OCTOBER

Mom knows it's time to panic when Spencer's birthday hits every year. Not only is he another year older (which means I'm getting older), but the holidays are here!

Spencer turned 5 years old!

Spencer had the choice of a party with his friends, or inviting his cousin, Jared, to sleep over. Lucky Mom, he wanted Jared to spend the night. Not only that, but he requested tomato soup and cheese sandwiches for his birthday feast. Talk about one low-maintenance kid! Well, at least on Mom's part. Dad had the hard part - setting up a tent in the dark. The kids played in it for about 30 min, then decided the play room was a more suitable place to sleep.

Can't let October pass without a hayride and trip to the pumpkin patch! On this particular outing, I learned that good pictures are virtually impossible when its one adult vs. three little kids. You're already short one hand as it is, and you want to use one of those hands to hold a camera??

We were hoping for a little sun during our annual walk for Libby (Juvenile Diabetes Walk for a Cure), but we were simply happy that the rain stayed away for a few hours that morning. Cloudy, windy and chilly, but we still had a good time! Libby's Grandma Bunker flew from AZ to walk with us. Oh, and the bright green tulle are our versions of tutus, because Libby loves to dance. Thanks to all who donated and made our walk possible!

Spencer's school organizes a hay ride every year. After the hay ride, each student gets to pick out a pumpkin. At the request of Spencer, I was one of those moms who showed up with my camera to take pictures. Here's a picture with his teacher, Mrs. Carter.

One Saturday we stopped at Roswell Mill, a mill that dates back to the 1800s. Despite the clouds, the scenery was picturesque - covered bridge, river and leaves changing color. We went for a little nature hike and played down by the river. We took a family picture on the bridge. Spencer found a big leaf on the trail. Hannah refused to look at the camera for any more pictures, so we "tricked" her into kissing dad for a cute shot.

Happy Halloween! Hannah and Spencer gathered a lot of candy at our ward trunk-or-treat. Our Blake cousins came to stay with us on Halloween, and we had fun at Grandma Wilder's party that afternoon. The weather was pretty crummy, so we only lasted about a half an hour trick-or-treating in the rain.