Fall in New England

Everyone should visit New England during the fall at least once in their lives. It is so beautiful and the colors are amazing! A few days ago Matt and I drove to a nearby location and took some pictures with the trees in all their glory.

Ward Halloween Party 2014

On Friday we had our ward's Halloween party! It was a great event. It started with a nice potluck dinner where we brought some yummy meatballs. Matt and I were in charge of a game so we did potions bowling. It was a success, especially among the teens. Matt got a workout setting up the pins that everyone was knocking down. I went as a strawberry and Matt went as a pineapple. Everyone knew what I was,but people thought Matt was corn or a mario character. It was an easy costume that involved a green poster board and some gold tape. There were other games like fishing, bean bag toss, a cake walk, a balloon room, and a haunted house. At the end of the party there was a trunk or treat where our car was the favorite! Matt hid under some blankets in the trunk of our car and stuck his hand in the candy bowl. When the kids came up I told them to reach in and grab a piece of candy. They were so surprised when a hand grabbed theirs! Even though the kids had been to our car before they still liked coming back,because they didn't know when Matt was going to attack! Now we only need to get our $3 chipotle burritos next Friday and it will be a perfect Halloween!

this is with the lights on so it wasn't as obvious with the kids

Mike's Maze

We live right next to a corn maze,so last weekend Matt and I and a couple of friends from our ward at church went. It was so fun! We missed out on going last year so I was excited that we made it this year. The maze was in the shape of a raven this year and we did a flashlight maze. Matt enjoyed hiding in the stalks and jumping out at us! None of us thought to grab a map at the start so we just wandered around for an hour wherever anyone wanted to go. Eventually we did find our way out and we enjoyed root beer floats and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies  with another couple and their sweet baby girl. It was a fun Friday!

Mikes maze

Adventures in dog sitting

My friend Angie has a puppy named Sunder. He is a party poodle. Angie lives in the same apartment complex as me,but she travels back to Utah for work every few months. She recently was gone for 2 long weeks and her husband works long hours selling solar panels for vivint. So when I could I would take Sunder for a walk and feed him. He is such a funny dog,so it was fun being able to spend some time with him to help out. Just look at his cute face!

Matt helps out too

such a handsome pup

he loves looking out the window

It's a BOY

Matt and I found out on October 9th that we were having a baby boy! I was so surprised, I was 100% convinced it was a girl! I started the day by getting the 4 strand flu vaccine since our baby will be born during flu season and I work around elementary kids everyday. At my ultrasound I was almost 20 weeks along. My favorite thing was seeing how big our baby was and how you can see how everything is developing inside his body. The technician pointed out the different heart vessels and parts of the brain and how the blood was flowing through the body. We could also see his spine and he even gave us a thumbs up! He is quite the mover! We didn't get a good profile picture of him,because he was moving everywhere. We did get two pictures to prove that he is definitely a boy so there's that.  His heart was beating at 146 beats per minute. Everything looked great and we love knowing what we are having! He already has some cute clothes waiting for him. His name at the moment is Cooper and we are still deciding his middle name. We sure love baby boy stars!

before the ultrasound

Matt wanted to do the cupcake reveal and they turned out perfectly 

jelly bean reveal 

Big E Fair year 2

One of the best things about living in western Mass is the Big E fair. Matt and I go for the food,so this pregnant lady was happy! We love the state houses, it's like visiting all of New England in one quick walk. Our favorite house this year was Maine's.  We went with our friends Lisa and Michael and it was such a good time! Next year we will have a little one to experience it with us.

Trying our first lobster roll from Mass House

One of the reasons we loved Maine's house- pulled pork parfait!

Baked beans, pulled pork and BBQ sauce

Zach's Mac and cheese with bacon

The legendary Big E cream puff

Piglets

baby chicks hatching 

Clydesdale Horses

Michael and Lisa

Maple cotton candy- my personal fav

Not pictured but consumed: funnel cake, fresh squeezed lemonaid,spicy dill pickle 

Women's Retreat

A few weekends back my stake relief society held a women's retreat in New Hampshire. I'm so glad I went. It went from Friday to Saturday afternoon. My friends Lisa and Angie rode up together which is about a 2 and half drive from Mass. We picked out a cabin to sleep in and then went to a class on jam making and organizing. We had a yummy dinner of taco soup and corn bread that had the most delicious honey butter. We then had a guest speaker talk about living with hardships. By the time it was to go to bed, it was in the 30 degrees. Angie and I were sharing a cabin and we were freezing!

On Saturday we took classes on health lifestyles and watercolor painting. Then we had a lesson on our heavenly father. We ate lunch and then drove back home. It was a fantastic way to spend a weekend where I left feeling so uplifted and loved by my sisters. I hope they have one next year.

 

 

 

 
Raspberry Jam- So good and easy!
 

Angie and Lisa

 
 Angie and I trying to stay warm!

 

The sisters that attended from my ward( missing Lisa, Zana,and Sharon)