What the Rest of October Looked Like

October started off with a hurricane.

I can't remember which one.

It wasn't very bad.

BUT, we did lose power for a bit, which messed up 

our ability to watch General Conference!

We had to start off watching on Drew's ipad!

We got a bunch of leaves in the backyard.

But that was the extent of our damage.

Andrew was excited for the chance to hook up the generator.

I worked on some art books during parts of conference.

I love the experience of spending the whole weekend 

as a family watching conference. Andrew is so busy

on Sundays that it is a rare treat.

We also love seeing Ryan Murphy, a friend from our

BYU ward, while he conducts the tabernacle choir.

While our house didn't have any damage,

I did see some trees down when I went on my

Monday morning walk.

Fun temple trip with Jenae.

I was shopping at a cute gift shop and

came across some NuSkin products!

Andrew decided it was time to cut down our 

Bradford Pear trees.

We have two of them.

This one to the right of the driveway.

And this one in the middle of the yard.

They are getting so big.

And we've seen many in the neighborhood that break during ice storms.

Andrew was afraid they could hit the house.

Plus, they're really stinky when they bloom in the spring.

The workers were SUPER fast.

They had both trees completely gone in 

less than three hours. Wow.

And they're gone!

Fewer leaves for me to take care off this fall. :)

Our St. Francis softball team.

I wish I would've taken off my jacket! :/

Fall is starting.

Fun to see the leaves starting to change.

Whitney's chorus concert was broadcast on YouTube.

We were on a plane when it live-streamed,

but I was so grateful we could watch it online later.

So happy she is still singing!

Our first Camilla bloom of the season.

Care Bear is still loving silks!

Fun to watch her progressing.

We got to go to the temple with Bishop and Rebecca.

So fun getting to know them better.

It was a special session for our stake.

Loved seeing lots of the people Andrew serves with.

Still wordling!

We have a group text with me, Grandma Sweat,

Care Bear and Whit. Grandma and I do it every day.

Whit has not done it much since she moved out.

Care Bear probably does it 2-3 times a week.

Our softball team, which usually STINKS,

somehow managed to take second place in our

bracket this year! We were SO CLOSE to first.

We even got plaques. :)

Marianne asked me if I'd take her 

family portraits this month.

We met just south of Charlotte at Kings

Mountain State park.

And then we went out to eat in Gastonia.

So fun to have a little date night with them!

BYU played Liberty University in Virginia.

Yes!

I told Andrew I wanted tickets for my birthday.

But I wanted to go with friends. :)

Luckily, Angie, Chad, and Marcia were all up for joining me.

Hooray!

We had a fun drive up to Roanoke.

Got to tailgate and see Cosmo.

It was a GORGEOUS fall day.

And the campus is beautiful.

And I always love being around so many other Cougar fans.

Unfortunately, the football was...

Hmmmm.....

What word should I use?

Horrific!

Embarrassing!

Terrible.

We got our butts kicked.

But I was still happy for a fun little road trip with friends.

Care Bear was at the temple while I was

cheering on the Cougars.

Cool car driving around Adams Farm.

Jayne and I took a quick day trip up to the Blue Ridge Pkwy.

It was my only time to make it there this fall.

We hiked at Rough Ridge.

I love that hike.

We also stopped at the Moses Cone Manor.

And ate at Foggy Bottom, one of my fave restaurants

in Blowing Rock.

And stopped at one of my fave little overlooks

before heading home to pick up C from school.

Looking forward to many more day trips with Jayne!

The Greenwoods hosted a halloween party

at their house. This was my spooky 7-layer dip.

And I borrowed Amy's awesome

idea of caramel apple nachos.

They were a big hit!

I "dressed up" as a BYU fan.

Caroline's ASL teacher offered extra credit

for students who went to the deaf awareness

day at the Renaissance Festival.

We'd never been, but decided to give it a try.

It is quite the experience.

Lots of people!

And most of them REALLY get into it.

I thought this climbing wall was hilarious.

This was a GIANT rocking horse.

These parasols were pretty.

Fairies

Jugglers

Check out this guys makeup!

I was tempted to buy a bird whistle.

I totally should have.

There were live mermaids.

A walking tree

One of my favorite parts was the bird show!

We got to hear a laughing kookaburra.

And see some cool birds of prey.

I forgot all of their names.

More elaborate costumes

The biggest draw of the day is the joust!

Super fun to watch that.

This Pepsi sign on the way out cracked me up.

I'm glad we went.

But I'd be okay if we didn't go back.

Not really my thing.

We got home just in time to get changed

and make it to the ward trunk or treat.

Actually, I thought we made it on time,

but it turns our we were half an hour late.

And missed most of the trunk-or-treating.

Oops!

We still had a fun night.

There was a great turnout.

Lots of people!

Rebecca won the chili-cook off!

Made yummy caramel corn for the FHE treat.

I got to be at NAI on Halloween, which was fun.

The kids came trick-or-treating to the classes.

They posted this pic on their social media, so I borrowed it.

One of the SWEETEST moments was when I watched a little

boy open up his bag and see all the candy in there.

His face was PRICELESS.

I'm sure he's never seen anything like that before.

Oh, what a joy it is to rub shoulders with these 

amazing people.

Care Bear also got to do silks on Halloween.

Um... can you see her muscles?

Holy cow is she ripped!

And flexible!

She came home and changed back into her grape costume 

and went trick-or-treating with her church friends in the neighborhood.

It was sprinkling, so Andrew and I set up shop

in the garage to hand out candy.

We had a nice, quiet night at home.