October recap

October was a busy month for us. Here is quick rundown of our month:


Taylor had her 8th birthday which included getting a package from the Benhams that had her scriptures in it.


Taylor found her birthday presents throughout the house from a scavenger hunt that Payton and Hayden made for her. The only place they could find large enough to hide the chair, was the bathtub.On October 2nd, Taylor was baptized. It was better than we ever expected it to be. So many family members and ward members were there. Taylor, Payton, and Hayden sang. And the Benhams even sang via video. We put the house back on the market with a different realtor. This meant that we had to purchase a few things to replace what was taken when the other realtor took back the things she had put in our home for the "staging." Our best purchase was the daybed on the back porch. We have already gotten alot of enjoyment out of it. Payton and I went on a field trip with the first grade to the corn field maze. It was entirely too hot but the kids had a good time.

We had our ward trunk or treat party where Taylor won for best girl costume and Dylan Parkes won for best boy costume. We were glad that Aiti, Grandpa, the Nowell cousins, and the Courtneys (friends from school) could come with us.

Taylor was the All-star for the month of October from her class. Her wearing that non-uniform shirt means that she (and Payton) had perfect attendance for the month. This was the second month in a row. This doesn't mean just being at school everyday. This means being ONTIME everyday. High fivc to me! We were able to go to the fair with the whole Emmertson family (including the Nowells) thanks to Grandpa.

And of course, we did the required trip to the pumpkin patch. As usual, we had to squeeze it in between everything else in our busy schedule. We went on Saturday evening after being at the fiar all day. We rushed home, threw on the cute little halloween shirts, and raced to the pumpkin patch to take a few quick pictures right as the sun was setting. I think this is the first year that we bought a full size pumpkin there. Normally we just get the tiny ones. Mostly out of obligation for using their pumpkins for pictures.

Bryan and the girls had fun getting the pumpkin carved. That is not my idea of fun so they had some fun daddy-daughter time doing that. Bryan sketched out several designs and the girls picked out which one they wanted him to carve. The pumpkin looked great when it was done. But it started to droop over the next couple of days. I think we learned that you need to leave more pumpkin attached than you cut away.

The caramel apple making was fun. But I am glad it is only a once a year deal. We ended this eventful month with trick or treating with the Nowell cousins in Spanish Fort/Daphne. We vowed for the second time not to trick-or-treat in Aitis neighborhood anymore. The houses are too far apart and too far from the road. Once we made it to the church for the party they were more excited. And we ended this long night with a little more door-to-door action in a neighborhood close to the Daphne ward building.

I was actually a little sad for Halloween to end. The kids all were so cute in their costumes and have really enjoyed all the festivities of the past couple of weeks. I eased my sadness by going to Target on November 1st and buying Halloween stuff on sale for next year.

As you can tell from some of the pictures. We were lucky to see a lot of Daylyn, Jill, and Adylynn and Nakeysha and her kids over that past month. We were sad to say goodbye to the Nowells on Halloween. That was the last time for us to see them before they went off to Hawaii for 3 years.

We are excited, though, to be counting down the days to see our Benham cousins. ONE WEEK!!!!!!!! We can't wait!