Pumpkin Nuts

Growing up I always thought that Halloween was just a prelude to the fun holidays, the holiday you almost skip over to get Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, lately I've begun to believe that it is one of the most fun, because it's when we all get excited for this part of the year. Decorations come out, people start to gather, and best of all, treats come out of the woodwork!

So, last night we headed over to have dinner and carve pumpkins with some family. It was a blast to be with all ages of kids. There seem to be several age stages to pumpkin carving.

1. So young that you have no idea what is going on.

2. Someone else carves the pumpkin with your instructions.

3. You spend a lot of time drawing, tracing, cutting, and it's very important that it turns out

4. The age when you begin to freehand and hope you don't cut off your finger.

We had so much fun, and the caramel apples at the end didn't hurt. Thanks Kevin and Heather!

Cooper participated in dinner and showed support in some Halloween pajamas.

We were all carving with little teeny toothpick knives, which actually worked really well.

But, what the heck Heather? Even Mercer looks a little worried.

Steven had a new idea for his pumpkin this year. He had me find a teeny pumpkin and a very tall one. He carved bars on the big pumpkin and had me carve a deranged face on the small one. It actually turned out really cute, but with the flash of the camera you can't see the light shining through.

Happy Pre-Halloween Celebrations!

Paul Mitchell Spokane

A few people have asked me about Steven's job, so here are some pictures of the school! They are just beginning enrollment, and classes start pretty soon. The school has come so far just in the few weeks that I've seen it. I can't wait to see the finished product. I only took a couple of pictures, just imagine the rest!

The reception area...

Some of the stations..

Cooper loves it inside the school, he found out this week that it echoes..

A Few Things

Yesterday we pretended it was our anniversary. Steven recently began working for our brother-in-law George at the new Paul Mitchell the School, Spokane. Steven is the Director of Admissions, and he's loving every minute of it! But, unfortunately the first day that classes begin (November 4th) is our anniversary. So, we took advantage of a semi-empty Saturday to celebrate!

We were lucky enough to have Mercer, so we headed to Old European, our biannual celebration spot! We had such a great time, but there were two moments in particular that stuck out.

1. Mercer ate a huge blob of butter before Steven or I could stop him. He made a funny face and then looked at us and said, "Yum. This tastes like ice cream!"

2. After ordering orange juice for Mercer, our waitress brought us all water to start. Mercer took a drink and said, "Guys, this tastes like water." With a clear look of disdain for both of us.

We ran a few errands, and then we headed over to Mallory's last soccer game of the season. Steve had a blast playing catch with Austin and Landon. I'm sure it was his talent that enabled him to catch the ball more then Landon, and not his height.

I really love this picture, and I wish that I had been closer to get a better shot. I was watching Cooper and when I looked over to the game of catch, I couldn't find Landon. Then I found that he had stopped playing to talk to Mercer about all his cars.

As as special surprise, Steven got us tickets to go see Phantom of the Opera at the Opera house in Spokane. We went to dinner at PF Changs beforehand with Kiley, Jarom, Staci, and Sydni. Jarom was mortified when I pulled out the camera for the waitress to take our picture. I'm glad I did it though!

It was so fun to have an evening with everyone, and the show was amazing. Special thanks to Matt and Dana who watched Cooper for a very long time so we could go.

Happy Anniversary!

We got the treat bags done! It was a task that I was not able to complete without help. Thanks Steve!

We were a little tired after.

One of our Halloween decorations is a pillow that looks like a ghost. The past couple of times Mercer has stayed with us he has really gotten attached to it, and he calls it "My Ghost." So, last night I told him that he could sleep with it, since after reading stories he walked upstairs and got into bed with it. So, here is Mercer and his Ghost, each in their own little beds made by Mercer.

A Few Things....

Tim's braces are off! He looks so handsome, and he says that he doesn't really remember them being on. Amazing news since he got them off yesterday...

I'm working on a crazy project for Copper Basin right now. Hundreds of Halloween treat bags for kids who come to their model homes. I had 10 huge bags of candy this morning, and they only filled 40 bags. So, Tim and I went back today and got 20 bags more. The looks we got were fun!

Also, we went to the doctor today, and we found out that we are having a girl! We weren't sure how our appointment would go today, last week they told me they heard two heartbeats. So, we weren't sure what would happen today. We are so excited and open to girl names!

Tim came with us and it was so fun. He took our picture together..

I'll post the end result of our Halloween extravaganza!

Nobody Was Watching?!

Cooper is almost crawling, he drags himself around the house. I only realized there was a method to his madness when I noticed the diaper basket constantly messed up.

Introducing...Cooper's new favorite toy, diapers!

A Little Too Close

Certainly not like his mother.

7 Months

We were at the grocery store last night and a woman asked Steven to stop so she could see Cooper. She asked how old he was and I replied, "6 months." Steven corrected me and said, "Actually he's 7 months tomorrow." I couldn't believe it. Over the six month mark. It's crazy.

We love you buddy!

Happiness Contributed To...

I've been reading blogs this week and I just started to feel a little down for everyone out there having an especially hard week. I was starting to feel a little bummed, so I thought for a long time about what I could do for myself to bring happiness and cheerfulness to my life. (Cheerfulness, harder then I thought)

SO, I returned to my roots. I started to listen to some music I haven't listened to since I lived at home with my parents. Whenever we would take a road trip together, usually to Utah, we would all bring our CD's and everyone in the car took turns picking one song from one CD and the trip would always go so fast. I always chose songs from my Dad's Diamond Rio CD's. Yes, they are a country band, (stop gagging all my in laws), and I love them. If Diamond Rio was on in our house, everyone was singing or dancing. I put some on this week and I was surprised how fast I was happy and singing.

So, to everyone out there having a rough time, I know it won't solve anything, but turn on some music that you love, that you love to sing, and maybe it might help a little bit.

To Some of My Sisters

1. Harry Connick Jr., Christmas Music

2. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk

3.Evanesance

4.Wicked

Turn it on and sing!

Thankful

I know it's a little early for a "Thankful" post, but I'm diving right on in anyway. I know everyone is expecting pictures of Cooper and stuff about Steven, but this year I have some new ones.

Recently I was reading an article in the Ensign with a quote that I can't stop thinking about! Neal A Maxwell said, "“Murmuring can … be noisy enough that it drowns out the various spiritual signals to us, signals which tell us in some cases to quit soaking ourselves indulgently in the hot tubs of self-pity! Murmuring over the weight of our crosses not only takes energy otherwise needed to carry them but might cause another to put down his cross altogether.” As I read this, my first thought was how thankful I was that as I read that, I couldn't think of any major crosses that I struggle with right now. My next thought was how stupid I felt for complaining about things I didn't consider a big deal. My life is nowhere near perfect, but I can stop whining about the things that I can change, and learn to live with the things I can't.

I'm thankful for my peaceful life.

I'm thankful that I get to be with Cooper every single day.

I'm thankful that Steven provides for us.

I'm thankful we have the Spirit in our home.

I'm thankful for the never-ending laundry. (Said with gritted teeth, this one falls under the category of things I can't change)

I'm thankful for hard work. There is nothing better then being exhausted at the end of the day.

I'm thankful that I can feel the new baby kicking. It's amazing, and I love it every time.

I know this was one of those embarrassing posts that everyone pretends not have read, and I don't blame anyone for skipping over it. I just wanted to record for myself the little things that have become so very important.

Happy Fall!!

We have had such a fun weekend. We were able to get to have Mercer over which has led to hours of gawking and squawking fun for Cooper. I think it's safe to say that we have officially welcomed Fall. Steven spent the day yesterday cleaning up outside while we made him hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies. I confused Mercer so bad that when we got home from the store with Halloween treats he told me that we better put some out for Santa. Sorry Mercer!

Thanks to Sister Nixon in our ward who made Cooper some beanies when he was born. We are finally getting to use them, and he loves them.

We got really lucky today. We went to my family's ward, and just by happenstance a missionary I taught Sunday School to when he was in high school was giving his homecoming talk. It was so fun to see how his testimony had grown. Cooper was completely exhausted from staring at Grandma the whole time, he never sleeps on anyone, so this picture is sort of an anomaly. (Ignore my oh-so-strange ponytail. I didn't have time to fix it!)

Happy Fall from Us!

And Happy Fall from Mercer!

Lately

So, lately I like to pretend like I've got a handle on my eating while I'm pregnant.

I think to myself, "I have a great relationship with food!"

I think I feel like this...

When in reality, I am wanting to be more like this.

I don't necessarily get cravings when I'm pregnant, it's more like, if I see you eating it, or someone eating it on tv, or anyone talking about it, then whatever it is sounds fantastic. For instance, my oh-so-cute sister-in-law posted on her blog a few days ago that she is craving all kinds of fun junk food. Since then, all my thoughts (and dreams I might add) are of going to the store and marching up and down the aisles for fun food. Thanks Kiley. I find myself dreaming of Thanksgiving dinner (yay!), Christmas treats...etc.

In the end it just exhausts me and I end up like this at 10:00 in the morning.