Birthdays have been fun this year as well, and Seth threw Keely a fantastic 26th "boo"thday party! It was tons of fun, and filled with Witch's Brew to drink, Squash Soup to eat, and all sorts of other fun autumn foods to enjoy (even fondue!). The best part of the party was getting to spend time with wonderfully close friends, all whom have been blessings in our lives as well as sanity preservationalists for our minds. Even Wendy Wick was able to make it up for the party! And we made sure to carve pumpkins! 
Of course you know, the Romm porch wouldn't be complete each October without the infamous "Yarfing" Pumpkin ala Seth! (center) All our neighbors got a big kick out of it, though Keely wasn't all that stoked about the batch of penicillin we discovered growing in and under the pumpkins, post-Halloween. =)
We can't have Halloween without the creative genius our three minds are when put together!
Daisy's costume, Cindy Brady, came about by accident and last minute thrift-store shopping. Cute $3 dress, pigtails, ringlets...it kind of took on a life of its own from there. But man, was she was a DEAD RINGER! 
Keely chose to be a mouse, after her first costume, Jem (circa 1988-think Barbie & the Rockers) photographed more hookerish than plastic barbie-dollish. And we all know THAT wouldn't fly in highly-conservative Rexburg! 
Seth's costume just kind of came about out of nowhere. He figured what the heck, you only live once. So he donned the hosiery, the wig, and a handbag with matching pumps...and he sure made a lovely, bearded-sweet spirit! (We thought his shoulders added an essence of Janet Reno to the get-up.) He actually rocked som little kids' worlds at the ward's trunk-or-treat. Their mom asked if they recognized this person, and they shook their heads no. She mentioned that Seth was their Home Teacher. Seth then said in his most feminine voice, "And now I'm your Visiting Teacher, hunnies!" The kids were a little worried and ran away. So Seth's officially hung up his pumps for now.
Man our lives this year, as I'm sure you're all aware, has been full of all sorts of changes and adventures! As overwhelming as they all seemed, we have come to appreciate each one of them, and the added enrichment to our lives each challenge has brought to us. Idaho's not so bad, and really reminds us of home in so many ways. We wanted to share a little bit of our new-found joy we have here.
We had the opportunity to explore the Indian Springs area earlier this year for Keely's company picnic. It was a good time, full of great family games that we ALL got involved in, one way or another. We're so proud of Seth and the runner-up trophy (and token bellyache) he brought home from the pie-eating contest. He put alot of others to shame! Daisy and Keely and some other kids seized the opportunity to fish for minnows with plastic cups. They proved to be very resourceful little fisherwomen. Who'da thunk it?!Of course, this year was full of new changes for Daisy herself. Among the many, there was a new school, and a great new summer program at her new daycare. In addtion she turned 8 (can you believe it?!), got baptized, and had the pleasure of accompanying her Cassidy family on a trip to San Diego, California! (lucky...) While there, the family got to go behind the scenes at the San Diego Zoo, they saw SeaWorld, and many other fantastic must-see places. Daisy was highly impressed by the beach there, and how different it is from both that of Oregon and Washington. She's been bubbling-over about it all ever since. =) 
As I mentioned before, our all-time favorite family activity here is exploring our surroundings. We've spent time in the many nearby communities, familiarizing ourselves with the local history, and trying to imagine what life was like for our ancestors who have lived here before us. We've even visited the infamous the Sand Dunes of Saint Anthony (and had a great time tumbling down them, face-first). 
We've found many fun parks, and enjoy just going out with our camera, and seeing what happens to us for the afternoon. It's a nice, carefree way to spend our time, as well as capture beautiful family pictures. =)
These ones in the leaves are at a park not far from our house, called Porter Park. It's where all the cutesy lovebirds stroll on regular occassion. We figured we didn't want to be left out of that crowd, so we scampered on down there. Though I think we had waaayy more fun in the leaves than any of the young college kids (well, except for some young men who spent the afternoon wailing at pinata after pinata, just the three of them....we'd have done something big like that, but we didn't want people to think we were CRAZY!) 
There was probably enough eyebrow-raising due to the three of us racing down the slides, crossing the monkey bars, hooting & hollering, and pretty much "owning" the jungle-gym. Good times, good times... 
So, whenever you're in the mood for a good leaf fight, or some old-fashioned frolicking, come pay us a visit. We promise you'll have a great time. =)
These ones we did at a really great island-type park in Saint Anthony. It's so fun in the summertime, the kids in the houses along the opposite riverbank have slides from their second-story decks down to the river! It's so fun to watch them. And there are the most gorgeous rocks and falls on either side of the park. Such a nice, peaceful place.
This park is Daisy's favorite. They have a play ghost-town/jailhouse that she loves to pretend adventures around, and in and on top of. =) 
