October was General Conference time again. It was so nice to sit and listen to the leaders of our church counsel and teach us the things that they feel are important for us at this time. Michael's brother was here visiting and helping out with his dad for a few days as well. It was great to see him and have him here. We all thought that Bruce was at the end of his earthly journey, but miraculously he turned the corner and has been doing really well since the beginning of October. He is up and out of bed every day, eating 3 meals a day, sleeping good at night and we are all looking forward to having him around to enjoy the holidays with his family. What a blessing it has been to have him around longer and for each of us to spend time with him and Sally in service and love.
During October Break from school Michael was able to take some time off and we spent a day taking the kids and their cousins to a fun train park in Scottsdale. It was a beautiful day and fun was had by all!!
We got a new kitten and are enjoying the energy of an 8 week old kitten in the house. Spooky is very cuddly and very spastic. Austin loves that there is a creature little enough for him to pick up and carry around, although we don't let that happen very often.
Halloween came and went very quickly this year. Our ward normally does a Trunk or Treat in the church parking lot, but this year we were asked to be good neighbors and stay at home to pass out candy and Trick or Treat in our neighborhoods. My kids had a really hard time deciding what they wanted to dress as this year. The boys couldn't decide so I suggested zombies and they both loved that idea. Ashleigh wanted to be a cheerleader, but was pretty specific on what she wanted to look like. I couldn't find what she wanted so she went as Alex Russo (Selena Gomez, Wizard's of Waverly Place) from the Disney Channel. The day before Halloween Jordan decided that he didn't want his face painted so he wasn't going to be a zombie. He wanted to be a spy, but didn't really want to dress in a costume. We went around and around with many different ideas for him, but he wasn't changing his mind. We finally told him that if he didn't dress up as something then he could stay home and miss out on all of the candy. Can you believe that at 8 1/2 years old he actually refused to dress up and stayed home with Michael handing out candy. What a party pooper!! Austin was cute little lion and the kids had a great time around the neighborhood.
Also in October a friend from church took some pictures of the kids while on the temple grounds. We got some really good ones of the three older kids, Austin was really tired and didn't cooperate very well for group pictures. She did get some really cute candids of him though!!
November brought Cub Scout Scout-o-rama, the kids school Fall Festival, Thanksgiving and Jordan's 9th Birthday(that will be another post). Ashleigh started playing the clarinet in band this year and her first performance was at the fall festival. She did a great job and she loves playing an instrument other than the piano. The festival was a lot of fun. It was the first time in 5 years that we haven't suffered from a heat wave on the same weekend as the festival. It was in the 70's and even had a few sprinkles of rain every once in a while. Much better than the 90's and going home with a sun burn like years past.
Thanksgiving was very nice. We had it with the extended Gunnell family this year, there were about 35 people. It was a beautiful day so we were both in and outside. The kids had a great time playing with cousins. We have much to be thankful for this year, topping the list are our amazing families, friends, jobs and good health!!
