Halloween [Observed]

Columbus does trick-or-treat a little differently. Each area decides on a night that they will have trick-or-treating (usually not Halloween night). I think its so there can be extra police patrols in those areas to help protect kids. It has taken me TWO years to figure this out...I'm usually sitting forlornly by the front door with a big bowl of candy, waiting for trick-or-treaters to come on Halloween night. One year I even put a big sign in the window that said, "WE HAVE CANDY!". Nothing.

So tonight was our trick-or-treat night and it was SO much fun. Unfortunately, Andrew has a big test tomorrow and couldn't be a part of the festivities, but we have a church party on Saturday so he won't miss out on all the fun.

Warning: I went a little crazy with the camera (118 pictures in 3 hours). Get my kiddo in a cute costume and I just can't get enough.






"Mom! Stop making me lay in the leaves!"


A good game of "peek-a-boo" cheered him up again.





"hmmmm...candy or raisins?"

candy won...but only because of the cool stick at the end

yup, all these pictures...and its not even the real Halloween yet. scary.

Luke's Monkey Sound

I think I make a pretty darn good monkey sound (I'm holding back a little in the video). I'm excited to see that Luke has inherited one of my talents.

The FHE Book

Tonight we broke out the Family Home Evening book...its been a long time.

On my mission, there was a family who wrote down a little entry in a big book every time they had Family Home Evening. They wrote down what everyone did and a brief description of what it was about so that they could remember years down the road.

I thought it was a cool idea and so when Andrew and I got married, I bought our first Family Home Evening book.


In the past 2 1/2 years, we've only made about 7 entries...I'm terrible! I always forget to write in it and we aren't always the most organized FHE holders (I can't tell you how many times we've walked to the donut shop on the corner and counted it as FHE). But tonight, we're starting fresh! It was so much fun to break open the book and read the old entries. I tried to write down the exciting things we had planned for the week and any goals we wanted to accomplish. We sure had some ambitious goals back in the day. Still do I guess.

Anyway, I'm excited about the FHE book. And on that note, I really loved this recent clip from Mormon Messages. It very plainly describes why Andrew and I are so dedicated to our faith. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and for Jesus Christ. My knowledge and belief in them is something that makes sense to me both analytically and emotionally.

Coming in January...

Today, while I was driving, I randomly remembered that I have something to look forward to in January:

That's when the final season starts. I can hardly wait. I'm not saying there aren't other things to look forward to in January (Andrew starts his internal med rotation, snow, the superbowl, snow, all those new year resolutions...the list is short). If you need something to look forward to in January too, there is still time to catch up (but not much time). I did the math and you would only have to watch 1.18 episodes each day (roughly) to catch up by the season premier (even less if you want to catch up by the finale). I wish there was a way to just skip all the previous seasons and jump in at the end but there absolutely is not. Besides a couple lame meaningless episodes scattered in the middle, you have to watch it all to keep up.

I have an inkling that all of our friends have lives and probably don't have time for such things, but I'm just putting it out there...you wouldn't have to admit to me or anyone else that you spent 1-2 hours a day watching Lost for 2 1/2 months.

Enjoying Fall

Luke is showing off our first home-grown pumpkin

when a friendly hug turns ugly...

No sweat Logan...I'm sure Luke will still follow you around relentlessly whenever you come to visit :)

last weekend

We were lucky enough to spend the weekend at Andrew's parents house. Most of the siblings were in town. We miss them already.


We thought this was very "90210"...I guess in Ohio it would be 44073 [by the way, we aren't camping. I love that the Stacey home is nestled in the woods...its a great retreat].

I think it is cool to see Luke discover rocks...

but he ALWAYS does this...

so I'm starting to think its not so cool.

It was too dark to get a better picture. Ohio's Autumn is definitely brag-worthy.

First Steps - Take 2

Luke took his first unassisted steps tonight. As soon as he did it, we took out the camera and I thought I started filming the cutest video. Luke took his first wobbly steps and then started clapping and hugging his Dad. I remember thinking, "this is the best video I've ever taken".

When I went to play it back, I realized that I never hit record and actually started recording when it was all over. Sadness.

So when you watch "take 2" delete the part where he practically devours the cell phone and instead, imagine that after Luke takes his first steps, he starts clapping wildly with sheer delight and hugging his Dad's head...that's how I'll always remember it.

Congrats little dude.