October

This is Megan. I know Nathan always does the post, and everyone loves his creative and witty style, but I wanted to add some pictures and info that Nathan forgot to add in his previous post. SO...

We began early October with a trip to "Apple Works." We actually went twice--once with friends and once with family. The weather could not have been more perfect, and there were plenty of fun things to do with the kids. Then the kids had a few days off of school for "Fall Break," so we invited friends over for a Halloween Cookie Decorating Party. My main motivation for doing this was because I wanted to try out my new Pampered Chef Cookie Press (a fun gift from my sister who was trying to get rid of junk in her kitchen). But the dang cookie press was horrible-- it so did not work! But, I went ahead and made do with a pumpkin cookie cutter and an angel cookie cutter that I creatively made into a ghost:) The cookie party was a big hit--cookies, frosting, sprinkles, and friends--what could be better! We had about 20 adults/kids/babies at the party, and the only place I found frosting (besides the kitchen) was on my hall banister--not bad.

And, of course, we ended the month with Halloween. Well, not really, Nathan and I took off right before trick-or-treating began, but we got a few pictures of the kids. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for taking the kids out to get candy.

Kaitlyn was a BYU cheerleader...again. I think she's wore this outfit every year. She has a great princess costume that she was going to wear, but a few days before Halloween she found the cheerleadering outfit and I couldn't convince her of anything else. Oh well--Go Cougs!

Alison insisted on being a basketball player--her shirt says something about sports, so she wanted that as her jersey. Talk about the cheapest costume in the land!
And Max was our tiger! He was so stinkin' cute. It was hard taking a picture of him because he was running around. Nathan mentioned that Max was walking, but it's more of a slow run.

And, of course, I need to mention why we bailed on our kids' Halloween...we went on a fun trip to Charlottesville--by ourselves!!! It was such a blast hanging out with my hubby all weekend! I read a book, I got to carry-on my bags, and I didn't cook or clean for 2 whole days! We got to eat out with Cville friends and go to a football game, I even went to Relief Society! I told Nathan that we needed more weekend-get-aways like this:)

And my parents and sister and brother-in-law were FABULOUS for taking the kids; they even survived all of sacrament meeting without having to take any of the 7 kids out. Yeah!

Getting Back on the Horse, "Sunday Best", and Catching You Up

It was brought to my attention that it has been almost a full month since I blogged last. Now, let me bring something to your collective attention. It has been almost a full month since my beloved BYU Cougars let TCU trounce them on the football field. Up until that point we had faithfully watched every game this season. I even upgraded our DirecTV package to get The Mountain just so we could see the games. Since that loss, BYU has played (and won) 4 games. I have them all on DVR, but I haven't been able to motivate myself enough to watch 3 of these last 4 games. You see, I had had visions of perfection this season--visions of BCS bowls, claims to National Championships, and the unconditional respect of my alma mater by my peers. Sure, we're guaranteed a bowl appearance. Sure, we're guaranteed at least a 10-2 record. But, I let myself get too emotionally involved. Now, Megan keeps telling me I need to "get back on the horse" and get back into the games. I watched the 38-24 win over Air Force yesterday. I think that's a good start?

Naturally, this leads into my next topic. Growing up I thought that the term referred to the need to wear your very best clothing for church attendance. However, as an adult, I believe that this term has an alternate definition. I believe "Sunday Best" actually means "the best clothes that you can wear--not the best clothes that you have." Sure, I have a nice dry-clean only suit that I could wear. But, do I wear it? Absolutely not! And, why not? Because I know that by the end of the 3-hour block of meetings I will have some combination of the following on my clothes: blood, drool, crayon, marker, animal cracker slime, tears and/or nasal fluid. The real question is how long it will be until the former definition returns.

Now, let's catch you up with the last month of highlights from the family:

1. Max is walking. Well.

2. Max had his first haircuit.

3. Megan and I went to Charlottesville for a company recruiting trip, went to a tailgate and then attended the UVA football game.

4. I went to Chicago and Michigan.

5. Max, Megan and I went to Utah to attend my grandfather's funeral. (I'd like to dedicate a separate post to him in the future.)

6. While we were there we visited Megan's sister's family and saw their new house that they were building.

7. We also attended my other grandfather's 80th birthday party.

8. Alison started her basketball league.

9. Alison scored 10 points in her second basketball game. (Insert proud dad smile here.)

10. Cute Kaitlyn story (file photo): Today Alison was having a meltdown because a letter she had written to her cousin Grant mysteriously disappeared. Kaitlyn was immediately blamed. Kaitlyn, in her most loving voice, said to Alison, "Ali, Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to be happy" and then starting singing the song "If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay, quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away."

Lastly, I won't bore you with my ramblings about Proposition 8 responses, freedom of religion, nationalization of 401k's, protectionism, expansion of government and other terrifying topics. I won't bore you with these today, but be forwarned...