Halloween a little Early!

Our ward had the annual chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat this weekend. We didn't enter any award-winning chili in the cook-off, but T is planning on learning the chili cooking trade and sloppin' some down for a show-down next year. Watch out! Have the water handy (and the TUMS), because I think he likes it spicy!

Since our ward split, our ward has gotten tiny or tweeeeny as L. likes to say, so we only took up a little bit of the church parking lot. The kids got outfitted and went from trunk to trunk begging for candy. They're good lil' beggars, because they came home with oodles of the sweet stuff, and it's not even Halloween! Well, I guess we'll have to implement the Mom & Dad tax to help deplete the candy supply. I'm so glad we had the trunk or treat the weekend before Halloween. Now the kiddos can wear their costumes twice and go around our neighborhood too! Hope our teeth don't fall out with all the candy.

Pumpkin Patch Between Bouts of Sickness

Here is L. See L. smile. See L. NOT be sick. Yay!

See L. run. See L. run through the maze! Again. And again. And again.

Chugga chugga choo-choo! All aboard!

L and I went with some friends to the Pumpkin Patch last week. It was a much needed time out after X. and L. had been sick for the past two weeks (each taking a week at a time--see, we take turns at our house! Even when it comes to sickness.). L. loved running around with his buddies. He tried a bigger maze with his friend C, but the smaller one was more their size. L's friends really were with him, just not in these pictures. Taking pictures of little active boys is quite a feat--it takes lightning reflexes to capture their cuteness before they're running to something new.

Now we're back in the sickness realm. B. was sick the beginning of the week, and now poor L. is sick again. We're headed to the dr. later today. I've a sneaky suspicion he has strep. I never knew I'd get to wear the nurse's hat so often in my life as a mother!

Family Fun and Conference

L. got to go on a little train ride and picnic for his friend's b-day. He loved the train ride, he loved being with his friend, and he loved eating the blue frosting on his cupcake! Can you tell??

The kiddos had a half day of school Friday, so we went to a city park to play and have a picnic for dinner. We had such fun being outside together. Better yet--there were no dirty dishes to clean up!

Then this weekend was the General Conference broadcast both Saturday and Sunday. I was SO looking forward to this; I really needed to have my spiritual batteries recharged and they were. I'm so thankful that in this uncertain time, my loving Heavenly Father has given us prophets and apostles, scriptures and prayer, and testimony and truth. There was a feeling of love, joy, and peace in our home as we listened. The kiddos didn't have to listen the whole time, but they chose to be near us the whole time. X. just smiled and said he liked it.