Pumpkin Festival

 This past Saturday we went to the Pumpkin Patch and Farm Festival out in Marana. We all had a wonderful time! It was so fun to do so many fun fall festivities. Jordan had a blast! Now that he's getting older he is able to participate in more activities. It's really fun for us parents to see him have so much fun! 

 Here is Jordan picking his very own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. He was very proud of himself. He felt so strong holding it up on his own. 

The Murray family with our specially picked pumpkin. Next we'll have to see what Jordan thinks about carving the pumpkin. 

There were many fun things to do at the pumpkin festival. Here's Jordan feeding some animals at the Petting Zoo. He liked feeding the goats, pigs, and pony but he steered clear of the cows. Even the baby calf was too big for his liking. 

There were many things to ride at the festival. Jordan being the little boy that he is loved this. He rode with us on a little train, four wheeler, mini tractor, and pedal bike. He was in little boy heaven. 

Jordan had fun climbing too. He found a rope spider web to climb all over. He also climbed up the huge straw mountain. Jordan enjoyed the tunnels through the straw mountain as well. He's always ready to try most anything. We were surprised when he decided that the jumping pillow was too scary. We moved on and watched the Pig Races instead, which he loved seeing by the way! 

It was an awesome Fall fun-filled day! 

Pregnancy Update

-Pregnancy Update- 

I am 37 weeks along, which means that Natalie is safe to come at any time. It is exciting to get to this safe zone and it's also very exciting to know we'll be meeting her soon. I went to the doctor this week and found out that I am dilated to a 3, 75% effaced, and she is sitting very low head first. It's nice to know those Braxton Hicks contractions I've been having for a while are doing something.  Now we just wait to see when our little lady wants to arrive.

I finished up my sewing projects and am done for a while for obvious reasons. I am excited about what I've made with the help of my good friend Sheri. Here is a car seat cover that I made! It is very green which is a perfect neutral baby color and it's also a color that I love... so it works great for lots of reasons. It'll be nice for giving Natalie a dark place to sleep when we are out and about and it'll protect her from people who may want to hold her when Mommy would rather they didn't. 

 -Baby Shower-

Sheri and Suzanne in my ward gave me a Baby Shower this week. They are so sweet and thoughtful. It was a fun shower at the park with visiting, eating food, and opening cute baby girl items. Thanks so much ladies!

 Jordan helped me open some of the gifts until he got distracted by the awesome balloons. 

He's such a cutie and understands a least a little bit that Natalie is coming soon. We've talked a lot about her to Jordan and how she is his little sister and friend. Today he talked about how he wants to play swords with her when she comes... how funny and sweet.

With all of the preparations we have made for our little girl we are now just excited for her to come and join our family. What a special time. We feel so blessed.

Heather's Visit

 This past weekend we were lucky enough to get a visit from my sister Heather. She has recently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico from Madison, Wisconsin. So she is much closer to us now. We are super excited about that! While she was here Jordan got a lot of aunt time with her.  

Jordan wanted Heather to do everything with him, including going for a ride on the bumble bee at the park. 

Jordan is into Peter Pan and Captain Hook at the moment. I guess he thought Heather was a pirate and needed to be tied up. He thought this was so fun. 

Here is story time with Aunt Heather. We had such a wonderful time with Heather here. We look forward to many more get togethers with her in the future. Thanks for coming to visit Heather!

Pregnancy Update

Here is a pregnancy update for everyone. I figured it was about time to have a baby belly picture posted, so here it is. I am now 32 weeks along! It is September and so I can officially say that our little girl will be here next month. Woohoo! We are so excited for her arrival. We can't wait to meet our little Natalie! (P.S. I really like that Jordan ran to be a part of this picture and smiled when Preston said to smile. What a cutie.)

In other pregnancy news, I have gotten a little ambitious and have done some sewing. I don't have a sewing machine or know a thing about how to sew, but I have a wonderful friend that has both. My friend Sheri guided me in making this nursing cover that has the special feature of covering oneself all the way around. I am very happy with how it turned out and I am equally proud of myself for making something that was above and beyond any sewing project I have ever tried. Yay for learning how to do something new!

A nursing cover that really covers you is such a simple idea, I don't know why you can't find such a thing in a store. My friend Lisa has a nursing cover similar to this one and I wanted to have one this baby go-'round. I hope that it'll make public feedings easier, especially if I have to move quickly and stop Jordan from doing something. 

The finished product. 

I was given the flower material from my friend Kira, I was given the idea from my friend Lisa, and I was given help from my friend Sheri. So really, it was a team effort. I am grateful for all of the wonderful friends in my life that make life better. Thank you all. Until the next pregnancy update...

Preston's Switzerland Trip

Preston went to Switzerland for work and he had a great time! The meetings with the customer went well and he also had a little time to do some sight seeing too. Here are some of the pictures he took.

He was able to see Bahnhofstasse in Zurich, this is where all the stories are told of the Swiss banks, expensive watches, and chocolate. 

  Here is Preston and two of his coworkers in front of a building for the Union Bank of Switzerland. Lots of money...

Preston got to walk around Zurich and see other sights too. Zurich has a lake right next to it that people love to go and see. 

Here is a pretty Protestant church in the middle of Zurich.

This is a picture of mount Pilatus taken from the city of Stans which is south and east of Zurich.

Preston even got to visit a castle! This is the Lenzberg castle. It dates back to 1036 AD. It has been renovated numerous times and is now owned by the city and is a business and tourist center.

Here is Preston in the gardens of the castle. Very pretty! It was a wonderful trip and lots of fun. Preston brought back some fun things for us from Switzerland, some of which was Swiss chocolate. Through much taste testing I have learned that Swiss chocolate is amazing... yum yum. Thanks for the goodies. 

Jordan's 2nd Birthday!

Jordan turned 2 years old on July 29th! We can hardly believe that he is a 2 year old. We had a birthday party for him with his friends. Here is a video of everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him. He got a little nervous for a second from all of the attention. It was pretty cute to watch. 

We had two of Jordan's favorite treats for his birthday, cupcakes and ice cream. I found some tiny ice cream cones for the kids to have. They were a big hit and the perfect size for 2 year olds. Here is a picture of Jordan licking his ice cream from his tiny cone. Notice he also licked off the frosting from two cupcakes as well... funny boy. 

Here's a glance at the friends that were over for Jordan's birthday. Our place was crammed full of toddlers and their parents. It was a great time. 

So many people were kind enough to give Jordan gifts. I didn't get pictures of all of them. Here is one toy picture of Jordan enjoying playing with is new train set. Thank you to those who came to celebrate Jordan's big day! Happy Birthday Jordan! We feel so blessed to have you as a part of our family. 

Phone talk

Here is Jordan having a conversation with his Daddy. This is while we were still in Washington and Preston was back in Arizona. Jordan is such a good talker for his age and what he says in this video is adorable. Enjoy!