Fall Festivities

On our walk today we saw this 3 foot tall pile of leaves. We had to throw Matthew in for a picture. He actually really liked it and just sat there looking at the leaves and listening to them crunch as he moved.

Trunk or Treat

Our friends Julie and Cohen. Matthew was the cutest little lion. I got this costume at Savers for $1.50, I was pretty excited about that. It fit perfectly. I cut the feet off and made the sleeves shorter because it was a little big.

Zeb, Cohen, Matthew. Matthew was especially interested in the lobster's (Cohen's) eyeballs, he wouldn't let go. It was pretty funny to watch.

What a sweet lion.

Decorating, Painting!!!

Yellow? I love this girl bedding, too bad I already bought a different one.
What about this pillow? I guess decorating is a hobby of mine, not that I have money to do it but I have been wanting to get some pillows for our couch that have a pattern. These would go with the other pillows we have great but I'm not sure about them. We would use Christmas money or I told Glen to just give them to me for my birthday and Christmas.

Green?

I decided that I really want to paint some rooms in our house. The only thing is that we have to paint it back before we leave. Glen really doesn't want to do it but I have been trying to convince him. I told him I would do it all and he can just tend Matthew. Also, we are going to be here for 4 years so I think it would be worth it. Today I got some paint samples but it might take me forever to decide. I think I will start with Matthew's room. I think I will do it green or yellow so it will work for a boy and girl in case we have a girl while we are here. So if anyone has any advice on colors or anything please let me know.

So funny!!

Matthew could do this all day and still think that is hilarious. I got this toy at Savers for 2 dollars. Today Glen and I went to this neat store here in Toledo that has used clothes, toys, swings, strollers, and all sorts of stuff. We got him a birthday present and a future birthday present. We got this barn with animals and farmers that makes all sorts of noises. We also got this really cute pirate boat that we will give him sometime. We got both for 20 dollars when the barn itself new costs like 30 dollars. I also have gotten two pairs of Gap pants and a few sweaters for just a few dollars each. It has been great for us poor folk. Matthew is getting braver and will let go of things sometimes to walk to us or to something. I can't believe that he will be one in about a month. We will be celebrating his birthday in Mexico with Glen's family over Thanksgiving break. Sadly Glen is not going to be there for Matthew's birthday because he can't miss school. He will be coming to Cancun for only two days. I think we'll just wait to celebrate Matthew's birthday when Glen gets there on Thanksgiving day. Matthew won't know the difference right. Everything is going good here. Glen is doing good in school and has two more tests before the next block begins which is anatomy. His last test is on Halloween and his comprehensive final is the next day on my birthday. It's good though because he will be done early on my birthday so we can do something fun.

We love Sunday

On Sunday we usually go for a walk around the neighborhood and this house we saw was crazy. They have tons of those air filled things on their lawn for Halloween. Their power bill has got to be so high. Matthew was pretty funny. He just started screaming, not because he was scared, it was like he was talking to the ghost or spider. It was pretty funny!

So happy!

This was on Sunday before we left to go to church. Matthew looked so handsome and grown up.
He looks like a little boy, he's still my baby though

Look at those big top teeth with a gap in the middle of the front two. His big smile always makes me laugh now with all those teeth

More walking

Tonight we started practicing with Matthew and he was doing really good. I am so excited now that I know how to do these videos that I just had to do another one. I think he really could walk soon but he moves around so good doing other things so we'll see. When he gets to the end of a wall he gets too chicken to let go and walk to me, he just sits down and crawls. He's pretty funny.

Walking...sort of

Here is some footage of Matthew's recent attempts at walking. Even though it might look like he did a face plant in the first part of the video, he did not! We try to practice with him but sometimes he doesn't take steps he just lunges forward to us. However, we are very proud of our little man.

First Haircut

So I have been putting off cutting Matthew's hair for a long time because it took so long for him to grow it. Finally I realized it was time, especially once I did his hair all crazy as seen in the pictures below. I better get a girl with wavy hair like Matthew's so I can play with it. Cutting Matthew's hair was quite the challenge. I first tried cutting it in his high chair and that didn't last too long so Glen held him and that was even worse. So then I let him roam around in the kitchen cupboards and I cut bits and pieces as he was moving. Amazingly, it turned out pretty good. There might be a few spots later I find that are a little too long. It was fun though. Thanks mom for teaching me how to cut hair. haha that was now my third time total. Glen is needing a haircut so we'll see how that goes.

Matthew's crazy hair

Matthew's favorite place to be

We had a great and relaxing weekend at home watching conference. We watched it on our computer and it worked out great. We probably saw a lot more than we would have had we gone and watched it at the church. Matthew was able to have a nap and play around while we watched it. Glen and I just realized our camera can take videos and tried it for the first time. We got a video of Matthew taking a few steps by himself, however when I tried to put it on our blog it didn't work. So if anybody has advice for me please let me know. I'm not sure if it even works from the camera videos. He sure is a cute kid and we love him so much. Today Glen had his third test so he had most of the day off. We had a fun day walking around the new mall, watching a movie during the middle of the day, and having a big shopping trip (groceries, we don't have money for the other kind of shopping trips!) One more test and the final and this block of classes are over for Glen and then anatomy begins-watch out. Today it was almost 90 degrees or maybe over I don't know, either way it was too hot and muggy for October. This week it's going to start getting cooler. FINALLY!!

Our day of fame, sort of....

Yesterday morning a group of us went to the mall opening in Maumee. We got there early to get free t-shirts, gift cards and to enjoy the festivities. We were hoping to win the $1,000 dollar prize but sadly none of us did. We were quite famous that day with our four kids. A newspaper interviewed us and took some pictures of us and then NBC did a live interview with Lindsay and Leisy, Julie and I are in the background sitting on a bench. I will have to figure out how to get the link on here so you can watch it. Glen even spotted me walking past Victoria Secret on the clip. Leisy was lucky to get in a few comments and a few people saw us on tv, not that too many people from Toledo know us-just people from the ward. Anyways, it was a pretty funny morning. It is a outdoor mall and is really pretty. I'm hoping that J Crew, Bananna, and H&M eventually open up there. Some stores haven't opened yet and there are still open spots. They do have the GAP but it will be a fun place to just walk around. I will have to put up some pictures

Busy Week

Tuesday we went on this little train/cart pulled by a truck ride through one of the beautiful parks here in Toledo. Leisy somehow found out about this and since all of us don't have a lot going on, any activity is always fun. Leisy & Zeb are back left with Lindsey & Sam front right, Julie & Cohen front and Matthew and I in the back. Matthew slept through the whole ride until we got back to the parking lot. It went by the Maumee river and we saw a lot of deer, birds, and frogs. It was fun!
Our fellow riders, it was quite the party

Julie and little Cohen, so cute! They live just a few streets away from us in a townhome owned by the same management as ours. We feel very grateful to them for telling us about these townhomes.

Another picture of Matthew at the orchird loving this apple

Family Night: Picking apples

For family night we went to McQueens orchard and picked apples with people from our ward. It was raining a little and really felt like fall, I loved it! I ate part of an apple and gave it to Matthew and he was happy the whole time just sucking away on the apple. At one point his hat had fallen in his eyes and he was just sitting there going crazy eating the apple. He does such funny things that really make me laugh.
Sister Dewey (our Bishops wife), the Lau's, Kent and Zeb Miller (Leisy is taking the picture), and Justin, Julie, and Cohen Sacks.

Things that I enjoy about Toledo.....
-The rain (it's raining today which is exciting because it hasn't for awhile)
-Walking group
-The beautiful metro parks and now the leaves are starting to turn colors!
-Wal Mart, Target, Meijer (grocery store), Old Navy, Babies R Us, the mall are only
a few miles away
-The public library (I have read a few books since being here and you can get free
movies
-Our great ward and all of the friends we have made so far
-The Maumee river running through downtown Toledo
-Driving downtown doesn't take very long and so far there has never been traffic
-Hobby Lobby (a craft store that is huge and fun to just look at all the stuff)
-The cute, old houses in Perrysburg
-Our beautiful home
-The empty mall within walking distance from our house that Matthew and I go
walk through sometimes when it's been too hot and humid outside
-All the different churches everywhere and their funny sayings on their signs "The
Holy Ghost resides here"
-That Glen has started medical school and is enjoying it
-Matthew started crawling here and is really changing