Any mention of the month of October wouldn't be complete without the most important part - the first weekend in October is always General Conference for my church and we spend 8-10 hours listening to and/or watching Prophets and general authorities and leaders of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I loved, as always, this conference. I spent the first part in Mesa with Tim and Rosa, the second session in Queen Creek with Daniel and Amanda, then I rushed back to Tucson for a night hike with a group of Friends at Star Pass. I spent the night at Holly, Heidi, and Meta's house. Then Sunday morning we went to Killen, Dave and Jeff's house for a HUGE waffle breakfast and the first session. The boys went gourmet on us and made orange butter topping, fruit and cream topping, Banana's foster, and freshly whipped cream, along with Belgium waffles! It was DELICIOUS! For the finally session we went to the institute. It was a great weekend, spending time with family, friends and faith, getting a huge spiritually uplift for the whole month.
I had fall break for the week of October 12 - 16, and I got to spend it in California. I met Aunt Louise in Mesa after work on Friday the 9th (the last day of my long term substituting job in Kindergarten) and we drove over to Bakersfield. Dad couldn't come because he was so sick for so long, so he used the time off to stay in bed the whole time.
Rachel also drove down from Utah on Friday; Ben, Kori and kids came the next day. Sunday we had a surprise party for Chloe, who turned one a few weeks later. Ben sometimes tells his kids bedtime stories, Carson is a cowboy, Makenzie is mysterious and Chloe is a Caterpillar until she grows into something else. So we took that and ran with it. Sarah made the CUTEST Hungry Caterpillar cake complete with cookies of everything he ate in the book, she also gave them the book. Although Chloe didn't get to enjoy the yummy cake or cookies, everyone else did! Chloe did enjoy the fun, she smiled and laughed - what a sunny little personality she has!
Monday morning we woke up extra early and drove down to Disneyland! It was REALLY busy! so many people there! However, we still had a great time. We rode rides and ate and had a great time. It was all decorated for Halloween, even Space Mountain (which Rachel, Sarah and I waited to ride in the evening for 1 1/2 hours!) had a galactic ghost. While we were walking out they were doing a fun villains musical extravaganza with lots of fireworks! It was a really fun day, full of rides, sleeping babies, and lots of group decisions, which we as a family aren't super great at!
Rachel left the next day while Ben and Kori stayed for another day in the park with Kori's family. I was able to do a photo shoot of the Californians. Here are just a few of my favorite shots.
Once back in Tucson things didn't settle back down. I was busy as ever. I wasn't working as a long term sub anymore, but was still getting jobs, which tells you just how blessed I am because there isn't a shortage of substitute teachers. I also had all of my weekends full. Stephanie, Deanna and I crashed the U5 and U2 ward camp out (we are all in U1), but we really wanted to go camping and got invited by some of them. It was a very entertaining weekend, it included a singing, joke-telling poem-reciting cowboy, spiritual fireside, REALLY GOOD FOOD, Phase 10 feud (which was fuelled after Zac found out that he wasn't getting to know people from 2nd ward, but that we were in fact from 1st ward), a trip to Inspiration Point (which gives a great view of the stars and the city) and lots of fun times with friends.
One of the best parts of October was meeting Elizabeth. I was inspired by my sister-in-law, Rosa, and my friend, Heidi, to join Big Brother Big Sisters. I was matched with my new "Little Sister" Elizabeth. She is so much fun to hand out with. After our first meeting, we went out once, October 28th. We went bowling for one game and instead of doing a second game she opted to go to Reid Park, where despite the fact that it was surprisingly cold, we got ice cream and walked around the duck pond taking pictures. We also took pictures at the huge rose garden, which I didn't even know was there. We swung on the swings, did the monkey bars, and rolled down the hill getting prickles everywhere. It was a lot of fun! So far in November I have seen her twice, once for her birthday and once for a Bigs sponsored Fudruckers dinner (YUM!). I can't wait for our next meeting.
In general, October was just a fun time of hanging out with friends and enjoying the fun opportunities Tucson has to offer. We went to a few wedding receptions, had some game nights (a Sunday evening ritual), went to YSA (young single adult) activities, and of course and always we went out for ice cream! We also had some fun at Target, where Ryan works. They reopened a store on Oracle as a super center and we got to go to the Friends and Family night. We got a lot of free food and had fun trying on some goofy outfits!
We carved pumpkins for FHE (family home evening) and a group of us made cookies, took shaving cream and TP and left some tricks and treats on a few doorsteps (and cars).
To end off this totally fun month we had a Halloween dance on the 30th. Deanna and I did our costumes together. She was Rainbow Brite and I was Strawberry shortcake. It was a lot of fun, though we both felt stupid in our outfits. A bunch of us girls posed for some pictures of our creations at the dance. Holly, Heidi, Meta and Vicki were Fanta girls, Nikki was a biker chic, and one of my favorites was Danielle was in a group that did the characters of clue - she was Mrs. White, complete with a rope necklace. It was so great! One of my other favorites was a couple (blond girl and Asian boy) got baby backpacks and front packs and stuffed 8 dolls in them and were John and Kate plus 8 (season one) it was so funny!
