Top Ten (Happenings Since Last Post)!

Cutie pie

Running over the "rainbow" (a bridge on Tramway)

Cool pinecone from Grandma

1. Attended Shannon Hale's Book Signing: I received a copy of Shannon Hale's young adult novel Princess Academy from a fun woman I visit teach. I ate it up in a week and was excited to learn that she was coming to Albuquerque for the release of the sequel! I attended with my mom, bought a copy of the sequel, and really enjoyed hearing from a successful working mother!

2. Labor Day Staycation: Seb and I really wanted to skip town for Labor Day, but as non planners, we ended up in town wondering what to do. We decided to go on a "staycation" visiting several fun places! On Friday night, we purchased a new bike for me (woo hoo!) and had dinner at our favorite New Mexican restaurant, Padilla's. On Saturday, we went yard saleing! It was so fun, but we didn't buy anything. Afterwards, my folks babysat Hudson so Seb and I could go on a bike ride along the Bosque. So fun! Saturday night, we went a little crazy. We totally blew off Hudson's bedtime and went to an Isotopes game that began at 8 p.m. The Isotopes are the minor league baseball team that plays here in town. We saw some drunk people try to climb light posts and fight with security. We saw a mom chew out another mom for letting her two year old wander the park without supervision. Oh, and we also saw a baseball game. While the game was a good one, what we were really excited for was the after game fireworks show. We figured Hudson was going to love the colors and the lights. Unfortunately, he was really really scared of them (we ended  up scaring Hudson a lot on our "staycation"---see below). Our little man was pretty shell shocked for most of the ride home until he passed out from all the "staycationing." On the last day of our "trip" we went to the dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum. Hudson got totally freaked out by the giant, animatronic T-Rex. He skirted along the outside edge of the room and hid behind a sign. Poor thing! We had lunch on a nice outdoor patio at a little pizza place in Old Town and dinner with my folks and some friends. It was a power-packed weekend.

This is torture!

Awesome Dino

Keep that thing away from me!

This will keep me safe!

If I close my eyes, it won't get me

More dino fun

3. New Bike: I know I already mentioned it above, but I LOVE my new bike! It's a deep purple hybrid road-mountain bike. It rides really well and ... I love that it's purple! Ha ha!


4. Tatum Marie Makes Her Debut: Andrea had her darling little girl on September 2!!! I am in love with her! She looks so much like Tim, but I think she has Andrea's lips. The baby is healthy and Andrea is doing great.

Isn't she darling?!

5. RS Patriotic Night: I'm on my ward's RS Enrichment Committee. On September 11, we had a patriotic celebration. A couple people spoke about the US government and voting (including Sebastian), and we ended the evening with a smorgasbord of pie!

6. Hudson's Preschool Playgroup: A couple friends and I started an at-home preschool/playgroup. The three of us rotate weeks, taking the kids for two hours on Tuesday and Thursday. Last week it was at our house, and I got to teach about the colors orange and purple. To learn about orange, I led the children on a scavenger hunt through the house looking for orange objects. Then, they mixed ketchup and mustard to make orange! To learn about purple, we did a few flashcard matching games, mixed red and blue food coloring in water, and then made grape cluster collages. It was so fun! I think Hudson really enjoys interacting with the other boys, but he still has a hard time when I leave him at the other moms' houses. I did notice, though, that he actually let me leave nursery this Sunday and didn't cry! Maybe he's learning!

First day of "Preschool"

Boys having fun!

Look! Sharing!

7. Crafting Galore: I decided to actually sit down and do some of the holiday crafts I've pinned on Pinterest. I had to schedule them into my calendar to make sure I did them! I am pretty excited! Our house is looking Halloweeny already, and it's only mid-September! Ha ha!

Halloween banner!

Fall wreath!

8. Family Dinner at Buffet King: My parents treated the entire family (in celebration of Jacob's birthday) to a new Chinese buffet in town called Buffet King! It was really good - they have a Mongolian grill and sushi bar along with all the other Chinese food.

9. Hiking La Luz: Some friends of ours invited us to hike La Luz with them! It's a pretty intense 8-mile hike all the way to the tram (at the top of the Sandias)! Woo baby! The views were incredible, and it was so nice feeling like we were deep in nature! That hike made me sorer than I have EVER been! Towards the end of the hike, I could no longer lift my legs, so I had to lift them using my hands. It was pretty lame! I felt like such a rickety old fart! Ha ha! After the hike, we treated my folks to Red Robin for taking care of Hudson all day. My dad and Seb really enjoyed themselves, ordering root beer floats and getting 3 refills each!

Beautiful wilderness! And sexy man!

You can barely tell in this pic, but we are SO high up!

Awesome spires!

18 Weeks Pregnant! I've got a little hitchhiker along for the ride!

What a handsome man!

This gorgeous hike is just minutes from home! Do you see the tram up there?

Our ride down the mountain!

10. Finding Out Baby's Gender: This hasn't happened yet, but I am so excited to find out! We'll know on September 27th (if Pegestine cooperates). I am crossing my fingers for a girl!!! Any guesses?? I'm actually thinking it's a girl. I tend to call it a she and picture a girl when I imagine her. Probably just wishful thinking!


Other Fun: A friend in the ward hosted a really fun Pampered Chef Party at her home. Another friend hosted a Thrive Food Party. I love getting out of the house and hanging with the ladies! Seb belongs to a Law Society that throws a BYU BBQ tailgate party every year. I usually just sit outside and talk to the other Mamas. It was really fun this year, now that Hudson's getting bigger. He entertained himself for the most part and had a really good time! My mom and I took Hudson to see Madagascar III in the dollar theater. I love that he's at an age where he can sit through an entire movie! We had some good friends over (the Nodals) for pizza, dessert, and games. I just love that family! Shauna and I met at a park near Old Town and watched the boys play in the slight drizzle.