My brother, Adam, and his family have lived 2 miles away for the last 3 years. Last week they moved back to Utah. As they drove away, Hayden cried and cried. She said, "I can't stop crying." I told her it was okay to cry if she was sad. Obviously, we will miss them, but we are very happy for them. Good luck guys!
All the rugrats: Lochlan, Cole, Anika, Declan, Celtin, and Hayden.
Hayden and Declan cuddling the morning they moved. Wow, we had a majorly eventful Halloween season this year! We kicked it off on the 23rd with a birthday party. One of Hayden's friends had a costume birthday party. Hayden was very excited to finally be able to wear her costume.
Later that day, we headed to a party at the community center. We went with our friends the McMillans and Cottrells. I was really impressed with the party the park district put on and it was all free. There was trick or treating, games, a bouncy house,
and a hay ride. Hayden loves to get together with these boys, Justin, "the other" Hayden (as Hayden calls him), and Clayton. It was a lot of fun but after 2 parties in one day, my kids were beat. 
Next on the Halloween agenda was Hayden's preschool party. We made breadsticks, which Hayden dubbed "bonesticks" for her treat. They were supposed to look like human bones but ended up looking more like dog treats. Hayden thought they were fantastic, though.
Here's her preschool class: Avery, Lochlan, Hayden, Eliza, Aniela and Bradyn. 
Unfortunately, Ryan had missed all of that. So, when he got home we were ready for some family fun. He got home Friday night and Saturday morning we headed to Stades for our yearly visit. It was windy and cold, so we didn't stay long.
Hayden loved the corn and being buried. Cole was too cold to enjoy it, so Ryan took him indoors to warm up a bit. Notice Hayden's huge ding on her forehead. She slammed into the couch. Poor girl.
The kids went through the little hay bale maze, crawled though some tunnels, and then we went inside for apple cider donuts. Which I love! It was fun, but way too cold! I'm so not ready for another Chicago winter. Uggh 
Later that day, we went to our ward trunk or treat.
Our cute turtle.
This was our first trunk or treat and we thought it was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect and we were surrounded by friends!
Our little Strawberry Shortcake with Aniela and Avery.
Cole's favorite part (aside from the dog that was there. He loves dogs!!) was the suckers! He is now a sucker fanatic.....
Hayden with her cousins Anika, Celtin, and Lochlan. They're moving to Utah next week and we will all be sad. Hayden will be devastated. But we're happy for them :)
Then on Halloween we went to our friend's the Deja's and finished up the celebrating with some pumpkin carving. I love how Hayden sticks out her tongue when she's concentrating.
Overall, we had a very busy but fun filled Halloween!Ryan is in China, again. After this trip, he will have been in China 3 out of the 10 months this year. Crazy. So, before he left, we decided to get in some fun together as a family.
Our first stop was to 6 flags. We're sad that the season is ending because we have so much fun there. Hayden has been asking to go on this ride. I never take her because 1) I have Cole and 2) I thought it would scare her. Ryan took her and she was all smiles. She loved it! I'm so proud of her.
They had an area with the characters in their Halloween costumes and the kids got to trick-or-treat. I'm surprised this picture turned out so well, because the kids were both terrified, but I forced them into a picture.
Hayden is obsessed with sticking her head in these things. Cole went on the rides he's big enough for and then spent some time running around. Yes, RUNNING! More to come in a later post about his running.
Then for Family Home Evening one night we made these ghosts out of milk jugs. Hayden is so proud of them and likes to point them out to people when they come over.
We also made it to a farm. We love Stades farm and have gone there the last 3 years. Unfortunately their open hours didn't fit into our schedule this year. So, we went to Goebbert's farm.
There wasn't much to do for free so we paid to visit their zoo. We got to get up close and personal with the giraffes and feed them. Hayden FREAKED OUT! When we were done, she said "I never, ever, ever want to do that again!" Ryan and I thought it was pretty cool, though.
The animals they had were crazy. It was like an actual zoo on this little pumpkin farm. They had camels, monkeys, ligers (yes, real ligers), bears, zebras, and the regular farm animals.
Super huge horns.
I liked the baby camel. It was so cute.
Hayden liked to feed the llamas carrots. I guess she's more comfortable with the animals that are stuck behind a fence. After the animals, we grabbed some apple cider donuts, and headed home. It was a fun day.
Then on Saturday, Ryan's brother Jonathan was in town. His sister Camille and her husband Eric drove up from Indianapolis so we could all spend the day together downtown Chicago. We met up at Navy Pier, walked around for a bit, then took the trolley to Michigan Avenue.
We had lunch at the fabulous Giordanos, then walked around enjoying the gorgeous weather and beautiful sites.
I love Chicago so so so much!! Every time we go downtown, I get excited and always have a great time. It was fun to see family, too. 
I just had to throw in this last picture. Hayden was very proud of her mustache.
We've had a lot of fun with friends lately. On Columbus Day we met up with the McMillans and Cottrells at Didier Farms. I love fall! I love pumpkin patches, the changing colors, the crispness in the air (even though this day happened to be super warm). Fall is just a fun time.
We had fun exploring the farm. We checked out pumpkins and the animals.
Made silly faces, and just enjoyed our friends and the beautiful day!
Then earlier this week we headed to one of our favorite spots, Brookfield Zoo. We went with the McMillans and MacLeods. With all of the potty breaks, diaper changes, and slow walking children, we didn't make it to all of the animals. But a great time was had anyway.
Here's Hayden with her 2 best friends, her cousin Lochlan and Avery. The McMillans just moved in across the street and it has been so fun to have our good friends so close!
Cole was in the stroller most of the time and was excited to be set free.
I realize now that I have no pictures of the kids with any actual animals. Oh well. Hayden's favorite animal this time (and mine, too) were the dolphins.
After being there for a couple hours, we were all ready to head home. We love the zoo!While we were driving out to Utah, we got the call saying Ryan's brother's baby was finally going to be adopted and sealed to them! It was all taking place in California a few days after Ryan got home from China. Luckily, my parents are AWESOME! and kept the kids while Ryan and I flew to California for a few days. We stayed in some apartments behind the LA temple. We got there about 7am on Friday morning. We spent that day at Universal Studios, which was so incredibly fun. I had a blast. Again, I didn't have my camera out the entire weekend. Lame. But, I was able to borrow pictures from other people :)
Saturday morning we headed to the temple and did some initiatories. Then it was time for the sealing. It was so special and we are so happy Adrian is part of the family forever! He is just 10 days younger than Cole and I'm sure they'll be best buds someday!
Yes, that is Sayid or Naveen Andrews. After the sealing, we headed to a park in Santa Monica for lunch. Sayid (I refuse to call him Naveen) was there with his girlfriend and son. I was so so excited. After about 45 minutes, Megi and I got up the courage to ask for a picture. This event has made me realize that sometimes I'm still that teenage girl who followed LFO's tour bus to the gas station to get my picture taken with them. And I'm glad I'm still that teenager sometimes ;)
We stopped one night in Nebraska and then were home. It was a great 5 weeks but we were all definitely ready to get back to our house and real life. A few days after we got home, Hayden said "I'm so happy to be home!" We all are! Back to our Utah posts...
While we were in Utah we got to visit with so many people. Unfortunately I didn't pull out my camera much on these visits.
I got together with my friends from High School, Melenie and Tracy. I haven't seen Melenie in about 8 years. Also, we got together with the Dibbs, Sedgwicks, and Kelley and Kelli.
We took a few days and drove down to St. George with my mom. We stayed with my brother Brett's family. I couldn't believe how grown up my niece and nephews are! While we were there I got together with more friends from High School, Donalee and Laura. I haven't seen them in about 9 years. We met at a park and let our kids play together. It was so great to see them and very surreal. I also got to see an old friend, Mindi, and I got to go to dinner with the fabulous Ashley.
It is always so great to see old friends, and I loved visiting with all of them!
