Halloween Fun!

I love October!  I think it's one of my favorite months of the year with the exception of my birthday and Thanksgiving Day month, November :).  I absolute love fall and everything that it represents. This year we had a lot of fun with Halloween.  We had been surprisingly busy this month and have loved every second.  I feel like time is going by so quickly. 

Jack enjoyed his first trunk or treat at the church this year.  He ran all over the place and played all the games the youth had set up.  

I won't lie... I was not very creative this year.  I started thinking about Halloween the week of.  Jack kept taking off everything I would put on him so I decided simplicity was best.  Note: Next year I will plan ahead haha.  This year we were a "football family".  We had a Quarterback (me), Running Back (Pres), Rookie (Jackson), and our little football (Beckham).

Jack found a light saber and decided to play with it.  

Father and son :) Love these two!  Jack's eye black didn't last long at all.

Momma with her sweet baby boy! 

Jack was running out of steam at times.  I would catch him just laying down on the grass haha.  

Jack stealing some kids candy bucket.  He put his down and would pick up others haha.  We had to teach him that he could only take his bucket.

Our little Rookies first Trick or Treat.  Last year I was pregnant and sick so we stayed in.  I was happy we could be a part of this years fun.

Preston and I decided to host a Murder Mystery Party this year.  We had never been to one nor have we hosted one so we were excited to see how it turned out.  We invited several friends from church and ended up having a BLAST!! I am so thankful for all those that participated and humored us in this game.  For those that don't know, a murder mystery party is a party where everyone plays a character.  Throughout the evening you each receive little papers with clues on them to try and help you figure out "whodunit".  It's basically a live game of clue.  You have to figure out what killed them, where, when and why someone was killed.  Example: It was Professor Plum in the library with the candlestick.  It's loads of fun, we want to do it again for sure.

Our crazy crew!  We had 12 people come and it was a blast!

Dan and Toni (tailor and heiress who also ended up being the victim), Sarah and Adrian (principal and lawyer)

Preston and I (mayor and pastry chef), Annie and Jordan (science professor and doctor)

Beckham boy joined us for the pic :) 

Kevin and Rachel (butcher and librarian), Maureah and Scott (hairdresser and golfer)

For Halloween this year we opted to go to a corn maze and do pumpkin carving.  Since, we had already done the trunk or treat we stayed in Halloween night.  Jack already had plenty of candy from the party.  The corn maze was a lot of fun and had way more things to do than we expected.  

They had huge slides!

Jack wasn't sure if it was fun or not when he'd get to the bottom but, he always went up again. haha

They had a little farm with a bunch of animals.  Jackson was in heaven!

These goats cracked me up.  They would just stand and pose on these boards.

"I'm not sure about this."

Baaaing at the sheep.

Serious face but loved every minute.

         

My little man in the pumpkin patch.  How cool is that background?! 

LOVE!

Family photo op with our perfect pumpkin :) 

We had to ride a tractor out to the pumpkin patch.  It was a fun little ride. 

We had such a great time.  Nothing like making family memories.

Multi-tasking Dad

Weeeeee!

Our last stop was the corn maze.  We decided to do the shorter maze because it was about the boys nap times and we had to eat lunch still.  I figured it would take us about 15 minutes.

Jack trying to cheat.  It ended up taking us like 30 minutes because we were so very lost! I was pushing Jack in an umbrella stroller and started to get a claustrophobic feeling.  I was itching to get out of there.  Not sure corn mazes are my thing, haha. So grateful we all made it out alive! haha

Lunch at Rudy's BBQ.  YUM!!

After the boys woke up from their naps we carved our pumpkin.  I've never picked out a pumpkin from a pumpkin patch before.  It was a lot of fun.  When you go on Halloween the pumpkins are super cheap too :).  

Pres was very excited!

Our little skeleton ready to carve.

Preston doesn't really enjoy carving the pumpkin so he took pics and I carved.  I actually like doing it.

Such concentration haha.

Our happy pumpkin. 

Too CUTE!

We had such a fun month and look forward to November and what lies ahead.  I am so grateful for my cute little family.  I love making memories and enjoying each day we have! 

Cloud Croft, NM and a Zoo Day!

The boys and I took an incredible trip with some friends to Cloudcroft, NM.  It is such a beautiful place.  I was so surprised that we'd be in the mountains and enjoying the crisp fall air only two hours from home.  Either we were all crazy to take 8 kids on a 2 hour trip or it was pure genius because it was worth it!

We went up with some of my dear friends from church and their kids.  We had such a great time.  It was amazing company, fun, food and a breath of fresh air ... literally :)

Can you believe we survived?  We each had a baby in a bjorn and several to keep an eye as we hiked. The weather was absolutely perfect.  It was in the 60's which makes for great hiking weather. The leaves were gorgeous and the sunshine felt great!

All the kiddos.  The best we could do haha.  I didn't trust Jack to hold Beckham so he stayed out of this one.

Our first stop was an old apple barn.  In all honesty we thought there would be more to it then just a barn with little gifts and knick knacks.  They did have some of the best fudge I have ever eaten! Worth the trip in itself, trust me.  I want to go back and get more :) 

Jack is excited to be out of the car :) 

Drooling boy. 5 months old and growing!

TREES!!! I miss trees in El Paso so this was a great treat for me.

Once we realized there wasn't much to do at the old barn we asked about hiking trails.  They sent us to this great trail not far from the barn.  Jack was running all over the place and trying to gather as many sticks as he could carry.  He was in heaven!

We had a little picnic and then hiked.

This was at the entrance of the hike. So beautiful!

Jack took off to look for sticks.

Hiking on up.  Love this crew!

Great view from the trail.

Another fun view.  I was in heaven too.  Loved this!

Jack took a little break.

Such pretty leaves.  I had to take a pic with Beckham boy!  We had so much fun!  I want Pres to come with us the next time.  I think he'd really love it.

A Trip to the Zoo

Ready to have some fun!  We were looking at the giraffes here.  Jack was a little distracted by them.  

Pres trying to show Jack how it's done.  Love my boys!!

I have definitely never been this close to a lion before.  There were three females and they were all right up against the window.  This one found some card board.

Just staring at Jack.

At first Jackon was a little scared when he saw these awesome creatures but soon got over it.  He started to roar at them.  Not sure what he would have done if they roared back haha.

Beckham liked looking at the animals too.

Orangutan with a baby.  It's hard to see the baby but it's the lighter orange color on the belly.

They have a really fun tree house park inside.  Jack loved it!

Jack and Daddy made it to the top.

Can you find Jack?  He kept climbing and climbing.

Family photo op. :) 

I had to take a pic. This took us back to Africa on our safari's.  So much fun!!

We had a great day at the zoo.  There is nothing like a little family time and making memories!