More Fall

Yesterday, James and I went walking at Swan Creek Park. The colors were even more beautiful then they were on Friday. I took more pictures. I tried to get a few from a different perspective too. I did some close up. Not just all of trees or skylines. James and I enjoyed the walk. There was not a great turn out like there normally is to walking group. I guess the temperatures and the rain scared people away. The nice thing was it stopped raining before we started walking, and it did not start again until I got in my car afterwards. Great timing. I also saw a few deer hiding in the trees. I took a picture of these trees last Thursday and then again yesterday. See the difference a week makes (last week was from the other side of the trees).

It Really is Fall!

Last Saturday, we went to Swan Creek Park for a walk and to take some pictures. We wanted to get some pictures for Grandma Felt, since she is coming, but will probably miss the Fall colors. We got all this color over night. I love Fall here in Ohio! I wish it would last a little longer. Oh well. We are also enjoying the colder temperatures. It never got above 50 yesterday. It was totally awesome! James also got a chance to swing, which he loves. He giggled the whole time, and as you will see in the video, his laugh makes me laugh too.

On our walk back to the car, we saw this guy. Actually, we almost ran over him with the stroller, but luckily, Jon saw him. Then, Jon moved him off the trail so no one else would run over him.

Dinner

The last few nights James has actually been eating what Jon and I are eating for dinner. Chicken nuggets and french fries, tortellini with cheesy spaghetti sauce, and stir fry. James seems to love it, and it is nice for me to not have to find something James can eat too. He loved the stir fry. I was a little surprised, because I put cayenne pepper in it, but he could not get enough of it. His favorite part seemed to be the noodles, which he needed help to eat, and the squash. The picture is actually from the first time he had this stir fry when I did not put in the hot stuff.

Way to Go, Idaho!

I know this is about Moscow, Idaho, which is not really that close to where I grew up, but it is about Idaho and kind of fun to read a national sports write say this. This is from Sports Illistrated's Stewart Mandel in his weekly College Football Overtime.

Smaller story, but I'm sure you're following it...

There are big doings in Moscow these days. (Not that Moscow.) Following a last-minute 29-25 win at San Jose State on Saturday, Idaho is 5-1, no small feat considering it hasn't won five games in a season since 2000.

Since moving from the Sun Belt to the WAC in 2005, the Vandals had been a perennial cellar-dweller. In the four seasons prior to this one, they'd won a combined six conference games. Coaching instability certainly didn't help. First, Nick Holt abruptly departed after just two seasons (2004 and '05) to return to Pete Carroll's USC staff (Holt is now at Washington). The school then rescued former coach Dennis Erickson from coaching exile only to watch him return the favor by bolting for Arizona State after just one season.

Enter Robb Akey, who spent the previous eight years just eight miles away on Washington State staff.

After enduring a nightmarish first two seasons (a combined 3-21 record), Akey has Idaho off to its best start since 1994, when the school was still in Division I-AA. The past three wins have all come against bowl-eligible teams from a year ago (Northern Illinois, Colorado State and San Jose State). It's too early to say how Idaho will ultimately stack up in the WAC (San Jose was the Vandals' second conference opponent), but just reaching a bowl for the first time since 1998 would be accomplishment enough.

What's interesting about Idaho is that, prior to this decade, the Idaho-Boise State rivalry had been fairly even, and in fact the Vandals won three straight lopsided games from 1996-98 when the two schools first moved up to I-A. Obviously, the two programs have gone in opposite directions since then. But is it really all that crazy to think a school that once churned out such coaches as Erickson and John L. Smith has found itself another unsung gem in Akey? We may soon find out.

Findlay, OH

We went to the Findlay Ward Conference yesterday. Jon gave a wonderful talk and made everyone cry. President Smith was not there, so President Wilkin spoke in sacrament Meeting, and President Beck spoke to the youth before we spilt into the Young Men and Young Women. James was full of energy except for the twenty minutes he slept during Young Women's (Thanks, Jon). I ended up not having to teach part of the lesson, since the counselor was able to come after all. I will be going back to Findlay in two weeks for some training of their new Young Women Presidency. Overall, it was a really good day!

Where is Mom?

James has started following me everywhere I go. He wants to be next to "mum mum." Since the attempts to barricade him in the living room fail with every new attempt, I have stopped trying and just let him crawl around the apartment. He pretty much keeps mom in sight.

Here he is with his left-armed army crawl. He is coming down the hall. At the very end he peeks into his room.

James has also started to enjoy standing. He cannot do it on his own, but does not want to sit down. It starts to make my arms tired, but is really cute.

We LOVE our Zoo!

I know I say this tons, but I LOVE the Toledo Zoo! Having a membership has been wonderful. James and I went yesterday, and it was the perfect day to be at the zoo. It was like we had the whole place to ourselves. It was windy yesterday, but it really was not that cold.

When I entered Nature's Neighborhood, one of the workers came up to me and said that since we were the only ones there, if there was something that looked closed but we wanted to use/do it, just let them know and they will open it for us.

James actually saw some of the animals too. Here he is watching the seals. I could not get him to look at me long enough for a picture. We also saw a wolf actually moving. Normally they just lay there. We watched the ants and the birds in Nature's Neighborhood. James also saw a bird eating something off the walkway, and a squirrel that walk by us and came with in about 6 inches of my feet. We saw lots of workers put up Christmas lights to get ready for the Light Before Christmas (only 78 days to Christmas). We even saw lights lit up (the workers wanted to make sure they were working properly).

It was a really fun day at the zoo, and really nice for me to get away from a few stressful things for a little while.

Monster

James loves the book titled, There is a Monster at the End of This Book. Yesterday, he brought me this book as he army crawled with his leg arm, partly dragging partly pushing the book as he went. I took that as he wanted me to read it to him. I am pretty sure he likes the bright colors, but he probably also likes the animation and inflections in my voice as I read it to him. When I finish, he will pat (smack) the book, which means more, or read it again. If I do not, he will get mad. I love that my little boy loves book so much.

Colder Weather

I am LOVING the colder weather! It has been so great! Luckily, James got this hat and mittens from Grandma Brower right before it cooled off. Thanks Grandma!

Also, if you will see the shirt he is wearing in the picture, James loves food of every kind, but he went through a stage last week where he would only eat what he could do himself. I cannot say I blame him for not eating babyfood, but I did not know if he was eating enough. It only lasted a two days, and then he was back to wolfing down the baby food too, as if he was starving.

General Conference

We enjoyed watching General Conference over the Internet from the comforts of our home. It only stopped on us once for a few seconds. The picture was pretty choppy, but the sound was constant other than the one brief pause. Much better than last year.

James played while Jon and I listened and watched the speakers. We had to barricade James into a "safe" area in our living room, since James has found the joy of playing with cords behind the TV and under the computer desk. His favorite part is flipping the switch and turning off the light on the power cord. Mobility is so wonderful! Here is James trying to climb through the saucer which was used as part of the barrier. He is a pretty smart kids. He also tried to move the saucer by twisting it back and forth.

James enjoyed having daddy around so much that he would not nap. He had one nap each day for about half an hour. Then he was of coarse starting to whine for bed at 6:00 each night, but his mommy would not let him go to bed until after 7:00.

On Sunday between sessions, we went for a walk around our little block. We saw another family from our ward doing the same, and they invited us over for some hot chocolate. It was fun to visit and get to know them a little better.

It was a good weekend! I love to hear the words of the prophet and the other leaders of the church.

So Long! Farewell!

Last night, we helped our friend, Denise, pack up her trailer so she could start her drive to Washington this morning. It took just over an hour to load up the things she needed. Most of the furniture is staying until the house sells, but there were a few pieces of furniture she wanted to take with her. Mostly I watched and entertained the children, but I was able to get in the fun of carrying food storage up the stairs, just a little bit.

James loved the grass. He loved picking handfuls and putting them into his mouth.

He loved watching mom pick it and let it blow in the wind. Mostly, I think he really loved being outside.

It was hard to say goodbye, but maybe a little easier knowing she would be coming back at some point when the house did sell. The Deweys will need to get the rest of their things.

And Then There Were Seven

It is October! I am so grateful for the cooler weather. It is 33 degrees as I write this! So wonderful!

In other news, James cut another tooth yesterday. He has been a little grumpy and it is nice that this tooth is finally through.

James also has graduated from rolling to get around. He still does occasionally, but rolling is faster than this.

He is getting really good at the army crawl. Now he can get a few more places that he could not get to before, like down the hall.