TRICK OR TREAT!

Finally, tonight, we got to go trick-or-treating! We had a long week, waiting for Halloween. On Tuesday we went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat party, which was so fun. And that was especially nice because Dan was in town. So we got to have a fun family Halloween party. Olivia has been planning to be a kitty cat for so long, and luckily for me, I found a strip of black crushed velvet in my sewing scraps. So we made her a tail and some ears and painted her face and she looked adorable. And Rylie loves her ballet dressup clothes, so she was especially excited about wearing her ballet shoes to church. Tucker, on the other hand, hasn't been able to decide what he wanted to be for Halloween. We were vascillating between Batman and Ben10 and Sonic the Hedgehog. Thankfully, he decided on the easiest of the three costumes to create, Ben10 (he's a character from a cartoon about a little boy who saves the world by turning into different alien forms to defeat bad guys, using an extraterrestrial watch that crashed to earth via a meteor - you can see why it might be the favorite show of a 6 year old.) :)

By Halloween night, however, Olivia had changed her mind about being a kitty and Rylie had filled her tutu with peanut butter, so Livs and Rylie donned two of Tucker's old costumes, with only two minor additions - ribbons, to make a GIRL dinosaur and a GIRL giraffe. They were adorable, and lots warmer for the cool night air. We went trick or treating with our best friends Aubrie and Robbie. I was glad to have Amber and Ryan's help trying to corral three sugar-high children in the dark. It really was super fun. :)

the pumpkin patch!

We had such a fun Saturday morning at the pumpkin patch! The kids thought it was so cool to pick out their own perfect pumpkin from the field, and then they got a wheelbarrow ride from Dad. "He's SO strong!" Then we got to play on the big tree swing (we did this when we went strawberry picking at the same fields...) and talk to the horsies. But the fun new addition at the farm this year was the pig racing. They let these adorable little piglets run around a tiny corral and the kids cheered them on as they ran. They thought that was hilarious. I did, too, actually. :)

It really was a beautiful fall morning, and I love it when we get to spend such wonderful time together as a family. It doesn't happen often enough, it seems, but when it does, it's just fabulous. :)

the annual besties weekend

Just a few weekends ago we had our annual "besties" reunion - a group of my 10 best friends from my freshman year at BYU, and every year we get together for one weekend (without hubbies and without children, unless they're nursing babies) and we have a BLAST.

This year we went to Boston, and it was so incredibly fun. We got to walk the freedom trail, visit a pumpkin farm, "meditate" at Walden Pond, tour Harvard yard, cheer on the regatta racers, and eat - A LOT. Plus, it was fun just to revert to the silly-college-girls attitude. There's a reason that these girls are 10 of my best friends in the whole world. I come home rejuvenated and revivified. :)

Moo, Mim, Jennie, and Jenn at the bank of the Charles River, cheering the regatta race.

Jennie and I enjoyed a little relax time by Walden Pond

a little miracle

I know those of you who've talked to me over the past two years that we've been here in Athens know how much we have relied on the Lord to help us through some difficult financial times. We really, truly, have survived on the miracles and the blessings of paying our tithing. And this afternoon was just another example.

I was looking at our bank account this afternoon and fretting just a bit about our finances. (Ok, more than "just a bit" - I was seriously about to have a mental break down.) We are not quite half-way through the month and there was barely enough money left in our account to cover our tithing check that will probably clear some time this week. And we still have bills and groceries and gas for two more weeks that we need to pay for! As I was stressing out, I was concerned that there was a dramaturgy job I finished a month or so ago, that I still hadn't been paid for. I was about to write a desperate email to the theatre that owed me a paycheck, when suddenly and very calmly a voice came to my mind that said, 'just go check the mailbox.'

I was eager as I walked down the driveway hill, and when the first envelope I noticed after opening the mailbox was stamped "Salt Lake City, UT" I knew the Lord had heard our humble prayers. This was the paycheck we were waiting for, and I was so thankful that I listened to the spirit, that the Lord sent us this blessing yet again, and that we will now be able to pay our bills this month. I'm so grateful for tithing!