Hockey and Halloween

I know there are going to be about 50 million blog posts about Halloween in the next 24 hours, but too bad. Here's another one. But at least I'm throwing in a little hockey for good measure...

Nick is back on a Men's League Hockey team this year and couldn't be happier. That boy sure loves himself some hockey! A lot of his games are later in the evening so when Friday's game was at an earlier time, I decided to pack Nixon along so he could watch his Daddy play. It was fun to get him dressed in his new winter coat and his fuzzy mitts, booties and bear toque (I'll have to get a picture of that later...).

Watching Daddy play hockey

Getting a little tired.....

All tuckered out between the 1st & 2nd period - perfect time for a nap.

Nixon & Nick

We love watching Nick do what he loves!

Now on to Halloween. For reasons that shall remain undisclosed at this time, our Halloween weekend started off and continued along pretty sucky. Nick was supposed to work the whole weekend, which is super lame. But he decided to not go in to work today and we were able to salvage a little bit of the holiday spirit. After church we came home and had a relaxing afternoon while Nixon napped. I even had a cat nap myself. I was about to bail on the whole idea of carving pumpkins this year, but since I'd already bought them I figured I should get off my butt and just get carving. Nick was a little skeptical too, but we both ended up having fun.

The Voravongs invited us over for a delicious early dinner and we had a great time stuffing our faces with yummy carrot soup, homemade buns, and lots of other finger food. Thanks Bishop family for letting us crash your par-tay! After that we stopped by Nick's parent's house quickly and came home to hand out candy. Nick's mom stopped by after work to get her Nixon fix - and we loved seeing Nick's little cousins when they came by trick-or-treating. In the end, Nixon's First Halloween turned out pretty great :)

Halloween Family Pic

The fruits of our labors..

The fruits of Nixon's labors landed on Nick's pumpkin.... ha ha

Jaylin, Kyla, Nixon and Uncle Brad

Turkey Time

For Thanksgiving this year we headed down to Southern Alberta to spend time with my family. We got together with some of the extended family on Friday night to have treats and play games. Lots of fun, hopefully we can do it again next time :) It was SUCH a perfect fall weekend - not actually warm, but not snowy yet like it has been in past years. So we went down to Ryan & Jill's one night and had a big bonfire in their backyard. We enjoyed the crisp air, snuggled under blankets, and roasted s'mores. Yum!

Jill & Max, me & Nixon and Nick

Grandma Hull, Grandma Betty and my Mom

Levi & Dani (clearly enjoying their s'mores...haha)

Mmmm... marshmallows...

Since Ryan & Jill decided to bless their new baby, Max, that weekend as well, we were able to get together with Ryan's family and have one big turkey dinner together. Ryan's parents hosted everyone at their house and the food was delicious.

Nick enjoying his dinner
Nixon doesn't look too impressed with that grown up food...

Yum

Dani and her cousins had a great time (literally)
swinging from the trees and playing in the fall leaves.

Nixon's First Thanksgiving!

Nixon & Levi just enjoying some football

Some of our September

Yep. Still with the surprised eyes. Always.

I won't lie... I have been feeling pretty lack-lustre towards blogging lately. I've felt like this past month hasn't been overly eventful for us so I haven't been very motivated to blog. But it's the end of the month, and I don't want this to be my first month of not posting since I started this thing....so here I am. I thought that I'd just be posting a few snapshots I've taken of Nixon recently but as I got looking on my computer I realized that I actually had quite a few pictures from September, and even a few from the end of August when I went down to Cardston to see my family and meet my newest nephew. Enjoy!

New cousin Max (5 days old) and Nixon (3.5 months old)

Great Grandma Betty and Nixon

We went up to Waterton for an evening to walk around, take in the beauty,
and eat dinner at Zum's. Oh - and of course we got ice cream at Big Scoop. Yum.

Ryan, Jill (& Max) and Me (with Nixon in his stroller)

We got together with Nick's Mom's side of the family at the start of the month for dinner and to celebrate some family birthdays.

4 Generations of Gagnons: Nick, (Nixon's) Great Grandpa Cyrille, Nixon
and Grandma Teressa. Don't you love his little "tie" - Thanks Linds!

Andrea (11) and Kyla(8)

Olivia and her son Cairo flew out to Alberta to visit for a couple weeks, and I had SO much fun catching up with her, and just having fun hanging out. We looked at pictures and reminisced about the good old YSA days and went shopping with the kids. It's so fun that we are both married now, and have sons less than a year apart. And the good news is, her little family is moving back to Alberta next weekend!

Olivia, Nixon, me & Cairo

Kay and Melvin had a bunch of family and friends over to celebrate Bennett's 1st birthday and we had so much fun visiting with everyone and eating delicious food.

Bennett, Nick & Nixon

Finally a picture of Nixon and I where I'm ready for the day!
(don't mind the burp rag or the typical expression on Nixon's face)

The birthday boy and his plethora of presents!

Isn't this the cutest picture of Bennett & Kay? I love it.
(Kay & Julie did and awesome job on the Alligator cake, huh)

Some might think that at 4 months, Nixon was too young for his first haircut.
I do not.

His newborn hair was so dark and long, but the hair that's growing in now is
a lot more blonde and it looked really funny. So I pulled out the clippers,
and I love how much more even it looks now.

He can stand up in this thing by himself,
just needs a pillow to help with the wobbles.

We often hear slurping noises around our house, and it's because
this little guy is slobbering all over at least one of his fingers
ALL DAY LONG. Maybe he's teething?

Yesterday as I was feeding Nixon he up and grabbed the bottle and held it.
Then he took it out of his mouth and started trying to put it back in.
You better believe I'm going to be working on getting him to master that skill!

Summer Lovin...

I have a special relationship with reading. There is NOTHING I'd rather do on a hot (or rainy) summer day than curl up with a good book. To lay on the beach, at a lake, in my backyard, or curled up on my couch or in my bed is perfection. Unfortunately life seems to get crazier and busier through the winter months (or maybe I'm just too busy watching my plethora of TV shows...) so I don't end up reading as much as I'd like to. But when the sun finally comes out, the flowers bloom, and with the smell of cut grass in the air, the "stars align" for me to clear my schedule for some good old fashioned reading. Here are a few of the gooders that I've read this summer: (What have you been reading?)

This is an amazing book series, and I can't wait to read the 3rd book.
It JUST came out. I was a little skeptical when I read the cover,
but it was definitely worth the chance. Seriously awesome.
(ps I'm so excited they are going to make it into a movie - due out next year!)

I've been on a bit of a Nicholas Sparks kick this year, so I figured
I better read the actual book to the classic movie that I LOVED.

This is the 'sequel' to the Notebook. I loved it too.

This was a little 'out of the box' for the usual Sophie Kinsella style,
but was still a fun, easy read.

Nick's Mom is really into Nora Roberts, so last year we gave her the
1st book in this series. I ended up borrowing it, and loved it.
Then I totally forgot about it. Until I saw the third book at Costco,
and then I got really excited because then I get to read the 2nd and
3rd books back to back. For a lover of all things wedding..... it's hitting the spot :)

Next on my reading list:

Since I've never read it, I figured I'd better get on with it!
(Besides..... there's a new sequel - who knew?)

P & P sequel, as mentioned above. Should be good...

Love Mitch Albom. Hopefully it's good

And lastly - I want to reread this series. It's 5 thick books, with an
extra shorter book that was written later. I should be busy for awhile....

A little Home Decor...

After getting our pictures done with Nick's family, I finally filled a couple frames I'd bought and was able to put together the display in my front entry that I've been dreaming about. Whoo Hoo :) I love how it turned out! It was definitely worth the minor fight(s) with Nick as we dropped (and broke) our level, (together) balanced precariously on a ladder to put up the vinyl lettering and leaned dangerously over the banister. No big deal. Like I said........ TOTALLY worth it.

I totally lucked out with a single trip to Michael's, and found the vase, beads,
and flowers that went perfectly with the other colors in my entryway.

I LOVE the frame I bought from Alli, and the Vinyl that
Lindsay gave me for Christmas! Thanks girls :)

Since I've been on a bit of a Home Decor kick, I thought I'd include some random pictures of things I wish I could buy. I'm starting to realize that as much as I love contemporary or classic items, I always seem to gravitate towards vintage/antique items. Hmmmm..... I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out as we develop and decorate our home over the next few years.

I would DIE for this mirror.
(And to have a room with a ceiling high enough to hang it)

I love these antique chests

Love the distressing on this dresser

And last but not least, I would love something similar to this chair,
but as an armchair to go in my future living room. I love black and white.