Fall, Pumpkin Carving, and Leaving on a Jet Plane

 I love fall. Everything is so colorful. I took the picture above the other day when I was walking back to the house from the garage. I don't know why exactly, but for some reason it made me happy - the orange from the pumpkins and reds and greens from the bushes. I thought it was very pretty so I thought I would share.

We haven't been up to too much lately. We've both been getting over colds which hasn't been much fun. I've never really lost my voice or had that scratchy, 'can't talk very well' voice that some people get when the have a cold, but for some reason, this one was a doozie. I have barely been able to talk for the last three days, which has made the work day quite a challenge. I feel bad for my patients that have had to listen to me croak at them the entire time. Not to mention wearing a mask when you have runny nose is awful - try it the next time you have a cold - it sucks. But we are both feeling better and are on the mend.

We got some pumpkins from Brandt's mom the last time we went home and of course Brandt did not disappoint with the carving. He always gets way into it and is pretty talented. He figures out what he wants to do and looks up pictures online, but for the most part, he does it all free-hand. I didn't even bother carving a pumpkin this year - I knew I couldn't compete (plus this was at the height of my not feeling too hot - so I watched a movie while Brandt worked on his pumpkin). Here are some pics of Mr. Big Shot :)

 Hard at work.

 He'll find any excuse to use his Dremel tool. Notice the eyewear - safety first!
Also notice the pumpkin splatters ALL over his shirt.

The finished product. Fabulous - as always. The neighbors have been complimenting him on it all week.

Tomorrow I head out to CHICAGO for 11 days of fun! I'm super excited to meet the newest member of the family. But I'm a bit nervous about the travel part of it. I've never flown by myself before, plus flying isn't my favorite thing in the world, so hopefully everything goes ok. I'll post some pictures of all my adventures when I get back. Anywho, I'm off to finish packing. Happy Fall everyone!

Burley Homecoming 2010

Last weekend was Burley's homecoming, so Brandt and I decided to make a trip home to watch my brother Zach in action. Though we weren't able to pull off the win against Wood River, it was still a lot of fun. We got to catch up with some friends from high school while at the game and cheer on the ol' alma mater. Good times were had by all :) Here are some pics of our festivities over the weekend.

 Go #33!

 Sammy and Brandt enjoying the game. Sam was being weird as usual.

 I have to give a shout out to the Burley Bobcat Band. For a high school band, I think they are AMAZING! When Sammy came up to Idaho Falls to visit us a few weeks ago, the three of us went to an Idaho Falls high school football game, and their band was so sad (bless their little hearts). Seriously, for a 5A school, their band was pathetic - maybe no more than 15 kids at the most. They played well, but it was sad how few there were of them. I think Burley's band has gotten smaller over the last several years, which makes me sad, but they are still one of the larger high school bands that I know of. I hope the enthusiasm for Burley Band never dies out because I LOVE it!

 Me, Brandt, Momma, Jill, and Nada enjoying the game

 On Saturday, Brandt took Rex for a run, and nearly killed the poor dog. Brandt said that 5 minutes into the run, Rex had met his max and was lagging behind. Eventually Brandt just let him off the leash so he could go at his own pace. When they got back, Rex just plopped on the grass and didn't move for over an hour. Poor thing :)

 This is Rex and Sadie. Sadie is the newest member of the family. She normally just stayed at Bryan's work at night since she is his work dog and helps him on the farm. Bryan got a new job a couple of weeks ago and he was afraid to leave her at the new ranch by herself at night where she wasn't familiar with anything, so now she comes home with him at night. She's a pretty dog and very sweet. (This was taken a few minutes after Rex and Brandt's run - Rex looks terribly tired!)

Sam, me, Zach, Syd, and Brandt right before Zach left on Saturday night to go to the Homecoming Dance.

I wanted to get some pics of Zach in his getup before he left - so I told him to go GQ-it up on the wall. He didn't get it. First he started laughing, then he got a little braver and gave me a pose, by the third shot he nailed it. What a hottie :)

My brace face would fit right in at the dance don't ya think?

Since Zach was at the dance, the rest of us didn't want to just sit at home, so we went to JB's for dinner. 
Yes, we know how to party.

After dinner we came home and played "5 Crowns". I snapped this pic of Brandt when he fell off his chair laughing so hard at a comment Sydney made about an elephant. I didn't get what was so funny, but I got a kick out of Brandt's reaction to it. This was around midnight, which is WAY past our usual bedtime, so maybe that's what made whatever Sydney said so funny. He cracks me up.

We had a great weekend. On the way home, we stopped by Brandt's grandparent's house so we could visit with Grandpa Manning. He hasn't been doing very well lately and Brandt wanted to see him. He gave us a few smiles while we were there. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures, but it was great to see them.

Introducing...

Henry Craig Fryer

Born 10.7.10

7:11 am

8 lbs 6 oz

20 3/4 inches

My first nephew (On my family's side). I can't wait to meet him in a few weeks!

I Wanna Quit the Gym!

Well, we finally did it. We are now proud members of Gold's Gym. Brandt and I have been thinking about joining a gym for awhile now, but never wanted to make the commitment. Exercise and staying healthy is important to us, but let's face it, we're lazy. We prefer the couch and a Redbox as opposed to sweatin' it out on the treadmill. However, age and high metabolisms will not always be on our side. We figure if we want to keep these sexy bodies we already have (haha, you laughed huh?) then we better start taking care of them. 

I've been going to Zumba classes a couple of times a week with some girls from work for the past couple of months and loving it! Has anyone else tried Zumba? It's not necessarily the best workout in the world, but tons of fun.  But we figured for the price we're putting out to go to Zumba every month, we could join a gym and go to as many classes as we want. Hence, we had reps come to the office and discuss a membership. And I think we got a pretty sweet deal. I was able to talk them into five bucks off the monthly fee. I was pretty excited - I love a good deal. Brandt could have cared less - he hates when I haggle.

So there you have it. Next time you see us, it's ok if you don't recognize us. We'll be super hot. Joining a gym always reminds me of that episode of Friends where Chandler is a member of a gym, but never goes and can't get out of his contract, so Ross goes with him to help him out. Click on the picture below and it will take you to the two-minute video on YouTube. Watch it - you will laugh.

(image from here)