Thanksgiving Break

First off, Abigail is now 6 months old!! Wow. She's growing so fast! She now has the first of her top two teeth breaking through, which is causing total crankiness (can't blame her), and she's already over 18 lbs and 28 inches. I'm convinced that we can thank those Pinnock genes, she'll be tall like me in no time :) Otherwise she's healthy as can be and a pro at rolling over, and sooo close to being able to sit on her own. As for us, Nate finished his first quarter at Louisiana Tech, which has been a huge event for all of us (especially him), and it's been great to be able to hang out again and just spend time as a family. Nate and I both just received callings to teach in Priesthood and Relief Society, so that will be an adventure, and we were invited to go to a ward member's home for Thanksgiving, so we're looking forward to that. Most of all, we are counting down the days till we get to go home to Utah for Christmas! Here are the latest pics of Abigail :)

Halloween in Ruston

Halloween was a bit different for us, being away from family and friends, but was also a lot of fun with Abigail. She was great about dressing up and although she had no idea what was going on with the trick-or-treating, she was very interested in all the people and the costumes. We just went around to the stores downtown, had pizza with a couple young families in the ward, then called it a night for Abby. We then finished up the night with a scary movie and enjoyed her candy - Thanks, Abby! :)

Our Trip to Atlanta, GA

Nate had the opportunity to attend an introductory workshop in Atlanta about Hypnosis and how it can be used in therapy. Since this is something that Nate is interested in and would like to use in his career, we jumped at the opportunity, packed up and began our 8 hour trip to Georgia. Abigail did great for being only 5 months old and since we stuffed her carseat with padding, seemed quite cozy :) While Nate attended his 4 day workshop, Abby and I got comfortable at the hotel, ventured out for a day on the MARTA (their public transportation system - like Utah's TRAX) and hit the enormous Lenox mall downtown. I'm certain that they have any store you can possibly think of in that mall, it was soo big! On Nate's last day, he got out early, and we all headed out to the Georgia Aquarium. It was huge and very entertaining. Apparently it's the biggest aquarium in the world, and it was well worth the trip to go. Abigail was pretty nervous at first, then very intrigued as you can see in the pics :) We also got a chance to walk through the Olympic Park and downtown. It was a fun family adventure, I love Atlanta :)
Some general info. on hypnosis, for those interested: http://asch.net/genpubinfo.htm

Abby testing out her new fairy wings for Halloween with Dad
Using her talents
Nate on MARTA
The incredibly long and steep escalators
Olympic Park
The Georgia Aquarium

Moving to Louisiana

August 24, Nate and Brandon headed out on their long 1,600 (or so) mile excursion across the country with all our belongings, headed for our new hometown of Ruston, Louisiana. Abigail and I followed in a much more convenient manner on August 26th, by flying into Dallas, Texas, where they picked us up for the last 4 hours drive of the trip. Luckily, Abby was great on the flight and she slept through most of it, waking up at the end to flirt with the passengers. She makes friends easily with her contagious smile :) Moving to Ruston was quite the culture shock, but we were able to get a great place set up beforehand, opting to pay a little more for a new place with security 'til we get to know the area better. So, for the next 9 months, this cute little place will be our home! Another big event for us in September was celebrating our 3rd anniversary!! We were able to go to Olive Garden for dinner which was nice, and Abigail was a pleasant little guest of honor :)

My beautiful sister and Mom and a pretty grumpy Abby, at the SLC airportNot a care in the world! Our new home in a nice(r) area
This is the building where Nate's Psychology program is housed

Change, change, and more change

Shortly before Abigail was born, we moved into my mom's basement which, thanks to her, helped us financially prepare for our upcoming move to Louisiana for grad school. It was all like a whirlwind of change: Nate completely remodeling the basement bathroom, Abby being born (and growing so fast), her blessing, camping, and then of course our packing up to soon move across the country. These are a few pics of that time period:

The Sewell SideThe Pinnock Side
Abby's Foxy GrandmasAbby's First Camping Trip

3 months old