Fall Festivities

Well, as autumn quickly draws to a close and we jump into the Christmas season, I feel a need to unload some pictures of our fall. We had a fun one filled with lots of walks, picnics at the park, and playtime. We saw our newest niece, Ivy, blessed and another one, Emma, baptized. We spent a lovely Conference weekend at the girls' grandparents. And we did plenty of autumntime activities. Besides the pumpkin-carving and half-marathon mentioned in previous posts, we had fun making cupcakes and sugar cookies (basically we like to eat Halloween sprinkles any way we can), visiting a corn maze with the youth in our ward (both Mike and I are in the Young Men's/Women's right now...yes, we are just that cool) and meeting our cousins at a nearby farmstead. I also made a brave trip to the pumpkin patch alone with the girls, which was fun, until we had to leave and Maggie got sad in the middle of all the pumpkins and wanted to be carried back to the car and I was already toting Kate. (She had this splinter in her finger from the hayride, which was actually easy to get out once I understood what was bothering her. She likes to reminisce, "I hurt my finger on the hayride. But I feel better now.")

We celebrated Halloween at the library and at a church party. Maggie was a Chiefs' cheerleader and Kate was a fairy. We dressed up for our library party as well as for one at the church. We had a lot of excitement and anticipation built up about Maggie finally using her cheerleader outfit as we got it from Maggie's uncle and cousin when we first moved here. (Thanks Shawn and Emma!)

Mike and I finally had our awesomely fun bike date--we saw Paola's historical mission site and got hot chocolate. I had been looking forward to a bike date for about five-and-a-half months, give or take a day, so I'm glad it did not disappoint. Other items I felt worthy of photo-documentation this fall were my first attempt at soft pretzels (they were fairly easy and SO good...just like at the mall, but way cheaper) and my semi-annual hair straightening (it took a long time).

And last, but definitely not least, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my in-laws. It was so good to see Kevin and Jenn, who came up from Wichita, and Tina and Jason, who came in from Ohio. But the stars this holiday were Mike's brother Scot and his fiancée Tara, whom we were all excited to meet, as they flew in from Utah for the occasion. She was as sweet and beautiful as we expected and little girls could not get enough of her. She rarely had a free lap. Highlights of the holiday included the delicious feast (of course), two-on-two football--Tara and Scot had a good streak going (Mike and I got beat pretty badly and they went on to beat Kevin and Jenn...I guess we need to make time for some serious practice :) ), lots of dancing (yes, Greg and Steve again, see previous posts), playdough, stickers, and playtime with the kids, and a visit to Independence to see some beautiful bronze sculptures of Christ at the church visitors' center and give Tara a taste of church history in the area. And, of course, we had to have a bridal shower for the bride-to-be. We gave Tara some Pampered Chef odds-and-ends (we wrapped pictures and had the real goods shipped out, so she did not have to try to get them on the plane) and a recipe binder (already stocked with some Gotfredson family favorites). I made Tara a ruffled apron, so she could feel fancy when she is homemaking. I threatened to make her pose for a picture in her new apron, but in the end did not make her. I figured we had already put her on the spot enough. So you do not get a picture of that.

Without further ado, here are some pictures:

Picnic, Park Time, General Conference Bingo and a look at the Kansas City LDS temple site

Corn Maze, Farmstead, and Pumpkin Patch (the infamous hayride)

Cookie-making, Bike-riding, Soft Pretzels, and Straight Hair

Halloween!! (Maggie had a twin at the library)

Thanksgiving: Tara with the kids, playdough, Maggie and Abigail walking into the sunset, cousins in a covered wagon at the visitors' center, the happy couple holding Kate, and our bridal shower