Reese goes to Nursery!

A wonderful day has come... Reese sweet, sweet Reese who has been so good in church the last 18 months (NOT!!) gets to go NURSERY!!!! :) I was put in Primary last December so poor Jason has had Reese for the last two hours every single Sunday which means he has been in the hall every single Sunday for almost a year. Jack has a month and half left in Nursery so I happy they will be able to be together for a few weeks before he is in Sunbeams.

Thanksgiving & Setting up our tree

Our good friend Sofia's parents invited us to their home for Thanksgiving. We had a great time and it was so nice of them to invite us. I love Thanksgiving foods and I love the leftovers to we had our own Thanksgiving at home a few days later.

Jason entertained while I cooked.

This was our Thanksgiving FHE. We made Thankful Turkey's. I had the kids say things that made them happy... Jack said things like; mom, dad, Reese, his blanket, crayons, his bed, etc. Reese we had to sort of think like she would so we put Mom, Dad, Jack and Food (cause she loves to eat!). Jason decided to make turbans for them with their blankets and they thought that was super cool.

Since I was heading up to Utah early December I wanted the kids and I to be able to enjoy the Christmas tree so we set it up early.

Reese's first ornament was a little porcelain baby wrapped in a pink blanket... Jason helped her put it on the tree.

Several times a day Reese would come up to the tree and point to the ornament and cry and say, "Baby, baby, baby"... I would tell her to go sit on the couch and put both of her hands up and I would place the baby in her hands and she would hold, hug and kiss the little ornament. It was so cute.

Six Years!

Happy 6 years to Jason and I! We have come along way in the past 6 years and we will very grateful to be where we are at in our marriage. We have two healthy kids and are almost done with school. We joke that we have been "poor" from the beginning of our marriage, but it has forced us to get creative and helps us appreciate things in a different way. Jason and I's trip to Turtle Bay was our celebration for our anniversary, so we did a small celebration here in AZ with some fabulous red velvet cake. I look forward to many more years to come!

Blakey visits

My cousin Blake came to visit us in November. He is so much fun to have around and a total bonus is that Reese loves him and he puts her under a spell of happiness! :) I kid... kind of... seriously while he was here and for over a month after he left she was so pleasant and happy! I told him he is moving in with us.

We did some shopping and eating and mostly just enjoyed the nice AZ weather.

This is a yummy little restaurant called Joe's Farm Grill and it was on Diners Drive-in's and Dive's.

Right next door is this coffee shop/cupcake place that won the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars". I pretty much keep them in business. They are heavenly!

We went to the Phoenix Zoo. It is actually a really fun zoo.

I made some Indian Food.

Here is a local dog park that we went too. The kids loved watching the dogs run in and out of the pond.

Jack turns 3!

What to say about Jack... well let me start by saying that when I was pregnant with him I always said that I wanted him to be a light in others lives and be a bright spot in our family. Jack has far exceeded those expectations. He is a very, very loved and adored little boy. He is happy, pleasant, smart, fun, so sweet, sensitive and it doesn't hurt that he is just a little bit cute too ;). He has taken such a turn from a little boy to a big boy this last year; learning his numbers, letters, colors, and potty training and, of course, talking up a storm. He expresses emotions so well and is just so sweet to those around him. He is wonderful big brother to Reese too! He loves her and calls her, "Reesy-tupee". He enjoys playing with her so much and they are best buds. We love our boy so much and feel so blessed that he is a part of our family.

3 years old! He finally got the fingers down.

Birthday pancakes.

A trip to the park...

Our handsome little 3-year old!

Making cupcakes...

A bigger bike!

Race track.

Preparing for Utah...

I broke out our winter gear for our upcoming trip to Utah. It's so funny putting on snow stuff when it is still 89 degrees here.

This is a snowsuit that is much too small for Reese, she could barely walk in it and she couldn't put her arms down... it reminded me of "A Christmas Story". She finally gave up and layed on the floor hahaha.

These are some pictures Jack took... funny thing is they are pretty good! :)

This video makes me laugh... Jack is barking or something in the background and Reese keeps falling over... hahaha

SURPRISE!!!

Can I be honest here... Jason is not so great at Birthdays. Great husband, amazing dad, wonderfully motivated... but just doesn't quite know what to do when my birthday comes around. Well the big one, the big 3-0, was approaching and I was already preparing myself to be sorely disappointed in the events and gifts, or lack thereof, that would take place on this day that I was already not looking forward too. Well... that Jason... he sure did shock the pants right off me and put me in my place, because he pulled out all the stops and all the punches and made up for all birthdays past and maybe even one or two in the future. After a few days of pre-birthday grumpiness I came out to the kitchen to see this sitting on the table...

Inside was this...

My jaw just dropped and I started to cry and I was just in total shock that he had done this for me. It was such a wonderful surprise and we had such a fun trip to Utah. The really cool thing was that we were able to celebrate my birthday, Halloween and Jack's birthday while we were there as well.

Elle made this sign for me and put it on their garage door...

I was so happy my Grandma was feeling well enough to come.

Jack and Braxton are buds, he got to see him for a just a little while before he had to go.

Jack and Ely are so funny. They love each other and just hug and giggle.

Elle had all of these party games prepared for the little kids.

My Grandma and Dianne made scones!!!! YUMMY!!!

It is an EXTREMELY rare occasion that I have a picture with my family. I asked my mom if she would just take one with me for my birthday. She is so beautiful, I don't know why she hates it so much.

Jack wanted us to be a pirate family! Arg! So here we all are dressed as pirates.

Trick-or-treating at the mall.

Jack's 3rd birthday party!! We had his party at Jess and Jay's clubhouse. He loves the movie Rio and so we had a Rio-themed party. It was so much fun and turned out so cute.

It finally took the "big boys" to get the candy out of the pinata. Haha