Well, now that Samantha's secret has been revealed, I will show you what it was.
She cut her hair for Locks of Love. She cut off 14 inches! She, of course, looks cute, as always and we are enjoying fun new hairdos and a much easier time combing it out.
Tyler turned 11 years old this week. I just can't believe he is going to middle school next year, and going to Boy Scouts instead of Cub Scouts. He is even going on his first scout campout tonight!
He celebrated with a few friends over on Saturday. They had rubber band gun wars with the rubber band guns Aunt Vera made us and just hung out doing...boy stuff. 
And then by eating Toll House Pie with the family on his real birthday. Ignore his clothing, he had just gotten home from wresting.
He has wanted the game Dangerous Hunts for a long time and has been saving his money to be able to buy it. With his birthday money, he was able to finally get it!
This cute girl
Has a surprise for you, but isn't ready to tell you yet. She wants to wait until she sees the relatives that will be at Thanksgiving dinner. But if you live close and you want to stop by, she would love to see you and might let you see her surprise...
We had the chance to take a little vacation to Salt Lake City a few weeks ago. We were surprising my mom for her 60th birthday. My dad rented a house and all of the siblings except my brother who is serving a mission in Brazil were able to make it. It was nice to get away and even better to be with family. It was great fun seeing everyone again and, of course, even better when we put the kids to bed and hung out as adults, eating and talking!
Since I was the first one to get married and have kids, I always felt a little out of place and it was hard when my kids were the only ones to act up or throw a fit. Now there are a whole load of kids, much of them younger than mine! It is nice to watch and observe them taking care of babies!
We were blessed to have amazing weather, especially for the first weekend in November. We took advantage of that by taking the kids to the zoo and by playing outside in the huge backyard of the house we stayed it.
We have not taken our kids to the zoo in over three years, and since my Sister-in-law Matti and Sister Jeanette have season passes, most of us got in for free! Of course, after all of us told our kids we would not be able to ride the carousel, Aunt Vera bought the kids tickets to ride it. They thought that was great fun, and then we finished up by taking a train ride.
The rest of the weekend was filled up by a little shopping, a trip to Cabella's for some window shopping, a visit to Joe's brother, Adam and Jennifer and family, and just more visiting and surprises for my mom. I am grateful for my dad being willing and able to rent the house for us to stay in and for everyone for making it such a great weekend.
Tyler's football season ended yesterday when they lost their first playoff game. He wasn't there for the game because we were in Salt Lake for the weekend. It didn't go over well when he found out that he wouldn't be there for the game and it was even worse when he found out they lost the game. He loves football and plays hard. I love to see him stand out there, he is so intent on the game even when he is not in. The coach chose a "player of the game" the last few games of the season and gave that player stickers for his cheeks. Tyler earned that title a few games ago and was thrilled. I am very glad that he found a talent and love for football, just because he is very much in his element and so happy when he is playing.
Finally here are our Halloween pics. We had a good Halloween with the usual activities. Pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating.
