Return of the chicken

For Halloween this year we decided to recycle Eliza's chicken costume from last year. It still mostly fits. The pants are a little short but that's okay. On Monday night we took her to Murray Park for their Haunted Trail Halloween party. It was only $1.50 and if you survived the scary walk you were rewarded with a donut and hot chocolate. After standing in line for over an hour we finally got on the trail. It actually was a little scary but I don't think Eliza is old enough to know that it was. She was probably just wondering why we were walking for so long in the dark. One of the scary people that jumped out from behind a tree was dressed like a monkey and she really liked him and wanted to pet him. After we finished we got our treats and headed home. It was fun and also a great way to tire Eliza out before bedtime.

On Tuesday night we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat. Eliza was excited to wear her costume again. We have a pretty small ward but there was a good turnout and we had a fun time. They had a pinata for the kids. Eliza was a little unclear on the concept of what to do but she did get the hang of holding out her bag and getting free candy, and that is really the most important thing.

We are carving our pumpkins tonight so there should be more pictures coming soon. Happy Halloween!

4-year anniversary

Yesterday Matt and I celebrated our four year anniversary. I can't believe it's been four years already. Does anyone else feel like time is flying by too quickly? Anyway, Matt had the day off work which is always nice. He surprised me with beautiful flowers and a basket full of my favorite treats which he told me were my "Twilight treats" for the movie. Somehow I don't think many treats will survive until November 21st but we'll see.

During the day we mostly just took it easy and ran some errands. In the evening we left Eliza with Grandma and Grandpa and we went out to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. Luckily, the novelty has worn off a bit and since we were there fairly early we didn't have to wait at all to be seated. The food was good, but pricey. You wouldn't want to eat there too often. We decided that since we were at The Cheesecake Factory we better get a slice of cheesecake for dessert. It was fantastic! I'm not sure it was worth $7.00 for one slice but hey, it was our anniversary.

I'm very thankful for these past four years with Matt. He is a wonderful husband and father and I'm grateful for his hard work and all he does for Eliza and me. We love you!

Life at grandma and grandpa's

No news to report on the house hunting so I thought I'd just post a couple fun pictures and an update on Eliza. She is talking more and more each day. I think she learns to say a new word almost every day. No real sentences yet but she can definitely communicate what she wants. She knows how to count to ten (for some reason she skips "seven") but she won't do it when we want her to so we have yet to catch it on our camera. She knows her colors and a few shapes. She loves to sit at the piano and pound on the keys. My mom and dad have pictures of all their grandchildren on the piano and Eliza trys to say all of their names.



The other day my dad brought home a crown for Eliza. You can't really tell in the pictures but it lights up too. Matt took her in the bathroom with the lights off so show her how it looks with the lights on. Pretty cool. After anchoring it to her hair with all sorts of clips and barrettes she wore it all day. It hasn't even broken yet either which is pretty remarkable.

Eliza loves books and takes great joy in getting every single one off the bookshelf and putting them in a pile. It's a big mess but she doesn't mind helping put them all back. Here is a sample of what she does almost every day.

I can't believe she will be two in just over a month. This whole year has just flown by. Hopefully we can celebrate her birthday in our own house but we'll see. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

I literally can't stop laughing

My cousin Liz and her husband, Nate, had such a funny post on their blog about misused words and phrases. It reminded me of how Matt and I find it hilarious when people use the word "literally" but they don't really mean it, well, literally. It seems like people throw that word into a conversation in order to make a really strong point but if you think about it, it's just silly sometimes.

Example 1 - The other day, we were watching a football game (well, I was reading and Matt was watching) and the commentator said that the defense had "literally shot themselves in the foot" due to all the penalties they had gotten. Really? They actually got a gun and shot themselves in the foot?

Example 2 - When discussing the weather someone stated that it was "literally raining cats and dogs out there." That's just a funny mental picture.

Example 3 - "That car was going so fast. I mean, it was literally flying down the street!" Cool, I wish my car did that.

Example 4 - "That movie was terrifying. I was literally scared to death."


Anyway, you get the idea. I guess we're easily entertained.

Update

I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything and, unfortunately, there's not much to report still. On Labor day we recruited family and friends to help us and we moved out of our condo and into my parent's basement. It's actually been working out great so far. A lot of people say that they live with their parents and roll their eyes but we've had a great time so far. Eliza loves being here because there is a yard to play in and the basement alone has more square footage than our entire condo did. It's really a step up for us! Plus she loves getting to see "Pa" and "Cat" everyday. You might be wondering why Eliza calls her grandma "Cat." My mom has little cat hand puppets that Eliza loves. So whenever I asked her before if she wanted to go to grandma's house, she would say "cat!" Thus, my mom is now "cat" to Eliza. The funny things is, Matt's parents have a real cat and Eliza doesn't call them that. Go figure.
The man buying our condo should close soon and then we'll start looking for a house more seriously. We found one a couple of weeks ago that we absolutely loved. It was just what we were looking for but the day we made an offer, they also received two other offers. So that one didn't work out for us but we're confident that we'll find the right house for us soon.
We'll keep you all posted on what we find. I don't have any fun pictures to share today. I suppose I could go take a picture of all our belongings piled up in the garage but I'm sure you can imagine the clutter. Thank you to grandma and grandpa for letting us move in!

House hunting

After having our condo on the market for close to a year we finally got an offer! So on Saturday we're starting the process of finding a new house. It's really exciting for us but at the same time, kind of sad. This is the only place we've lived since we were married and the only home Eliza has known. Plus we really love our ward and will miss all the friends we have made. However, we won't miss walking up three flights of stairs or our cramped space.

The other day we decided to take a drive out to West Jordan, which is one of the areas we're looking at. We drove around for a while and really like the neighborhoods. It would be a pretty long commute for Matt but it seems like homes closer in are way too expensive so we may be investing in a bus pass for him. Here is Eliza enjoying the ride (well, she enjoyed it for about 15 minutes).
Wish us luck!

Another play date

My friend Shelly and I took Josh and Eliza to the zoo this morning. It was really crowded and not overcast like we thought it would be but still a lot of fun. Josh and Eliza were really good and liked looking at the animals (the ones that they could see from their strollers, anyway.) As soon as Eliza saw the carousel she started crying so we had to go buy a ticket for it. I know... I give in too easy. She cried the whole time we were walking through the line and was so happy when we finally made it. But, of course, the ride wasn't long enough for her and she started crying as soon as it stopped. We hurried down to the giraffes to distract her and it seemed to work. We also rode on the train which is actually pretty boring and uncomfortable. The only animals we really saw were a couple of very hot looking buffalo and a rabbit that I'm not sure was even part of the zoo. Oh, well. The kids enjoyed the ride. The gift shop was probably the best part for me and Shelly because of the wonderful air conditioning inside. Some of the little houses and areas inside the zoo are so humid! Here is Eliza holding her souvenirs. Thanks Shelly and Josh for the fun morning!