This Saturday was the annual trunk-or-treat/chili cook-off at our church. Although there have been trunk-or-treats in all of our wards for the past several years, this is the first year we have attended. We had lots of fun and are beginning to understand the joy of having children! It is far more fun to dress your one-year-old up like a lion than to get a costume for yourself.

So I thought I'd just post a few random pictures of what we've been doing the month of October. Mostly, it's so I can showcase Jacob because my mom wanted to see more pictures. I think they're pretty cute, so sit back and enjoy!

As some of you may be aware, Jacob will be turning 1 at the end of this month. As of yet, we haven't purchased a new car seat for him and he is still riding around in his infant seat. He's still under the weight limit (which is 22 pounds and he weighs about 17 1/2 on a good day), so we're good for a while longer on the weight. However, the recommended height limit on the car seat we are currently using is 29 inches. He was 28 inches tall at his last check up! I'm pretty sure he's grown an inch since then. Needless to say, we're shopping for a new car seat. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm not very good at making decisions about things I feel like I know nothing about. Personally, I'm still happy with his infant seat as he will fall asleep in it in the car, then I can carry him into the house in it, and transfer him to his bed no problems. I'm not looking forward to having to take him out of the seat to bring him inside. Such is life though.

Brad was able to get off of work early on Friday. In fact, he almost gave me a heart attack when he came walking, very sneakily, I might add, into our back room on Friday at around noon. I was just about to put Jacob down for a nap, when I heard, tap, tap, tap across the tile floor in our dining room. My back was toward the dining room and as I turned around (while holding Jacob), I see out of the corner of my eye, a tall, buff-looking creature coming toward me. Needless to say my heart was beating quite rapidly before I realized it was Brad. He had gotten off work early and thought he'd surprise me by just coming home without calling first. It was definitely a surprise! I think if he'd have been any closer to me when I heard a "strange person" in my house, he could've ended up with a black eye. Thankfully, it was my husband and not an intruder. So this is how we began our weekend!

Friday night we had tickets to the U of L vs. U of Utah football game. We got a babysitter and headed out for a night without Jacob. The hospital where Brad now works, gave tickets to us so we got to watch the game from "The Perch". This also meant free parking and free food! The only thing we had to pay for that night was the babysitter...great, cheap date! Unfortunately (if you're not rooting for the Utes) the Cards lost, but we had a good time anyway.

(Brad, Adam, Carolyn, Stormi, & Paul)

(Brad & I in "The Perch")

This weekend also happened to be General Conference weekend. It has been our family's tradition for the past several years to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast conference morning. This year we were talking about making the rolls and decided it's a lot of work to make cinnamon rolls. So, I took Jamie's idea for sticky buns and thought I'd see if they're just as good, since the recipe was so much easier.

(sticky buns before)

(sticky buns after)

The consensus in our family is that the sticky buns are just as good as cinnamon rolls and WAY easier. Thanks Jamie for the great recipe! I think we will be altering our family's Conference Sunday tradition. We were able to listen to Conference Saturday & Sunday and were spiritually fed as well. I even got to go to the church Saturday morning, by myself, and see Conference. I think this was my favorite session. Not so much because of what was said, as because I was ALONE! It was awesome. Thanks Brad for watching Jacob so I could go by myself and really "listen to a prophet's voice." Conference was sooooo good and I really learned a lot and now I have so much more to work on. Sunday morning we watched conference at home thanks to the Internet & BYU TV. For the afternoon session we went to the Bauman's and watched with them. Sunday evening I went to the church to choir practice. Our ward's relief society (along with 3 other wards) are singing in Stake Conference in two weeks. Brad was again a hero as he stayed home to watch Jacob so I could hone my singing skills and prepare for Stake Conference. To all those ladies out there who didn't come...we need you!!! There were only 6 sisters there, and we'll need a whole lot more to do the songs justice. I would have to say that all in all, it was a great weekend!

Jacob and I decided to be brave this past month. We took a road trip to Missouri. Jacob sat in the backseat and I sat in the front. I fed him some of my chocolate chip granola bar (I didn't think I gave him a part with chocolate in it) and this is what he looked like when we arrived in Missouri:
Luckily the trip went smoothly. We went back for a few reasons, but the most important is because my mom's parents were visiting from Utah. They had never seen Jacob (except in pictures) so we thought we'd make the trip.

This is Jacob with his Great-Grandma & Grandpa Salmon

Luckily the trip went pretty well. While we were there, Jacob turned 11 months. When we arrived in Missouri, Jacob only had one tooth, which he didn't get until he was 10 1/2 months. He did fine getting that first tooth. As our trip wound down to an end, Jacob turned up with a fever and was very irritable. He started cutting his second tooth on Saturday, September 29th. It was a touchy few days, but today he seems to be doing better.

Here's a picture of Jacob on the day he turned 11 months!

Our trip was good and it was so much fun to see family and friends again. Brad and I are definitely looking forward to the day when we can live closer to all of our family again. We sure miss everyone when we're gone! Thanks to Vicky and Jordan and their family for coming up from Arkansas. Somehow I forgot to take pictures of the Post kids with Jacob. Also, thanks Jordan (and my mom) for watching Jacob during Women's Conference so I could go and watch it at the church! We love you and can't wait to live closer!