The Chocolate Fair & a man named Chris Martin

Last Saturday we decided to check out the Chocolate Fair up in SLC. Upon arrival we noticed lots of men with mustaches and goatees, most of whom were driving trucks. We thought this was an unusual crowd for a Chocolate Fair... and we weren't quite sure what we were getting into. Katie was somewhat bewildered by the men walking by holding their hunting rifles and handguns in plain view. We wondered if we had actually come to the right place...

It turns out that there were two conventions going on last Saturday, the first being the Chocolate Fair, and the second being the Gun Show (good combination, no?). Needless to say, it was pretty entertaining watching avid hunters carrying gun cases accidentally walking into the chocolate show. One of our favorite parts of the Gun Show was the a funny sign they had, pictured below.

The fair was a lot of fun, we got to vote on our favorite cakes, test tons of different types of chocolates and other deserts, watch cooking demonstrations, and... well, laugh at people walking into the wrong convention and being very confused. There was one negative occurrence at the Chocolate Fair... It's called Choffy (the Mormon coffee). Instead of brewing coffee beans, this company has taken cocoa beans and brewed them essentially the same way to... I guess... provide Mormons with a coffee alternative. Katie and I approached the table thinking it would be like hot chocolate (they advertised it as such) ... but boy we're we wrong. It was disgusting. We were satisfied to see a trash can chock full of full sampler cups as we threw ours away. Apparently no one else liked it either.
After the Chocolate Fair we dropped the boy off with Lauren, and headed up to Salt Lake City for the much anticipated Coldplay concert with Joel and Becky and Janni. The concert was pretty much amazing. They played all of their hits (unfortunately mine and Katie's favorite songs aren't any of the hits). There were two moments that really stick out in my mind. The first was near the end of the show when the band moved to a mini-stage in the back of the arena (much closer to our nosebleed seats than the main stage) and played a short acoustic set. It gave those of us with not so good seats a chance to be much closer to the band and really added to the show. The second was Coldplay's encore in which they played the song that got me hooked on the band, "Yellow" It was so awesome hearing it live, it literally made the entire show for me.

Overall, it was a great weekend, even if it was slightly tainted by Choffy.

p.s.- Katie, did you know that the Fray just put out a new single for their upcoming album?

Weekend through pictures

(Double date with Noelle and Clay: Shopping at Gateway & dessert)

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(Early-morning donuts)

(SouthTowne Expo Centre Christmas Bazaar: samples, shopping, dancers, Christmas train & Santa Clause)

(Sign I've wanted forever. Found it there for 50% off!)

(Lunch at Schlotzskys)

(Brighton)

(Chase's first sledding experience. Bewildered... but exhilarated!)

(And finally back home)

So it's not just me...

On Sunday while waiting to do singing time, my co-coordinator and I were sitting in the hall with our little munchkins. I got out a bag of cheez-its for the kids. Chase got excited and started begging. And my co-coordinator said: "Did he just say cracker??"

So it's not just me!

He started saying "cracker" at 8 1/2 months. I wondered if I was insane and just imagined he was actually saying a word. But he only did it when he saw food, and actually associated the object with the word. I decided to wait to write down his "first word" in his babybook, just in case. Well, it hasn't stopped, and now people actually know what he is saying. He shows no indication of having any desire to say "mama" or "dada" discriminately. Apparently there is not as much motivation to say "mama" as there is to say "cracker".

Unfortunately, now every time we go to Target or Walmart Chase breaks into a chorus of "cracker" "cracker" "cracker" as soon as he spies the food section. He also breaks out screaming if he doesn't get one. So my purse has now become not only a toybox but also a pantry.

I am enjoying my chatty little monster; and expecting him to be just like Tim... quite loquacious.

Happy Fall!

Hatfieldadelphia

On Friday night Katie and I went on an adventure. Every time we drive down 20th North in Orem on our way home, we see this castle off to the right... That's right, a castle! We like to do crazy things and explore, so on Friday we decided to figure out what a castle is doing in Lindon UT. It took us awhile to find the entrance to the place because the property is huge. Upon arriving at the entrance, we were greeted by "No Trespassing" and "Beware of the Monkey" signs. Being the adventurous sort that we are, we decided to at least pull in and take a look around. I mean... "turn around". Inside, we found a courtyard full of statues of giraffes, lions, monkeys, a life sized rhino and more. It is actually really creepy in the dark, and the huge gorilla freaked Katie out. We thought maybe it belonged to some sort of cult or something. There is, after all, a witch's cabin on the property. There is also a gazebo with a top that resembles the top of a sultan's palace (think Aladdin). Which led us to believe this might belong to some sort of foreign dignitary (Think Punjab from 'Annie'). After looking around a bit we were totally weirded out and decided to take off before we got eaten for dinner. As we were leaving, we noticed a sign that said, "Welcome to Hatfieldadelphia...

Frankly, everything we had imagined about Hatfieldadelphia was far more interesting than the truth. After a little research we learned that Mr. Hatfield, our rich, semi-neighbor has built a fantasy land in his backyard for his grandchildren. There is a castle (with a MOAT), witch's cabin, playground, sand volleyball court, go-cart track, Indian teepee, paths and parks, and all sorts of statues that look creepy in the dark but aren't actually that creepy when you know what they are.

It turns out that Hatfieldadelphia is only open to the public once a year for a Little Princess Festival each August. Don't tell Chase, but next August he may have to don on a princess outfit so that Katie and I can further our investigation of our neighborhoods castle :)

It was a good adventure.

He's your grandson Mike!

For a few weeks Tim had been telling me that sometimes Chase makes a smile that looks just like his dad's "goofy smile". Jannifer and Noelle came over one day and both caught it. I still had no idea what they were talking about until I saw this picture; I knew right away that this was it.

He's your grandson Mike!

Playing Catch-up

I guess it really has been almost a month since we last blogged. I don't even know what we've been doing; life has just been so crazy and BUSY. For the sake of time I'll give a few bullets of what we've been up to the past week.

-Tim and I celebrated the 3rd anniversary of our first date last Tuesday by going back to the Corn Maze at Cornbellys. We rode the cow train and everything. Yeah... we are pretty sentimental. Tim got beat up by some orphans in the "corn pit", we journeyed through the 'belly of the beast', and we enjoyed playing on the slides, bouncer, and in princess land. Per tradition we went home and watched Betwitched, ate caramel apples, and remembered how much better life has gotten in the past 3 years. We are always glad that the night never ends with a doorstep scene anymore.

-We took Chase trunk-or-treating and out to some family for Halloween. He absolutely loved picking candy out of the bowls and knew exactly what to do. We let him have a sucker and some licorice when we got home and he was in heaven. It was so fun for us to celebrate Halloween with him even though he's so little. We are even more excited for next year.

-We put up our Christmas tree. You can say we're crazy, but we love how it makes our home feel. Also, if you remember, we bought it for 25$ on KSL, so we were pretty excited to put it up and make sure we had all the pieces and everything. It is probably a 400$ tree, and it looks awesome with our vaulted ceilings. We still can't believe what an amazing deal we got. We are also starting to shop for Chase's first Christmas, which has been a blast. I'm getting really excited to go to Colorado for Christmas since we missed last year as I was 9 months pregnant. Nothing beats 24/7 free babysitters, mom's cooking, and unlimited time with my husband. Can't wait!

-Tim is almost done with grad school! Only 6 more weeks. He has been studying for his comps and working hard to get everything ready to start his thesis. I'm so proud of him!