Happy Halloween!

It's 8:00 p.m. October the 31st, and I can now officially say that our Halloween festivities are done!  I guess that means that we are getting old, but we have had lots of fun, if I do say so myself.

 Our Halloween fun began this afternoon at 3:00 p.m.  Mckay and I went to England Trucking for the company's trick-or-treat parade with Grandpa England and his cousin Jax. . . or should I say, Grandpa and Mater.

We threaded through the most fantastically decorated cubicles and met all sorts of neat people: clowns, witches, Mad Hatters, you name it.  By the very end, Mckay had drummed up quite a pile of candy, and quite a sugar high.

 Here we are with Grandpa Gene and Dorothy, Grandpa, me, and Mckay. . . four generations of Englands.  Check out Dorothy's hat!

 We got home to find Chase ready to join in on the fun.  Before going out to trick or treat in our little neighborhood, I tried to get a good picture of Chase and Mckay, but by now Mckay had caught on to the fact that candy was really good, and we couldn't get him to focus on anything but his loot.  This picture was the best we could do.

After a half hour of going door to door, we decided that we'd go home and watch 'Arsenic and Old Lace.' After eating one more tootsie pop, Mckay opted out of the movie and decided to go to bed.  What a fun-filled day!

Harvest time

These last two weeks have been busy . . . overwhelmingly so, it seems.  But harvest time is such a fun time of year, who can blame us for cramming in as much fun as we can?  Especially when October has been so nice as to stay so warm for us?  Here are some of the things we have been up to.

Last week, this was Mckay BEFORE his first haircut.  Check out the munchkin's mullet.  Pretty impressive, isn't it?

But not as impressive as this haircut!  I wish I could take credit for this, but credit goes to my Mom who cut his hair while I was at Payson's Country Farm Fest selling food.  (She basically watched him 2 days straight.) I guess having had 3 boys herself, she is a whiz with the scissors and the electronic razor.

While Mckay was getting all fancied up, I was selling cupcakes, doughnuts, cookies, etc.  Check out my apron. . . it matches!

 

 While I was busy selling food, Mckay was exploring the farm fest.  His favorite thing to do was watch the pigs, but when he wasn't with them, he enjoyed the barn filled with pumpkins and bunnies.

 Since the title of this post is "harvest time", I thought I should include this picture we took last week.  This was taken at my parent's strawberry patch, which is Chase and Mckay's favorite hang out when the strawberries are ripe:)

 Mckay loves his Grandpas!  Check out that grin, it says it all!

A little iron and lortab go a long way . . .

Bilbo Baggins once said, "I'm old . . . I know I don't look it, but lately I've felt like butter scraped over too much bread."  I am sure that I did not quote that exactly right, but lately it is a good way to express how I feel.
I am in my third trimester, and Chase is buried neck deep in his first semester of grad school.  Meanwhile, Mckay is eating more, sleeping less, and running around a whole lot.  Sometimes, although there are two of us adults and only one child, I wish that we all had a nanny to make our food, clean my house, and put us all down for afternoon naps.  Wouldn't that be great?  Especially this past week.
Last week Chase went to Anaheim for a job networking conference.  The day before, he had a dentist appointment.  All seemed to go well, until he got to California.  Once there, the teeth that had been worked on began to hurt him . . . a lot!  So he is there interviewing and networking, all the while having four massive tooth aches.  Poor Chase!  Luckily, he has a prescription of Lortab, and, two emergency dentist appointments later, things should be looking up.
In the meantime, I spent a weekend having one of those "good experiences" (which means it was a hard experience that I hope not to have again!) being a food vendor at a festival.  The day before my experience, I also had a doctor's appointment.  Well, after a weekend of feeling TIRED all day long, I received a phone call from the doctor saying that I was very, very low on iron and that I needed to take all sorts of things to replete my energy.  Aha!  So that's why I was needing more sleep and naps then my 18 month old son!
All this has caused me to reflect on the balance and priorities of life.  I think that sometimes we try to do too much running on too little.  The only person in my family right now who seems to have a pretty good balance is Mckay.  Maybe I should be more like him. . . eat three good meals a day, make time to play, and have a nap when I am tired.
Just something to think about.

New Adventure

Last year I took Mckay to the Country Farm Fest in Payson.  It's run by this lady in my parent's ward, and is such a fun fall activity for families!  Last year we. . .

. . . rode the kiddie train, road the ponies, took funny pictures (sadly, this was the best one of Mckay!), played some carnival games, saw all the fun farm animals, and shopped in and out of the many boutiques and craft booths.  There was so much to do for such a small amount of money, I fell in love with this festival.

The only thing that I wished they would have had last year was more food and treats for the customers like me, so I decided to return to the Country Farm Fest, but this time, as a food vendor!  I am teaming up with the event coordinator of the festival to sell all sorts of yummy treats from popcorn and cotton candy, to doughnuts and hot chocolate.  I have never done anything like this before, but fortunately, Chase is in the MBA program, and has all sorts of tips for me to help me get started.  The planning has been lots of fun, I am excited for the actual event.  Who says you can't learn to do new things when you are older?

The Farm Fest runs two weekends, October 14 & 15, and October 20-22.  If you're looking for something fun to do over UEA weekend, come by and say hi to me!

Septemberfest!

September is one of my most favorite months.  I love when the lethargy of the hot summer days give way to the crispness of fall.  I love the increase of energy that manifests itself in back-to-school mania and football, and decorating my place with things of autumn.  This September has been an especially fun one for me.  That has, in part, to do with a little toddler that needs to get out and get moving quite a bit.  Thank you Mckay for helping Mom get off the couch and onto fun things!

 Firstly, September means football.  For those of you who may not be a huge fan of this photo, just know that we watch and support both the U of U and BYU.  This is just the best picture:)  Mckay is young, but he already has a little bit of football mania.  He will scream "Go! Go! Go!" to anything moving on the field.  I am sure that his enthusiasm will become more fine-tuned with the years, but it is very cute.

 I like September because some of the prettiest hikes can be found this time of year, both temperature-wise and visually.  Here is a trail we found in Kamas.  The leaves have not yet changed, but give it a few more weeks and we will definitely see some color creep in.

 This September I started a new tradition.  My cousin-in-law Lindsey hosted the fabulous "Food Feud Competition" ( I think I spelled that wrong), a food competition for amateurs cooks/chefs/etc. I entered the "dessert" category with my tried and true cream cheese cupcakes.  Even they helped me celebrate fall-time and September with their autumn colors.  Here I am feeling very accomplished and sophisticated because my cupcakes are in a cool display.  It was a lot of fun!

 Living in the University Village has its perks, one of them being only 3 minutes from the Hogle Zoo.  Mckay and I have made the journey to the zoo several times, and each time is so fun.  Here we are with the tigers. . .

 . . . and the elephants.  Not the greatest picture of the elephant, I realize, but just check out that cheesy smile.  I couldn't resist.  I like how Mckay's face has a milk mustache, that is very true to life.

One of Mckay's favorite zoo attractions is the wooden horses.  He would not let me get him off for a good ten minutes, so I thought I would kill some time with a little photo shoot.

September, you have been fun.  I am sad that you are almost over.  The only thing that makes this inevitable fact bearable is that after you comes October (and Halloween!), November (Thanksgiving!), December (Christmas), and Baby # 2!

This is the place

A few weeks ago we visited This is the Place Heritage Park with some of my family.  This is the first time since I was, like, 12 that I've been here.  I was pleasantly surprised at all the fun things there were to do, especially for Mckay.

 First we had to visit the "This is the Place" Monument just outside the park.  Here's where all the historical facts are presented.  Chase and I found the only spot of shade for this picture.  It was hot!

 Mckay loved riding the pony.  He practically had to do the straddles to fit across it, but that just made it easier for him to stay on.

 The petting zoo at the park was really fun.  Mckay would only pet this goat because it was smaller than him.  The rest he gave wide berth to.  Not that I blame him at all. . .

 A "train" takes you around the outside of the park and saves a lot of walking.  Mckay loved riding the train almost as much as Grandma and Grandpa loved holding him.

 A little miniature train takes the kids around a pond.  It made us adults feel absolutely huge, but it's just the right size for little kids.

Washing clothes is way more fun when you get to use a bucket of water and splash people.  Whether or not there was any actual washing involved remains in serious doubt.

 Grandma and grandpa relaxing after a fun afternoon.

I had a lot of fun at the park.  It's less than 5 minutes from where we live, so we are hoping we have lots of visitors whom we can take here:)

It's a . . .

So I haven't wondered very much about the gender of this next baby.  I guess it's because I have felt like this baby was going to be a girl.  Add to this feeling the fact that I have been more sick with this baby, and I thought that for sure we were going to have a Claire England.  Even as I went to my ultra-sound appointment, it was really just to confirm what I already knew, and to make sure that the baby was growing the way he/she should.
The discussion with the nurse who did the ultra-sound went something like this:
Nurse: "Would you like me to tell you the gender?"
Me: "Yes, I would."
Nurse: "Oh, wow, this is a really good gender shot, look here."
Me: "Can you point things out,  I'm not very good at reading ultra-sound photos."
Nurse:  "It's a BOY!"
Me: "It's a . . . wait, it's a boy?"
Nurse: "Yep, look right here.  There's no mistaking it."
Me: "Wow, a boy?!?  I was. . . I mean, I'm just as happy, I guess I just really thought I was going to be a girl."
Nurse: (laughing) "You have no idea how many times I hear that."

So we are having a boy!  I am thrilled to be having a boy, just as thrilled as I would be to have a girl.  I am just way surprised.  I guess I will never just assume that my feminine intuition is sure-proof again:)