Since the beginning of the school year I have had a countdown for when fall break finally arrived. Man was it well worth the wait. Jess and I headed up to Rexburg to spend the break with Megan and Justy. It was so refreshing to be back to my old stomping grounds with my best friend and our hubbies. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. We stayed up til 2 every night talking and laughing until we couldn't breathe. We watched movies, went on midnight runs to Ramirez for breakfast burritos, were constantly at the gas station getting candy and sodas, had a spa sesh, carved pumpkins, made hot cocoa, went to a hay maze and fed the pigs, and we even squeezed in a mini road-trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where we shopped around and ate at a local BBQ joint. The boys were in heaven to say the least. I also got to visit with my cousin Emily and baby Mason for a bit and my sister, Paigey, while Jesse got to experience an Idaho past-time of branding cows with his mission buddy. We definitely left feeling depressed wishing we lived in the same place as Meg and Justin, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will end up in San Clemente one day as neighbors. It's a bonus that our husbands love each other so much. All in all it was a fantastic trip and made me miss the small town feel, orange sunsets, and farm-land of Idaho.

Happy weekend to me! Last night we rented a movie and stayed in lounging and drinking apple cider. Nothing feels more like fall than that. Today we drove up the canyon to Sundance with Trav and Devin. It is gorgeous up there in the fall with the vibrant tree colors and crisp breeze. We walked around and enjoyed the perfect weather. Later Jesse and I went on a date night with Alex and Ryan. We did a session at the Provo temple and then went out for dinner and a little late night shopping. So far the month of October has been good to us. Filled with simple fall activities and loads of family time.

It's my favorite time of year! This is the half of the year when Jesse and I are the same age. The birthday boy turned 23! It was the never-ending birthday this year since Jesse's birthday was on a Sunday. We ended up celebrating all weekend long to make up for it. What a lucky duck. Friday we went to watch the BYU hockey game and then the boys played an intense game of broom hockey after. Saturday morning I went and got us a batch of fresh donuts from the local bakery while Jesse slept in. We met up with a bunch of friends at Tucanos for an all-you-can-eat Brazilian meat feast for lunch. On Sunday we had a fiesta with friends and ended the night playing a riveting game of Mad Gab and Catch Phrase. I was so proud of myself this year because I made the cake-of-all-cakes. It was a multi-colored, multi-layered cake. I personally think I knocked it out of the park with that one and will definitely be making it in the future. Maybe it will be a family tradition to make this cake on our birthdays.

Conference weekend couldn't have been better. My family came into town to switch cars with Travis and go to conference because they had never been. We waited in the stand-by line and thankfully my family got tickets, but Jesse and I didn't. I was really bummed, but so relieved that those in my family that hadn't been before were able to experience a live conference session. Jesse and I enjoyed conference on the lawn in front of the Salt Lake temple. We stayed the weekend at our family friends, the Bringhurst's, house. We also spent some time at the Ford's cabin. The weekend was jam-packed with togetherness and we had a grand time....as usual.