happy halloween!

our first halloween at home

we went for a run

we passed out our first halloween candy to trick-or-treaters

gordon made soup for dinner

(& bought fancy bottled beverages for us to drink...rootbeer & cream soda)

i put the dogs in their annual halloween get-ups (a glow-in-the-dark halloween bandanna for briggs, & a glow-in-the-dark halloween t-shirt for abbi)

we watched a few episodes of the walking dead

and then went to bed.

it was one of my favorite nights.



we had a busy weekend!

dinner with our good friends the pursers on friday.  katherine made chicken tikka masala.  let's just say gordon and i thought we were in an indian restaurant; it was that fantastic!  gordon made sure i left with the recipe.  we also got to play with their little two year old girl.  she had me grinning all night!  she wanted to watch toy story 3 and in the beginning credits the disney castle appears.  she looked up at me and said "look, it's the temple!"  oh, she is too cute!

early morning rise on saturday to take an autumn ride to logan and visit the logan lds temple.  gordon and i had never been to the logan temple before.  we love how unique it is.  afterwards i couldn't leave logan with eating at logan's heroes sandwich shop.  the locals rant and rave about this place.  gordon really liked his hero sub.  i've had better.  you must need to be a local to love this place.

on our way home we made a pit-stop in willard at paul's patch to pick out some pumpkins to decorate our front porch. i couldn't leave without getting some apples too.

later that evening we went to my family's halloween party at my dad's house.  the theme of the evening was nite of the zombies.  the "man cave" was decorated from top to bottom in zombie decor.  my aunt and step mom put so much work into every detail of the party.  the kids had pillow sack races, bobbed for apples, played musical chairs, and danced to mj's "thriller!"

oh, our costumes?  we. are. robots. (please say that in your best robot voice)  gordon did a wonderful job putting our costumes together.  right down to the very detail (he had an on/off switch and i had function buttons).  our inspiration was a combination between a little kid robot costume and flight of conchords robot costumes.  all and all i think they turned out great.  one of my favorite costumes to date!

sunday evening i was requested by the young women in my ward to speak to them at their "evening of personal progress."  i was flattered that they requested to hear from me. i spoke about how personal progress helps develop individual worth.  each of the young women in my ward are amazing and inspire me to be the best me i can be.  each of them shared something about their own personal progress and i was amazed at each girl's achievements.  i am so grateful for each of them and the outstanding young women that they are.

(side note: i saw one of my most favorite people from my home ward growing up at this personal progress evening.  marylin liptrot was the sweetest lady i had ever met.  her family always sat in the church bench in front of my family.  from the time i was able to walk i would always want to sit with her.  she would entertain me all through sacrament meeting.  as i grew up things did not change.  when i moved from the ward at age twelve i thought i would never see any of the people in my ward again - yes a little dramatic i know - but i have been reconnected with two of them moving back to the ogden area.  marylin is one of them, and my stake president, dave christensen, is the other.  both played an instrumental role in my life when i was growing up.  isn't it funny how life works?)

although very busy, this weekend ended up to be a very special weekend for me.  my life is good.

over the weekend: a date, a pumpkin carving contest, and family sunday dinner

i love farr's ice cream and was super excited when a new restaurant (pop's) opened up close by our house that serves it.  when i found out the place was 50's themed i was that much more excited (poodle skirts, black and white oxfords, leather jackets, fun wholesome music...what's not to love!).  we went mostly for the ice cream.  when i saw they had malts i immediately knew i needed to upgrade my drink to a malt. chocolate based malt with real whip cream and sprinkles on top!  and they give you your excess in the metal container.  any place that doesn't waste ice cream and gives me the excess is my kind of place.  we don't need to go back for the food, it was good but not amazing, but we will be going back for ice cream treats.

halloween time wouldn't be the same without the annual pumpkin carving contest with gordon's family.  everyone was in attendance.  the creative juices were flowing and the stakes were high...okay the stakes were not high but you wouldn't know that if you were there.  we're all pretty competitive.  this year each person got their own pumpkin to carve (in year's past we did it as couples/families, so this year there everyone was competing against each other).  my idea didn't turned out like i wanted it to and i quickly had a flashback to when i was little and my family would carve pumpkins.  i would get super upset when my design wasn't working out, i would pout, and my dad would take over and finish it for me...i'm not proud of how i acted but it happened.  that almost happened again, but this time my dad wasn't there to recover my mistakes so i had to take a breather and do my best to make my design work.  i was pleasantly surprised that once my pumpkin was lit it didn't look so bad...and i won 3rd place!  (maybe it was a pity win...either way i placed in the top 3!  no pride here.)

on sunday we had family dinner with my side of the family.  my brother joined us and it was nice to see his progress and spend sometime with him.  it was much needed for him and all of us.  he's doing fantastic!
all and all it was a great weekend.

a no photo weekend

we tried a new thai food restaurant.  it was gross.  and the service was bad.
i went to pilates saturday morning with my mom, sister, and aunt.  it was hard and i loved it.
we went to my dad's for a toy story marathon.  he made chili verde.  it was delicious.  he's a great cook.
i taught the presidency message in my relief society meeting.
we watched an episode of mad men in bed in the middle of the afternoon.
we had dinner with gordon's family, minus his sisters and their families.
and we were in bed by 8:20pm sunday night.
it was a nice weekend.  even if not one photo was taken.

over the weekend: bear lake in the fall

not exactly your typical fall weather...

we were able to be beach bums

gordon got some time in his kayak

a cool breeze made it possible to lay out all day long

in the evening the men went to priesthood session

and we met up with them after for milkshakes

we explored a new cave we had never been to before

ice caves in paris, idaho

and enjoyed all the beautiful colors of fall