Pumpkin Patch

A few Saturdays ago Dustin and I went to a pumpkin patch with our friends Shawn and Jana. We had a fun time, especially with the company. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. It just reminds why we love Virginia at this time of year.

Here is Dustin contemplating what we should do first......

Us on the teeter-tatter, I tried to get a good picture but this was the best I could do!! I just want you all to notice how hard I am trying to take pictures now!! I must admit that I'm very proud of myself. Just need to keep it up!
Here is Dustin trying to feed the chickens.....with his finger. I think he learned his lesson...
Here are some of the animals that were there. Of course the baby goats were super cute!!
But they didn't get too much food when trying to compete with this fellow!! He was a bit excited
Dustin ran around chasing some of the chickens....this was the best picture I could get since he was too fast!!
Dustin and I were playing tether ball and couldn't find Shawn and Jana for awhile, but we found them speaking with the chickens in the woods....yes I mean speaking.
So we started our own tether ball tournament and of course it ended up between Dustin and Shawn.
Dustin tried really hard....
look at the form!
But alas Shawn won in the end....good fight babe!
On the Hayride. Yes we decided as part of our contract once we got married that we wouldn't take any more "normal" pictures after all of our wedding photos. This is us just being us :)
Very excited about our free pumpkins we found in the patch. Dustin picked his because it was pointy on top and doubled as his secret weapon, the dead corn stalks didn't have a chance. But everyone waited for me to find the "perfect" pumpkin. And I'm pretty sure I did!!
Case and point with the negatory on "normal" photos. Dustin very excited about going through the bamboo maze. Man I love him!
If there was a fort to climb on or something to play on or see Dustin was there with Shawn not far behind him. Here is their "secret" hideout.
There were also a whole bunch of cool slides that we went down a few times. Here is Dustin ready to take the plunge.
On his way down...seriously these were pretty cool.
And he made it!!
And then there was photo shoot time. See Shawn and Jana can take "normal" photos. I have to say Jana looks awesome for being 5 months preggo. And thanks for her being such a sport and walking all over the place with us!!
So Dustin and I had to get some pictures too.....
Here is some of my awesome picture/photographyness, yes we are in the middle of sliding down one of the slides together!! All in all a great time and we're glad we went!!

We love life!

Halloween (Early)

So we didn't get to dress up for Halloween since we just had our ward Halloween party and I got a bit carried away making the dessert (cinnamon rolls with orange cream cheese frosting that won first place in the wards contest!) that it took too long and there wasn't time. But here is a post to make up for us not dressing up on Halloween.

Dustin grew his hair out after going to Phoenix and so we decided it was time we did something with it. Here is a few pictures of what we do for fun......

Next time I think I'll dress as Storm to match my awesome Wolverine....

Pumpkin Carvin'

Nicki and I decided to do some serious pumpkin carving on this last Wednesday.  We didn't mess around.  Nicki deftly demonstrated her fantastic artistic abilities with this amazing werewolf.  Man, my wife is talented!

Classic Nicki funness

I wanted to do a throw back to my childhood--enter Transformers.  I was stoked to find a stencil for this online.  Let me introduce you to Optimus Prime!

Our powers combined, we are... awesome!

Nicki's sisters decided to join us after we had started.  They brought Prince of Persia and joined in the fun.  We sadly didn't get any pictures of Sarah--we will have to fix that next time.

That's some sweet designs she's got there.

Fun was had by all.

Updates updates updates and Hong Kong (1st Installment)

I not working today!! So time for a long over due update!! I can do all of my errands and other things later right?? :)

But we wanted you to know that we are doing VERY well. It is SO nice to have Dustin back after his long stay and for things to be settling down at work, a

nd just enjoying being married.

Things with starting the scribe program at Prince William ER finally seems to be taking shape and getting a bit more organized. i have one scribe this week who officially started on his own today!! Yeah!! And another starts on her own next week!! Yeah 2 trained and just 6 more to go and then time to hire more....But I'm getting things organized and finally down to working not insane hours, which is a relief since I'm seriously sick of being away from my husband now that he's actually home!!

Just after we got back from Hong Kong we both were having troubles with Jet lag so I couldn't sleep past 12:30am one night and got up, and when i made my way back to bed at 3:30am Dustin was wide awake and so we got up and made pumpkin squares together and then went for a quick run while they cooked. Dustin is trying to help me get back into shape since I complain about it all the time and has been wonderful in making me put those running shoes on after I get home from work and going for a little jog. Some is better than nothing right??

We also got called to be the nursery leaders and spoke last week in church. We are now known as the people who love children, football and canyoneering. Awesome!! And believe it or not there are some super super cute kids in nursery, which makes up for those that I'm SO ready to be in Sunbeams in January or wish they were going....bu

t honestly it is a fun calling. We get to play kitchen, do puzzles, read, sing, eat snacks, blow bubbles, and play with a parachute at church and then wrestle to get kids to sit still during their lesson. Needless to say we're trying to make sure we get a lot out of Sacrament Meeting since it is our only spiritual feeding we get on Sunday.

I think the problem is I don't know what to up date you on first. But I'd like you to know that you would be very proud of me and the fact that I tried very hard to take pictures at our recent adventures since I know you'd all want to see them!

! So we'll start with a bit of Hong Kong.....

Here is a very excited Dustin waiting for me at the airport. He had landed about 90 min before me and got our train tickets and everything ready for us.

A first look at the wife in 5 weeks!! And me seeing my VERY hairy Dustin for the first time (we'll post the beard pictures soon)
Our hotel was on Hong Kong Island and we stayed on the 17th floor and had an awesome view of the city. Right next to our Hotel was Botanical Gardens and a Zoo so we walked through on our first adventure together. There were LOTS of birds there. HUGe cranes, pink flamingos, toucans, and all sorts of exotic birds that were very bright and beautiful.
Here are some of the monkeys. We thought it was very funny that they had a raccoon in a cage....But I guess to chinese people they are not common.
My very best Orangoutang impersonation. Riding the Star Ferry to Kowloon Peninsula. This ferry has been around for a VERY long time. It is one of the few things in Hong Kong that is old.
I thought it was cool that everything was in Chinese and English. It really is a very easy city to navigate and visit if you don't speak the language. And you love to shop....
My very first REAL view of what an Asian City is like.....crowded.

Here is me at the ladies market. This is where I got my Five, yes Five knock off purses. But I have to say that I got them for an awesome deal which was very exciting for me. But don't worry. One of them was a gift for my sister's birthday. This was about all of the shopping we could handle and honestly the only thing we bought in Hong Kong besides new ties for Dustin, and water. LOTS of water....

And our first meal in China is......McDonalds!!! Dustin had been eating just asian food for 5 weeks and needed a break. See how much I love him?? Actually it was very good.
But see, no worries, he loves me too and we went out to eat Authentic Chinese Food, aka boiled meet, at a place that a native co-worker recommended. It was good...but honestly American Chinese food is better. More flavorful. But we did find some places that were very good to eat...and some not so much...Here are a few pictures from my wonderings while Dustin was at work. I have to admit that I did spend a lot of the time working while he was at work, or at the gym thingy....or just sweating...it was hot and humid!! I mean the most humidity I have ever experienced. Which is why my hair will be pulled back in every picture. I tried on our first day and then gave up. This is a picture of a replica of the Nine Dragon Wall in Beijing.
This is the very top of the longest outdoor escalator in the World. I actually missed it the first time I walked by. It is for sure needed because I didn't know that Hong Kong Island was build on a huge mountain, and so it is a very steep climb up in a lot of places, and the whole perimeter of the Island is where all the huge sky scrapers are. So crazy.
This is St John's Cathedral....I'm not sure exactly how old it was, but I know it was there in the early 1900s....I was excited to see something older. And it was interesting to see the mix in architecture. Hong Kong really is such a melting pot. In a very good way.
The church totally surrounded by huge sky scrapers....
This was Wong Tai Sing Temple, a Toaist temple built in 1921. There were people everywhere offering fruit and meat sacrifices, burning incense, and throwing sticks. They were under construction at the time but it was very cool...well hot I mean.
I LOVE thee bright colors. They had just finished repainting this side so it was particularly bright. I am pretty sure they were getting everything ready for Chinese National Day which happened while we were there since it seemed all of the temples and everything I went to were under construction.

Here are some of the gardens behind Wong Tai Sing. I love how conscious they are to make everything beautiful and that this was a man made waterfall that covered some of the view behind the temple. It was cool to see how much they tried to incorporate nature and preserve and make things as aesthetically pleasing as possible. I know that this is a recent focus for them and they have done well. Before they were just all about tare it down if it isn't functional and build what is, which is why there really isn't much that is old in Hong Kong. But they recently started requiring that all new buildings pass a beautification test.

For example, while I was wandering around I stumbled upon this garden and walked around on this path. I just thought it was another garden in the middle of the city, until I saw all these people coming out of a door in the rock. Upon further exploration we learned that it was a parking garage!! And you couldn't tell at all. We walked all around it it was just waterfalls and greenery. I seriously wish that they would catch on to how neat it is and so much prettier here in the states. And below you will see entrance to said parking lot as proof. Sorry it is a bad picture but I took it from the top of a double decker while moving.....

A cool fountain we found. I was surprised by how how clean and safe Hong Kong was. I had never been in such a clean city...accept when you got hit all the time by the dripping water from the air conditioners, or at least we hoped that was what it was, it was impressive.

Gabe Dixon Band Concert

I know this is not recent, but I wanted to post a couple pictures from an amazing concert Nicki and I went to.  I have been a fan of Gabe Dixon Band for a while now.  We had the chance to see him in a small concert and actually meet him.  This was definitely a highlight for me.

Me, my beautiful wife, and Gabe

We enjoyed sitting in the grass listening to the music and talking with some friends.  The Guymons, one of the great couple friends we have, also came.  Its hard to beat a Saturday like that.

For those interested, here's a link to listen to some of their music: http://www.last.fm/music/Gabe+Dixon+Band

We will be updating more soon...