Hikes and Games

Last week I went hiking with some friends Lesly and Jenner and their kids. We went to a local lake and walked on a nature trail to enjoy the fall leaves. It was a beautiful and warm day outside. I carried Ainsley in the backpack...she is getting a little big for it, but she was a sport and enjoyed it. She kept grabbing my hair and trying to push my pony tail out of the way though...it must have been in her face, so I eventually just took it out. It was nice to be outside and spend time with friends. We had a lot of fun!

Good friends Lesly and Jenner who are also MBA wives

On Saturday, Tom and I went to a pre-season NBA game with our friends Tye and Jenner. It was played here at IU at Assembly Hall. It was Pacers vs. Spurs. Pacers won 114 to 112. It was a close game and a lot of fun. Tom and I realized that it was the first NBA game that we've been to that hasn't been the Jazz. The best part is,the MBA school reserved a bunch of seats for students and so tickets were only $10 each and we had amazing seats. We sat beneath the basket on the 7th row. A friend watched Ainsley for us, so we had a great date night with friends. It was fun!

Tom caught two t-shirts during the game, but only kept one. I came home with this gem...can't wait to wear it to the gym, huh?

We sat with our friends Tye and Jenner. Tye caught this mini-basketball signed by Pacers player Dahntay Jones #1. Since we sat under the basket, we all got "clackers" which Ainsley has enjoyed playing with ever since.

Former NBA great and Pacers' coach Larry Bird was there and sat on the second row

Halloween Package

Thanks Reese's for the fun Halloween Package! Ainsley loved the cute outfit, Elmo, and Coloring Book. Tom and I loved the popcorn balls! It wouldn't be Halloween without the traditional Grandma Reese popcorn balls. We're so sad we missed Wind-O-Ween this year, but we were delighted to receive the package. Ainsley took Elmo to bed with her tonight. I think she has a new favorite stuffed animal!

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Enjoying Fall

Last weekend, Tom and I enjoyed a few fall traditions. First we went to a football tailgate hosted by Scott's. Our good friends Josh and Jessica were in town from Columbus to help host it. It was so fun to see them again! We've missed them. Ainsley was a little sick this weekend but by Saturday afternoon was feeling much better. She was a trooper at the tailgate which was loud and packed with tons of college kids drinking and playing cornhole (bean bag toss for all you utah friends....it's really popular here!). We've heard that the tailgates are better attended than the actual football game. But it was a lot of fun and we can see why. In fact, we didn't even attend the game...just the tailgate. But we are hoping to go to a game before the season is over.

I had lunch with Jess and some friends before the tailgate. It was fun to catch up and hear what real life is like after MBA graduation:)

IU beat Illinois 27-14. Go Hoosiers!

After the tailgate, Tom and I drove to a state park just 20 minutes away to take pictures of the fall leaves. It was absolutely beautiful. You may recognize the lake, I've posted it before. I think this is our third trip to the same spot. We hiked around the lake when we went camping this summer and took the Reese family there when they came to visit. We love it!

Ainsley enjoying the fall weather!

This is Tom taking photos while Ainsley and I patiently wait for him

One photo he got of the lake... I love the reflection of the leaves

Ainsley and Daddy

I had to post this one last pic of Ainsley...she had just given Tom "rocks" and was running back to give me "rocks" too. It's one of her favorite things to do when she meets new people.

Kelley Kids Hayride

Last Monday, Ainsley and I went on a hayride with the Kelley Kids. We drove to a horse farm a few miles away. Ainsley enjoyed looking and petting the horses before the hayride began. Then we all piled onto flat bed wagon that was stacked with hay bales. The owner pulled us around his farm with his tractor. We drove around admiring the beautiful fall leaves for about an hour. We crossed over streams and even saw some deer running through the field ahead of us. Then he took us up to the top of his property where he made a campfire and the kids enjoyed roasting marshmallows for s'mores. We missed having Tom there who was busy studying for finals. But it was a lot of fun.

Ainsley and I before the hayride began

About halfway through the hayride, Ainsley wanted to sit on the floor of the wagon with the other kids.

Enjoying the hayride

Roasting some marshmallows

Random Pics and Things

Here are some random pictures of Ainsley this month.

Thought I'd show a picture of her front teeth because none of our family has seen them yet. She now has 12 teeth-four on top, four on bottom and four molars. She has gotten 9 since our trip to Utah in August. Suprisingly, she hasn't been fussy because of it.

Quick sink bath after a really messy diaper

She's obsessed with Tom's helmet. She will wear it all the time.

This is Ainsley's "surprised" face, she does it every time she hears a dog bark, someone sneeze, drop something, etc. It's really cute.

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Louisville, KY

This weekend we went down to Louisville, Kentucky to go to the temple with out ward. It was great because they provided babysitting and so Tom and I were able to go to a session together for the first time since moving here. After the temple trip, we decided to go into Louisville to explore. We decided to go to Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is held. We were able to go on a tour of the facility. It was pretty impressive.

The tour guide told us that these seats sell for $5,800 on Derby day and the boxes up above sell for $20,000. But on a normal race day these seats sell for $3. Tom and I want to go back in November to see some races.

This is the winner's circle where the derby winning jockeys and horses get their awards

The track-the red post at the end is where they put the starting gate. The race is 1.25 miles long

They update this sign every year to show how long the race has been held. It has run every year for 135 years. But why does it say 1973 then? Well, they are filming a movie about Secreteriat starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich there all week. Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973. Look for the movie to come out next fall.

Tom and Ainsley in front of a statue of Aristides the first derby winner in 1875

Ainsley loved these painted horses and kept walking over to them while on our tour

Ainsley did really well on the 2 hour car ride home. It was our first car trip wihout a binkie and without her falling asleep in the carseat. But she did great!

Ainsley's Favorite Videos

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Ainsley is obsessed with Signing Time...I mean obsessed. She asks to watch it by signing "Signing Time" at least a couple times a day. Sometimes I let her watch it, but when I don't...I get a tantrum. It's great though, her sign language has taken off. I promise to compile a video of all of her signs. She knows probably around 30-40 signs now and she uses them regularly. I love it, it makes my day so much easier because she can tell me what she wants.

But I've started to get a little tired of the Signing Time videos...yes I can sing the entire opening song word for word as well as many of the other songs from the series. So the other day when I was at the library, I thought we'd try something new...I got Elmo's World. She has only watched it a couple of times, but I think we may already have a new favorite video because when we were at Barnes and Noble the other day, she went to this book rack and started calling him by name...something she had never done before. Now we have a new song stuck in our head, you know the one...nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah na...Elmo's World! What was I thinking?

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Conference Weekend

We had a wonderful time listening to General Conference this weekend. We woke up early on Saturday and went to Scholar's Inn Bakehouse, a local cafe, for breakfast. We had heard about the Bakehouse for awhile but hadn't made it there. We were glad we tried it...it was delicious. Tom had Eggs Benedict and I had Challah French Toast...which was almost as good as the Kneader's French Toast that I have been missing. Afterwards, Tom was off to school and Ainsley and I spent the day watching conference over the internet. How I miss being able to just turn on the tv and watch it, but the internet was wonderful too. That evening, while Tom was at Priesthood session, I got together with my friends Marin, Jenner, and Lesly. We enjoyed a girls night out with pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and brownies.

On Sunday, Tom got up early and made a delicious breakfast of eggs, Red Lobster cheddar biscuits, bacon, and hot chocolate. Then we spent the day sitting on the bed watching conference from our computer. In between sessions, we took a walk to the post office down the street to mail some cards. It was a gorgeous day...brisk but beautiful. During conference, I kept my hands busy finishing some sewing and craft projects for Ainsley. Afterwards we skyped with both families. I am so grateful for modern technology that allows me to talk and see our families over the internet. It makes living so far away so much easier. Tom always jokes, that as a kid he never thought that the Jetson's television phone conferences would come true...well they did. We try to talk over the webcam with family at least once a week. I know it makes a huge difference. Ainsley loves talking to her grandparents over the computer and asks for "Grandpa" everytime we open Tom's laptop. It's pretty cute!

Tom enjoying some delicious breakfast

Yummy challah french toast

Smaller bites Ains!

Sitting reverently as we listen to conference over the baby monitor piped in from the computer upstairs.

Two bumper skirts I finally hemed for Ainsley during conference. I started them months ago, but never finished them. Good thing I made them big...the brown one almost fits

A tutu I attempted to make out of free tulle...I'm not sure I did it right...it looked like a giant spider when it was done.

Ainsley trying the tutu on this morning, I'm not sure she is a fan of it yet...you may remember the pom pom fear...it's about the same so it might take some coaxing on my part to get her to wear it. She is finally smiling after about 20 minutes of wearing it...she probably forgot that it was still on at this point