Olivia's First "Salon" Haircut

Last Saturday, we took Olivia to get her first bang cut at a salon. The lady we normally went to couldn't fit us in, so we had Miss Personality do it. Olivia really didn't want to sit in the chair too bad, and the lady really didn't care too much that she didn't. After giving her our keys to play with, she did pretty good-Olivia that is. I think I did a much better job cutting her hair than the "professional". Hopefully we'll have much better luck in New Ulm finding a stylist!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll for the preparation gifts for Minnesota! Olivia got a pair of CUTE pink snowboots that'll look great with the snowsuit from A & U Michaela & Andy (an early x-mas gift I got a sneak peek at), a Minnesota book of ABC's-she even did her version of her fish face when she saw the fish on the front, and Phase 10 cards for Pat and I. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!! We love you and can't wait to see you soon! (The pix were taken right before her nap so she's looking a little out of it-combined with not liking to smile for the camera!)

Olivia loves her Daddy's hats!

Olivia picked up on how to wear a baseball hat-it's the cutest thing! She won't smile for a picture unless she's in front of the mirror-and that's only when she wants to! The pix below is a little distorted because she's in the mirror, but thought her expression was priceless!

Pat was proud that Olivia had on his "Give Blood Play Rugby" hat.

She has tons of toys, but prefers to play with her nebulizer tubing and the swiffer mop in the background -she's got a cold this week :(

Olivia throwing her gang signs with her Dad.

Heather & Scott visit

Last weekend, my best friend from high school, Heather, came to visit us. She and her boyfriend, Scott flew in from NY and spent a great weekend together. We hiked a little at the Bandelier National Monument and quit a little early due to rain. On Saturday we took the tram up to the crest, where there was a beautiful snow fall. Little did Heather know, Scott was proposing to her on top of the mountain!! Congratulations Heather and Scott! Pat and I had so much fun being there with the big news and to help celebrate.

Our big news!

Last weekend Pat, Olivia, and I flew into Minneapolis for Pat's job interviews....yes-we are finally moving home!! There were a couple places in Mpls that had offered Pat a job, but he also interviewed in New Ulm, MN. We fell in love with New Ulm and felt it was just the perfect fit for us. As much as we love Mpls and have lots of friends & family there, we just felt that N.U. was our fit. The population is just over 13,000 and has a nice state park there (Flandreau State Park ). It's about 90 miles southwest of Mpls, 2 hours from Algona, 2.5 hours from Sioux Falls, and 5.5 hours from Gettysburg. That last one is a bummer, but it sure beats 20 hours and know we'll be out to see Grandma and Grandpa quite often! We're definitely going to miss our friends, and the weather, and the mountains here, but when it comes to family, we really want to be back home and have Olivia growing up with her Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles, and all the cousins. And maybe someday Pat and I can take a real vacation-we've loved visiting SD and IA, but we can't wait to have the time to go somewhere else! So-the following pictures are at Pat's sister-Molly's house. We got to spend time with so much family and my friend Holli & her fam-it was great to see everybody & can't wait until it's permanent!

Olivia and her footies

We put footie Pjs on Olivia the other night-her first time with them. She didn't know what to think about the whole zipper thing. As soon as we got her zipped up, she had them zipped down and going about her business. Didn't seem to bother her a bit that things were a little breezy! I think it was after about the 10th time that she finally got it that it was supposed to be zipped up, and just left it alone.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween! Olivia had a cute little party at her daycare and Stacy made them lots of spooky foods. On Saturday, we took our little Ladybug to the Zoo Boo in Albuquerque and met Chris, Maria, Alexis and Brayden there. Olivia was running on a 30 minute nap, so she wasn't too enthused about it all and needless to say, it was a zoo at the zoo, so we didn't stay long. I think all of Albuquerque and then some were there. But, it was fun to see all the cute little costumes. On Saturday afternoon, Stacy and Doug brought their boys over trick-or-treating and then we went over to our friends Joe and Diane's. Olivia was still in her costume to help Diane pass out the candy-she was so adorable!

Olivia and Brayden

Olivia getting her sack filled with candy. (Lucky for us!)

Olivia with the boys from daycare-Jonas and Lucas.

Hiking along the bosque

A couple weekends ago we went hiking along the Rio Grande Bosque. The trees were changing colors, and it was a beautiful walk. The first couple picture are from an area of it that was damaged by a fire and an artist did amazing carvings with them.