Bikin'

After a whole summer of talking about getting a bike trailer for Thomas, we finally got one last weekend! I know its kind of silly to buy one when there are so few weeks left of good biking weather before snow hits, but I have to admit its my fault that we didn't get one sooner. Ryan wanted to go buy one all summer, but I was afraid to get one at Walmart or Target, because I didn't think they had the mechanism that keeps the trailer from tipping over if the bike towing it tips over. I'd heard a few stories about that happening to people, and I was so worried when I thought about Ryan or I biffing it with Thomas in the trailer! So I wanted to look for one that I was sure had that safety feature, but bike trailers everywhere else, like at biking shops, were crazy expensive! When we were looking around I couldn't believe how much some of them cost! $400, $500, $800??? Nuts. No way were we spending that much! So I finally caved and we got one from Target, and it turns out that it does have something that prevents it from tipping over with the bike (even though it didn't mention that on the box or in the info I read online). It also converts into a stroller, which will come in handy! When we took Tommy out for his first ride in his trailer on Saturday evening, he loved it! He was so excited and he kept saying "Faster, Faster Daddy!" Its fun to have a way to go on family bike rides now. I just hope this good weather will keep up for a little while longer! And honey, I will freely admit, I really wish now that we had gotten one sooner. =)

A Lawyer in the Family

Last Thursday (Oct. 23rd) my oldest brother Josh was officially sworn in as an attorney by the Utah State Bar Association! I went up to the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City to see the ceremony with some of my family, and it was pretty exciting for all of us. Josh is what I call "the scholar" of our family...he got his undergrad in Political Science from BYU and then went to Case Western Law School in Cleveland, where he not only got his law degree but an MBA as well. Then of course he had to go on and prepare for the bar exam, which he took in July and passed. Needless to stay, he has spent countless hours of his life studying, studying, and studying some more! My whole family (and most of all Josh's wife, my sister-in-law Jenise!) is heralding the fact that Josh's years of sweat, blood and tears have finally paid off and he's reached this long-awaited goal. He's already got a great job as an administrator at a hospital in Blanding, Utah, but now he will be able to handle their legal work as well. He's also planning on starting his own legal practice there in Blanding. Way to go bro! I'm so happy for you and very proud. Let the lawyer jokes commence! =)

I brought Thomas to the ceremony with me, which was ok because there were a ton of families there with young children, but it was a little crazy! As soon as we arrived and Thomas saw his cousins he got so excited and started shouting...I was having to beg him to be quiet through the whole ceremony! There was plenty of noise from other kids too, but I swear I had the loudest kid in the room! After the ceremony we moved to a large foyer where they had some cookies & punch, and the kids were running all over the place together. It was a little hard to keep them from getting lost in the crowd, but it was fun watching them too...they are so cute together and don't see each other that often.

Afterwards we all headed down to the Cheesecake Factory in Murray for lunch. I've been to this restaurant several times in other states and I am in looooooove with it, but I had never yet gone to the one here in Utah since they've opened it...I keep hearing how ridiculously-crazy-long the waits are! (My Dad was a good guy and got there ahead of us all to wait). It was good eatin', but by the time we were done, Thomas was exhausted and screaming and ready to go! So goes the days when naps are missed. Ryan had wanted to be there for the ceremony and lunch, but was out of town working for the day. I missed him (especially during Thomas' meltdown!), but I'm glad I was able to be there for both of us and support Josh.

Congrats again, Josh. I hope you have a few more relaxing days ahead of you now!

Cornbelly's

Saturday before last (Oct. 18th) Ryan and I took Thomas to Cornbelly's, the local corn maze and carnival they have each fall leading up to Halloween. I had been worried we might not have many more warm days in October, but the weather was perfect! We had a jam-packed afternoon chasing Thomas from place to place. He found lots to do and it was fun watching him get so excited about everything. One of his favorite things was the rubber ducky races, where you use old-fashioned water pumps to push duckies down a pipe. He just kept going back to those! (He loved 'em last year too!) He did lots of climbing up ladders and going down slides, tried everything on the playground, played on the wooden tractor and train, dug around in the corn box (sand box with corn kernels instead of sand...I want one! Much less messy!), jumped with Daddy on the giant jumping pillow, and took a ride on the cow-train with me. We tried to take him through the kiddie-sized corn maze, but he lost interest after about 30 seconds. He was too busy to find his way out of a bunch o' corn! We stuffed ourselves too...even though its expensive, I love the food at carnival-type settings. We spoiled ourselves rotten and got a bunch of stuff to share: their big foot-long hot dog, a cheeseburger, chili in a bread bowl (mmm) and a couple giant chocolate chip cookies. After it got dark, we finished the night by taking a hayride. There were a few spooky mechanical creatures that were set up to pop out at you as you went along the hayride route, but thankfully Thomas was facing the other way and didn't really see any of the scary stuff. By the time we left my feet hurt and we were all pooped, but it was a great time spent together as a family and watching our little guy have fun!

Lovely Autumn

Two weekends ago (Sat, Oct. 4th) we took our yearly drive up the Alpine Loop to see the fall colors in the mountains. It was very rainy and cold that day, but we decided to go anyway. Alpine Loop is very special to Ryan and I, since we have many special memories there from the time we were dating and engaged. Ryan proposed to me in a little meadow at the end of a trail off the Alpine Loop, on September 29th, 2001. Since then we've made it a tradition to drive up every Autumn, close to the time when we became engaged. In all those years, we have never made the drive while it was raining. It was beautiful! The aspens were the most vivid color of yellow I've ever seen them! We could see the first snow in the mountains and mist was swirling around the peaks. And the rain made everything smell wonderful! At first I had been disappointed that the weather was so bad for our trip, but we ended up being glad we got to experience Alpine Loop in a new way.

We have several spots and trails off the Alpine Loop that are special to us, but there is one where we go on our drive every year that is easy to get to and has a beautiful view of the valley and the mountains. We made sure to bundle up, and when we got out of the car Thomas had a great time running around and playing in the puddles. It was quite cold, but he didn't want to leave!

I love this tradition we've made for ourselves and I look forward to it every year. Its fun revisiting these special places and thinking of all of our memories there...and making new ones! And I simply love fall. I love the smell and the feeling when I step outside on an autumn day. There's something about this season that is so crisp and clean, refreshing and renewing...simply peaceful!

Bloggin' For a Year!

Today marks the first birthday/anniversary of my blog! This is the most successful attempt I've made at any form of journaling since I was in elementary school! (One year for Christmas I got a little pink journal as a gift, and it was pre-dated for each day of the year...I did actually write in it each and every night before going to bed! I doubt I'll ever break that record!)

Blogging has been a fun experience and really motivates me to write frequently. I'm so glad that I'll be able to look back in years to come and read about all the things we did as a young family, and about what Thomas was like as a toddler. My only wish is that I had started much earlier!