October Update

Since April, we have been in the market for a second vehicle.  Initially we were looking for something just a year or two old, that would last us 10+ years.  Every time we found one we liked, it would sell before we even got a chance to see it.  Then we found out we were having twins, and started entertaining the idea of a van.  The few we found were either overpriced, or sold quickly (like within a day or two of being listed.)  Car shopping here is not fun.  Then we started looking into SUV's as a short-term vehicle; it turns out they all have bad gas mileage. I was getting desperate.  Hyrum works 30 minutes away, so any time I needed the car (grocery shopping, visiting teaching, doctors appointment) I had to drop off Hyrum at work, then pick him up.  (Two extra hours of driving for me.) The weekend of General Conference we finally found a car.  The second I saw it I called Hyrum to look at the listing, because I did NOT want it to slip through our fingers.  Within 5 minutes I was talking to the dealership, and two days later we bought it.

Except buying cars is as un-fun as shopping for cars...  it involved over a week of paperwork (both on-post and with the local government), registration, inspection, more paperwork, another inspection.  We didn't get the keys for over a week, and it's still operating with a temporary registration.  But we have two cars! And it's even better than I could have hoped.  Having one car worked great when we had no kids and Hyrum worked 10 minutes away, and especially when he was deployed... but a second car was long past due.  We'll have to squeeze 3 car seats back there in the short term until we move back to the states and buy a van, but I'll take it.

I might have mentioned before, but after going 4.5 years with no weddings in our family, half of my siblings decide to get into serious relationships just in time for me to miss all the weddings.  Fortunately, my engaged sister decided to get married early enough that I could come.  (Doctor says no traveling at Christmas time.)  We decided to plan a family trip to the states in  November instead of December, and a few days ago we spent a small fortune on plane tickets.  Actually, it was much less than I was anticipating, so I can't complain.  And compared to the cost of buying a car, it's mere pennies!

We had our ward trunk-or-treat at the church, which was a good chance for Tiago to trick-or-treat since I don't think we'll take him out on Halloween.  (The street we live on is mostly Germans.)  Hyrum always loves the opportunity to wear his graduation gift: a muscle-man costume and Super Hyrum cape.  Tiago was a gnome, and surprised us by wearing his hat and beard all night.  I thought we'd have to take a quick, forced picture and then have a costume-less child all night.

He loves the idea of Halloween candy.

In non-picture related news, I have made several pumpkin recipes lately.  Besides obligatory pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I branched out and tried my hand at a pumpkin roll (it was okay, but I've had better) and pumpkin soup.  The soup is a keeper, or at least a recipe I'll bring back next fall. 

I also nearly chopped off the end of my thumb, and found myself googling whether or not I needed stitches.  (Google was leaning towards no, so I didn't worry about it.)  Chopping onions always makes my eyes water so much that I was trying to hurry and get it done before I had to take a break and wipe away tears.  I think it's the first finger chop in my 28 years, though.