Happy Halloween!

There's a bun in my oven!

And this guy's responsible! (is that too suggestive?)

There's 2 buns showing...but only 1 on the ultrasound (thank heavens!)

Timer goes off May 28!

Yay for babies!

Pumpkins!

Monday for family night, Brian and I went to get pumpkins.  We are so excited about spending the holidays in our new house.  We love this season!   

 

And these three little guys:

Utah.

I was so excited when Brian and I drove out of Utah after we were married.  I told him that if I was sleeping, I wanted to be woken up so I could enjoy the moment.  He laughed and reminded me that we both still have a lot of family there.  He made an excellent point!  We do love our family in UT!

We decided to go back to Utah for a very short trip over Labor Day weekend.  We left Friday evening after Brian got off work.  We stopped through Boise, getting there very late and leaving early in the morning to make the rest of the trip to Utah. 

It was a whirlwind of a trip!  We spent more time driving than we did awake in Utah. 

But it was worth it for several reasons:

1.  Meeting Jace and being at his baby blessing.  He is beautiful!  I think he looks like Brian—so he’s very cute, of course!  

We look like naturals, huh? 

2.  Family pictures—to be posted later.  We drove in to town just in time for photos.  Everyone in Brian’s immediate family was there. 

3.  We picked up some weights we accidently left behind when we left Utah in November.  We must have been preoccupied or something…because we rented a U-Haul, and everything… but forgot to put some important things in it. 

4.  Family.  Even though we were only there about 24 hours, we saw all of Brian’s brothers, their wives, children, and parents.  Nate and Char hosted a brunch at their house after the blessing.  They are really great hosts!  It was fun to see Brian’s grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  They are a big family—good thing I’m used to big families!

5. Cafe Rio.  I post this last, but I’m going to be honest—it was a definite reason for making the trip.  We love Cafe Rio—and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), we don’t have one here in Oregon (yet).  We actually made two trips to Rio.  One with the Harris family after family pictures (thanks you DeWin and Barbara) and later on our way back from Boise.  We raced (and I really mean that) to the Cafe Rio in Twin Falls, barely making it before they closed at 8 p.m.  (the people behind us were turned away…that’s how close it was!)  We like to think that God was helping us…but it was Sunday—so let’s be honest…he probably wasn’t.

Cafe Rio salads!

And some pictures of our road trip home:

You might regret looking at these next ones—they’re kind of passionate:

He really likes to dip me.  And I like to be dipped.  So it works out well.

You can tell we were the only ones at this rest stop. 

(but hey, at least we didn’t send any kissing shots with our wedding announcements!)

Take me out to the ball game.

A few weeks ago I met Brian downtown for dinner.  After we went to an Oregon Beaver’s game.  Brian’s company rented a box.  It was fun to see his coworkers and watch the game together.  They lost the game, but we still had a blast!  We love baseball!

   Me with the Blazer mascot in front of the baseball stadium.

I love this picture of Brian!

With the Beaver’s mascot

He’s a Romeo!

Often, when Brian is working in the yard (and he LOVES to work in the yard!), he will come in carrying roses and other flowers that he picked from our yard.  I love them!  They look perfect in my little vases.

Beautiful!

He also serenades me.  Sometimes it’s country, but most times it’s Bryan Adams.  He’s very good at it too!

Bread and my new Bosch.

Ever since my mom came to visit, I have been making bread about once a week with a small little mixer that struggles.  Brian and I have been trying to figure out how we could ever afford buying a Bosch mixer like my mom has, but we just couldn't justify the expense.  

One day when I was on the phone with my mom, pining over her mixer, a friend who was over at her house heard our conversation and mentioned that she had a brand new Bosch that she had only used once in four years.  Since she hadn't used it in a while, and because she is one of the most generous people I know, she offered it to me.  For free.  Can you believe it?  I'd feel bad, but I'm so happy!  And grateful!  Thank you, Caroline!

I just got it yesterday, and today I made some yummy bread!    

It's official!

It's official!  After hours of waiting, being sent away for other documents, searching for those documents, coming back (three times!), taking a driving test, and paying a bunch of money, Oregon finally decided to let me be a resident.  I also got Oregon license plates.  I love being an Oregonian!  I'm lucky to have found such a great guy in one of my favorite states!  It's crazy to think that I could (and mostly likely will) live here the rest of my life, raise children here, and even possibly be buried here in like 70 years.  This is the beginning of something really great!

p.s. the house across the street is for sale.  I'm a pro at becoming a resident, if any of you need help.  And, if you don't want move here (you're crazy!), you can at least come to visit!