Fall Favorites

Tomorrow is December 1st. Wow! How did December sneak up so fast? This Fall has been the craziest, most emotional season of our lives, so many changes. Before we move on to candy canes, snowmen, and mistletoe, I thought I should post some of our Fall favorites. It's for posterity sake, proof that in all the change, life goes on and can still be fun and very sweet.

Playing in the leaves is always a hit!

This has been a happy thing. We are lucky enough to have a tree big enough for a tire swing. Not only was this a great FHE one Monday night, but it has been a life saver for all of us.

Of course going back to Manhattan a couple of times to tie up some loose ends. Every time we go back it's harder to leave. Man we miss and love everyone there.

Friday November 13th was a red letter day for our family. Mike defended his dissertation and passed. I've been a little speechless about the whole experience. We have been working for that moment for the past 6+ years and now it's here and gone. Could this really be true! Mike has been our Hero. He has worked so hard and so long, and we are so proud of him. As I listened to him defend I had to hold back the tears, the last thing he needed was an unstable woman in the room. Whoever thought a Bayesian Approach to DNA Barcoding could be such a tearjerker.

By far my favorite pumpkin of the season. What a fun summer project that was, and now look at the fruit of Pops and Mawgs labor! We loved having Pops and Mawga come visit us, help us paint, and take care of us. We loved that they brought us pumpkins that we'd scratched are names into way back in August. Mawgs and Pops were a ray of sunshine, during a homesick time.

We had an incredible Halloween and we looked Super! It's true, you can have two
Dashes in one family.

Our first party in our new ward, the much loved Trunk or Treat. We'd only been to church once. Driving to the church all dressed up, Mike and I had a horrible thought; what if no other adults were dressed up? Maybe in this ward only the kids had fun. How funny and awful that would be if we were the only ones to dress up... Well lets just say that we stood out a little bit. No one missed that we were the new family.

We have no regrets.

Having the Raricks come for Thanksgiving was a blast. We were too busy having fun that I forgot to take pictures! We are blessed with such good friends. This Thanksgiving I have truly been thankful for life long friends and those individuals who Heavenly Father puts in our paths to bless and enrich our lives.

Yesterday night we had a cute family come over to dinner. We have a picture of the Raricks,Smiths, and Us on our fridge. This new friend asked if that was a picture of my family. My answer... Pretty Close.

Here is wishing you a beautiful, wonderful December.

Bring it on!