October

Scott's Birthday
October always begins with Scott's birthday!  This may have been the most people we've ever crammed into our apartment!

I made chocolate pound cake.  I thought it looked like a chocolate cake dounought with sprinkles, which I was happy about.

I think the number of candles was just random.

 

Lots of people!

Trip to LA
A couple of my friends have lived in SoCal their whole lives, so they are LA experts.  We went to the fabric district, rode the train (I can't remember what they call it here) to Hollywood, and ate at the famous Nickle Diner.  I even tried the famous doughnut with bacon on it.

My new haircut.

 On the train (or whatever they call it).

Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

I think you can see the Hollywood sign waaaaaay in the background.

Shopping center in Hollywood.  I can't remember what it's called now, but it was fun to walk around.

Oak Glen
When my family lived in SoCal while my dad attended medical school, we loved going to Law's Cafe in Oak Glen every fall.  Scott and I have continued that tradition, and this year our friends went with us.  The apple buffet is the best breakfast I've ever had, the flower fields and apple orchards are beautiful, and there are fun shops to walk around.

Pretty flowers.

Picking apples.

Crafty Accomplishments

I usually don't have much patience for crafts, but I somehow got on a kick this month.  It may have started with my church's Relief Society Super Saturday, where I made lots of crafty decorations.  I was very burned out by the end, but I am very grateful for the decorations I have now!

 

My second crafty spurt came after I visited a street festival near my house that had lots of really cute booths.  One had some cute onesies, and my friend commented on how easy they would be to make.  I told her I'd make her some for her upcoming baby shower, so then I was committed!  I ironed the fabric on, then blanket stitched around it.  My mom taught me how to blanket stitch over Skype!  Here are a few I have made since then.

Parent Visit
Scott's parents visited for Columbus Day weekend.  We had fun exploring the aquarium, playing tennis, and watching General Conference.

Halloween
Halloween is one of the few holidays for which I have decorations!  We carried on our disney theme, and I was Minnie and Scott was Mickey.

I did this one night while Scott was studying to keep myself from distracting him.

My mom made us this cute table-topper.

Most couples carve pumpkins together, but I am a terrible and impatient pumpkin carver so I convinced Scott to do mine for me.  They turned out really great!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

My costume.  I made the skirt myself.  Yet another example of my increasing craftiness.  I must be getting old!

I'm Back!

I'm going to make no promises about how long I will keep blogging after this attempt to return...but I'm going to try!  The other day, Scott mentioned that he missed reading our blog, and it's a nice way to document memories.  So, without further adieu, here is my attempt to update at least month to month from last October until now!

Primary Program

Alright, so I don't have any pictures, but I'll post anyway.  Today was our ward's Primary Program.  Usually this is a Sunday I look forward to as a time to sit back and enjoy a good show full of both funny and spiritual moments.  However, this year was much different.  That's because I was in charge...although I definitely found out the Lord is in charge!

I'll share two favorite moments--one funny and one very touching.

The funny one came at the very first of the program.  We asked all of the Sunbeams to say a good choice they had made and then tell their consequence (they had practiced saying the same choice and consequence over the past few weeks).  Our first Sunbeam said she helped her mom do the dishes.  When I asked her what her consequence was, she said, "Well Daddy just breaks the dishes."  I guess you had to be there, but everyone was laughing super hard and it was pretty funny.

The touching moment came toward the end of the program.  We have a 4-year-old little boy in our primary who is in a wheelchair and has some brain damage.  For his part, we had his 7-year-old brother wheel him to the front and say that their family likes to sing Primary songs to help bring the Spirit into their home and that his brother's favorite song is The Chapel Doors.  The primary then stood and sang it with the two brothers at the front.  The 4-year-old had a huge smile on his face and said, "shhhhh!" at all the right parts when the song says, "Sh! Be still."  Basically everyone in the audience was crying and it was a really cool thing to watch.

The primary kids did so well.  They sang really loudly and said their parts really well.  I couldn't have asked for it to go any better!  We were very blessed.

My Haircut

Sometimes when Scott leaves me alone on Saturday while he's studying, I get bored and cut my hair.  And when I say I cut my hair, I mean I cut my hair.  By myself.  It was quite liberating.  Scott's response was, "I thought that's what six-year-olds do."

*In case you're worried, I did go to the salon afterward.  I just didn't think I'd have the guts by the time I got there!

Obsessed with Disneyland

Yes, Scott and I are officially obsessed with Disneyland.  We go every chance we can get.  Last week we went twice.  The new Cars Land is awesome!

Going on the Cars ride for the first time.  It's super fun!

New Apartment

Actually, it's not really that new anymore.  But we finally got it decorated!  Come visit us--we have an extra room now.  Here are some pictures.

Ecuador

Last month Scott and I got to go to Ecuador on a medical mission with my family.  I had to beg to get all that time off work, and I was very lucky to get to go!  We spent several days in clinic, where Scott played dentist and I played dental assistant, then had some adventures white water rafting and exploring the jungle.

Smile!

We had soup for lunch and dinner, no matter how hot and humid it was.

The dinosaur had teeth the kids could brush.

Extractions!

We went to the equator in Quito.  They had sweet science experiments that proved all the myths you hear about the equator (like water going down the drain clockwise/counter-clockwise depending on what side you're on).

A pretty cathedral in Quito

Bug bites :/  I was also sick for a week after we got home.