Tagged by Missy

Here are six random things about me.

1. I can't fall asleep unless my feet are touching Arthur's (and I don't like to wear socks at night)

2. I love to see happy, vibrant old people (especially when they're running)

3. I love the dollar store (once when I was there I saw a lady that I'd seen on Dateline...she'd been faking pregnancies and telling people that she was putting the baby up for adoption and then she'd swindle them for money and lose contact with them as the "due date" approached. It was pretty scary)

4. I wish there was a perfume scent of fall mountain weather and campfire.

5. I am totally paranoid, especially now that I have a baby, of robachicos (kidnappers)

6. I am terrible at dusting furniture

I tag Saskia, Erin, Jo, Robin, Laura T., Alisha, and Melissa C.

She loves it

Katherine, Astrid looks so cute with her little backpack! Thanks so much for thinking of her while you were in Kenya.

First tooth, Halloween festivities begin & Milcreek Canyon

I just love having a little family.

First snow, alumni game and award ceremony

On Sunday we woke up to Salt Lake's first snow of the year. I was a little bummed but a walk to church in the snow with my two favorite people changed my mind pretty quick.

This past weekend the BYU mens team had their annual alumni game. We look forward to it as we don't get to see a lot of these friends very frequently. It was also fun because it was super cold, so we wore sweaters and drank 7-11 hot chocolate like in our old college days.

Last, but not least, the VanWagenen brothers were awarded with a jersey with their name on it and the number four, for the 4 brothers who have played on the team for the last 14 years.

Arthur's still got it in him...

Fall fun

Astrid loves climbing up stairs.

We have these awesome squirrels in the tree right in front of our house. They love to chuck walnuts to the ground and Astrid has a hayday playing with them. She has her own little stash.

Astrid loves the noise the walnuts make when she clanks them together.

Today we made two beanies (just made adult ones smaller and with chin straps) for Astrid and played outside with walnuts and crawled around until we got cold. It's definitely fall and I love it, but not as much as I love experiencing it with my girl.

Next week we start our swim class. Astrid was too young when the summer class was going on so we're starting now. I don't know if I've ever known a baby to love the water as much as she does (she's always loved baths and completely ignores you while she's getting washed). By the end of a bath there is practically no water left in her tub. If she didn't love it so much I wouldn't have even thought to put her in a class, but she is fearless and loves to splash water everywhere and is hardly distressed when I pour it over her head. I feel like we need to encourage this obvious love of water. We'll see how it goes.

First word

The other night we counted to Astrid, "uno, dos", and she said, "tres"!
I don't really know how she learned it, but now all we can do it reinforce it. It is the cutest thing we've ever heard.
She's also started standing for a few seconds at a time...walking in time for Halloween??? Probably not, but that's okay (although it would be so cute).
She's 9.5 mos and getting her first tooth. So sad. I feel like I'm losing my baby. Arthur says he's losing his "toothless assasin".
As fun as all of these milemarkers are, the time has passed by so quickly and it makes me a bit sad. Why must babies grow up!
On a sadder note, we've been out in Colorado since last Thursday. On Friday my sweet Nona died. It was actually quite a serene, beautiful transition from this life into the next, very much like a birth. I was so happy and grateful to be able to be there and talk to him as he crossed over.


This picture is from an earlier trip this summer. Nona was so cool to the very end.