November

I was lucky enough to go on my first girl's trip ever the first weekend of November. I went to Vegas (also for the first time) with two of my college roommates and besties Katie and Christina. We were sad that our other roommates weren't able to make it, but the three of us had a fabulous time anyway! It was a short trip - just Friday night through Monday morning. Christina and I flew in, but Katie lives close enough to drive. It was so nice to have her car there. Our hotel was in Henderson so we just checked in, had dinner at a local restaurant, and talked for hours the first night.

We spent all of Saturday on The Strip. Christina and Katie had both been to Vegas many times so they were great tour guides. We mostly walked around and looked at everything and ate good food. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and walked through a cool Titanic exhibit as well. We ended the night with gelato in the Venetian and that turned out to be my favorite casino. The architecture was really cool in a lot of the resorts, but I was struck by how fake it all was. Mostly though, it was just really fun to catch up with these awesome ladies. Our lives are so different than they were when we lived together, but that's part of why it's so fun to talk to each other. I admire both Christina and Katie and am amazed at all of the things they do with their busy lives. It was such a fun trip and a great break from regular life.

Little boys are so cute when they sleep.

Spencer revived his train track building skills and built a cool track for Mason one morning. Mason doesn't love trains like Spencer did at his age, but he likes to play with them sometimes. November was a nice month because Spencer was between sports and didn't have practices or games for most of the month. Cross Country meets and school jog-a-thons were also over so Alan was even home a lot. It was so nice!

Alan used his extra time to replace the fence on one side of our backyard. Luckily, the neighbors on that side were willing to help with the labor and split the cost. It was still a ton of work, but it's nice to have a sturdy fence now.

We had some really nice days and enjoyed playing in our front yard. Spencer has been playing lots of Two Square with a friend in our driveway.

Mason likes to help me in the kitchen sometimes and helped me make one of our Thanksgiving pies.

The Turkeython took all of Thanksgiving morning as usual. Geoff's family came and Katelyn joined the boys and I for the 5k. I was impressed that she kept up with Spencer the whole time! Mason and I were way in the back with the stroller.

After the 5k, Mason and I ran the kid's race. It was supposed to be a really short loop, but the volunteer Alan asked to lead the race led us in the wrong direction and made the race twice as long as it should have been. I had to work to get Mason to finish, but he did it!

Also like usual, I didn't take any pictures of Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner was as good as always. Grandma and Grandpa Larsen were able to join us this year. I did take one picture of the boys eating pie though. Mason really doesn't like pie. He just eats ice cream.

Geoff's family stayed in town for a few days and Geoff treated us all to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Long waits are always tricky with Mason, but the food was delicious!

Darwin made something for each of the grand kids on his CNC machine that weekend. He made a little bear for Mason and let Mason "help" him paint it. The boys love having their cousins visit and had a great time with them. Katelyn was really good to play Barbies with Mason.

The leaves finally turned and fell off the tree in our front yard. Mason liked to help me rake and scoop the leaves into our yard debris bin, but mostly he liked jumping into the leaf pile and scattering them all over the lawn again.

Halloween

This year, our Halloween festivities started with our Ward's Harvest Social in the middle of October. I didn't take any pictures that night, but I should have because I won the chili cook-off with a new recipe! It was even vegan! I think it was the fresh lime slices on the side that set mine apart. The boys had lots of fun at the Trunk or Treat.

Uberthons' Halloweenathon was the Saturday before Halloween. Both boys were excited for the races. Mason started out running the 5k, but didn't last very long. I pushed him in the stroller for a little while before a friend took over for me so I could run more. The best part of the race was by there bridge where Darwin was hiding in a gorilla suit. He jumped out and scared runners while they were running and later said he learned a lot of new words that day. Haha! It is really hard to push Mason in the stroller now especially on narrow courses with lots of other runners and walkers. We wound up doing a shorter kid's race after the 5k and Mason walked all of that because I didn't take the stroller. There were fun games and trick-or-treat stations along the way.

We carved pumpkins for FHE the day before Halloween. We had been lazy and had just painted them the last couple of years so the boys were really excited to actually carve them this year. Mason wanted a scary pumpkin and I thought Alan did an impressive job with it! Spencer designed his own face and Alan did the actual carving.

Mason got to go to preschool on Halloween morning. The mom teaching that week loves Halloween and threw a great party for the kiddos. Mason dressed up as The Green Ninja from Ninjago, Lloyd. Preschool always starts with name tracing and then we took some pictures of their cute costumes.

Spencer has never been a big fan of dressing up and decided to be Ron Weasley again this year. He got to wear his costume to school. Mason and I made green eyeball slime while Spencer was gone. Before dinner, I took the boys trick or treating to Alan's parents in Tualatin and his grandparents at their apartment in King City. We went trick or treating around our neighborhood with Spencer's friend T. in the evening. The boys got more candy than they ever collected before and their buckets were completely full. I had to carry Mason's for him when it got too heavy toward the end. Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but they boys sure love it and had a great time!

October

October this year was a month of sunshine and beautiful fall leaves.

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

We spent a lot of time outside and it was lovely.

Our one and only pumpkin grew to the size of a bouncy ball and Mason made a cool hat out of a flat kickball. Haha!

Mason had fun helping me decorate our Halloween tree.

Spencer ran his 6th and final Fun Run at Edy Ridge. He made his goal of 13 laps in about 25 minutes and was exhausted, but happy. I didn't get any great pictures because Mason wanted to run after I snapped just a few pictures of Spencer. Mason wound up doing 3 laps. Uberthons counted the laps again so it was fun to Dad and Grandpa there.

Mason picked out a cool, new toy with his birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa LeFevre.

The boys made a tent to relax in while listening to General Conference.

We visited an apple farm one Saturday evening.

We celebrated Debbie's birthday with chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. So good!

Mason got to go on his first field trip with his preschool class. He was SO excited!! We went to a small pumpkin patch in St. Paul. The kids got to see and touch different kinds of pumpkins and gourds, grind corn, take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, choose a pumpkin, pet farm animals, and play on a little playground. We also took sack lunches and ate while we were there. Mason had a fabulous time and came home completely worn out.

We have transitioned to quiet time instead of nap time every afternoon for Mason. He still falls asleep for a few minutes most days though. I found him like this one day. He's wrapped in a sheet.

Alan and I took to the boys to our favorite small pumpkin patch so Spencer could get a pumpkin too. It was such a nice day!

Mason bugged Kiki a little too much and she got his cheek with all five claws. :(

The day of the Giant Pumpkin Regatta was really nice so we decided to go for the first time in several years. It turned out to be so crowded that we couldn't even see the races, but we walked around and did a few activities. Mason got a spider painted on his hand and the boys played pumpkin checkers.

Mason and I joined Spencer on his class field trip to The Oregon Garden. Mason was thrilled to be with the big kids and had a great time running around the garden. Spencer had a good time and I thought it was a great field trip. I hadn't been to The Garden since before Mason was born. It's such a beautiful place during every season.

Spencer also played a lot of soccer in October. His team did well and we didn't have any rain until the very last game so we were all happy. Mason still got bored during the games, but he was so much easier to handle this year. Spencer had another good season and improved a lot. Much to his embarrassment, Spencer's coach gave him "The Blooming Sunflower" award at the end of the season in honor of Spencer's growth. Haha!