I’m really not sure where October went, or even the fall season.  It seems to me as though we had a week or two of beautiful weather before the cold set in, bringing the snow with it.  I think everyone but me is excited for the cold; I’m still not a fan.  Veta and Hazel have been sorting through their warm-weather clothing and making a list of things they think I need to buy for them, and Danny has stocked up on a variety of hot drinks to take with him to school in the early mornings.  Gemma looks very darling in her winter coat and is growing accustomed to walking in shoes.  She is also currently working on growing her molars in; she still only has six teeth.  Speaking of teeth, Hazel is experiencing her very first loose tooth.  While she is excited for it to fall out, she is a little scared that it might hurt.  (Veta says she has a loose tooth, too.)

This little cat was napping in the sun when Hazel spotted it.

Rachael and her family were visiting us toward the end of October.  We decided to go to the Swore Farms, even though Veta and I had already been there.  The kids had a lot of fun chasing through the maze and doing all the activities at the booths.  As soon as they determined that they had taken advantage of every candy collecting opportunity at the farm, we headed to Blackfoot to meet up with Natalie and go swimming, after which we went out for dinner and then home again.  It’s always so much fun when family comes to visit!

Veta, on the other hand, was tall enough to see where
she wanted to go and raced her way through.

The hay maze was perfect for the smaller kids.
Hazel couldn't see over the tops of the bales
 to navigate her way easily through it.

Hazel, Regan, and Veta were ready to eat after swimming!

This year for Halloween Veta dressed up as a vampire (no association to anything Twilight, so don’t make that assumption!), Hazel was a pirate, and Gemma was a lamb.  Since it was cold outside, we went to the mall initially in hopes of some good trick-or-treating action, but it was packed with people and painfully disappointing, so we headed to Blackfoot again to try our luck trick-or-treating with Danny’s family.  The girls had much better success there, but I was still glad for the night to be over.  I don’t particularly care for Halloween; Thanksgiving and Christmas are far better holidays in my opinion!

It was a bit of a struggle, but we finally got our gang of trick-or-
treaters rounded up for a picture shortly before we headed out.

Little Gemma turned several heads and elicited
numerous "Aww, look how cute that lamb is!"
comments as she giggled her way through the
mall while I chased after her. 

We stopped in to visit Grandpa and Grandma Great before
going trick-or-treating.  It didn't take Grandpa Great very long
to discover the way into Gemma's affections!