coming home and Halloween

Well, I've got some catching up to do. Ever since I returned home from my Grandma's funeral, blogging just seems...not important. In fact, a lot of things that used to mean a lot to me don't seem important. Like spending hours in front of the tv or browsing the internet or stuffing my face with comfort foods. I feel this sense of urgency...to be with my loved ones and laugh and play and love with them as much as I can. It's a good thing, I guess...but it can also feel really empty sometimes like I'm not doing enough.

So today, I'm going to take a deep breath and record some of our family's events because if family is the most important thing, then the memories we make together are just as important :) When it all comes down to it, this is why I blog. Not to show off crafts or vent about my kids...(although those are fun to do sometimes), but to record our family's history. I'm too lazy to journal and I get hand cramps from writing a lot, so a blog is the way I do that (plus its wayyy easier to add pictures, hehe).

So. Flying home from Utah with two children. It was something else. The last time I flew, Talmage was about 8 months old and it was difficult. But since he was only one child, it wasn't totally terrible. But having two children traveling with me is something I hope I don't have to do alone ever again. I had help along the way (including a very nice gentleman who was some big-shot Alaska airlines rep), but it was still hard. I had no stroller and three bags. Charlotte was always in my arms or on my lap, and Talmage of course wanted to explore the airport hallways and not sit still for a moment. The actual flying part was okay...but I had to *constantly* entertain both kids, which was exhausting haha.

 She wasn't exactly a happy flyer the entire time...

When our plane landed in Portland I breathed a huge sigh of relief, only to discover that there was no one who could help me carry my 3 bags to baggage claim. I'm surprised my shoulders didn't snap off...that was the workout of my life. Seeing my husband waiting for me at the exit was the best thing ever.

As I got into the elevator with Jonathan, we got a call from one of our Stake presidency members. He wanted to know if I'd accept a stake assignment to help out with this year's Nativity event. I was a bit overwhelmed in that moment but of course I said yes, and so there's that... I also just received a new calling to help out with planning RS activities. We have a big one in December. My head is kinda spinning sometimes but I'm grateful to be kept busy--it keeps me going. And I like feeling that I've contributed.

My new calling will short-lived, however, because in January we are moving! more on that later.

The day after I got home, it was Halloween. I was SO excited to dress up the kids and go trick-or-treating. We went to carl's Jr down the street for dinner- quick and easy. I was way too excited to cook, ha.

Someone in our ward organized a last minute trunk-or-treat (they had a fall festival earlier in the week that I missed due to being in Utah), so we showed up to that and well, no one was there. There was one family with a big bowl of candy that said everyone came and left really quickly. I didn't expect that showing up 30 minutes late would mean that everyone would be gone...but the family practically emptied their bowl of candy into my two children's buckets. So it was a good start :)

We decided to just go trick-or-treat at the bishop's house. He lived really close to the church in a nice neighborhood. When we got there, cars were parked EVERYWHERE. Apparently this was THE place to go trick-or-treating. We parked in the bishop's driveway and said hello to his family first...

and then ventured on going door-to-door. It really was perfect place for trick-or-treating. The streets were well-lighted and every house had lots of decorations, and everyone was so nice (not scary, thank goodness...with the exception of one or two houses). I'm surprised the kids lasted for 2 hours but they loved every minute of it. We left with way too much candy and a sleepy-eyed kitty and Dash :)

Before we went home, we stopped at Trader Joe's to get their famous pumpkin ice-cream. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to indulge in ice-cream after receiving so much candy, but oh my gosh was it good. And I'm very picky about ice-cream. This stuff was grade A ;)

It turned out to be a wonderful Halloween! And now onto my most favorite holidays... :)