It's already OCTOBER!

Today is October 9, and it is a Friday. Which any time other than this semester, I would have said Hurrah! But Fridays aren't anything special anymore, since Mike is so busy! Which I am so grateful for and am so proud of him for working so hard....but our weekends are kind of nonexistent now. He is just as excited for this semester to be over as I am. He'll be home around 6 tonight, which is great...but then tomorrow, he has to get up around 5 to make it to work in Provo by 6 am. So our exciting (or not-so-exciting now) Friday night dates need to end by like 10 pm so he can get some sleep! And then he has to work a 12 hour shift. Bleh. I surely don't miss 12 hour shifts, and I know that he is ready to be done with them too! He is so busy! I am so grateful for a husband that is so willing to work hard and be dedicated. He is just the greatest and it will be so fun when this semester (and his internship/job on Saturdays) is over and we can spend more time together!!!! We have been able to do a couple fun things the past few weeks, so that's been nice:)

We've really been trying to get out and get up the canyon some because it really seems to do both of us so much good. We had like an hour one day when Mike got home before he had to start on his homework, so we hiked up to this [awesome] waterfall. Haha it was September, so I guess the Spring runoff is pretty much gone by now. But it was a nice little 20 minute hike/walk and was so fun! And only like 5 minutes from our house!

 

 We went up the canyon for a little BBQ a few weeks ago with my parents and Alli and Kade and it was so fun! It was beautiful and we had a lot of fun! We even sang songs around the fire as we roasted marshmallows per my mom's request:) haha she always loved us singing songs together! It was a fun afternoon!

So we really have been wanting to get up the canyon and go camping, but with Mike's schedule and having to get up early every day and coming home late each evening, we haven't been able to. So the other night, I planned a "camping" trip in my parents' backyard:) We had a fire, roasted apples with cinnamon and sugar and made crescents on our roasting sticks. It was really fun! And I think Mike really enjoyed building the fire:) We slept in our tent in the backyard and had a really nice night! Then Mike got up early the next morning and went to work.

 Had my mission reunion last Thursday before conference and it was so fun to see Hermana Robles and my mission president and his wife. I have so many good memories from my mission and it's good to remember them all!!

 We went to Bear Lake last weekend over conference with our friends Erica and Matt Farmer and their two kids. It was such a nice weekend! (Mike was able to get work off for a Saturday!) Conference was really nice and we did some fun crafts and were able to get outside some. The oil paintings below are one of the crafts that we did. It was really fun and a very nice, relaxing weekend, although those 2 days went by way too quickly! 

My mom has been going through old picture this week, and I found these two yesterday, and just love them. So I thought I'd stick them on here just for fun:) 

Last of all - I am 23 weeks pregnant today!!!!
Hooray! I have been feeling well, and, as you can see, have a nice bump coming along! I feel pretty big, and can't imagine how my stomach is going to stretch any further. Our little baby boy moves and wiggles and kicks a lot, and it is so fun to feel him!!! Yesterday, we laid on the bed for maybe an hour and watched my stomach move around and feel it and Mike was even singing to him (haha which, as funny as it sounds, seemed to make the baby move more! So either he really likes his voice or it just scares him...:)) It's so fun to be pregnant and I'm trying to eat healthy and be somewhat active, although I hardly ever actually exercise. I walk a lot with work and everything though, so hopefully that's enough. Haha and I squat a ton in my job (I never realized how much I bend over to pick things up), so that's good! Oh - I also cut 7 inches off my hair! You can kinda tell in this picture. I'm not in love with it, but I don't really care and it's still easy and I don't have to do anything with it, so it's all good! And will be nice and long again by the time baby boy comes:) (even though most people say short hair is better for babies, I figure long hair will be easier. I never have to do it, and can throw it up in a pony tail or a bun on top of my head so quickly! Hopefully I'm right or I think Mike will be sad to see me cut my hair off)