For my Mike, on our 5th Anniversary

Christmas Moments

There are so many things to do during Christmas, here are some pictures from this month



Riley had a Christmas party at her school. Above is pictures in their festive Christmas outfits, all ready for the Christmas party. They had a waffle breakfast. It was so cute! All the kids were excited to give their teachers presents, and do Christmas activities! It was also even more fun because Chloe and I got to stay today. Chloe loved it all!! The other preschool kids kept picking her up and giving her hugs, and she ate it all up!! Here's her class:

Here are Riley and Chloe (once again in front of the Christmas tree - I know) I couldn't let Sunday pass without getting some pictures of them in their holiday dresses. Red and black was the theme. Riley couldn't wait to wear her dress that her cousin gave her! Pretty Fancy!
P.S. Thank you GAP for making a childs "dry clean only" dress. whats that about?

The Beall Family

I love to see the temple I'm going there...today!! That's what we were singing all day Sunday.

Last, but not least. We got with some friends and headed up to the BEAUTIFUL Oakland Temple! The lights were quite amazing this year, its so nice to walk around and feel the wonderful spirit that is there. Our kids kept begging to go inside, I hope they keep begging when they get older. It is so much more beautiful inside!

We went through the visitors center which was CA-ROWDED!! Riley was excited to see the statue of Jesus, and immediately said that she wanted to hug him. Cute girl. We had a wonderful time, I'm so glad that we live close to a temple.

The kids playing on the steps

As I look at this picture,

I can't help but hope, that one day we'll see them in their white dresses on these same steps

"For the temple is a House of God a place of love and beauty,

I'll prepare myself while I am young, this is my sacred duty"

I hope they felt that same good feeling that I did while we were there.

I hope that by bringing our kids to the temple this night, that we are helping prepare them,

so that one day they can enter this sacred, wonderful place.

My favorite stocking stuffer

There is an appettite suppressant in the lip Gloss
I could lose 5 pounds! Genius.

Its the most wonderful time of the year!

Our Christmas Tree
I love it. I want the lights on ALL the time! I want to keep it up forever too. I'll need to talk to Mike about that.


Riley asked for a bike and a horse(a real one). Yes to just the bike, I think.
(So, we don't have a picture of Chloe on Santa's lap, because we were sure she would have freaked! But she was there and had a blast!)

Riley's exact words.

Our Thanksgiving

The weekend before Thanksgiving, my sister Traci and her kids came out to visit. This is Riley and Camryn, Riley was so excited she got to sleep in a sleeping bag!! We had a little Thanksgiving meal with them, and played it the massive piles of leaves in our backyard - It was fun!



This year we were invited to spend Thanksgiving with my brother Jon and his family. My parents came too (They had just moved out of their house in Northern Utah the day before, and are moving to St.George, UT near my brother....crazy weekend for them!)
My girls had a blast hanging out with their cousins, even though they were a little sick. It was a nice relaxing weekend full of yummy food, good movies, games, football, laughter, and relaxation!





This is at our actual Thanksgiving feast, Rolls were pretty much the only things my kids would eat, even though I put EVERYTHING on their plate! Maybe next year.




We left for home on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which was pretty much a nightmare! It normally takes us 9 - 10 hours getting back and forth from there to San Jose. We left at 9:30 am and didn't get home until 11:30 that night...add it up for a grand total of 14 1/2 hours!! It was pretty miserable. Sooo, never travel from Vegas to California the Sunday after Thanksgiving!

My First Quilt

Hours and hours of measuring, cutting, sewing, unsewing, seam ripping, pinning, etc.

And here it is!

My whole idea was to make a boy quilt, in the hope to send out "boy vibes" for when we have another baby one of these years!!  It was a super fun experience for me (and Sasha & Carol). I'm still not sure if I'm going to actually use it on a baby, or just keep it hidden and un-ruined!

I fell in love with this tree fabric, I thought it was sooo cute!

This is for Grandma Fran

Grandma Fran made this adorable sweater for Riley a few years ago.  Everywhere I went, people would ask, where did you get that sweater?  I was so proud to say her Grandma made it for her!

 It was a sad day when I had to pack it way, because Riley had outgrown it.  Well I got a smile on my face when I pulled it out again for Chloe!  So, here is the little cutie modeling it for you!

**To Fran and Bob: we miss you...when can we get together?? :)

My final Halloween post :(

We did many "Halloweenie" Things during the month of October.  We had such a fun time, the month seemed to just fly by.  Here's what we did:

PUMPKIN PATCH WITH FRIENDS!

DECORATED COOKIES AND BROUGHT THEM TO VISITING TEACHING LADIES

(Don't worry, I didn't pass out the "licked knife" ones)

and

CARVED A PUMPKIN FOR FHE

(Are you seeing how Halloween fits so well into the gospel???)

On Halloween Day We:

MADE PUMPKIN PANCAKES!! Yummy - I think a new tradition for us!

WENT TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH AGAIN,

This time with Daddy!

AND OF COURSE...TRICK-OR-TREATING!!!!

Before

DURING

AFTER!!

MIke & Jaime's Halloween Preview

These are our costumes for our friends annual Halloween Party. I obviously went "80's" with a shirt my big sis Julie got for me years ago.  If you've ever seen 16 candles, you know who Jake Ryan is.  I thought he was so "fine" when I was younger, that I actually wanted to name a son Jake Ryan.  Mike isn't sure what the title of his costume was...maybe "Homey thug that's stuck in the 80's". Whatever he was, he looked FINE! We had so much fun dressing up!

I love these shots in the family minivan, especially the one of Mike, because its so uncharacteristic of my hunny, the serious white boy. This Haloweenie Party was totally RAD!

... oh ya our cute girls were there too  ;)

Halloween Preview

Our ward had their "Trunk or Treat" this past Saturday.  The  kids had a blast!!  If you can't tell, Riley is Alice in Wonderland and Chloe is a bunny,  they looked sooooo cute!  Actually, I think ALL the kids looked cute that night, Halloween is so great.

My B-Day

This is my favorite thing about my birthday this year!!  I got my new ring!  (Its actually my christmas present too)We were never totally happy with the riing we designed when we got married, and so we always knew we'd get another.  Well, we found a great Jeweler and a great price to melt down my other ring... and here it is!

Mikes family never ceases to amaze me.  I got this delivered to my doorstep from  my Mommy Fran, Grandma Sylivia, Sam & Kimberly (my bro & sis-in-law).  It was gone the next day!  YUMMO!!  Thank You Thank You XOXO

Me and the girls made cupcakes for my birthday.  I let them decorate.  It went like this:

Put frosting on,  lick it off, lick the knife

Put frosting on, lick it off, lick the knife...

When the frosting is all gone,

Take 2 bites of the cupcake, then "ALL DONE, MOMMY!"

It was pretty funny.

Our day ended with a night out to eat.  Since my main request was that I don't cook that night.  I was thinking all day about a great place to go.  Then when the time came, it was late and we just wanted to go somewhere easy and kid friendly.  So Applebees it was!  I used to go there all the time in college, so it brought back a little nostalgia.  And the food was perfectly greasy and yummy!

I can say it was a great birthday to remember!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAIME!!!

We've never actually made an entry on this blog but today is a special day that warrants us "hijacking" Jaime's/Mommy's "baby."

Mommy, thanks for teaching us everything we know and for letting us be princesses all the time!  You are a much better teeth-brusher, hair do-er, clothes-dresser, dancer, leg-bouncer, hair-bow maker, make-up do-er, and um.... Oh! ...and also story reader-er than Daddy! (Daddy still rocks for rides on his shoulders though!)

Happy Day Mommy... We love you!!

Riley & Chloe

Jaime, you are the among the greatest blessings I have experienced in my life.  You are truly my best friend, my treasured eternal companion, and the kind of mother to our children that I always dreamed of having as a kid!  I don't think I could ever show you or thank you enough for the immeasurable way you have changed my life and for how you continue to help me to grow and overcome my struggles in life (putting up with me and loving me all the while).  I hope you have a wonderful day today and know that you are a true gift to your family!

Happy Birthday J!

Love always,

Me

Riley's first field trip

We took a field trip with Riley's preschool to an apple orchard in Watsonville, CA (Anyone heard of that place?) It was really cute, the kids picked apples from the trees and carried around their own bucket. Then they had a bake shop, where they sold anything and everything you can make with apples. It was pretty cool.

The kids ate lunch and played on the hay stacks and old tractors. We had a fun day...especially because Mommy got to stop at the Gilroy outlets afterwards!!