I LOVE OCTOBER

I love October. So much. I've always enjoyed the fall because, hello duh, and I've always loved Halloween because HELLO DUH, but now that Rory AND Stephen have birthdays in October it just feels like one big party month and I am here for it. Seriously, sometimes it's hard to play it casual I love it so much. 

To kick off my October celebrations I hosted the beehives mutual at my house where we played Halloween party games, including haunted gingerbread houses (made with chocolate graham crackers and burnt sugar, they were so cute). This was the first week of October, see what I mean by no chill? But it was the perfect excuse to throw a party because the next day was Rory's second birthday! I was too sane to throw a party with kids her age but not sane enough to not throw a party at all, so this was a good compromise. Mostly I needed a reason to bake her a cake. I did a strawberries and cream puppy dog cake this year and I was SO. INSANELY. PROUD. OF. IT. It tasted delicious and it looked adorable. I would be slightly ashamed of the number of hours I spent decorating it if I didn't enjoy the process so darn much. It was awesome. And Stephen made it home just in time to cut cake with us and sing happy birthday. 

For Rory's actual birthday we went out to lunch with Emily and McKenna. We ate at Joe's Farm Grill and it was perfect weather to eat outside. Rory enjoyed covering herself in my german chocolate milkshake and stealing most of Emily's fries while refusing to eat any of the other delicious things that I ordered. McKenna gave her the cutest little Golden Doodle puppy toy for her birthday and Rory refused to let McKenna hold it. Oh, and she peed her pants, but luckily it was outside anyway. So I guess you could say it was a major success of a birthday lunch!

That night we got to open presents together and it was so much fun to watch her react to each gift! She got a puppy purse and alphabet toy from Grandma and Poppop Marsh, a bike from Grammy and Grandpa Earl, and a baby doll with a stroller from us. She threw a major fit when we made her put her things away to go to bed, so yay! She is officially a two year old!

But, the birthday fun didn't stop there. Rebecca's birthday is on the 2nd so we planned a little birthday date with her to the splash pad and then finished up with some Baked Bear ice cream sandwiches. The best part was when we told the lady at the store we were out celebrating birthdays she said that meant our cookies were free! It was the best FREE birthday celebration. 

We hosted a little get together for Conference that weekend and in between sessions we had yummy carne asada that Stephen grilled as well as some homemade cinnamon rolls by yours truly. I still have yet to make a perfect batch, but there were for sure improvements this time. We had Cameron, Emily, McKenna, Sarah, and Rebecca over and it was good times. And I almost forgot to mention the best part was the announcement of the two-hour block! We can't wait for church in January!

With the beautiful fall weather we've been able to spend lots of evenings at the park and Rory insisted on bringing her new bike to ride. 

For mutual the following week our activity was decorating pumpkins, so of course Rory had to get in on that action. She covered her shirt in acrylic paint (mom fail), but she was so proud of her pumpkin it was hard to stay mad for long. After we put the pumpkin on the porch with the other Halloween decorations Rory insisted on a picture. And then continued to insist on a picture any time we came out the front door or she managed to run out of the garage to her pumpkin before I could catch her. We also started a Mommy and Me fitness class at the library and we usually finish up by walking through the Riparian preserve afterwards. These turtles swam right up to us and I haven't seen them there since so I had to make sure this was documented. 

I wanted to do something big for Stephen's 30th birthday, but he was too busy at work to get away so we kept it pretty simple. Rory and I got him a new BYU leather briefcase for work. We also bought tickets to see the BYU Ballroom team when they came to perform in Mesa. We got tickets in the back of the theater in case Rory was a nightmare, but it ended up being so much fun. Rory loved the show and it was hard not to tear up watching her get excited about dance. The next day we went out to dinner with the Hardings to Gecko Grill, then dropped Rory off at home with a babysitter so that we could go watch Hunt for the Wilderpeople at their house. It was a lot of fun and Stephen was only a little embarrassed by the sombrero treatment. 

For Stephen's birthday I made him a banana cream pie cake and once again it turned out delicious. Stephen isn't much of a frosting guy so I focused a lot less on presentation and a lot more on flavor, but I think it turned out awesome. 

Our next fall adventure was checking out one of the local pumpkin patch/ corn maze places that we hear so much. They had a ton of games and things for the kids to do, but there were also approximately one million moms and toddlers there. Also, it was crazy hot. It's fun to play in corn and hay and stuff when the air is crisp, but the sun was beating down and we were all a bunch of sweaty messes. The best part of the day was when we stopped at the stinkiest booth I have ever smelled and got snow cone. And they weren't the good fancy kind either. Probably it would be more fun at night, but I don't see myself ever going again so I guess we will never know! It was the one real dark spot in my October. 

Finally, it was time for the ward trunk or treat! They had a chili cook off and a dessert competition and I entered both because of the whole no-shame-so-obsessed-with-halloween thing, plus last year they totally ran out of desserts and I got none. I ended up bringing five or six different kinds of cookies and I would have taken a picture, but I have a feeling it would be less impressive than it was sad. I started baking weeks before hand and just kept everything in the freezer. BUT it was all worth it because I WON THE DESSERT BAKE OFF! I never win anything! My s'mores cookies cup won the whole thing and I was so, so proud. Other than the competition it was such a fun night. Rory's little Tinkerbell wings light up, so we could let her run around wild all night and still always knew exactly where she was. Stephen took her around to the cars to do the trunk or treating and she loved it!

My good friend Jax is a photographer, and in October she does mini Halloween costume sessions as a fundraiser to raise money for her son's school specifically for kids with autism. It was an amazing cause and once I saw these pictures I realized I should have paid even more because I am completely obsessed!

Also, HUGE shout out to Aunt Mady who got Rory this to die for Tinkerbell outfit. You the real MVP. 

Since Kendall's wedding in August Rory has been completely obsessed with the temple so we took an afternoon to go and visit the temple and she was stoked! We walked around the temple grounds and got to admire the flowers and the fountains and just had the most lovely afternoon together. She was so excited about it and for a while afterwards every time she saw a tall building she would say, "I see it, mom! I see the temple!" 

 Just before we officially called it a wrap on October, we snuck in one more Halloween activity. We had a couple in our ward over to watch a movie and carve pumpkins. Stephen is the one who came up with the idea for our Tinkerbell pumpkin. I carved Tinkerbell's body and Stephen and his drill worked their magic on the little sparkles. It was a fun night and once again, we were impressed with ourselves for something we made- it runs in my blood to be easily impressed with myself and I must be rubbing off on Stephen. 

Last, but NEVER least, we got to celebrate Halloween! Stephen got caught up at work so Rory and I took off on our own for a little bit and hit up the houses on our street. Rory was not hesitant at all to say, "Trick or treat! Happy Halloween!" to people and she was so cute most people gave her extra candy. She got a little hesitant around houses with loud or moving decorations, but for the most part she was pretty fearless. Stephen made it home, quickly changed into his Captain Hook costume (that man is such a trooper!) and we put Rory in the stroller to head over to the next neighborhood where lots of our ward friends live. Pulling her around in the stroller felt a little bit like cheating, especially because she would lay low in her seat, keep her bucket out to one side, and wouldn't even sit up to say trick or treat. But if we tried to blow past a house, she noticed and would freak out. She is totally my kid. We ended the night at the Harding's Halloween party where Rory ate way too much candy and played until she cried and made others cry as well. It was our best Halloween yet and I loved every minute of it. Now if only Neverland was real and we were able to keep this little Tinkerbell forever.