October

October was a crazy month!  We started with really great weather which we took advantage of by getting out of the house a little more often...at least while it lasted.  One of the things the kids and I like to do is pick up Clint from his subway stop.  We don't get to do this everyday, and probably less now that it is getting dark earlier, but when we can we do. 

As you all know, Malia is a princess through and through.  Here she is in her full princess get up walking Daddy home from the train.

One October evening when we were having 80 degree weather, we decided to pack up a dinner and head to the park for a picnic.  We set up on a small hill over looking some soccer fields where we could watch some soccer and ultimate frisbee. 

Mmmmm....peanut butter....

Malia decided she needed to join the games....

So she had to be retrieved! 

Then the weather got cold......

And rainy....

One day on our way home from visiting some friends, Malia, Owen and I got caught in a huge down pour!  Thanks to an umbrella and the stroller shades, Owen was able to get home mostly dry...and even fell asleep!  As for Malia and I....we weren't so lucky!  We were both smiling in the end and it was a great adventure!

One beautiful Saturday morning we headed out to a "pumpkin patch" (parking lot with hay bales covered in pumpkins) to pick out some pumpkins for decorating!  It was perfect for the kids!  Although on a map the patch was less than 5 miles away, it still took us 45 minutes of driving through the dense city to get there.  The kids had a lot of fun and each got to pick their own pumpkin.  While going through the hay maze (once again, hay bales in a parking lot) Owen grabbed onto a pumpkin stem and pulled a small pumpkin into his lap.  I guess that was the one, cause that's what we brought home!  Owen likes to play with any kind of ball and if he can get his hands on his pumpkin, he loves to throw/roll it around on the floor!

The one...

For a long time, Malia was afraid of pumpkins.  So we decided to paint our pumpkins instead of carving them.  We also don't have a porch where we can light them, so this seemed to make the most sense.  Owen's pumpkin is made to represent him, and Malia wanted a kitty pumpkin.

HALLOWEEN!!!
This year for Halloween, Owen was a monkey (he reminds us of Curious George) and Malia was her favorite character from Sesame Street- Abby Cadabby!  On the 27th, our ward had their annual chili/pie cook-off.  All of the primary kids....and some adults, get to wear their Halloween costumes!  Clint was on the committee for this activity and it went great!  He also came up with the great idea of taking a cupcake pan to be able to try 12 different kinds of chili at one time.  Everyone thought we were so smart!

On Halloween day, we went a block down to do our trick-or-treating.  There are a bunch of little businesses that hand out candy there.  All of this is done before dark, which is great.  There were a TON of people and all of the kids were oohhing and ahhhing at each other's costumes.  It was a lot of fun!  On our way home, we ran into Malia's good friend Avery(Peter Pan). 

Malia was telling Owen that he was "so handsome"

Kisses for Owen!

Malia and Avery so excited to see each other! 

Hurricane Sandy-
As you all know, New York City was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.  There was and still is a lot of destruction.  School was cancelled all week, even for college students.  It was a lot of fun having Clint home all week, but kind of a bummer that we couldn't go out and do fun things!  The subways were flooded and the buses weren't running due to tunnel flooding and high winds.  The parks were also closes so that the debris could be cleaned out.  Things are just barely starting to move again.  Clint starts school again tomorrow, but might have to take a different route due to not all of the trains being able to run.  He was also notified today that the water and heat are not working in his building so he needs to dress warm. 
We were SO BLESSED throughout this storm.  We live in one of the higher points of Brooklyn so we weren't too worried about flooding.  Our biggest concern was loosing power and water.  We spent a couple of days prepping for the storm.  We filled up our van with gas (which many people now do not have due to a shortage....shhh don't tell anyone we have a full tank!) Got all of our laundry done, (our washers and dryers are in the basement of our building and could have been flooded) filled as many containers as we could with water, charged up our lantern, went grocery shopping and taped up our windows.  All we witnessed was a rainy and windy day.  The wind was stronger than normal, but nothing we hadn't seen in Idaho.  Our power stayed on and we were able to live life pretty normal.  If you just walk a block or two away from our apartment things were different.  There were trees that had a lot more damage.  Still nothing compared to what millions went and are still going through.  It is so surreal!  I feel like we are watching everything from Idaho because of how little we were effected.  We are SO thankful to live where we do. 

This  picture was taken from our bedroom window.  The aluminum siding was being ripped off the side of this building.  This was the most dramatic thing we saw from the storm.  I do have to note:  the craftsmanship that we have seen here in New York is pretty poor.  If you could see some of the apartments that we walked through when looking for a home....you would be amazed.  I'm guessing that this siding needed to come down anyways, and just needed a little help.  The brick underneath seems to be in good condition, and should the owner decided to rip the rest of the siding off, I think it would be a definite improvement for the curb appeal. 

While cooped up inside, we decided to pull the wii fit out

Owen getting in on the action

This is his best move!

For my birthday, Clint bought me paint!  He knew how badly I wanted to paint the living room.  It is a slow process.  Most of the painting is done when the kids are sleeping.  Malia gets a dry brush every once in a while.  I LOVE the molding that is on the walls, but it sure takes a long time to paint!

 This month was also a big month for Owen.  Owen cut his first tooth!  This is 6 months earlier than his sister!  He loves food and already knows how to take advantage of the one sharp object in his mouth.  That's not all!  Owen started walking!  He is such a go getter!  One day he just decided he was done with crawling and let go of the furniture!  He loves being able to get around so quickly and easily.  He is pretty sneaky though.  When he was a crawler I always knew where he was from the sounds of his palms slapping the wood floor.  Now he sneaks around so quietly in his socks! 

 Wowsers that was long!  Once again I want to say how thankful and blessed we are to live in the apartment we do.  We have had so many signs that this apartment was and continues to be an answer to our prayers.  Although the hurricane is such a terrible experience, it has really opened my eyes to the simple things in life that I am thankful for.  It has been such a great introduction to the thanksgiving season.  We have so much to be thankful for. 

We miss you all so much!  We thought a lot about Kirk, Lauretta, and their family....and doughnuts....as we were approaching Halloween.  Clint has been hinting that he wants to make some doughnuts....we'll see how that goes. 

We've been very blessed to also make many great friends here.  It makes being away from family a little bit easier.

We were also so excited to add sweet baby Natalie to the family!  Congratulations Curtis and Christina!

Okay I need to be done now.  If you made it all the way through this, you are a trooper!
We love you all!