We had a fun time Trick-or-Treating. It was very cold though. At 6pm when we started it was 37* and it only got windier and colder. Late that night Abigail wok up with a high fever and cough. She was a pretty sick girl for a one day, but we got her on some medicine and she got better pretty quick.
Abigail wanted to dress up like Snow White.
Carving a pumpkin for Halloween.
For Family Home Evening we made a kite. It was really fun.
This is a chocolate shoe Benjamin got for Abgail on our trip to Mackinaw Island.
Mark and Jamie came to visit the beginning of October. We had so much fun with them. Abigail was really excited for them to be here. We went up to Mackinaw Bridge and to see the island. It was beautiful. The leaves were radiant. The island's shops were closing down for the season, but it was fun to just be on the island and see the streets. It was a cold and rainy day though, so we didn't stay too long.
We hiked up a "mountain" (if you can say there is a mountain in Michigan) to see a beautiful landscape of the lakes and bridge. It was WAY windy and cold up top, so we took our pictures and headed back down quickly.
We had an awsome hotel room that was literally right on the beach! These pictures were taken from inside our room. Abigail had a lot of fun being in hotels, swimming in pools (one of which was freezing cold), and eating the continental breakfasts. We all enjoyed shopping and eating incredible food at restaurants.
This was on our boat ride over to the island. Our hotel was right next to the dock. We wanted to go over and found out that a boat was leaving in like 3 minutes, we high-tailed it and were able to catch the boat. That is Forsyth speed for you.
We spent a day at Greenfield Villiage near Detroit. They have a lot of cool historical buildings there that Henry Ford had relocated. We got to ride on a train, horse drawn carriage, old model T car and eat at a really fun restaurant that had recipes from the 1800s. YUMMY! Abby's favorite thing was the carousel. She got to ride on it with Grandma and Grandpa.
Grandma Jamie took Abigail to a build a bear factory. Abby made an unicorn named Star Wish. She chose the unicorn over 100 other animals. She has a music box inside of her and is very soft. Abigail has had a lot of fun snuggling with it and playing with it. We all learned the old unicorn song while Jamie and Mark were here. Abby had a great time.
A highlight for Abigail was getting to spend time with Grandpa. They made delicious chocolate chip and walnut cookies, watched a movie and ate popcorn. Grandpa watched Abby while Jamie and I got to go do fun girly things like maternity clothes shopping and getting my very first pedicure. Wow! Fun stuff!
Abby doing a little interperative dance.
Abby with her friend Miriam at dance.
Day at the Potter Park Zoo.
We have done a lot of fun things. Abigail has been in a dance class through the community and a preschool co-op. She has really enjoyed both of them.
Abigail continues bring Benjamin and me much joy and entertainment. The other day she came into the room and gave Benjamin a paper that said 'Be Resbosubo' she told him is said 'Be responsible'. She also gave him on that she had written 'Les red dad' or "Let's read Dad". It is very fun. Benjamin and her have been reading The Hobbit. She also has been writing recipes and then making her own food. One example is her 'Surprise Recipe'. It had flour, sugar, curry, worchestershire sauce, pickles, cumin, vanilla, almond extract, bacon salt, pizza seasoning. She said it needed to be refridgerated.
I was pretty excited too! They immediately flew me out to the coast to a town called Stavanger where Kjetil my brother in law grew up. The town has a monument to a viking battle that took place there in late 800 AD. The monument is of three giant swords stuck in the ground overlooking the bay where the battle between three kings took place. To commemorate my being there I went down into the battle bay and put my foot (toe) in the water.
Another incredible thing I got to do while in Stavanger was to go and climb Preikestolen. This is a giant slab of rock that juts out overlooking a fjord nearly 2000 feet up in the air. Kjetil and I climbed the rocky trail and were NOT disappointed with the view! This counts as probably one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life! Another important part of this hike was the time I got to spend talking with Kjetil one on one. You can't take pictures of a conversation, though, so here are the pictures of the view...And yes, I was definitely scared standing at the edge!
After Stavanger, we flew back to where Carrie and Kjetil live (in a town called Drammen), but first stopped at Vigeland Park in Oslo. It is a park designed by one man over the better part of his lifetime that portrays mankind's stages of life in all its many aspects. All the statues are nude and I at first thought I would find it silly, but the symbolism and aesthetic quality of the park overtook me. I particularly liked one tiny sculpture of a skeleton (death) separating a couple. It made me cry to think of all the relationships separated by death. It also reminded me of my own temple sealing and how grateful I should be that my marriage doesn't have to end at "till death do us part."
The amazing picture you see above is from a canal in Leiden at dusk that was taken by my friend Dave who I stayed with a couple days while I was there. I actually didn't bring our camera since my wife was on a trip to Utah with it at the same time. I was at the mercy of my friends to take pictures and I obviously found myself a great photographer for a friend! Here are a few more...
Dave took me to a castle called Haarzuylens and it was beautiful. I never got to go here on my mission so it was new to me. Dave and I actually spent a good deal of time (hours) just walking around and talking and the conversation was even better than the pictures... 
The above pictures are three more photos from Leiden. My conference was in Amsterdam actually, but I didn't really have a camera for it. I got to serve in Amsterdam for three months so although the conference went well and my presentation was well enough received, my favorite part about being in the city was just walking around remembering places that I had been. I also got to go back to Amsterdam for one day after visiting Dave to visit with another friend named Job and we went and did some more touristy sight seeing, which included a visit to the Dutch National Museum called the Rijksmuseum. My legs hurt from all the walking, but it was awesome! The number of original paintings from Dutch masters like Vermeer, Van Dijk, Rembrandt and others was staggering. Here's a picture of the museum I pulled off the internet along with a few of the paintings I liked (there were other artifacts in the museum besides the paintings, but I liked the paintings the best)...
