Tour of campus, Bday dinner, Temple, and hike

ran into some of Tyler's classmates while we were touring

I feel I look REALLY tall in this picture...

Lisa's Visit

Lisa (Tyler's mom) came to visit us this past weekend, and we definitely enjoyed our time with her!  July was the last time we saw anybody from Ty's family, so it was good to see her.  We did a lot of fun things, and tried to show her what we do in AZ... it's super exciting, considering there's really no fascinating historical sites around us, but we did other fun things...

• Tour of Tyler's campus
• Laid out by the pool
• Birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse
• Shopping for crafts
• Lunch at "Sauce"
• Costco run
• Visited the Gilbert temple
• Movie @ home
• Hike up the the Wind Caves (the view was great, the caves were not that great...)
• Shopped in Scottsdale
• James Bond at the Movie Studio Grill

And, probably a few more things, and of course lots of chatting :)  We definitely enjoyed our time with her, and can't wait to see some more family this Thursday!

AZ State Fair

On Saturday we ventured down to the AZ State Fair, and let me tell you, the $10 we spent to get in was some of the best people watching-$10 I've spent in a long time.  There are the MOST interesting people at fairs, to say the least.  To say it nicely, it's pretty much a "freak show," but boy is it entertaining.  We went with Chris & Emily, and we had a great time.  I even got hot, delicious kettle corn (fairs, carnivals, etc. are the only time I ever eat kettle corn)...wow, it really was delicious.  I may have eaten half a bag that night, and it was a pretty big bag.  

Also, a little side note, I thing AZ is the only state that has their state fair in November, considering it would be WAY too hot to do it in the summer.

Everything fried!

My delicious kettle corn

Halloween

One more reason Ty and I are meant for each other is that we both don't care much for Halloween.  Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible holiday, and we don't hate it, but I can definitely see it being more fun once we have kids around.  However, you can't do nothing on Halloween, so we decided to invite some friends over for a soup party and a scary movie (not too scary though).  

We've done soup parties in the past, but it's just not the same b/c it's not cold outside.  Anyway, I made my taco soup (I take pride in my soup), Emily brought veggie soup, Malorie brought salad, and Nicki brought dessert.  It all turned out great, and we ended the night with "What Lies Beneath."  I hadn't seen the movie in years, and I had forgotten just how scary it actually is (and how long it is...over 2 hours!).  It was a fun night, but I'm glad Halloween's over, and we can move on to Thanksgiving and CHRISTMAS!!

Despite how bright it is, it was actually super dark when I took this pic

Swearing in

A couple months back we found out that Tyler will be receiving the Army scholarship for dental school.  This is a huge accomplishment for Tyler, and it truly is going to help so much with the dental school debt.  The scholarship is for 3 years, which means it will start in July.  The way it works is they pay for all of your schooling (plus a little extra), and then you give back (as a dentist) however many years they helped you with.  So...it could be 3 years, it could be more depending on whether or not he specializes.  We're really excited for this opportunity, and feel that it will provide Tyler with so many great experiences.

On Monday, Tyler was "sworn in" to the Army.  He is now officially a "second lieutenant." There were 2 Army representatives there, as well as one of the deans of the dental school, who happens to be a full colonel in the Army.  Tyler and our friend Chris (who also received the scholarship) were sworn in together. Emily (Chris' wife) and I got to talk to the full colonel while the boys signed papers, and he only had great things to say about the army.  He was very encouraging and positive, which is always a great thing.

We're super excited for this scholarship, and can't wait to see where it takes us when we're done here in AZ.