October

 This meme reminded us of Winnie before and after a haircut so I made one of her side by side. I just forgot the bow tie!

Olive thinks Winnie doesn't like us and would rather live at the Conners. She doesn't seem depressed, does she?! ;) Poor girl. She does get more love at the Connors. They are thinking of getting a dog so I suggested we give Winnie to them and you would have thought I slapped Weston across the face. He vehemently said "NO. Why would you say that??!" It caught me off guard. I mean I know he loves her but I didn't know he cared THAT much! Ok, I guess we're not rehoming our dog. 

We met Marcie, Abbey and Katie at the Idea Museum in Mesa for some good old fashioned little kid play time! Once again, I love when Tanner gets to have a day like the type of days we always had when all my kids were young. This used to be my life 24/7. My whole day revolved around entertaining them and getting them out of the house. 

We got pretzels at The Salted Knot afterward. We were a circus! 

We had some torrential rain that flooded areas and filled all the retention basins. The boys were THRILLED to go skim boarding all week. I think Weston ultimately got an ear infection from it, but they would say it was worth it.

That darn Tooth Fairy is so forgetful!!

Weston had an ortho appointment around lunch time so we were traitors and tried out Steve's Krazy Sub on Power and McKellips. I had a coupon, ok?! 

First impressions were that it was nice and clean and trendy inside. 

Also, best pickle I ever had. EVER.

The sandwich was very comparable to Neds. Although I always get pastrami and Steve's was thick sliced and hard to chew. Not a fan of that. 

Olive had a big school assembly and got the Kindness Award from her teacher, Mrs. Inge for 1st quarter. I'm so proud of my kids being recognized for this. Truly, if they can be known for anything, I'm so glad it's for being kind.

The Morrison Ranch fall festival is always a hit for all the kids. Tanner ran over before it officially started to check it out. When I went back with him and we walked up to the police who had a little station with info about electric bikes they were like, "Oh hey Tanner!" I looked at him a little confused. As I started talking to one officer he said he had gotten to know Tanner real well and proceeded to ask me all about my kids (him knowing them by name) mentioned something about Travis being a dentist and on and on! I was dying. Apparently Tanner is extra friendly when it comes to cops. He was really proud to be wearing his SWAT costume and loved the stickers they gave him for his water bottle. This old car was a hit too.  

I got to ride along on the train ride! Life is so easy with one little kid left. Travis and I just wandered around together visiting with neighbors while Tanner jumped from activity to activity. Have I mentioned how much I love this stage of life?

The Gilbert temple was closed for cleaning so I took these guys to the Mesa temple and then to Costco for lunch. I felt like I was feeding the missionaries!

We went to dinner with Marcie and Austin while Olive babysat their kids at our house. I hope we can do this more often. We love being with the Figs. We may have waited a Guiness Book of World Records amount of time for our blizzards but Jane appreciated it. :)

Another dive meet at Brophy. It was a solid hour drive to Phoenix. I've heard about Brophy my whole life but never been before. There are homeless people and sketchy neighborhoods and then bam, a gorgeous, ivy league looking school. It felt like we were on a college campus. Collin was disappointed in his performance but Weston got a qualifying score for state. He just needs one more now!

Sunday dinner at Grandma's house and all the kids are playing in the basement when Collin suddenly runs up the stairs saying Rusty is bleeding and I could tell by the look on his face it was serious. A second later Rusty comes up holding his head there is blood EVERYWHERE. The whole entourage of kids is swarming around him. I ran for the paper towels so we could apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Cohen had chucked a wooden block and nailed him hard. I don't think he did it to be malicious. Cohen just doesn't think and it's actually quite the liability. Luckily, once the bleeding stopped, and we could look at the gash, it wasn't bad enough to need stitches. Those heads wounds, man. They are crazy! This will be a story we'll reference forever!

Our family Halloween dinner is always something I look forward to. I think the kids do too. I made twisty snake breaksticks, a veggie platter and the usual green spaghetti brains. We discovered a new Beetlejuice movie had come out and its so hard to agree on a Halloween movie so it seemed like an easy yes. Oh boy were we wrong! I really regret watching it. It's so graphic and morbid and there were a couple parts that were just plain nasty and visually disturbing. I don't know why we didn't turn it off early. We should have. I've told everyone I can think of to do yourself a favor and NOT watch it. 

Another invite... this time at McClintock. I think this picture is awesome!

Tanner had a flag football game one Friday night and we got In'N'Out afterward and saw Jace working! He's such a nice kid and came over to our table to chat with us while we ate. 

It was Heather Wayment's birthday so Travis and I went to visit her in the hospital. She just had surgery but the cancer is still there. The whole situation breaks my heart. She's so positive, but she's in pain and it's a scary thing to be going through. These cute pumpkins caught my eye on our way out. 

The day before Liam left on his mission, the boys all went fishing together. I love their bond and seeing these pictures. 

Marcie had a Relief Society presidency meeting and Austin is training to be a Lieutenant and has had to work Sundays, so I was so happy we got to have the kids over! They came over right after our church and we all had puffed up pancakes. We all fight over who gets to hold Jane!

Travis is not a fan of the dog and he lets it be known. It kills me that she will still go over by him. Dogs are endlessly loving.

That night we said our goodbyes! He's off to Hawaii!! Lucky guy.

Liam's been really good about writing emails every week and Weston looks forward to them more than anything. He said Tuesdays used to be his least favorite day but now that it's the day Liam writes, it's his favorite day.

The "triplets"! Weston has definitely pulled ahead in the height department.

These guys and their wrestling. With Travis over 50lbs heavier than him, he still seems to give it all he's got and Collin puts up a good fight. Won't be long til the tides turn... 

I thought this was sweet of Rachelle to text me and and my sisters.

Making cookies for the Lindblom Halloween party and couldn't help myself.. it's been awhile since I ate a burned cookie. I would have frozen it afterward but I couldn't wait! It was so good! 

Marcie's winter lawn wasn't ready for visitors so we did it at my parent's house this year! The Goodmans didn't come, but my boys convinced Rusty to pull up and their costumes were so funny! Collin was really feeling it and hamming it up. He was on one all night, being funny and dancing and entertaining us all. Marcie's family wins for cutest themed costume for sure!!! Love it. Especially Jane's red shoes!

The biggest viral video of the year was the CEO who was having an affair with a coworker and got caught snuggling her at a Coldplay concert. So that's who Travis and I were. I thought I had a regular blonde wig but I didn't, so it is what it is.

Grandma has worn a tie dye skirt and been a hippie for years but she surprised us with a bumblebee costume and it was so cute! We ended with a dance party. It was a great night!

I hosted book club at my house because they agreed to read a nonfiction book.. The Next Conversation by Jefferson Fisher. I love this book! My chocolate mousse spider web pie was an aesthetic flop but still a yummy. Kay made me smile when Weston walked by with his fishing pole and she was asking all sorts of questions and hopped up to inspect it and talk fishing. She's so sweet. 

It was my turn to take the girls somewhere so off to Swig I went with 7 girls in my suburban! Two of Olive's friends are from Norway and they're twins, Heda and Amelia. They moved here this year for their dad's job but they're only going to be here one year, which Olive is sad about. They came to our ward Trunk or Treat and I couldn't find Olive at one point so I started searching and found her and her friends hanging out on the brick wall. She excitedly told me that Heda and Amelia didn't know anything about Jesus so she was teaching them! I couldn't even convince them to come eat because she was so happy telling them everything she could about Jesus. My heart melted. 

Last year's theme took 1st place so I felt the pressure. I saw this idea online but darn it, another family did the same thing! Only mine was interactive... I had my kids hide in the back and they would spray silly string and make the trick or treater's hands touch slime when they reached up for a candy. After they got slimed, then they'd give a treat. I think the kids loved it. 

Time to carve those pumpkins!!

Greenfield Elementary does a costume parade in the morning. 3rd grade was LAST to come out. It was sweltering, but hey, all the love for my little SWAT guy!

Midday dates are the best.

I organized and headed up Tanner's class party. Why are class parties always mayhem?! The Allstate commercials should market this angle. Just show an elementary school class party. You always need an Advil afterward. And his class is small.. only 24 kids! 

Speaking of insurance... how about this theme?!! 

As Travis put it, Quinn is a brave man. I will always die laughing when I think of this picture. Also, how did new guy mess up Jake from State Farm so bad? Dude, all you needed was a bright red polo. 

On actual Halloween night Olive invited a bunch of girls over and my mom had also said her and dad would come over so I had a spread of pizza, mummy dogs, veggies, dips and soda! Tanner walked the neighborhood with Ace and Noble and Ace's mom. 

Olive really struggled deciding what to dress up as and I LOVE that she went against the grain and chose Benson Boone. All of her friends had "cutesie" costumes and then there she is in all her mustache glory haha! She embraced it and I think she rocked it!!

Sliiiight mirror mishap by Collin. Sigh. He was doing a handstand and fell over and his legs knocked the mirror forward, shattering it. 7 years bad luck, Collin!! 

Paige wanted to dress up as Where's Waldo. Collin acquiesced but was not happy about it haha. He was all sorts of irritated by me taking his picture. I think they're cute!

The potato in the candy bowl lives another year! The kids love it and its great entertainment as the groups discover it and fight over it. We went through 20lbs of potatoes and could have used more!

The Bugais transformed their garage into a haunted house. It wasn't really scary, but more creepy. I was impressed by the effort!

Weston's pumpkin with a real hook in its mouth!

Olive's pumpkin.

Tanner's pumpkin. 

Collin's pumpkin.

My dad came late because he wasn't feeling well, but then I guess he ate and felt better. Low blood sugar probs haha.

Love having a Friday Halloween!!!

Collin went to a party with McGuire the next night. It was a rager out in Queen Creek. Literally hundreds and hundreds of kids. There was a "bouncer" at the gate, a DJ and apparently lots of alcohol. And black guys looking to pick a fight with whomever bumped into them the wrong way. But Collin was very self-assured that he could handle himself with those guys. McGuire immediately ditched him to go make out with girls and Collin got all his costume stripped off by the mosh pits. The police broke it up. He came home and told us all about it. I struggled just listening and not saying.. um sounds scary... remember Preston Lord?! I was just grateful he came home safely felt comfortable telling us about it! 

I printed all these pictures of my decorations and put them in the box after I took them down so that next year I can just reference them and not have to use my brain power to remember where everything goes! Or, if I'm lucky, I'll hand them to Olive and have HER decorate next year!