We just got back from Thanks-

giving in Indiana. It was great to be able to spend time with Jeff's family. As you can tell Jeff had a great time with his brothers and his nephew Olivier. Unfortunatly we only had two full days there. Things change so much and we don't get to spend as much time with family as we would like to. Still, a few days is better than nothing. We can't wait to see them all again.

For lunch Jeff and I had Italian Chicken simmer. I was afraid Jeff wasn't going to like it because he doesn't like things made with tomatoes, but he loved it. I'd have to say it was pretty good.

Here Jeff is quieting is crying baby. Of course she was only crying because he scared her.

I just updated this to the new beta blog. It seems pretty cool. Basically the same just a little more to it. Has anyone else tried this?

Yesterday was our Stake Conference. It was interesting because instead of the usual talks we watched a broadcast where Elder Oaks and Elder Faust talked. It was really good. Nadia even behaved and only cried when she was hungy.

Thanksgiving's coming up, and while we're looking forward to a vacation we still have a lot of work to do. (At least I do, who knows about Jeff.) However, I'm sure we'll survive. So a few days and one plane ride (which I'm not looking forward to with a 3 month old baby) later and we're in Indiana. Then we can see everyone and get to meet the newest family member. It should be wonderful.

I changed the name. Hopefully Jeff won't mind. Meleriffic is my Karaoke name and since Jeff is using his nickname I thought I'd add that.

Anyway, my teacher required us to turn a paper into BYU-I's Pre-Professional Conference. I didn't really want to and so was keeping my fingers crossed that I wouldn't be selected. Of course the one time I don't want to be I am. So I get to read "To Catch a Thief" to English students on the 16th. Only it can only be 8 minutes long and it takes me 20 minutes to read it. So I'm going to have to choose some excerpts. I guess I should be proud, but I really don't want to read in front of people.

It's been a long time since I've worked on anything creative. I don't have much time being in school and well Nadia is a little time consuming as well. Also, starting January I'll have to get a job somewhere. :( I'd rather stay home with Nadia, but that's not a financially viable option. Hopefully I won't have to work at a food place.

Our little family can't wait to go to Indiana and see the newest little family group. Olivier is so cute in his pictures. I can't wait to hold him and Nadia can't wait to talk to him. Though she may be a little shy at first.

This is a really fun game that Jeff and I played at some friends house. It's sort of like Settlers only a little less complicated and more fun (for those of us who aren't that great of strategists). It doesn't take as long either. The cool thing is that there are about 50 differnt scenarios so the game is never the same. It's really great for Halloween and well I'd play it year round as well.

Jeff and I are going to Nick Kelley's and Handsome Rob's birthday party. It's a toga party! Sounds interesting. As a present for Nick I made an experimental treat. It's root beer flavored cupcakes with rootbeer freeze in the middle. It should be great, but we'll see.

Jeff really likes the game and the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." This is a chess set that has been made based on the game. I don't know if Jeff put it on his Christmas list, but I know this is something he would love to have. There are several versions out there, but this is the best looking. The game is based on Chinese History.

Anyway, as I mentioned on Nadia's blog, we went to a friends house for a Halloween party. While we were there we played a game called Lupis. It's basically Mafia with a special deck of cards. There are werewolves and villagers. We only played one round before the party sort of broke up. That's what happens when there are a lot of babies around.

After the party we dropped Nadia off at Lori's and went to the Kelley's to watch "Monster House." It was a pretty funny movie. All in all we got home at around 10. Can you believe we stayed out so late! I never thought I'd think 10 was late, but having a little baby to take care of wears you out.

For my birthday Jeff brought me season 2 of "Dead Like Me." It was a show we had seen on the SciFi channel that I had liked. Today was the first time I got a chance to watch it. So imagine my surprise when in the first three minutes of the first episode the F word is said 5 times. I was so dissapointed. We turned it off and Jeff is going to try and take it back.

Why Have my Own?

I guess I could have a blog of my own, but I don't see the point. I'm the only one who updates this blog so I might as well include things about me on it.

As far as school goes, I'm surviving, though I wish I was already finished. I have two papers down and two to go, along with the revision of around 16 papers. I can honestly say I probably won't revise them all. I have alot of reading to do for my classes and that's kind of hard. I actually have to finish a book before I can start one of my papers. The paper is a critique of the book. Under previous circumstances this semester would have been a piece of cake, but having a baby has made things a little more difficult.

Luckily, Nadia is such a good baby. Right now she's lying beside me on the floor chatting away and occasionaly sucking on her hand. She really is one of the best babies I've ever seen.

Anyway, between school and the baby the house work suffers. It could also be because I'm lazy and I don't like to clean. Halloween preperations have been taking up my time as well. It's my favorite holiday and I love looking at the Halloween things in the store and coming up with costumes. I'm actually having to make part of my and Nadia's costumes. That's a challenge because I don't really know how to do that sort of thing. However, with a little bit of creativity everything is coming along fine.

There's also so many Halloween recipes I want to try out. I haven't cooked much since the baby was born though, and well, with finances the way they are, we can't splurge on ingrediants for things we don't really need. I still might try out a few anyway! Oh, well.

I hope everyone has a great Halloween.

Maybe this blog should be mine too since I'm the only one who keeps it updated? Anyway, yesterday Jeff and I went to Idaho Falls. Since Lori is down in Utah for Halloween, Nadia came with us. That probably wasn't the best idea. It was a long day for her. Especially since she spent most of it in the car seat. She was also spitting up a lot. Jeff and I had a good time though. We were looking for things for Halloween costumes. The results were somewhat successful.

Jeff and Nadia like to play a talking game. He imitates noises that she makes and she talks back. It's so fun to watch. Right now, Nadia's lying beside me on the couch talking up a storm. I have a feeling that we have a chatterbox on our hands! :)

Thai Food

Jeff and I went to to Teton Thai last night. I've never had Thai before, but it was really good. We both really liked our food. The Thai side salad is a little different though. Instead of croutons there was fried tofu and the dressing was a peanut sauce. It was actually pretty good though.

The Phantom Strikes

Last night the Phantom Ghost came to our house and left these brownies. Now we have to go "Phantom" two other peopl in our ward and get our ghost picture up so we don't get it twice. Jeff thinks we should leave the ghost down and not bother "phantoming" anyone else. I told him no.

Jeff and Nadia are hanging out on the couch while Jeff plays his new video game. As you can see, Nadia is very interested.

Playing

Jeff just bought himself a new game with his birthday money. It's Romance of the Three Kingdom's 10. It seems kind of boring, but he likes it. That's all that matters I guess.

We can't wait for Halloween and have been trying to get ready. It'll be fun to dress Nadia up. That's probably what Jeff's looking forward to the most.

Chauffy's a Slacker

Jeff's not doing too good a job of keeping this updated, so I decided to do it for him.

The ghost hunt ended up not working. They had planned to go into Idaho Falls, but Nick Kelley's car was having problems. They decided to stay in Rexburg instead. Only there was one problem. No one had any idea where the cemetery is! So Jeff ended up staying at home with Nadia and I. I don't know how happy he was about that, but we were glad.

Jeff's next big adventure happened last night. He and several other guys went to spend the night at Nick Kelley's (his wife Stacy got kicked out for the night). They basically played video games all night (I think). The Kelley's TV is somewhat small, however, so they took ours. That was an adventure in and of itself. It got stuck in our car. Luckily, they finally got it out. Nadia and I went with Stacy to Stacy's friends house and watched movies. Then we came home and went to bed. Jeff, being the great guy that he is, came home at 4 a.m. so I didn't have to spend the entire night alone.

Chauffy's

So here's my first post.
Tonight, Nick, Mike, Handsome Rob, and I are going ghost hunting. We've found out about a few hauntings in the area, so we're going to investigate. It's a Halloween thing I guess.
Nadia is getting bigger. She's spending a lot more time awake. Lately, she's not been in the best of moods. But she is starting to really pay attention to what goes on around her. Her mom can make her smile at will. Sometimes she'll smile at me though.