October

October always means. . . BREAK!

This year Ellie's break was a completely different week than the other three, so we stayed put and just had fun in Arizona.

 Luke read his first chapter book, "Magice Tree House Hashtag 1."

 I needed to go to IKEA to get some things for the house and it entertained us all day.

 It was still in the 100's so we went swimming.

 We had some youth over from our Ward to watch a session of conference.

And then had our usual Priesthood session at the park with all the moms and kids.

 This year, the big girls spent the night at our house before we headed over to Meredith's for Conference Brunch.

 These girls took beautiful notes. Maybe did an even better job than the parents.

We spent another long morning at the library.

 And then picked up goodies at the dollar store.

 Purchased some Halloween costumes.

And threw Nate a birthday party. He wanted a sleepover, so I told him that he had to limit it to 3 friends.

They ate a lot of junk food and spent the night at Flipside playing laser tag and bowling.

 Smashburger for dinner (Nate loooves hamburgers) and pizookies for dessert.

 

 I also took the kids to paint pottery one afternoon.

 

 I had to take another day on our own little date since she was in school. I made it up to her for missing out on two weeks of fun with lots of lunch dates and shopping trips.

There was still lots of sports.

Fee donuts for perfect report cards.

I got sick one day and Luke kept me company.

 When the Dayton's came over for a playdate, Ellie created a create-a-monster cupcake bar.

We went to see Pan (not that great)

And I hosted my last Activity Days with the old ward.

Our neighborhood Boo'ed each other as Halloween approached.

 Friends still helped us with never ending house projects. Best.friends.ever!

 Lots of Halloween parties! New ward, old ward, friends. . .

 . . . a witches lunch. . .

 . . . and Wanda Witch.

 For Nate's birthday, Dustin took him to a Cardinal's Monday Night Football Game.

And then we took him to Oregano's for dinner on his actual birthday.

He also received his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts.
 He had an amazing leader. We miss him already.

Our neighborhood threw a block party for Halloween, complete with the fire department there with a fire truck.

 And Ellie ditched us shortly after this photo to go trick-or-treating with friends. As always, we ended up with way too much candy.