October and Fall!

It has been an eventful month! The weather is still fantastically warm, and I'm trying to enjoy it more than wish it felt more crisp in the air. 

We have enjoyed many fall-time activities this month, along with Halloween crafts and fun too.

Our neighbor has a crab apple tree. Maya and Brianna were enjoying collecting the apples even though they were rotting and yucky.

For play group on the 11th we went to a pumpkin patch and got to take a hay ride!

See? Great weather!! One day we were hanging out at home not doing much, and Maya said, "Hey, Mom. Let's go do something. Like a bike ride!" So we strapped on helmets and went for a ride around the neighborhood - well, I walked (without a helmet). It is a whole new level when they start being so independent and not needing to ride in the stroller all the time anymore. 

The maple in our backyard has turned a magnificent shade of fiery red.

We had the cultural celebration for the temple dedication. What a night! As a young woman leader I was blessed to get to assist in the practices and other parts of getting ready for the performance. It was really fun (albeit stressful and annoying at times when the kids were super disrespectful to the leaders trying to get stuff done) and something I will remember forever.

We did have one relatively chilly day, and we had tea to warm us up!

Ryan and I attended the temple the first Saturday after it had opened. It is so beautiful inside and having it in our home town, just a couple of miles away from our house, made the whole experience even sweeter.

We have a huge amount of leaves to clean up after the fiery maple started dropping its embers!