Fall Season updates on the Petralias!

Petralia family here! - It has been awhile since any of us added to the blog, I decided it was time to do so!

A lot has been going on up here in chilly Idaho. - When we first moved up here, everyone told us how horrifying the winters were going to be. They told us that we would have snow from October - March or April and boy were we worried! Annaleese had something else in mind though. She has been informing everyone that this will be the warmest winter any "Idahoan" has ever seen and so far, it has been!

Over Conference weekend, we decided it was time to get some pumpkins for the fall season! - This year, we took the family down to a local pumpkin patch and let them pick their own! It was FREEZING outside, but Hinckley insisted on finding the PERFECT pumpkin. So we stayed till we found one that was to his liking! - The pumpkin patch was a fun experience. We also came home with corn and even some watermelon (Max did not want a pumpkin he wanted watermelon!) - There was even a miniature hay maze there that the little boys insisted on going through 3 or 4 times! (Even mom got lost!) (Below are the pictures of our pumpkin patch excursion! Doesn't the first one remind you of pictures of Lynnette and Collette when they were younger?!)

It has only snowed twice this month and neither of these snowfalls were bad at all. It was all gone by the next morning! We are hopeful things contiue on this way. (Below are some photos of Max playing in the FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON)

Well, we have successfully finished up Kyani's San Diego convention in the middle of October. It was Annaleese's first big event with a lot of responsibility and she and her co-workers were able to pull off an awesome convention! Distributors have been saying it was the best they have ever attended! - Greg and Annaleese are both glad to have that finished with, and are now working hard planning the next event which will take place in January, in Las Vegas Nevada. We are eagrly looking foward to this. (On the left is a picture of our family and the founders of Kyani, Dick and Gayle Powell, at the San Diego Convention Center where the event was hosted.)

Greg Jr. attended his first dance here at Hillcrest Highschool! He went to Homecoming and had a blast. Now Sadies is next and he has already been asked by 2 or 3 girls! (And the kids thought they would have a hard time making new friends...) - He thought long and hard on how to ask the girl in a really creative way, and finally came up with an idea! - He dressed Hinckley up like a banana and took him to where Hayley (the girl) works. Once there, Hinckley told Hayley "my brother will go bananas if you don't go to Homecoming with him!" Then left without telling Hayley who his brother was! She had to find out it was Greg by him wearing a yellow polo the next day. - It was very cute and although Hinckley said he was embarassed, he did a great job! (Below is Hinck in his Banana suit, Greg with his date, and the video of the asking process!)

Halloween has also come and gone. It was a really fun holiday this year! Usually our family will go out to dinner and a movie, but this year, the kids opted to stay at home, decorate the house really creepy, and scare trick-or-treaters. Unfortunantly Max was the only one who ended up getting scared and not many trick-or-treaters showed up to the house! - We were amazed at how many parents joined in the festivities though. EVERYONE was dressed up and all decked out! It was quite a sight. - We were lucky enough to be able to get our trick-or-treating done the night before at a ward activity. It was nice for the boys to get some candy and experience dressing up, but it was also nice being able to stay inside the next night and just enjoy in each other's company. (To the right is Hinckley and Max all ready for Halloween! We finally convinced Max to wear ONE costume. At one point he had declared he was going to be a scarecrow, Batman, pirate! And below are Max the scarecrow and Hinck the very serious cowboy. He would not smile because he said cowboys don't smile!)

It is now November and Thanksgiving and Christmas are rapidly approaching! All the hustle and bustle of Christmas has already started here, immediatly putting us in the spirit. - Although we will miss all of you on these up-coming Holidays, we will keep you in our hearts and hope you will do the same! We miss and love all of you! Hope to hear from you soon!

-The Petralias-