OCTOBER

At the end of September, Dennis sent John a text that he wanted a new front lawn put in. Well, John loves having a project, so of course we drove on down.

I received this picture in a text as we were driving that said "Waiting for my Mom to arrive". Just what a Mom loves, right?

We had a great two weeks with them, they always cook awesome food and it is fun to spend time with the boys.

Board games are always a favorite, especially to Gabe. 

One afternoon, the doorbell rang. There was nobody there, just a large cup of candy with a note that said they had been 'booed'. It said that it was up to them now to 'boo' somebody else. So they took a huge cup of candy to one of Gabe's friends. They thought it was a riot as they sat down the cup of candy, rang the bell and ran.

Besides the great meals they cook for us, we had a few meals out too.

And of course there was the lawn. First it had to be sliced up, picked up, hauled off, then smoothed out and it was ready to have the new turf laid down. So much work, but it looked so amazing when it was done.

Another day, John and Dennis cut down a big magnolia tree in the back yard.

The boys and Abby and I went to a young actor's production. It is the same company that Gabe has had roles in before. He was too busy this fall to tryout for a role, but it was fun for him to see some of the friends that he acted with before. 

I love painting, so they asked me to paint Gabe's bedroom. I think it turned out really nice. It went from a turquoise to a light blue/green with a light brown stripe around the top.

I love painting, but really, WHY can't the tape just stay put??!!!  So frustrating to get it all taped up and turn around and see this...

Gabe loves music. Daniel loves making little videos. So they work together and make productions.

Gabe usually plays the violin, but this year, he was asked to play the bass. What a difference in size. He sounds good too!

The past few years when we have gone down, we have not been able to see Abby's parents, Lanie and Terry. This year with covid vaccinations behind us, and all feeling healthy, we were able to see them.

Arianna finished volleyball for the season. It was so fun to see how much she and the rest of the girls improved as the season went on.

At the first of the month, Arianna had a sick day at our house and at the end of the month, we had Lina a day. Of course they weren't all that sick, so we had a fun time baking together on both occasions. It was so cute, by the time Lina was at our place sick, she had heard of Josiah and Arianna's sick day reports. When she arrived, she had this 'agenda' all figured out...which crafts, what we were eating, and baking, the games we were playing  and the day was all figured out. 

Arianna took the photos below on her sick day.

The property we live on used to be a walnut grove. It still has a few of them and the squirrels are busy harvesting. It is fun to watch them hop around looking for the perfect place to store the nut. While they are burying, the jays are in the trees watching. As soon as the squirrel is done packing the nut into the grass, down swoops the jay and digs it up. 

Here is what one jay left behind on the porch.

I love the carpets of leaves almost as much as the trees with the leaves. I have to work quick to get a photo, because as soon as he can, John is out there mowing up those beautiful carpets.

Birds I saw in Dennis' back yard.

Birds at my place.

We have counted down to Jessi's last night shift now that she has taken on the job of school nurse. I met up with her as she drove in at home that last morning and watched as the kids hugged her and celebrated it being over with gifts. It was a huge celebration for everyone. I loved the cake that the nurses had for her at work.

The month ended with Halloween. Here is a shot of the robbers that came to our house and the chef and grim reaper in California.