Nelson Family Blog: Snow, Denver, and Halloween Fun.

I'm not sure how it happened, but all of a sudden October is almost over. I've been a little absent in my blogging lately, but in my defense it has been pretty crazy around here.

Two weeks ago, we finally got the kids outside (on a pretty chilly day) and took some beautiful, fall family photos. They turned out so well! And we took a family one with a tripod and timer and actually got a really cute picture of all four of us. I had to bribe the kids with cookies. So, after the successful photos, we went home and baked some cut-out sugar cookies and then decorated them. The kids loved it, and I think I finally mastered the sugar cookie, so it was a good day all around.

The next day, we woke up to about 2.5 inches of snow on the ground. The kids were overly excited to see snow, and had to put on all their snow gear and go play in it after church. It was so cute to see their excitement, and it was a really pretty snow. However, the rest of us were not so excited to see the snow in the middle of October. Luckily, it didn't last long and most of it had melted by the end of the day, but it's just a taste of things to come.

Last weekend, John had a work retreat in the cities, so I had the kids to myself for a couple of days. On Friday, the kids and I headed to Minnesota to visit my parents and help with some of the harvesting. The kids both got to ride in the combine with Uncle Ryan, and Emma rode with me in the chopper. I got to chop stalks this year! It was really fun to get back into the tractor, and I really enjoyed being able to help again this year. It was fun. It was a short visit though, and we had to head back Saturday evening because Emma had to sing in church the next day. And we had a football party with some friends from church, which was really fun for the entire family.

This past week has been another busy one. I went to the Magnet Nursing Conference in Denver Colorado from Tuesday to Friday. It was a busy week filled with breakout sessions, general sessions, networking, vendors, and a lot of walking. But I really enjoyed the week, and I feel like I learned a lot and I felt really proud of my nursing profession. We didn't have much downtime to explore the city or see the mountains, but we did get to eat out a couple nights and do a little bit of shopping in the evening.

I did get a glimpse of some mountains during a break at the conference, but for most of the time were inside the Convention Center listening to presentations. I am glad I went to the conference, and I had a great time with the girls I went with, but I don't know if I would go again. It was hard to be away from home, and stuck in such a tight schedule, and I wasn't paid to attend the conference. So, it was fun, but I think one time is probably enough.

I got home at around 8:30pm on Friday evening, and both kids were spending the night at Jim and Barb's house since Emma didn't have school on Friday. So, John and I watched some of the World Series Game and just enjoyed a quiet evening at home.

Today, was a pretty busy day. We went and picked up the kids pretty early this morning to get back to town for a Halloween Costume Contest. The kids did really well walking up on the stage. Neither kid won in their category, but they had fun and got cotton candy and popcorn balls. After the contest, we met up with Krystal and Donovan, and did some trick or treating and pumpkin decorating at Lake Lorraine. It was really fun, and the kids got a lot of candy, but it ended up getting really busy by the time we left. The weather was beautiful and everyone wanted to enjoy it.

For lunch, we ate at Hy-Vee Market Grille, and then we decorated cookies, pumpkins, and did some trick or treating in Hy-Vee. The kids got so much candy today, it was insane.

After all the craziness, we went home and let the kids relax for a while (and ourselves). Eventually, we decided to enjoy some more of the beautiful day and we raked leaf piles for the kids to jump in. They had so much fun jumping and rolling around in the leaves. We also played catch and baseball in the yard for quite a while. It was a great afternoon.

The kids are finally asleep, and I am so ready to relax and call it a night pretty soon. Also, the LA Dodgers look like they are going to tie the world series at 2 games a piece tonight with the Boston Red Sox.