October: Halloween and First Communion

October 1

On October 6, I flew out to Southern California to see my good friend Karen. We drove from the John Wayne airport to Carpinteria because we were going to meet a new friend, Cleta, for the Avocado Festival.

October 7

In the morning on Saturday, I went for a run and wound up on this lovely path that ended overlooking the ocean. I don’t seem to have taken any photos at the festival, but we had a good time. Wandered around and ate some amazing guacamole.

October 8

After the festival, we drove to Ojai to see where Cleta lives. After stumbling on a Shooter Jennings concert in the park, Karen and I spent the night in the guest room of the assisted living home where Cleta’s mom lives; the accommodations were excellent, and it was comparatively inexpensive. They have a beautiful rose garden. In the morning, we went to the farmer’s market, and Cleta drove us up to Meditation Mount, where there’s a peaceful retreat center with an amazing view. Then Karen and I drove to Santa Barbara.

While I was away, the kids did their annual painting of a window on a downtown Lafayette business. We always paint with Phoebe’s friend Fritz and his family. This was the first year Benjamin was old enough for his own painting!

October 9

Karen and I found the East Beach Grill for breakfast; I can’t imagine a better place to sit by the beach and eat!

October 11

October 12

I attended CALCON, the Colorado Association of Libraries conference, up in Loveland, for the second year in a row. I really enjoy spending time with librarians!

October 14

My sister-in-law Erin had a conference in Broomfield, so she spent two nights with us. It was so fun to see her! I haven’t spent much time with her without my brother Matt around, so I enjoyed getting to do some “girl talk.” Dave was busy playing sax for the Longmont Theater Company production of Rocky Horror Show.

October 15

A big day! After two weeks of instruction in Sunday School, Phoebe and four other Mount Calvary kids were ready to take their first communion. Dave and I are so proud of our big girl—getting more mature every day!

We like to occasionally get together with some friends Phoebe made at Take-A-Break before they all went their separate ways for kindergarten. Sunflower Farm in Longmont turned out to be a lovely place to meet up for the afternoon.

For dinner, I made a beef stew from the vegetables Phoebe brought home from a Take-A-Break field trip to Miller Farms.

October 27

October is Halloween costume month, and Dave offered to buy me a new sewing machine to make this labor of love easier. Wow; even this fairly inexpensive machine is impressive! (It’s nowhere near as beautiful or classy as the lovely old Singer I’ve been using until now.)

Weather has rolled in and out all month so far; just right for fall.

October 31

Grammie and Pappy left after a really nice visit. Apparently, we were having so much fun, we didn’t take any photos!

My coworkers always come up with a theme for Halloween, and several of us dress up in order to win the company costume contest (we’re a shoo-in).

The kids had Halloween parties at school; after school, we joined the Brinkmans for pizza, beer, and trick-or-treating, as has become a family tradition. We went up and down a new street this time, and there were so many kids and parents out to experience a street full of fabulous and scary decorations!