Fall 2020

Our pumpkins grew! It sure was fun to decorate with ones from our own garden!

Brielle turned 10! She had a Harry Potter themed birthday party. We made wands for the guests out of long chopsticks +hot glue texture+paint. They were actually pretty fun to make and turned out looking so great!

Hedwig cupcakes!

Hedwig, Crookshanks, Scabbers(blue mouse), and a mandrake!

One of the gifts Brielle received was Animal Crossing! It's a fun game on the Nintendo switch, even Piggy had to try it out!

Carter's preschool start date got pushed back to mid September because of Covid. The week before he was supposed to start, I had a dentist appointment so I took him to a friend's house. Unluckily, he caught a cold and actually had a fever and had to miss the whole first week of his school because he kept having mild symptoms and then the girls got it. They had to stay home from school a few days as well, and the nurse wouldn't let them come back until they were symptom free and had a note from the doctor saying their symptoms weren't covid-related. Well, we couldn't get a note like that without a test, so we all got tested at the hospital drive through testing site. It was not pleasant but Brandon was able to get the tests expedited through employee health (because the hospital needs to know if family members of employees are sick). We got our results late that night and they were all negative! Finally Carter got to go to preschool and he loves it!

We were so excited for Halloween time! Mama Judy made the kids fun festive pillow covers

During General Conference we tried something new...a puzzle! We borrowed this one from the library. The girls were great helpers putting it together while we listened. 

Look at me Mommy!

Over Columbus day weekend we travelled to the Poconos for a little fall getaway. We rode the Lehigh Gorge train from the town of Jim Thorpe and it was a beautiful scenic trip! We also got yummy ice cream :)

We stayed in a nice time share condo we got off of Airbnb and then went on different hikes to explore the beautiful area. 

This field is full of boulders! You can't see the ground beneath them, you just go from rock to rock! Some people went all the way across, we just ventured out a little ways 

Such beautiful fall colors!

we also found several beautiful waterfalls

And big leaves and really tall trees!

We also had a good time swimming in the indoor pool, celebrating Brandon's birthday with a cake from the grocery store, having home church, and listening to "Ella Enchanted" as we drove around.

Carter had his birthday when we came home and he loved all his presents from friends and family. He especially loves his remote control helicopter. A few friends came over to celebrate by playing outside and eating "chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles" per Carter's request :)

The video has lots of birthday singing, and some shots of our trip and Carter's birthday. 

Halloween was fun, although the parade was cancelled which was a bummer. HersheyPark had a nice setup for getting treats in a safe and distanced way.

Carter got to wear his pumpkin costume to school!

An Owl, a devil emoji, Bowser, and Mario pumpkins!

We had an outdoor halloween party for the Primary. My presidency were good sports and we all dressed as the Spice Girls hahaha!

The week before Thanksgiving, the school switched to completely virtual learning since covid incidence was on the rise. The girls were good sports about it. The district says they might get to back in December but I think they'll be closed for the rest of the calendar year.

Thanksgiving we had our own little feast and enjoyed it. We also took some sides and pies to the missionaries and another family provided turkey (I had only cooked a small turkey breast so not really much to share). Everything was delicious and we were so thankful for our blessings!

On Black Friday we started decorating our new home for Christmas!