Library conference in Las Vegas

Mike and Nora joined me for a library conference in Las Vegas in the middle of November and we got to see some of our family members while we were there. Fun! We visited my cousin Celia and saw a couple of her kiddos (they live in Henderson) and we drove up to St. George and saw Grandma & Grandpa Brough and Brian & Kim Brough and their kids. One of my favorite things was seeing the Brough kids interact with Nora--they were all so cute together! Nora looooved it when Adler let her touch his spiky hair. It made her giggle.

We went to Ethel M.'s Chocolate Factory and enjoyed a factory tour, some chocolates, and the cactus garden that is all decorated for Christmas. It was so strange to me to see Christmas decorations when we were out and about in 70 degree weather.

More cacti

Nora acknowledges her fans

Don't let this pouty face fool you--she was totally into the family gathering.

Adler's hair!

Grandma & Grandpa Brough have this awesome 100-year-old high chair that all the kids get their photo taken in. Nora was hamming it up.

This is the Lied Library on the UNLV campus, where the library conference was held.

And here I am giving my presentation.

Hawaii Library Association

I've done a lot of traveling over the past four years, since I became a professional librarian. Conferences and training events have taken me to lots of places, and this past week I went to Hawaii! I was an invited speaker at the Hawaii Library Association conference, and it was fantastic.

I stayed at the gorgeous Disney Aulani resort:

View from my room's balcony

Here's my updated "States I've Visited" map. I've still got 20 left to visit, but I'm thrilled to have added Hawaii to the places I've been!

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Halloween

On Halloween, Nora dressed up like a ladybug after school and we visited my co-workers in the library, walked through Safe Treat in the student union to say hello to some friends, then visited Mike's co-workers in Knight Hall. This all happened from about 4-5pm. Then on our way home we stopped at Nora's teacher's house to say hello. Everyone loved Nora's costume, and sparkly shoes, and adorable smile. By the time we got home, the little ladybug was so exhausted--she was in bed and asleep before 7pm. What an exciting holiday!

(We had about 10 trick or treaters at our house, after Nora went to bed.)
Before Halloween, Nora explored a pumpkin. We did not carve a face on it, but we did make pumpkin cookies and pumpkin soup!

Ten months

I have to apologize in advance for the length of this post. I'm getting so bad at choosing favorite photos--there are too many that crack me up!

First, here's a selection of Nora's 10-month photos. Her hair is getting long enough for little clips, and there are curls behind her ears. Her face is more expressive every day.

 

Ha ha ha! We have a bunch of photos like this now--these days Nora is always trying to grab the camera. 

And here are some favorite photos from the past month.

Homecoming--note the Steamboat tattoo on her cheek

A toothy grin

Skeleton shirt for Halloween

Nora makes this face lately, with her nose wrinkled up, and she snuffles in and out. We're not sure what it means.

She also points at everything.

And is really enjoying food--anything Mom and Dad are eating is what she wants to eat, including this chili and cornbread.

Such a cheesy grin!

Pumpkin exploration on our front porch.

Ewww, stringy guts . . .

Finally, I'll probably have more Halloween photos later, but here's one picture of Nora in her Halloween costume as a lady bug and her friend Reyna as a monkey. We went to downtown Scaramie yesterday morning.

Family Photos

We had free family photos taken at Nora's childcare center on September 20. Here's a selection of my favorites.

Homecoming Activities

Nora had a homecoming parade at her school, which was adorable. The kids from the infant room all got Steamboat tattoos on their cheeks, wore brown and gold, and rode in the big stroller which was decorated to look like a covered wagon.

In Nora's opinion, the best part of the parade was the end, when we all danced to "Cotton-Eyed Joe."

On the day of the football game we went to Tailgate Park to check out the festivities and we ended up right next to the marching band, Western Thunder. I thought this might alarm the baby, but she wasn't scared.

Later that weekend, we put in storm windows and worked on cleaning up the yard before more snow hit Laramie!