Fun Family Events

What fun I've been having!
Even though my sweet Gregory is back in Arizona for awhile and I miss him, at least there are fun things to enjoy in the meantime! 

My Mom's birthday is on October 31st (Halloween!), which was Sunday.  She requested that the family go to her church together and then have pancakes for lunch.

Of course, I require special Christie pancakes, so I made them the night before.  They kept sticking to the pan and I didn't have any oil spray, so I decided to bake them on parchment paper.  They turned out great and didn't require the same amount of attention.

I always make sure to add blueberries and mini chocolate chips (dairy-free, of course).

In the morning, Allistair had fun running up and down the newly carpeted stairs:

It was good to sit by loved people at church.

After lunch, we carved pumpkins!  My parents had bought me a pumpkin as a housewarming present, and I was excited to decorate it!!!

Mark had a HUGE pumpkin.

Mark and Jillian have a special pumpkin carving kit - FANCY!

They were much easier to use than regular kitchen knives.

Here is the "before":

I drew a plan . . . 

Mark was fun, as always.

Esme was determined and focused!

Jillian was, too; you can tell because her tongue is poking out!

And here is the finished product!

I ended up with more nostrils because my first 3 were off-center and I wanted symmetry.

Other than the extra nostils, it turned out exactly as I had hoped!

My Dad was happy to enjoy the fun and step in where help was required.

Esme could almost fit her whole head into her pumpkin!

Mark is quite artistic.

The pumpkin seeds went in one bowl and the guts in the other bowl.

Happy!

When Mark needed to pause his carving to help one of the girls, he left the stabber in his pumpkin's eye - ouch!

Cora's pumpkin:

Jillian bravely chose to try a stencil!

Esme's pumpkin - a cat!

Sorting seeds and guts:

My Mom insisted we put the pumpkins in the bathroom and turn the lights off so we could see how they looked in the dark!

Here's mine!  I love it!

I should probably say at this point that most Arizonans don't carve pumpkins because they rot overnight when the weather is still almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit.  I can't remember the last time I carved a pumpkin!

Mark's pumpkin with a very cool nose and eyebrows!

Jillian's intricate cat!

Esme's cute cat:

Cora's happy face with detailed teeth:

What a happy group!

We put them outside to be lit later.

I left in the mid-afternoon because I was getting very tired.

My alient pumpkin was happy to find a place in the house!

I found a candle to put inside:

On a different topic, Cindy sent me a housewarming present and it's beautiful!  It's a cutting board announcing the date of our Minnesota residence.  What a sweet gesture.

Waking up each morning is FUN!  I mean, I'm usually still tired, but I'm excited to get out of bed because I know the day will be interesting and exciting!

The chilly weather makes me happy.

The trees and falling leaves make me happy.

My wreath makes me happy.

Wearing sweaters makes me happy!

Fun fall traditions make me happy.

My cute comfy living room makes me happy.

And then I got to go on a shopping exploration with my Mom and my Auntie Cindy!

We went to Macy's first.  I haven't ever been to this Macy's, and it's pretty fancy.

It was the first time I wore this hooded sweater from Marshall's.

It's pretty great and it fits my "beachy feminine" style mantra.

I'M HERE!!!

This was the first time I really did a shopping trip without a mask and I won't do it again for awhile.  I felt like I wasn't keeping other people safe.

But it sure was fun to spend time with these ladies!

I did try on those clothes, but only bought a pair of (great) jeans.  I came home and placed an order for a blouse I tried on and another color of the jeans.  I don't have a lot of jeans I really like, and I didn't have ANY jeans I liked that were full-length; all mine were cropped.  That won't work when it's below zero!

Then we went to Caribou (Minnesota prefers Caribou Coffee to Starbucks!) to get my Mom a special drink for her birthday.  While driving there, SNOWFLAKES fell on the windshield!  A few fell on me, too!  I was very happy.  I read the the average first snow fall in this area is November 4, so I knew it was coming; I'm still very excited!

Caribou had some cute Minnesota beanies!

Sorry, Auntie Cindy, even though your eyes are closed, I had to post this anyway; the wind was in our faces and it was quite chilly, but we were happy.

And then I came home and snuggled the babies!

Have a cozy evening!