron.  The minute Geoff had opened the door to the restroom, Kyron looked up at him and said, "No!  This is a bathroom!  I don't need a bathroom, I need a RESTroom!"  ha ha ha!

Lots of things to do at the Family Living Center

Uncle Jared (yes, that's him with those lovely locks) was a super good sport when he got called out from the audience to 'help'.

Jared and Genevieve not only made the appointment for us all to attend the temple together, but also volunteered Hyrum and Amy to watch our kids to make it possible!

Imagine our surprise to learn that the gentleman driving the team of horses was Dad's cousin and stand partner in band: Ray Lynn Hurst!  It was so neat to make that realization (thanks, Genevieve!) and visit with Ray Lynn and his wife.

We can't even begin to comprehend the sacrifice that these men and families made so we could be richly blessed with the gospel today.

On the banks of the Mississippi where thousands of saints began their journey of the next chapter full of so many unknowns but overflowing with faith.