Thanksgiving and Fall activities

Fall in North Carolina was lovely. The kids had lots of leaves to play in. We raked up over 30 bags (large trash can size) from our yard alone! I loved driving around town and seeing all the bring, vibrant colors. 

The view down our street in late November.

We enjoyed a lovely visit from Jared's parents. We checked out a few local sites including Duke Gardens and a mill on the Eno River. We discovered a new playground, and I think Jared and Ryan had as much fun climbing as the kids did.  View those pictures here.

One of the highlights of their visit was a trip to Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh. Lots of fun!

We were thrilled to have family to spend Thanksgiving with this year. Ryan and Marcelaine and Kevin and Heidi joined us to celebrate this special day and give thanks.

We are so very grateful for our family and all of many blessings!

Exploring Durham

Click the following link to see the rest of the photos: Exploring Durham, a set on Flickr.

Photos around Durham with grandparents visiting (Jared's parents). Most of these were taken at Duke Gardens with others taken at a grist mill and the Old Chapel Hill Road Park.

Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween we had two cute witches and a spiderman (or "piderman" as Zach would say it).

We enjoyed the lead up to Halloween with a few events, including our ward Trunk or Treat, and a Boo Bash party at the library. I am the room parent for Anwyn's second grade class, so I got to plan a party for her class (and Lily and Zach got to come along).

Our friends the Wrights hosted a fun dinner party on Halloween eve. 

The main course was "Ghosts in the graveyard" (RIP toasted bread, mashed potato ghosts over a meatloaf grave).

I brought a plate of "skeleton fingers" (string cheese with slivered almonds attached to the end, secured by a dab of cream cheese).

 And a tray of deviled eggs with a few olive spiders on top. 

Our annual pumpkin carving tradition took place during Family Home Evening on Monday night.

 The finished product...a monster!