Fun Family Halloween Activity

Matt and I took Amy to this last night. It was fun for all of us. Nothing SUPER special, but it was cute. Amy had a look on her face during the train ride that was half nervous and half curious the whole time. Very cute. These people go to lots of trouble to do this, and it was fun. Anyone's welcome to go. Enjoy!

Stringtown Nightmare Express

Join us for a haunting good time on the Stringtown Nightmare Express.

There will be ghosts, goblins, spiders, bats, skeletons, graveyards,

dragons, Ring Wrathes, Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory, and Dracula's castle.

You will also enjoy music, movies, popcorn, candy, and lots of fun!

When:

Wed, Oct 29th to Fri, Oct 31st

5:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Where:

Stringtown Railroad

455 East 200 North

Lindon, UT 84042

Nightmare Express is open free of charge to anyone who wants to ride.

It is designed to be fun, and is appropriate for children and parents of all ages.

To enjoy a less scary ride, come before sunset, between 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm.

You can read more about the Nightmare Express on the Stringtown Website:

http://www.stringtown.us/railroad/nightmareexpress

To add to the fun, please come dressed in your Halloween costume,

even if you come on a night other than Halloween.

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Amy's New Word!!!

Amy just said "ducky"! Like 3 times! And it was pretty clear! I'm ecstatic about this new word!

8 Weeks 6 Days!!!!

We are feeling SO excited right now. We just came from our first doctor's appointment, and we finally know how far along we are. (See title.) That puts the due date as June 4. This falls into the window I was predicting, but on the farther-along end which is great news. The thing I am most excited about is that our baby is doing fine. It can now feel real to Matt and me that we are going to have another baby, because we saw the little peanut. Yay for new babies!

Great old movies

I'm largely writing this post so that Bonnie's last post isn't at the top of our blog very long. Having the picture of that woman there kinda creeps me out, so here's a quick aside.

Look at movies like "What's up Doc?", "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "North Avenue Irregulars", "No Time for Sergeants", "The Apple Dumpling Gang", and the list goes on. Where are these today?! These are fabulously funny and entertaining movies! With any luck they'll "start making them like they used to" again. If you've missed any of these, may I highly recommend them for a wonderful evening of laughs!

...aaaaand, that's all I really have to say, but at least that creepy picture is a little lower on the blog now, eh?!

I'm not as in to Twilight as everyone else on the planet, but I like doing these. Mostly I just hoped they wouldn't say I'm Bella. Her character is fine for her, but I don't want to be like her. And I'm certainly not like Alice or Rosalie - I hope I'm not like Rosalie. So Esme was a good answer for me. I like that.


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Amy's Really Walking!

It's official. Although she had her first steps almost a month ago, I wouldn't really say Amy was walking until today. She's doing it right now. Today she has been transitioning from more time crawling to more time walking when she wants to go somewhere. She also learned how to walk on her knees. At one point she was walking on her knees when she decided to just get up to walk. The other thing that made it so I could say she's officially walking was that she would be cruising along the wall and just let go and keep walking rather than get down or find more wall to hold onto. Here she comes! She's so cute walking, and we are really proud of her for learning this new skill!

Pumpkin Patch

Heather and Julie already added their pumpkin patch posts to their blogs; now it's my turn. Yesterday for play group we went to a pumpkin patch. We went to this one last year, but it seemed better this year. It helped too that Amy was old enough to play. She had a great time! She liked that there were inclines to climb and tunnels to crawl through. It seems like all the kids had a great time. Here are a few pictures:

Amy's New Friend

Tonight we had our friends, Bryan and Jenny Sullivan over to our house for dinner and games. It was so fun! We were really glad they came! Their son, Ethan just turned one last week, and he and Amy were fast friends. They kept following each other around and playing. They were sharing toys and food and using each other stand up and to touch. They were so cute together! Jenny and I were convinced that we need to get together for play dates again.

We fed Amy in her stroller so that Ethan could use the high chair. After dinner they both decided they wanted another helping and got a free play thing out of the deal just by crawling over to the stroller. Lucky babies.





























And Amy and Ethan had a great time playing the piano together. They stayed like there for quite a while. It was fun!















And here I'm pretty sure Amy was going to feed Ethan her cookie until she realized she wanted it. Sorry for the shakiness.



Last but not least, video of piano playing/ their interactions. Right before this, Amy gave Ethan a hug. It was adorable. We hoped for a repeat for the camera but weren't so lucky.

Random Amyness

I put a little clip in Amy's hair, and I thought it was so cute! Especially how the bottom curled naturally. So I thought I'd show. Sorry the picture is a little blurry.















Here's Amy in her pajamas she got from cousins James and Finn for her birthday. And look at that hairdo. While your at it, check out that face. I don't know why she looked so grumpy:
















The other day we played with our friend, Mariah for quite a while. I was trying to keep Amy up and playing the whole time so that she would for sure take a nap after Mariah went home. I started making lunch just before Mariah's mom came, and got Amy eating. Then when it was just us again I ate lunch myself. I often check email/ read blogs, etc. while eating because Amy feeds herself. I guess I wasn't paying too close attention. When I looked over at Amy this is what I saw:

On Pregnancy

Many of you have asked us when we are due or how far along we are (pretty much the same question asked a different way.) And we have told you we don't know. Just wanted to put that out there for anyone who is still wondering. Amy still nurses 3 or 4 times a day (after every time she wakes us and right before bed), and so I haven't exactly gotten back to a normal cycle. So when the nurse asked me the first day of my last period to judge how far I was I had no idea what to tell her. I will update this information as soon as I know anything more. I have an appointment on Oct 28. Since we don't know how far we are, we are assuming that the doctor will do an ultrasound to find out. (That's what happened when I was pregnant with Amy because we didn't know how far along I was then either. The doctor we're going to this time is in the same office but is a different doctor. We're hoping he has the same practice.)

And for the other pregnancy gory details -
I have been a bit nauseated but not throwing up. (I didn't throw up at all last time.) I have started gagging/ dry heaving sometimes, and some smells are getting to me. I don't like talking about food much because it makes me feel gross, but I have to eat fairly often or I get really hungry or I feel gross.

I have to take a nap every day otherwise I am way too tired by the end of the day.
So pretty much what I am saying is, in the first week of my pregnancy in which I have known that I am pregnant, it's been quite the same as last pregnancy. I think that is a good sign. By comparison I had an easy pregnancy. That doesn't mean I'm thrilled about all of the symptoms ahead of me. I have a much more sober outlook on pregnancy than I did last time. Still, I am very excited to have a new baby on the way to our family. I just can't wait until he/she is here instead of inside me causing my body havoc.

On Patterns

I really like finding random little patterns in the world around me. I especially like finding patterns that relate to having kids - it's kind of the topic I'm obsessed with these days. Here are some of the patterns in our family:

First of all, for a little background, Matt and I each have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. That's important. In Matt's case, all the siblings are married with children - he's the youngest by far. In my case, all but one brother are married with children - I'm the second to youngest. We all got married and had kids in order in our family.

First there are the 1st child patterns -

Matt's side:
The girls had boys first. The boys had girls first.

My side:
The oldest (Laurel) had a boy first.
My next sister (Salli) had a girl first.
Then comes my brother (Andy). He had a boy first.
We had a girl first.

See the patterns?

Now the second children patterns -
There are 4 permutations (to use the mathy word) of possible genders with two kids. You can have
1 - a boy then a girl
2 - a girl then a boy
3 - two boys
4 - two girls.

With me so far?
In Matt's family all of them are covered:
Robin - #3
Susan - #1
Brent - #4
Lance - #2

My family:
Laurel - #1
Salli - #2
Andy - #3
Us - ????

So to fit the pattern and cover all the permutations, we would need to have another girl next. The funny thing is, you could count the permutation of two girls at the first as already being covered. That's what my parents and Matt's parents had.

So we want to have a girl for pattern's sake. But we also really like the idea of having a boy. Matt keeps daydreaming about bringing sons to Priesthood Session of Conference which he'll have to wait 12 years for AFTER we have our first son. So he wants to get that show on the road. Besides that, we just both think it would be really fun to have a boy. So we will really be happy to have either. (The other pros of having another girl are - we love having a girl so we would enjoy another and that we have girl stuff already.)

Now do I sound nerdy?

To the tune of B-I-N-G-O

There was a family, name of Parks, and PREGO was their word-o.
P-R-E-G-O
P-R-E-G-O
P-R-E-G-O
and PREGO was their word-o.

Things I Have Done

The idea is to highlight the things you have done out of the 200 items on the list. I challenge any one who wants to do this!! :)

(Heather, you and I have done - and not done - a lot of the same things.)

(Green is both Bonnie & I, Blue is just me, regular (bold) is just Bonnie)

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain kinda - not just kinda
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - no, but I watched a fireworks show on the Mississippi River
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty - ran them in 3:27 as I recall
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath - shower, not bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar - I got hugged by one.
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking - too often. much too often!
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - I was satisfied with the amount of money I had as a missionary; I didn't need much.
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing - only at an indoor place
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving - sure want to!
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving - Kinda. It was just a training kind of course, and I freaked out.
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy - not bought but played with. I still have a stuffed bunny from when I was a kid. Amy plays with it. (Bonnie bought me a sit and spin! I love to still play on it!)
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover - working on it
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school - for me, every day I had to go was going back. It was horrible.
89. Changed your name ( my last name.. :)- yeah, me too. And I have had plenty of nicknames.
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad - I liked it.
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97.Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe.
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway play - not on Broadway per se. (Lion King, Les Mis, Phantom, and one other I don't remember)
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band - not a rock band, but plenty of concert and pep bands and a traveling-around-the-city-brass-band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train - railroading merit badge baby!
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in a historic place - Nauvoo!
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (mini golf hahaha - Me too!)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Ran a marathon
136. Learned to surf - well, define "learned". I caught a wave... once.
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo - no specification as to where - the shower counts!
143. Gone spelunking - nothing fancy
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away - don't remember if I did or not
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem - nothing good. Had to for English.
159. Carried your lunch in a lunch box
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks - not on a park bench, but in my Dad's back yard.
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous - my mission call
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a camp fire
189. Kept a blog - well, I guess Bonnie does mostly
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

Crazy 8 Tag

I've been tagged by Sheri. Fun!

8 TV Shows that I Love to Watch
We don't have a TV, and the only time I really am around TVs that are on is when I go running at the fitness center. I bring books and magazines when I run at the fitness center and rarely pay much attention to the TV. Mostly they have news type of shows on. A book I recently read was by a fellow reader. She said that whatever was on TV just couldn't compete with the book on her nightstand. That's how I feel. I don't feel like I'm missing out at all because I love reading so much more than TV.

8 Favorite Restaurants
1 - McDonalds. I know it shouldn't count. But I love McDonalds, and it's probably the place we go most often.
2 - Little Caesar's.
3 - Cafe Rio. (I love cilantro!)
4 - Los Hermanos (OK, anywhere where they serve Mexican Food.)
5 - La Parrilla Latina. It's a Central/ South American food place right near my parents' house. The food is good, but our favorite part is the atmosphere. Great karaoke and dancing. We love it there! Especially when my crazy family is there too!
6 - Winger's. I have to agree. I've only been there three times maybe, but I love that they serve popcorn.
7 - Fast food. Cheap and quick.
8 - Anywhere with Matt.

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
1 - I went to the Temple.
2 - My mom and 5 of her sisters and 3 of her brothers-in-law were at my aunt's house. I went over and visited them.
3 - We went to the mission reunion.
4 - I cleaned up the house most of the way.
5 - I read. (I do that everyday.)
6 - I ran 3 miles.
7 - I enjoyed being with Matt and Amy.
8 - I checked my email.

8 Things I am Looking Forward to
1 - The rest of Conference. I love having Matt home on Sunday, and I love General Conference. What a great weekend!
2 - family get-togethers. I love these.
3 - Halloween. Amy has a very cute costume.
4 - Ice Cream. Matt and I are going to go get it.
5 - No pilates next week.
6 - Next time I get to lie in bed reading. (It'll probably be tonight.)
7 - Family Time. (Just my immediate family.) I love it. Can't get enough of it.
8 - Reading the Conference Talks in the Ensign.

8 Things on my Wish List
1 - More Money.
2 - I wish I was good at feeding my family healthy, tasty, easy-to-cook meals on a budget. It's complicated.
3 - I wish we wouldn't take months off in our book club.
4 - Matt not having to spend so much time at work. (Not that he works more that is to be expected. I just miss him.)
5 - Amy would get over pooping in the tub and shrieking.
6 - All my friends would blog.
7 - We were in a position to follow Matt's dreams. He has big ones.
8 - My mom didn't work so much either.

8 People I Tag (Matt's side of the Family)
1 - Carole
2 - Abby
3 - Candice
4 - Catherine
5 - Shalee
6 - Melissa
7 - Brynn
8 - Robin

Mission Reunion

Last night we had the opportunity to go to my mission reunion. It was so great! The mission president who served after my mission president just got home this year and had a reunion of his own so our numbers were greatly decreased. That wasn't too sad to me because last year there were so many missionaries at the reunion that I didn't serve with at all. I'm getting old.

President Allen loves music and LOVES putting people on the spot. So we had a lot of music last night. We sang together. Some elders sang for us. He and Sister Allen sang Love One Another. They always sang that to us at Zone Conferences. Somewhere in all that singing, I realized how much I was enjoying feeling Mission feelings again. Does that make sense? I felt the great love and reverence I have for my mission experience, for the people in Washington, and for the Savior and His gospel. It was wonderful to have a reminder of why the mission was so special to me! There is nothing like sharing something as precious as the gospel with people who grow precious to you in the process.

Though I often feel the Spirit in my life and have felt the joy of sharing the gospel since I came home from the mission, I haven't felt what I felt last night for a long time. It's impossible to describe, and it's wonderful! It was feeling the Spirit and love directly as they related to the mission and the people the same as I felt when I was a missionary.

What makes it even more remarkable in my opinion is that I seem to be a live-in-the-moment kind of person. I have loved my life, but I have a tendency to forget details that friends and family members remember about my past. I love lots of people that I have met throughout my life, but I always seem to feel closest to the people that are more an active part of my life in the present. Does that make sense? No offense to old friends that I rarely see - I love you all. My social life mostly includes people around me now. When we move on from this stage of our lives and this place we live, I probably won't talk to the people here that often or stay in touch. Again, this isn't because I don't love these people. That's just kind of how I am.

Another way to explain it is that I seem to always be most pleased with whatever stage of life I am in, and as much as I love a past stage of life and the people associated with it, I wouldn't want to go back. The only exception I can think of to this is the time right after the mission. I didn't really like that stage, and I definitely wanted to go back to the mission. But now I don't. Right now I think the best life anyone could have is that of a stay-at-home mom with a beautiful baby and a wonderful husband.

So I loved going to the reunion last night, seeing old friends and remembering in my heart a VERY special part of my life.