Fair warning: It may be a very long blog, because a lot has happened to us this past month. I will try and make it brief that way it's not super boring. :)
During the first weekend of October was General Conference. We watched all 4 sessions from home, which to me is always more relaxing. It helps me reflect on my thoughts from Conference so I can learn to improve myself. During Priesthood Session, Collin went to our church building while a few of the girls from our ward came by for a girl's night. We mostly just talked because that's what we girls do. :) Sunday morning, we had our neighbors come over for the morning session and breakfast. They were so kind to bring food in addition to our breakfast. I made berries and cream french toast, which is a recipe I found from Tasty. It turned out really good and was easy to make.
The spirit touched our hearts once again during Conference. Out of all the talks, the one that stood out to me was Russell M. Nelson's talk about joy. It's so important to be positive and find joy in the little things in life. That's what I have been trying to work on lately. I always try to stay positive and happy. Since the holidays are coming up, it's a perfect time to find joy, especially with family and loved ones. That's what I always look forward to during this time of year.
I know that this is from Women's Conference, but I absolutely loved President Uchtdorf's talk. It brought me to tears in realizing that we should have faith even during hard times.
Girl's night while the men were at priesthood.
Pure deliciousness
We took a walk after conference. It was a reminder of finding joy in the little things in life.
During the 2nd Saturday of October, we went to our stake service project. We helped redo an outdoor classroom at a local elementary school. It was early in the morning, but so worth it to do service for our community.
Later on, my friends from our ward told me about a special event going on in Waco, Texas at this place called Magnolia Farms. They mentioned in the past about Joanna Gaines and a show on Netflix called "Fixer Upper." Not really knowing what they were talking about, I decided to tag along. It was so fun to explore the shops at the fair, watching a live band, and seeing Chip and Joanna Gaines themselves! I realized later that they are on "Fixer Upper." I had not watched the show before, so I had no clue as to who they were. But it was still so cool to see them in person. I finally watched the show recently and realized what my friends have been raving about. It's a great show! We can't wait to watch more.
The hubby working really hard during the service project.
He's having fun. :)
I am sure glad these girls invited me to go. :)
In front of the silobration. :)
We bought some yummy cupcakes from Silos Baking Co.
Fun place to take pictures
Reminds me of Fixer Upper. :)
I gave in and bought this. I love the message behind it.
Another great quote. I love Dr. Seuss and traveling.
...Definitely over Clinton and Trump.
We spotted some other surprise guests. JoJo and Jordan from the Bachelorette! They were just randomly there and I literally could not believe that we saw them. We didn't get a picture with them, so this was the best picture I can get. I'm a creep...
Blooper picture, but candid shots are the best.
The week after, we flew up to Colorado to see Collin's sister and her cute family. Our big reason for traveling there was to get a new 2nd car. We were needing one for a while, because we both work full time and sometimes get to work at different times. We were lucky that my sister-in-law was selling one of their cars, so we took an opportunity to go down to Fort Collins, Colorado to get our new/used car. It's a car that has been passed down on Collin's side of the family and we were excited to own it!
A visit with the Heinzens was way overdue. Friday, we landed in Colorado in the afternoon. My sister-in-law Jocelyne drove us to their house in their new van! Of course, her kids tagged along too. On Collin's side, we have a niece named Lila who is 2 1/2 years old and a nephew named Asher who is now almost 7 months. We were so excited to see Lila again. She is always so sweet and fun. I was so impressed with how smart and independent she is. I could tell you all sorts of stories about her. It was our first time meeting Asher. We were so glad we got to meet him. He is the sweetest, most easygoing little baby who loves to be held. We felt very privileged to get to know and play with Lila and Asher. That night, we got to enjoyed a nice BBQ, playtime with the kids, and making Halloween sugar cookies.
Saturday, we went to a nearby pumpkin patch. It was a cute, little place where kids can explore and pick out pumpkins. Collin took Lila on a wagon ride and she got to pick out her pumpkin. She loved it and kept playing with it afterwords. We looked around at a shop and took a lot of pictures.
In the evening, we went to a park to look at the changing leaves. We don't see a lot of changing leaves in Texas, so I was mesmerized by the beautiful trees in Colorado. Everywhere we looked, there were leaves of all kinds of colors. It was amazing! We went to Downtown Fort Collins to eat dinner. It was an older, yet cute little town close by. It was fun to walk while holding hands with Lila. We ended by watching a cultural celebration for the Fort Collins, CO temple, which just recently got completed. It was so fun and uplifting. It brought back memories of when the Sacramento temple was dedicated. I wasn't a member of the church at the time, but I got to be in the choir as a part of the cultural celebration. It really is amazing what the youth in our church can do.
The following Sunday was the temple dedication. We babysat Lila and Asher while Joce and Paul went to a session. The dedication was so beautiful and the talks were really good. Elders Uchtdorf and Renlund were there to help dedicate the temple. The Fort Collins temple is so gorgeous! We went at night to go see the outside of it and it is absolutely breathtaking at night. Joce and her husband Paul are very lucky to have a temple so close by.
The weekend had flown by and it was time for us to go back to Austin. This time, we were going to drive our new car all the way back home. We left early that morning for a long journey ahead. We departed at about 5:15am and didn't get home until 11:30pm. So during that time, including stops, it was about 18 hours on the road! It was very long and tiring, but we were so happy that we made it home safely without a scratch on the car. It has been so nice having a 2nd car, not to mention, it has great features. We love it! We had such a fun time in Colorado and appreciate all that Joce and Paul have done to make our visit so special. We already miss them.
Getting to bond with Asher and Lila. They are the cutest!
She loves her sunglasses.
Cutie pie!
2 years old and already modeling.
Exploring fall with my sweet nephew
He's a keeper for sure!
Baking cookies with this pretty girl
Collin being Lila's chauffer.
Pumpkins!
She loved her pumpkin named Chiado/Duncan/Pumpkin. :)
Even adults can have fun at the pumpkin patch.
Walking and exploring
Looking the wrong way.
Silly siblings.
All aboard the Lila train. :)
Cutest mama.
Oh... you know. Just enjoying the pumpkin patch. :)
I literally went crazy with pictures. Colorado is beautiful.
Pretty Lila
Looking at the ducks.
Gorgeous tree!
The only pic I got of Downtown.
His bunny ears! :D
We loved babysitting.
This little guy makes me smile
She played outside... for only 2 minutes.
So happy to see her kids after the temple dedication
Fort Collins Temple
Such a special moment to see this temple dedicated.
Our new/used car that we drove from Colorado.
The week after we got our 2nd car, we decided that it was time to adopt a pet. We have been talking about adopting a pet for a long time. It took a while to decide if we wanted a cat or a dog. Now that we have another car, we made our final decision in getting a dog. That way, Collin can come home during his lunch break and take care of the dog.
We went to this place called the Austin Humane Society (AHS) to look at dogs. It wasn't long until we decided on a dog that was the right fit for us. We adopted our dog on Saturday, October 22nd, but couldn't take her home until the Monday after because she needed to be spayed. We brought her home shortly after we got off work. She seemed a little off because of her surgery, but adjusted really well to her new home. Her original name was Doe, but we decided to call her Chloe. We felt like the name suited her. She is a 2-year-old beautiful dog who is a Boston Terrier/Australian Kelpie mix.
As far as the training and her personality goes, she is just the sweetest dog and very mellow. She is the biggest cuddle bug who loves to lie down in between your legs when you sit on the floor. She likes giving "kisses" to you as she greets you. She does well around other people and dogs. She enjoys being outside and going on walks. She has never had an accident ever since we brought her home and is good about going outside to go potty. This makes me very happy. :) She is doing well as far as the rest of training goes, but we are still working on a few things. We just signed up for obedience school at Petsmart to learn more training techniques. Overall, we love our Chloe girl and look forward to more adventures with her.
The day we first brought her home. She's a cutie.
Looking at me eating my breakfast
She can't help but be cute. :)
Wanting my attention.
On one of our many walks with Chloe. This girl loves her walks. :)
Cuddles are pretty much Chloe's favorite thing in the world. We certainly don't mind. :)
I think she may be telling me I take too long in the bathroom.
Our Batgirl for Halloween
Exploring
This picture cracks me up! It looks like she has a bigger head and tiny legs. :D
We were excited to celebrate Halloween as we are every year. I've always loved dressing up and acting like a specific character. We decided on something completely random this year. We got an idea from a friend to do a specific theme. Collin jokingly brought up a painting and a robber. I laughed and thought it was a genius idea. On the Saturday before Halloween, we came to our ward Halloween party/trunk-or-treat in our painting and robber costumes. Collin wore all black along with a mask and a hat.I wore a Mona Lisa frame. I figured that the Mona Lisa would be the easiest to dress as a painting. We were honestly surprised by how much attention we got for our costumes. It was just something so simple and silly that we didn't think it would be that much of a hit. We ended up getting 2nd place for costumes and we didn't even have a trunk. It was such a fun time with wonderful people in our ward.
The Sunday before Halloween was our ward primary program. I was asked to play the ukulele for the activity girls' musical number. The song is called "How Can I Be?" It's an uplifting song about having a desire to be like our church prophets/leaders. When I was asked, at first I hesitated, because I hadn't played the ukulele in a while. Eventually, I agreed to do it. It was surprisingly easy song to learn. However, I had to constantly practice in order to get it down. Overall, I feel like it came together nicely. I was just glad I had other voices singing along with me to make me feel less nervous. I am proud for at least trying my best and having a good time. The primary program was adorable and well put together. It made me miss being a primary teacher. I recently got released and am now the compassionate service leader in Relief Society. It's been great. I love serving the sisters in my ward.
On Halloween, I went to work dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast for the preschool children. I was surprised that a lot of them didn't know who Belle was. Oh well. It was still fun. My coworker was Merida from Brave, so we ended up both dressing as Disney princesses. During the month of October, I was working at the Bright Horizons in Round Rock to help out in the preschool classroom. I will be going back to the Austin Bright Horizons soon. I really liked my experience at Round Rock and will miss the kids and coworkers I have met there.
We went to a friend's house for a Halloween party where we got to wear our costumes again. It was fun spending time with young couples, taking photos using a photo booth, and playing Halloween trivia games (which Collin got most of the questions right. Typical Collin. :) ) Some of us may have been a little hyped up on sweets, but it's not Halloween without treats. We can't wait for next year. See you in my next post!
The result of our pumpkins. It was such a simple idea.
Mimicking our pumpkins. Believe it or not, this was taken on a tripod while using my camera timer.
I'm a little unsure about this guy in all black.
Trying to play the part of Mona Lisa and not smile... That's hard for me to do.
I found Lucy from Charlie Brown!
...and a Little Mermaid.
The dessert that we brought to the trunk or treat. It got demolished, so we made another batch for our friend's Halloween party. It set off our fire alarms, but it tasted amazing. :)
Two Disney princesses (Belle and Merida) having fun at work.
Once again... He stole me. GUILTY as charged. :)
The girls and I photo boothin.' It was a fun night. :)
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