October 2016
We enjoyed pumpkin carving with our friends Rob and Martha.
This year we actually got someone else to take our pictures, the amazing Brittany Bennion. She did great with 15 minutes and 2 extremely unwilling participants.
Guess which kid actually had a good attitude? Oh man, he's a cutie.
We still had money left in our Primary Refugee relief budget, so with another sale on fleece, I was able to get help from the ESL group I help lead....
and the Ypsilanti Cooperative Preschool. I was in charge of the Harvest Dinner, including activities. Soyou know, two birds with one stone.
The theme was Trip Around the World, so for the potluck everyone brought a dish to represent a country. The kids had most fun with all the inflatable globes I brought for centerpiece. Let's just say they had a ...ball. Sorry.
I ran Anthony's annual Huron Hustle 1/2 Marathon, just a couple of weeks later than everyone else. Shelby joined us for parts, including the end, where she totally pushed me to the end. She'd make a great doula.
Bumped into "Elder" Wells (my old zone leader, and I think AP) at Stake conference.
Esther and her friend Jackson
I just couldn't stop taking pictures, they were just so smiley together.
A visit to the school at lunch time
Mitchel Elementary's Fall Festival. Esther won soda somehow.
Man, this was a busy month. I was also in charge of the Ward's Halloween Party...which was my fault. I didn't want to blow all of our budget on doughnuts for the Trunk or Treat, so instead Primary organized a Chili cookoff, costume party, and games by other auxiliaries. A lot more work, but more bonding and fun socializing for the effort...at least in my opinion. A few of the grownups were way more bummed out than the kids were about nixing the trunk or treat.
Esther with Shelby and Penguin Noelle
My stomach hurts just looking at this. This was only a portion of the chili cookoff's entries. I conveniently chose myself as one of the taste tester to check a dream off my bucketlist.
Mikayla :)
Ran a 10k with some friends. We were sweets: Ice Cream, Candy Corn (Mckay), an Airhead (Shelby), Gumball machine (Camilla), Dippin' Dots (Chelci.) My pace was 8:55 a mile and I came in 4th for my age/gender group. It was only out of 11, but I was pretty proud of myself.
Trying to fit into his toddler costume.
Eliot borrowed my tutu. "I'm a flower!"
Esther visiting Eliot's preschool for the Halloween party.
Experimenting with giant pizookies. Don't know why I thought this was worth documenting. Ant and I are in the same picture?
Conference Weekend. The boys really like this activity we've done a couple times, where we think of a few important topics, and they tally up how many times they hear the key word. In case anyone was wondering, Conference is VERY centered on Christ. I think we only got a couple of talks in when Ira tallied 65 and decided to move on to something else.
Frozen b-day party in between sessions. Happy 3rd Allison!
Cinnamon Roll Making
The Barneys came for a session. I think this is about the time Esther adopted Justin as a second father.
Random inspection of "alien slime."
Fun visit from Uncle Nate!
Wiard's Market with cousin James
Eliot discovered that if he wraps himself up in a blanket, he can get an Esther hug instantly.
Preschool field trip to a pumpkin patch.
And finally, Halloween!
Esther decided that she wanted to be Dragon Strawberry Shortcake. Convenient since Ira and Eliot were Dragon Ninjas this year, and Eliot decided on regular Ninja last minute.
The spoils
Thank you visiting our life. Come again. :)
