Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween. The kids got some wonderful candy, and since Jack can't have peanuts, we enjoyed raiding his candy to keep him safe. It's a win win for everyone. Plus, our quiet street was extra quiet tonight and we have a whole bowl of candy left over. Looks like a lot of sugar highs in our future.  Here's our little Jedi's all dressed up and ready to go:

Japanese Gardens and Food

The weather was really beautiful yesterday and so we decided to go explore Portland. The city is famous for it's food cart/trucks and so we decided to go and try a couple. We found a parking lot downtown that was ringed with every imaginable food type: Thai, German, French, Indian.... After making a lap and checking them all out, Christian got some fish'n chips from the The Frying Scotsman and I got some teriyaki chicken from the Aloha Bowl. The food was really good and surprisingly affordable. We are excited to go exploring for food trucks again soon. Of course, we forgot to take pictures of this part but here is one we found online.

After eating, we headed over to the Japanese Gardens. They were beautiful! We can't wait to go again.

 

Making dragon faces!

 

Fall Fun

I love Fall. It is my favorite time of year. We have been having a lot of fun enjoying the Fall activities near our home. We went to a pumpkin patch with Dave and Em.

The kids and I went on a hayride around the pumpkin patch, which was really fun. This farm has a section of Christmas trees along with the pumpkins. I love Christmas tree farms.

Jack went on his first big slide and loved it!

Back at home, we have been trying to get outside whenever the weather is dry.  Here some pictures of the kids on the backyard swing and on the front porch.

Sorry this is blurry, but he looked so cute!

I love the way Anna is looking at Jack. She loves her big brother!

Parades, Parties, and Pets

After going through the camera today, I realized we have a lot of random pictures to post. So here we go:

 Obi Wan Jack-  

Yes, Jack is still in love with Star Wars and I fed his obsession by making an Obi Wan cloak

Our house backs up to a green belt and so we have lots of critters coming through the yard. Mostly our visitors consist of squirrels that the kids call Bushy and Muncher, and a raccoon we call Bandit. The kids love watching the squirrels climb across the telephone wires and eat the nuts from the trees. Bandit isn't as frequent of a visitor, but he comes out in the afternoon sometimes to drink from our bird bath and take naps in the yard.

We have really enjoyed living in a small town. There is only one high school here and the football team is a pretty big deal. We can hear the marching band, cheerleaders, and game call from our house on Friday nights and we love it. This last Friday was Homecoming and after school, there was parade right down main street. We asked some of our new friends to walk over with us and check it out. The parade was short and sweet, which was perfect for me, and the kids got a bag full of candy, which was perfect for them.

On Sunday, we went down to Em and Dave's to celebrate Steve' 35 birthday. We ate pizza, watched General Conference, played in the yard, and had some yummy cake. The kids had a great time decorating cupcakes and playing with each other.  We had a really nice afternoon.