Pumpkin Carving

Today we had a great time carving pumpkins. The pumpkins were really big, which made it a little difficult at parts, but we had a tone of fun doing it. It was my first time carving a pumpkin, and I thought I would challenge myself and do something a little difficult. Not a good idea for your first time. It was exciting though!!

Daniel's pumpkin

Belinda's pumpkin

Snow?

There was the rumor of snow in the forcast, but we just hoped that it wasn't true. On a Saturday morning we woke up to this sight. Can you believe it? It was really pretty, but a little depressing.

Getting Wisdom Teeth Taken Out

Today Belinda had her wisdom teeth taken out!

We've been sick with anticipation the whole week and now it is finally over. She just has to tough out the next few days by eating jell-o, yogurt and vitamin water. So lucky! I (Daniel) decided to write this one, so that Belinda can take it easy. She just woke up from about an hour and a half nap (which was much needed). After the nap she took some more pain meds, and is icing down her face.

I took a bunch of photos and shot some film of the procedure with our camera, view at your own discretion.

Changes

So we found this blog thanks to the Birds, http://www.taaz.com/. You can upload a picture, and then change it up. We had so much fun, and waisted many hours playing with pictures from our own family. It was great!! Here are some favs...





The only problem is, once you start, you can't stop!

Frosty Mornings

It's way to early for mornings like this!!

Cinnamon Rolls

So, I decided so make some cinnamon rolls this weekend. I enjoy making them, and it's not very hard to do, but I always seem to kill the yeast. I can make rolls and bread sticks just fine, but when it comes to cinnamon rolls, I just ruin it. This was the first time they turned out just the way I wanted, and so i had to capture the moment. Yummm!!!

No more wisdom!

About 4 years ago, I was told by my dentist that it would be wise to get my wisdom teeth out soon. Of course, that scared the socks off of me, and never made the commitment. My teeth have been bothering me off and on, but never enough to convince me to take the plunge. Since we are moving in December, I will no longer have my dental insurance through work. There is also a 2 week brake in October for Spud Harvest, which means no school. So I thought it would be a good idea for me to get my teeth taken out during that break. I went to the dentist for a consultation, and he said all 4 need to come out. I then made an appointment for Oct 11. A few days later, my mouth started hurting worse then ever. I have been icing my mouth, and taking major pain meds. It seems like it was perfect timing. If it wasn't for the pain, I probably would wait another 4 years to get them out. I am deathly afraid, and get sick to my stomach just thinking about it. But, soon I'll be pain free. YEAH!!!

Starting School

Daniel started school again this week. I don't think he is as excited as I am for him to start. Him starting, means that he is one step closer to finishing and graduating. This will be his last semester at BYU-I, and then we get to move on with our lives. So of course I am really excited for him to be in school again, but naturally he doesn't share my enthusiasm. He has to study longer then the average person to get a good grade, and try harder then normal when studying. So I feel bad for him, but I can't hide my excitement, hence the countdown to his graduation. YEAH!!!

Bad Golfer

The other day, Daniel was in the kitchen when he heard a bang on the kitchen window. We looked outside, and our neighbor was playing golf, and had hit our window. He obviously isn't very good. It was kinda funny, and thankfully, there was no damage. But we caught him in action, just incase!!

Eastern Idaho State Fair

We went to she State Fair today, and had an absolute blast. We went on some rides, and ate some amazing food. It was only the second time i have ever gone to any state fair, and after this one, I think it's going to be a regular event.

I convinced Daniel to ride a mechanical bull, and i was really impressed. He stayed longer then I thought he would. We saw some amazing quilts. It felt like a challenge for me to do something like that, but the thought alone scares me.
There was this one horse that we saw that had 2 different colors in his mane. I had never seen anything like it, and thought it was really interesting.

It was a really good day!

Chris coming to BYU-I

Chris arrived yesturday. He got of his mission a few months ago, and now is coming back to BYU-Idaho. I was so excited to see him. He is my best friend. When he got here, he only arrived with one suitcase. Can you believe it? So we went straight to the store to go shopping. It was hard, because he acted like he didn't need anything, and it drove me crazy. But there isn't much I can do. I'm just so happy he is here.

Mr & Mrs Potatoe Head

Daniel and I were a little bored the other day, and we came up with the idea of making potatoe head chins. What other explination is needed?

Broken Toe

I didn't know this until I married Daniel, but I have 2 toes on my foot that bend the wrong way. It's really weird looking, but Daniel just loves it. He has this thing about twisting and bending my toes all kinds of ways. He calls them my broken toes, although they never have been broken. It's actually kinda funny.

Pears

The other day, Daniel's cousin called to let us know that she had some pears if we wanted to come over and get some. She had gone to Washington to visit their grandparents, and had picked a bunch of pears to bring back. I guess they had a little to much then they thought they could handle, and we were happy to take some of their hands. I just didn't realize it was going to be this much.

I've always been afraid of eating pears. I've had some bad experiences where they were just awful. But these pears - they are the best I have ever tasted, and although I've eaten plenty already, we've hardly made a dent. It looks like some serious canning is in our future.

Bubbles!!

Daniel decided to eat a whole roll of bubble tape. It was completely random. He opened one of our drawers, saw it, laughed, then put the whole thing in his mouth. After a while he started moaning because his mouth started hurting, and all I could do was laugh. After all - it was his decision to do it. After a while, I convinced him to blow a bubble with all of it, and it was great.

And then it went POP!!!

My Brother

My brother (Chris) just returned from his mission this past May. Daniel and I picked him up from the airport, and took him to the MTC and sent him on his way. That was he last time I saw him. But........ he is coming to school here at BYU-I for the fall semester. Which means, that in a little over a week, I'll be seeing my lil bro. We've always been really close, but have grown closer over the past few years, and I've really missed him a ton. I'm so excited, and I can't wait to see him.

One of my memories that I have of us when we were younger is, we would find sticks in the yard, and choreography fighting scenes........and then he would lock me in the garage. What can I say, he's a boy!

School

Well, yesturday school started, so I'm back at work. I work at the Madison Junior High School here in Rexburg. This is my second year at this job, and I absolutly love it. I work in the extended resource department, where I help children with special needs. I go to classes with the children, help with assignments, homework and adapt tests for them. They are 8th and 9th grade. We have 9 new kids that came over from the Middle School, and so it is really exciting getting to know them. It is such a rewarding job, and I'm excited to be back. But of coarse that means that the summer is over. I'm not used to waking up so early in the morning, and now I also need to get used to going to sleep earlier. It's definitly going to take some time getting used to.

Quilts! Quilts! Quilts!

Daniel and I have been collecting our old jeans for quite a while so that I could make a denim quilt. Well, it's finally done, and I'm really excited. It took me a while to come up with the pattern, because I like to make them up myself rather than follow an actual pattern. That way, there's less chance of me messing up, because I'm really not that good at following patterns. The more straight lines, the better. It took a lot longer then I thought it would, and it was extremely painful, but I love it now, and that is all that counts. I also made pillow cases and a little accent pillow. I'm plan on doing a couple more accent pillows, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. YEAH for being done!!

Changes

Well, since Daniel and I have been married - 3 years - we have been in 5 different wards. This last sunday, the announcment was made that our stake was going to change it's bounderies, so some wards would be changing. And of course, we were moved out of our ward, and now that makes our 6th ward. Daniel and I have been teaching Sunbeams for the past few months, and it has been so fun. I love teaching the kids, and helping them understand the gospel. It is so amazing how smart they are. We have done the same routine ever since we started: table activity, movement song, lesson, walk, story time. And it got to the point that, we didn't even have to tell them what to do next, they just did what they knew they needed to do to start the next activity. It makes me proud. And now it's all over. We are in a new ward, that is still being created, so who knows what's next for us. It's a little sad, but I guess changes need to happen. I'm going to miss those kids, but oh well, what can I do. We'll just have to wait and see what's next in store for us.

Olympics

Last night was the opening ceremony for the 2008 olympics, and it was absolutely amazing. We've never really watched an opening before, so we didn't have much to compare it to, but it really was incredible. There were fireworks like you've never see before, and the choreography - OMG! There was this one point when there were over 2000 martial artists who were doing moves, and they were all in perfect circles. There were no markings to tell them where to stand, and know matter how they moved, they would still be in perfect form. It was so amazing. Then the lighting of the flame, it was all just so incredible that you really needed to watch it to know what i'm talking about. I just feel like who ever is in charge of the olympics next time, would definitely need to step it up to top Beijings performance. WOW!Some of our favorite events that we look forward to are: swimming, diving, volleyball, gymnastics and table tennis. But, if there is another even on, we'll watch parts of it too. IN HONOR OF THE OLYMPICS. This is what I found in my spoon my very last bite - and I was watching the olympics when it happened, how weird is that??

Best Meal in Town

Without a doubt, best food ever - CEREAL. It really doesn't matter what time of day it is, a bowl of cold cereal always does the trick. It's fast, simple, and it's the perfect late night snack. Over the months, my number one choice has changed several times. As of today - honey nut cheerios with sliced bananas. It keeps its shape and doesn't mush together like other cereals might. It's basically the best ever.


What's your FAV?????

International Dance Festival

These past 2 weeks there has been an International Dance Festival going on her in Rexburg. There are 10 different countries who send dancers to represent their country. Each year is different, but this year there was Isreal, Belgium, France, China, Mexico, Russia Cossaks, Russia Siberia, Germany, Greece, India and the USA. There were a couple of days where some dancers would do to a designated area and would teach children a dance from there country. That was one thing I helped out in. At one of the local Junior High Schools, Isreal, Belgium and France came. They were put in 3 different rooms, and then children would rotate between the rooms, learning dances, crafts, and songs. It was really fun, and the children absolutly loved it. They were each given a 'passport', which had all the names of the countries, and then after that session was done, they would go and get there book signed by the dancers and ask them questions. There were some dancers who didn't speak English very well, and it was sweet, because the children didn't understand why not. Daniel and I managed to get free tickets to the closing ceremonies. It was amazing. Each country came out and did 2 dances, and it was just incredible. The cool thing was, that all the dancers from all the countries were placed in homes with a host family. Wouldn't that be amazing to have someone in your home from a different country for 2 weeks and to learn more about them. Most of the dancers were High School age, but there were a handful that were older. Anyway, it was an amazing experience, and it is unfortunate that we wont be around next year to see it again. Team Belgium

Team Russia Cossacks

Team France

Team Isreal

Daniel with Team India

Team Russia Siberia

It was really hard to take pictures because the lights were really strong. Luckily, at the end, everyone was invited to the floor to meet and talk to the dancers. I was like a little kid, I was so excited. It would have been even better if this was the year Team South Africa came. Maybe I'll have to make a special trip when they come.

Sunburns

So when we went on our canoe trip a few days ago, Daniel got some major sunburn. The weird thing is, it was on his ankles and knees. The spots that were not lotioned up. It looks really weird, but it has now swollen, and he has a hard time walking. He can't wear shoes, and it hurts to wear long pants.

So next time you lotion up, make sure you get every part of your body. It makes me so sad to see him like this, but all I can do is give him pain killers and aloe :(

Sleep-overs

One of our favorite things to do is have sleep overs. We bring all our bedding into the living room, and watch a movie or two, and sleep in the next morning. Well, this time we decided to build a fort to sleep under.

So I recommend that everyone take the time to build a fort and have a sleepover. It's the best way to bring out the child in you.

Poppy

Okay, so a year ago we decided to get a pet. Since there were no children in our family, we thought we needed something. We can't have any large animals in our apartment, so that cut down the choices. Fish are boring, birds are noisy, so what could we possibly get. At that time I was working at a preschool, and I thought it would be fun to get a pet that I could take to work with me for the children to enjoy. So we went to the pet store and decided on a rat. The children loved it.

We got him at 3 weeks old, and named him Poppy. For the longest time we thought it was female, but soon realized we were wrong. Now a year later, he has grown full size, and is part of our family. YEAH !!!
I'm sure there are some that might be grossed out, but what choice did we have?