Pumpkin Patch

 Ethan got to go to his first pumpkin patch this year! We went with some other young families in our ward and it was fun.We got to go on a wagon ride to choose a pumpkin. There were also a ton of other activities like a corn-sandbox, slides, and rabbits!

Ethan, Calvin, Jefferson, and Perry

Ethan and his buddy Calvin went down the slides over and over again, coming down and then running around up the stairs and back down again. Ethan liked coming down feet first on his stomach the best.

Balloon Fiesta

One of the things that Albuquerque is famous for is its annual Balloon Festival. It is the largest hot air balloon festival in the world that lasts nine days and has around 750 balloons that participate. My parents wanted to come visit this fall so we had them come during the balloon fiesta so that we could experience it together!

Unfortunately, the day we went with Trent was cancelled because of bad weather and he missed out when we went back on Monday morning. The upside is that first day we had our first New Mexican Breakfast Burrito. And it was delicious. People rave about them and now I know why. We did try to take Trent again later in the week, but we ended up with the stomach flu/more bad weather. I guess we HAVE to go again next year!

Here are some pics of that one successful attempt on Monday morning:

 Famous Creamland Dairy cow balloon. Its crazy to me that they can even get it up in the air!

 The ice cream cone was an Ethan favorite. He kept mentioning it for weeks after we went!

Basketball. Of course.

"Special Shapes" balloons are a huge attraction here. Here's a fireman and Darth Vader. Darth Vader's balloon crew all wears storm trooper uniforms and march around in formation. It was pretty fun to see them!

 You can see the pregnant belly a little in this one. 

It was fun to get to stand next to the balloons and watch them take off one by one.

Trick or Treat

So my good friend Jen in our ward invited us to go Trick or Treating with them and their kids. Trent and I hadn't been planning on taking Ethan (are we terrible?) but we decided to go with them. It was so much fun! And so warm. Trent and I were in pants and short-sleeved shirts. Ethan had a long sleeve shirt under his uniform-but nothing under his shorts. It was cold enough that we could feel it, but not cold enough to need a jacket. I was pretty impressed. I don't know that I ever want to leave this amazing weather!

Ethan didn't really get the whole Trick or Treating thing at first, but after a few houses he was pushing his way through the other kids yelling "Tick or Tweat!" He was very polite and almost always remembered to say "Thank you" and "Halloween!" (his version of "Happy Halloween"). I couldn't believe how cute he was. He wasn't any different than any of the other kids we were with, but I am just so in love with him that every time he does something new I think it is the cutest thing. He would always fall behind and then run, his bucket swinging, to catch up with the bigger kids. As soon as he got his first sucker - a tootsie roll pop, that was what he wanted. He was perfectly content to stop there. He was having so much fun going door to door and being with the other kids that I don't even think he cared about the candy! Just his suckers. Those are the best I guess. Which I am okay with...that means more chocolate for Daddy and I ;). I wish I had brought my camera to take a picture of him holding his bucket up to receive more candy. We were probably out for about an hour and his bucket started to get so heavy that between houses he would hand us his bucket or just set it on the ground. But then when we got to another house with a light on he would run back to us to grab the all essential bucket. I think it was a pretty good first Trick or Treating experience. Maybe so good he will remember what Halloween is when it comes around next year. Maybe not. I guess we'll see!

Halloween

So, technically its not Halloween yet but we had our ward Halloween party so we already got all dressed up and celebrated. I made Ethan a BYU basketball uniform (copied off of last year's uniform, but we saw after the party that the team wore the same uniform for their exhibition game that night). I thought that both Ethan and Trent would love it. Trent dressed up in a shirt and tie as a coach and I borrowed a referee shirt. For the Trunk or Treat we brought Ethan's basketball hoop so kids/parents could shoot at our truck bed. Pretty sure some people think we are obsessed, little do they know that I, the only non-obsessed one came up with the idea!

I never plan costumes ahead of time. Halloween isn't a holiday too high up on our priority list I guess. I suppose this will change now as Ethan starts to understand more about holidays. This year I started in September drawing up a pattern and looking for fabric for this costume. I decided to start early so I wouldn't be stressed out last minute. Of course, even though I started a month and a half early I still only finished about 10 minutes before we headed out the door for the Halloween party. Go figure!

Here are some pics right before we headed out the door for the party. Please ignore the messy house...I was working all day on it so the mess just piled up :). The long sleeves are just a shirt we had him wear so he didn't freeze at the Trunk or Treat.

It was my first major sewing project by myself. I had to redo some parts and learned so much.  I got frustrated at times and had to set it aside while I thought of how to put parts of it together, I even found myself thinking about it in the middle of the night! But mostly it was a lot of fun and makes me excited to sew lots of other projects.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

A few weeks ago Ethan started "singing" with us at church (making singing type sounds). Last week he started actually trying to sing songs, substituting in the words that he remembered. Such as I Love to See the Temple: "Dah dah dah temple, dah dah dah someday". He has Twinkle Twinkle Little Star down the best and I was able to get him to sing for the camera. I die every time I watch this. Which has been probably a hundred times at Ethan's request (funny how kids LOVE to see themselves in the camera).

Father-Son "Date"

The State Fair was here in Albuquerque the past few weeks. We were planning on going last Saturday but then forgot about it until it was already too late. Then on Wednesday a friend told me that it was free to get in that day. I had to teach an English class until 5:45 and then had a meeting at the church as 7:10 so that didn't really leave me much time to go with Trent and Ethan. I ended up going for just a half-hour or so but Trent and Ethan went for a few hours. They walked all around the fairgrounds looking at animals, exhibits, and watching people ride the rides. Trent said Ethan was just enthralled with all the people and commotion and just sat quietly in the stroller the whole time taking it in. He said Ethan barely said a word and hardly ate a thing. After they came home though Ethan kept saying things like, "tractor" (because he got to climb on a tractor), "horse", "chicken", "cow" and all the other things that they had seen. He woke up talking about them the next morning too!

I am glad that they got to have some time together to be boys and see the animals, which I am pretty sure Trent enjoyed just as much as Ethan!

 Ethan trying on a cowboy hat.

Part-time Jobs

I feel really fortunate to have a part-time job. For those of you who don't know, I was a Biology major for three years before switching to Linguistics with a minor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). I absolutely loved biology but while completing my sixth semester I just really felt like I should do a TESOL minor. I signed up for the introductory TESOL class for my next fall semester and then during the summer I realized I didn't want to do biology anymore. I didn't want to work in a lab and I didn't want to pursue a masters degree in it. I felt very lost. I considered majoring in Portuguese since I was already minoring in it, but that too didn't feel right. I couldn't figure out what to do. I left my major as biology going into my fourth year of college, but i knew that I was going to switch it to something else. Only a few weeks into my introductory TESOL class I fell in love with Linguistics (the basis for TESOL) and I decided to make that my major. Two years later I graduated with my bachelors and then did the first year of the TESOL masters program and earned my Graduate Teaching Certificate in TESOL.

The reason behind this story is that I am really grateful that I made the decision to change my major. That was one of the best decisions I ever made. I really did enjoy my classes while in school, but now, as a college graduate, I have been able to find part-time jobs using my degree. I have never heard of a part-time, work from home, biology job. But that is what I do with my TESOL degree. I have a job teaching from home in the morning before Ethan wakes up. I teach English Korean students online via Skype. I am also currently teaching a class at Heads Up (where Trent works) to the men from Mexico that don't speak English. I teach twice a week there and each time I just drive with Ethan to Trent's work and then Trent takes Ethan home as I stay to teach. I work a little under 10 hours a week which is so nice because I still get to be a stay at home mom and take care of Ethan, but it has been such a blessing to have a little bit of extra income each month.

This post is just to say that I am just grateful for the help that Heavenly Father gives me in my life. And as much as I love staying home with Ethan it is nice to do some work that is a little more "intellectual" and where I can use other knowledge besides how to cook, clean, and entertain a two-year-old. These part-time jobs have been a blessing in so many ways and I know that Heavenly Father knew that I would need them and that is why He inspired me to question my choice of majors and help me find a new one. He really is a guiding force in my life and I am so grateful for Him.