Around this time of the year leaves change color, weather gets colder and for us life is also changing. After a great deal of prayer our family felt like one season of our life was ending and a new one was on its way. We made the decision to end our term as a CARES team and have decided to embark on the next season of our life. Only a week after we made the decision to move out we were presented with an amazing opportunity to do missions work in Puebla, Mexico.  We will go into greater detail in future blog posts, but feel free to checkout our website for more details http://thestatonspot.com

If you would like our new address please let us know via email, facebook, or twitter and we will make sure to get it to you.

I know you’re thinking…Zander can’t write a wish list…but I thought I’d put together some ideas in case anyone was wondering what I think he’d like:

Clothing Size: 12 mo // Shoe Size: 4

Fisher Price Animals

wooden blocks

any toy with a hammer...

vehicles

musical instruments

kid-sized chair

board books

bath toys

balls

Now, I know this isn’t going to be a surprise to anyone, but I LOVE Halloween. And no, not just because it’s my birthday. I just love this season and time of year. I love anything made from pumpkins, I love carving pumpkins, I love dressing up…I love it all. Wanting to instill this love of Halloween/Fall in my son, I decided to find a local pumpkin patch for a family outing. After searching the internet and comparing and contrasting the limited options available in Arizona, I decided on Mother Nature’s Farm. It seemed to have the most bang for the buck and since Zander is so small, we didn’t need rides or some of the features that other farms offered.

We had a fabulous time and I think Zander enjoyed it too. This farm is great and very reasonable ($7 for kids includes a pumpkin & $3 for adults). They have pumpkins (of course), pumpkin decorating for the kiddos, a bouncer, a straw maze, animals & a hay(tractor) ride.

We went at night and brought a picnic dinner (they allow outside food & drink – one BIG bonus). We let Zander climb all over the pumpkins and explore the bails of hay. He was mostly just interested in pulling the hay out of the bails.

The only negative about Mother Nature’s Farm is that they don’t light their areas very well at night and we were unable to see any animals, do the maze or ride the hay ride. They were really nice, however and allowed us to come back the next day for free so that we could enjoy all of the activities.

So we went back and took Zander through the Hay Maze, rode on the they hay ride and Zander’s favorite thing: saw the animals (goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys & a cow).  He just stood and watched them. For some reason, he found watching a cow pee and goats poop incredibly interesting. And when we left, he was completely wiped out. It was the perfect way to celebrate Fall!

This past weekend I was invited to present a workshop at a Women’s Retreat – they wanted me to do something utilizing my graphic design/computer skills and so I came up with the idea of “The Tech Savvy Woman.” I put together my top 10 websites that I thought women should be aware of in order to make their lives more simple.

Let’s just say that I do not consider myself a public speaker and I was so nervous about getting up in front of all of those people (there were over 600 women at the retreat). However, I managed to make it through two 45-minute sessions without passing out. And honestly, it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the excitement of sharing something I love with a group of women who were genuinely interested. The average age of those in my session was probably 45-60 years old and they ate up the resources I gave them. They left excited to go home and visit the websites and see how they could benefit their lives. It was an awesome experience and I’m really glad that they asked me to do it.

(In case you’re interested, I’ve included the basics of the presentation below:)

The Tech Savvy Woman

1. Knows how to do Everything // www.Howcast.com

2. Has something to say // www.WordPress.com

3. Networks Effectively // www.Facebook.com & www.Twitter.com

4. Protects her family // www.Kidzui.com

5. Keeps in touch with loved ones // www.skype.com

6. Makes everything more beautiful // www.dafont.com (free fonts), www.sxc.hu (free stock photos), www.clker.com (free clipart)

7. Can start an online business without breaking a sweat // www.etsy.com

8. Always has a great music collection // www.Pandora.com

9. Effectively manages her finances/investments // www.mint.com

10. Can do everything and still prepare a fantastic dinner // www.SuperCook.com

“I would trade places with you…” is a phrase my dad would use when I got sick as a kid.  Through strep throat, colds, the flu, growing pains, and even surgeries I can’t remember a time when my dad didn’t vocalize the fact that he wished he could swap places with me.  Before this weekend I always thought it was just a nice thing he said, but now I know it is something much more.

Near the beginning of this week I got the flu and not just the 24 hour bug, but one of the worst ones I have had in years.  Paige and I did everything possible to keep Zander away from me, but somehow he still ended up with it.  Today it hit Zander like a ton of bricks and he spent almost the entire day in my arms.  It was at this moment that I looked down at my 20 lbs. son with tears in his eyes and thought the same thing my dad had always told me, “I would trade places with you”.  At this moment I realized that those words carried with them more than just a nice saying, but an amazing amount of love.  I can now say to my dad I understand exactly how you felt when you said those words.

I’m much better at telling a story in person, than I am at expressing it in writing, but I’m going to attempt to tell one of the craziest stories of my life since becoming a mother.

We live in an upstairs apartment and so of course we have a super strong baby gate installed. The gate is always closed. Always. Well, except this one day. I was headed into the other room with my Mac Book Pro in hand and Tyler was going to hang with Zander while I did some work. Zander had disappeared from view and Tyler asked me what he was doing. I looked around and happened to notice that the baby gate was open. I don’t quite know what went through my head at this point, but somehow I threw my computer and frantically ran to the stairs. I literally dove on the ground and grabbed Zander perched at the top of the stairs ready to dive head first down them. My heart was beating out of my chest, Tyler was freaking out and Zander (of course) had no idea that something really bad had almost happened.

Once we both calmed down, Tyler’s first assessment of situation came, “At least we know you love our son more than your mac.” It’s true. I passed the mother test. Now I can hold that over Zander’s head for the rest of his life. In 20 years I’ll say, “I once threw my beloved computer so that I could save your life, and you can’t even spend Christmas with your mother?”

I get this question all of the time and I really don’t have an answer. Tyler’s family and friends say he looks like Ty when he was a baby; my family and friends say he looks like me. It’s funny how one baby can resemble two people so closely, so I’m posting some pics and I’d like you to tell me once and for all – who does Zander look like?

Well… today is Zander’s 5 month birthday.  Paige and I can’t believe how fast he is growing up and the amazing developments he is starting to reach.  Just over this weekend….

1) Zander had his first trip to the beach and touched sand for the first time (he loved it)

2) Zander jumped up to the next diaper size (#3)

3) Zander ate his first solid outside of rice cereal and had his first veggie tonight (carrots)

Sometimes my husband has a stroke of genius…remember, I said “sometimes.” Well, tonight was one of those times. We were taking Zander on the flight home from Colorado to Arizona and were getting ready to board the plane. Zander was hungry and tired, but we were trying to hold off feeding him until we got on the plane. Being that he was unhappy, he was crying at the terminal for quite a while. I was trying to calm him down and get him to stop crying, when Tyler had an amazing idea. “Let him cry and no one will want to sit by us once we get on the plane…we’ll get our own row.” We both chuckled at the idea, but realized that it might not be so bad after all. So, I proceeded to stop trying to make Zander be quiet and let him show the world his unhappiness. Did it work? Well, right now I’m on the plane typing this, stretched out with Ty in our very own row.

Have you ever lived somewhere for a LONG time and just never gotten around to visiting that popular landmark that almost every tourist in the world has seen?  Well, I can now finally check one of those items off my list.  After growing up and living in Colorado for 18 years I never actually visited garden of the gods.  So during our first full day back in Colorado for our 4 day Easter trip, my brother (Grant) and his wife (Kerri) wanted to take us to see this beautiful red rock formation located in Colorado Springs.  So Paige and I left Zander to enjoy his grandparents and vice-versa, while we hiked around a windy and slightly cold park.  We watched some insane rock climbers scale the cliffs while we safely walked the sandy paths that simply went around the base of the rock formations.  The enormous red rocks were beautiful, but my favorite part was the conversation and jokes that we all shared.  After times like this I realize how much I miss living close to my brother and his wife.