3 months in review

After 3 months.

Halloween night. No work. No kids ringing the doorbell. No husband.

No Excuse for not catching you up:

September:

All I know is all August I was looking forward to September. Why? Well, my friends, because we went on another blessed cruise! We had so much fun and had worked our pants off trying to make time up around the week we took off. It was worth every second. I ended up with a very busy 2 weeks, first flying out to UT to be a bridesmaid in a wedding. Jarom's younger sister Brandie was married and it was so wonderful to be in the sealing room and reminded of everything I love about my own marriage. I got to stay with and see old friends and during the whole trip I only got a couple random pictures. Sorry. That's the best I got. I was not a fan of short hair that day and ended up pinning it all back because I couldn't do much with it. I am officially growing it out now. 

I flew home on Sunday and arrived in time to get to see our friends who had driven from TX to go on the cruise with us. We were so excited to be going together. I had big plans for our evening that involved lots of food, music, games, TONS of catching up, and fun. We definitely achieved fun. We all drove down to Charleston the next morning in time to meet up with Chris for lunch and then he drove us to the port. It was so much fun! We got to chat for a bit and then we were off to the boat! I really don't have thousands of pictures because to be honest, we just tried to enjoy ourselves and relax. I laid by the pool on the top back deck of the boat and Alan went down the waterslides over and over again. So funny. He really is just a big kid at heart. The cruise went to the Bahamas where we snorkeled for the first time. That was... interesting. A little scary for me as I always imagined we would just walk off the shore and swim around, but we went out on a boat in the middle of the ocean and jumped in where the guides knew of some good reef. It ended up being a lot of fun after I got over the panic of not being able to breathe normally. Alan basically took all of his gear off because he wanted to free dive and get close and personal with the fish:) 

Besides snorkeling, we watched tons of stage performances, comedy, bands, and a really funny drunk girl one night... (Aubrey, Kyle, Alan, and I will never forget you, wonderful drunken dancing woman!hahaha)

Here are some fun pics from the rest of the cruise. Meal times were our favorites, of course!:)

formal night

The "Mitt"

doing some bahama shopping

I love how their traffic guide stands in his little post!

perfect find for our future sailing!

fun times before dinner

 I know you probably can't tell, but we brought TONS of glow sticks and played glow in the dark mini golf one night! soo fun! And I made a hole in one!

kind of an awkard gangsta pic

OCTOBER

This month was so special. First of all, without going into too much detail, let me tell you about this amazing family. The Marietta family is very dear to our hearts. Mike works with Alan and long story short--became very interested in the gospel through their association with each other. We had the family over one night for a big fun dinner, made cookies, and had the first missionary lesson for FHE. I can not describe to you how strongly we felt the Spirit, and what an incredible family this is. They came to church and loved all 3 hrs. ANd they just kept coming back. Their children are so sweet and bright, and at one point their 11 year old asked the missionaries "How can I know about all this for me?" HAHA... Who says that?! I was like, Uhh...careful, the last 14 year old boy that asked that.... hahaha.

ANYhow--we feel so lucky to be a part of their lives and to have been able to be one of the means of introducing their family to the Gospel and the blessings it brings into our lives. I spoke at their baptism Oct 19th, and Alan baptized the sweet family. Their youngest was so sad he wasn't old enough yet. It was cute. The ward has been so good and has helped each of the members of their family find their place in our big family. It really is a reminder of the Lord being very much aware of each of us and where we are and the people we can meet/influence/love. 

Marietta family Baptism Oct 19, 2013

Not much else to share except for we are finally into my very favorite time of year.... October to December where the weather turns cool, my runs are filled with colorful trees and brisk air, and I can sometimes find time to make some delicious treats... 

First of the season--pumpkin spice bread and salted caramel hot chocolate.. yum!

(I look pretty tired. I know. Working on it!)

 AND FINALLY...

We bought a piano! I love watching him practice! And we Love getting to play again!

We are so excited for the months to come and can't wait to see what memories we have yet to make!