Update

So here's a little update on us:

We have recently moved to Provo, UT and have been in our cute little new home for just over 3 weeks. We love it! Already both Stephen and I are MUCH happier. Call me crazy, but I LOVE this stage of life- the "Grad-school student, college town, young family, dirt poor, dates consist of grocery shopping" stage. We relished living in a college town while we were in Rexburg, ID and missed it while we were in Lehi, UT for those 6 short months. I missed being surrounded by young families going to school (it was so much easier to make friends), time with Stephen (his commute for school and work was too hard on us), and having a car (it's amazing how much freedom running mundane errands can bring to a stay-at-home-mom). So we moved to Provo, and it has been wonderful!

On Halloween, we got dressed up and went trunk-or-treating with our friends, Zach and Becca, in our ward parking lot and it was a lot of fun!  Benjamin obviously doesn't grasp the concept of Halloween yet, but I sure loved toting him around in his R2D2 outfit and watching people ooogle over him; he's pretty much the most adorable little boy...he and our friend's baby, Ethan (who was dressed as Doby from Harry Potter) who is just 3 weeks older than Benjamin. Those two stole the show for sure!

          

Stephen recently made friends with a non-member who lives in our ward boundaries and his name is Rudy. Rudy is now taking the missionary discussions in our home once a week and it has been a joy for me to watch Stephen's love for a complete stranger grow. He has such a great desire to teach, reach out, and to rescue and I love that about him. It helps me to remember to not be complacent and to serve those around me. We had decided long ago that we wanted to work at becoming a family who makes a difference in the community and who lifts and serves wherever they are and I hope that we can begin to reach this goal here in Provo.

We're in love with the beautiful trail that follows the Provo river (it's located a five minute walk away!) and we spend an awful lot of time out on it biking and walking. It definitely makes exercise more fun and more likely to happen! Benjamin and I have already walked it a hundred times it seems, going to feed the ducks, play at the park, or window shop at one of the stores just off the trail. Yup, I definitely love it and have no idea what I'll do once the snow starts flying.

Another favorite thing to do when we have some spare time is to take Benjamin outside to play, and he loves it too. Sometimes when he's particularly fussy, just opening the front door elicits squeals of delight and excitement. We grateful for the little playground located on the apartment complex grounds.

     

With daylight savings a recent event, Benjamin's typical sleeping patterns have been completely out of whack and it has been super difficult for us (probably more so for our neighbors, whom I feel especially sorry for). Benjamin has always been a "schedule baby" in that he thrives best on predictability and routine, which I don't mind at all since that is my personality anyway. However, lately he has been all over the place and the poor guy can't seem to figure it out, and neither can Stephen or I for that matter. For now we are just praying that we can get through each day in one piece.