Texas Renaissance Festival...

aka "Great People Watching"

This was our second time attending the Ren Fest.  The weather was cool and comfortable, so the crowds were out in full force.  Sorry to disappoint you, but we did not wear costumes to the festival. :)  There were plenty of other people who dressed up to provide entertainment for us.  Seriously, I think the people watching is better here than the county fair.  Most of them would stop and pose for a picture if you asked, but I usually just snapped a shot as we walked by.    

I love how all of Katie's teeth are showing in this one. 

We heard some great music. 

Last time we were at the festival, we missed seeing the jousting, so we made sure to watch this year.  Yeah, it didn't live up to our expectations.  Too much dialogue that we couldn't even hear, and not enough action. 

See the lady in the bottom left corner in the jousting pic?  She was the "caller/cheerleader" for our section of the audience.  I recognized her as we were walking around later. 

It was a barbarian theme the day we went. 

Nasty, I know, but funny.  The back legs rolled along behind him. 

Don't know what this guy was supposed to be, but his costume was interesting. 

This man was part of the king's guard.  They take their roles very seriously. :)

This family circus act was a lot of fun to watch.  They were very talented.  One of the guys walked a tightrope.  Jacob was impressed he didn't use a pole to balance himself. 

They performed several juggling acts; their finale included fire and a unicycle. 

We ate chicken soup in a bread bowl, cheesy garlic bread, and fried alligator.  I thought the soup was the best thing we tried.  The cheesy bread was extremely salty and rich.  We've had better fried alligator before, so that was a disappointing $5 on a stick. :)

Some pics of the cool buildings/architecture:

Katie just sat back, put her feet up and relaxed. 

She took a little nap.

Smiling even though Mom shined the camera flash in her eyes. 

Our drive home took twice as long (about 1 1/2 hours) because of traffic.  The festival closes as dusk, so everyone was leaving at the same time.  We had a fun time as a family, but decided we probably won't go back.   

Life: Imagine the Potential

This month is slipping away, and I want to sneak in a few adoption posts.  I was introduced to this video about a year ago, and I loved it, so I thought I'd share it with you.  (It's only about one minute long.) 

It's pretty amazing, right?  I only knew that a few of these people were adopted before I saw this.  It makes me wonder how many of us are connected to adoption in some way.  It seems like almost everyone I talk to about it knows an adoptee or knows someone trying to adopt.  What about you?  What's your connection to adoption?

Katie is 9 months old!

Weight 18 lbs 4 oz  {52%}

Height 27 3/4"  {56%}

Head 17 1/4"

It's getting harder to take Katie's pictures because she just wants to move all over or try and grab the camera. 

Katie discovered how fun the toilet paper can be a couple weeks ago.  :)

I thought I didn't have to worry about this until she was a little bit older!

We love our little mischievous baby girl!   

Halloween Bash

This year Jacob and I decided we wanted to throw a Halloween party.  We'd never hosted one before.  I found ideas in magazines and on the internet, including several on Pinterest.  I kept finding more and more that I wanted to do.  It was a lot of work and time planning and preparing, but we had a blast, and I think everyone else did as well.  Wanna see lots of pictures?  Get ready...

a farmer, a milk maid, and of course, the cutest little cow ever :)

Rachel, Todd, Teagan, and Kaden (they were voted Scariest in our costume contest)

Eric, Susie, Maura, Vivi, Tess, and Terrie (won Prettiest category)

Scott, Amy, Stockton, Beckham, and Bristol

Brock, Jessica, Miriam, and Eliza (they won Best Overall in our costume contest!)

Haley, Matt, Carter, and Caleb (won Funniest)

Ben, Stacie, and Ada (won Most Creative costumes)

Stacie's friend Danielle was here visiting from out of town.  She was such a good sport to dress up for our party! 

the food:

spider web 7-layer dip

mummy dogs

count dracula fingers (peanut butter cookies)

haunted graveyard veggie tray (some of the "trees" fell over)

We had games for the kids:  donut on a string

bobbing for apples

Kaden with his prize apple

face painting

Vivi

The adults played a game called candy corn toss:

see how many candy corns you can throw into your spouse's bucket in one minute. 

It was pretty funny. :)

Inside we ate soup, rolls, cupcakes, and lots of candy.  We had a guessing jar filled with candy corns that little Caleb won.  His guess was only off by one number! We then played another fun game called Nosey.  {Split into teams and guess whose nose is poking through a sheet that's hung in the doorway.}  Some were really hard!  Can you tell whose nose this is? :)  

A few more pictures:

Peter and Lauren were there too. 

The kids all got to take homemade slime when they left. 

We also gave these witches' broomsticks filled with candy as favors. 

another pic of my cute cow and handsome farmer

These next two are from our ward's trunk-or-treat which was the night after our party. 

Thanks to everyone who came to our party!  I think it was a success.  We'll have to see if we make this an annual occurence...

Happy {late} Halloween!