Falls Highlights

K kiddos--the long awaited pictures have arrived.

Event #1 (of 3):

My FABULOUS Birthday/Gossip Girl surprise party:

The night before my birthday I was in my Church History night class and felt that since my head was about to explode and my stomach wanted to expel all kinds of stuff, I had endured my longest day of the week long enough. Consequently, I texted Adam to come get me an hour early. He agreed and met me outside the building, standing by his car. "Your present is in the back seat--so you can't look," he so casually confessed. I said, "Fine, whatever." As I slid into the front seat I noticed something stirring behind me. Was it Brynne?--no. What is a dog?--no. Better. IT WAS MOM STEVENS! She flew into Idaho Falls just for ME. After jumping over the back seat and tackling her to the...seat... I bursted into tears and couldn't believe she was actually HERE in the BURG--as the embarrassing pictures she took can attest--I was out of my mind excited.

Not only was Mom right here for now but she was staying until Sunday...5 whole days of Mom awesomeness. We spent the next day together after class and then got a fantastic surprise at my fabulous (say fabulous as many times as you can forever--it was that fabulous) surprise birthday party Adam, Mom, and Brynne put together. Everyone dressed up as their favorite Gossip Girl character--and of course, I got to be Blair. It was sooo much fun. I think my favorite part of the night was when my best friends from PA stayed late and danced to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" with me like 5X. I got to spend my birthday with the people in Rexburg (currently) that I love the most and no other gift could compare.

Here's some pics:

Event #2:

Our talented friend Amber from our ward asked people to "volunteer" for photography sessions with her, as she's trying to get back into the trade. I instantly took up the offer and am so glad I did because she took the best fall pictures ever. I love getting our pictures done because I think it's important (and neat) to look back with our kids at what we looked like in our younger years. Here's a bunch:

Event #3:

Halloween.

The Friday before Halloween (the 30th), Adam and I dressed up for our ward's Halloween party/cake decorating contest. I was a cereal box and Adam was a cereal killer (pun). We whipped these things up in literally 15 minutes and surprised everyone with how witty and original we can be--right. It was way fun though. As a new year is only another year, Brynne and I decided to practice our long standing tradition of Trick-or-Treating every year--and since everyone here is our age or 10 years old, verses local residents being our parents or grandparents age--we realized this was going to be kind of awkward if we didn't find a twist to going. Luckily, we found one. Brynne and I borrowed a little girl from my ward and took her Trick-or-Treating. Since most parents were out taking their own little ones around the neighborhoods, the majority of our stops left bowls of goodies outside their doors. And, no, we didn't take only one. I was a princess, Brynne was Joe Dirt (with a mullet whig), and our little friend was the cutest witch ever. Long story short, we got a ton of candy, of which we took inside, poured all over the floor, and completely devoured. No pics of this one, sorry--it would have meant less time for candy grabbing.

Here's some pics of the party though--

Currently, I am finishing up on day 3 of my sugar fast. Adam and I agreed that if I would give up refined sugar until Thanksgiving that he would in exchange go lifting at least 3 times a week. I can't even tell you the pain. I feel like I'm detoxing or something--whatever that feels like. Someone said giving up sugar is like an alcoholic giving up alcohol. Holy cow--no wonder everyone drinks.