Yes, Indeedy, We're Boating in November!

 Since the fall weather in Texas has been so lovely, and John has a whole week of vacation, we decided to explore another lake near our home today.  Inks Lake is small, but when you are the only boat on it, it's plenty roomy!

See the beautiful changing leaves?  The scenery was fabulous, the sun was shining, it was 80 degrees, and the kids went swimming.  So, how was your Monday???

People have private boat docks along the lake on their property.  No boats were in them.  You'd think it was winter or something.

I tried out a new feature we found on our camera--monochromatic mode.

 Our charming boat captain and tour guide.

We saw some wildlife too.  Luckily, none of the snake variety, but this, I believe, is a blue heron. 

Stately, huh?

And some seriously moth-eaten deer.  This guy was like, "Oh, yawn, another photo op."  You'd think gun-toting Texans would be down with killing more of these guys, but they are EVERYWHERE!!!

I love Texas in the fall.  If anyone is considering a visit, October and November are the

BEST time of year to come.

Hint, hint.

The Weekend Recap

I don't have very many pictures because I always forget to take the camera....

Halloween turned out to be pretty great, even if we couldn't trick-or-treat on Sunday.  Friday night we went to a "Farewell" party for some friends who are moving to Utah.  After that, we took the kids to IHOP for a free Scary Face pancake that they got to decorate.  This was the beginning of our Halloween festivities.  For such a lame holiday, it sure got a lot of attention this year.  Here's the costumes:

Saturday night our friends, the Hydricks, who are moving to Utah, came to stay the weekend.  They had packed up their apartment and loaded it on the moving truck, so we offered to let them come stay here so they'd have a bed.  They were so much fun, and we really enjoyed having them visit.  Their little boy is almost three and followed Seth around all weekend.  We had great food and great conversation, and they were so easy to host.  It's rare to find couples that both the husband and wife enjoy spending time with, but they are that type of couple.  Now we have another set of friends to visit next time we get to Utah!  The list is growing.  Maybe that's where we should live.

The kids did the ward "Trunk-or-Treat" and carnival and came home with bags of candy.  The carnival was well-done, and there was great turnout for the chili cook-off.

Embarrassing story--hope no one in my ward reads this (they don't know my blog address yet)--our chili tipped over in the car on the way over, so it looked all messy and unattractive on the outside of the pot.  I did NOT scrape up the spilled part, that would be gross.  John advised me just to leave it in the car, but NO!  I was worried they wouldn't have enough, so I took it, but I wished the whole time I had listened to the counsel of my husband.  I should just know that chili is not my thing and stop trying so hard.  It never works out well for me.

Last night, we made cheese fondue with the Hydricks and sat in the kitchen eating and talking while the kids opened the door for trick-or-treaters.  I don't even know how many kids we had, because I suspect my kids were handing out big handfuls of candy.  They also opened the door before the doorbell rang, so I hope we had a good turnout!

Happy Halloween, everyone, and let's get on with Thanksgiving!