Jared checks our blog about once a month. In this month's perusal, he observed a shocking lack of pictures of himself. To rectify the situation, I had the babysitter snap this before we went to Jared's work Christmas party. We don't get dressed up very often, so I'm glad we got a picture to document it. Jared's party was fun....aka...free food. The music was loud but good and I even found someone to talk to that wasn't a boring accountant and was even mormon (aka not drunk). We made the rounds to make sure that everyone important saw us there, and then left before people got too drunk. Biggest disappointment of the night: I found the most fabulous desert and was about to go back for 2nds, and 3rds and 4th's(they were served in mini glasses and I could have eaten 10 and not been satisfied) ....when my 'mormon' acquaintance tells me that the little brownie chunks mixed into the fabulous mouse mixture were soaked in alcohol. I'm not sure how you soak a brownie in alcohol without cooking it out, but she seemed to think it's wasn't kosher considering the whole word of wisdom thing. So I reluctantly turned my back on the desert table and just savored the memory of my alcohol soaked brownie/mouse mixture.

Anyway, it was a fun night out with Jared, and we can't wait to get to Idaho to do some more celebrating of this wonderful time of year.

Mia went to an ornament making party with her friends from school. They had a great time with paint, glue, glitter and beads. The girls were in craft heaven. I'm just glad the party wasn't at my house. I think I would have broken out in hives from all the craftiness in the air.

































From left to right: Courtney, Bella, Molly, Claire, Mia, Lizzy, and Maddie.

Christmas Decorations

The kids and I decided to put up the Christmas decorations this morning. Mia had so much fun that she said she wanted to take them down and put them back up every day. We don't have a lot of room in our tiny apartment for much, but here are a few things the kids helped put up.

Thanksgiving 2007

We had a great Thanksgiving day. The kids and I just relaxed and enjoyed the day. The kids helped me make a few things for dinner. Jared studied for his next CPA exam coming next week. Then some of our friends from the ward came over for Thanksgiving dinner. We had great food, played games, and just enjoyed the evening together. I didn't get many pictures, but these are a couple I snapped.

Mia's Gymnastics

Mia had her last class of gymnastics this week. She had a great time and loved her coach, "Mr. Kevin". Most of the pictures are blury, but its the best I could do.

Mia's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Program

Mia had her Kindergarten Thanksgiving program this week. It was for grandparents day and we wish grandparents were closer so they could have seen it, but here are some pictures. Mia did a great job singing.











These are Mia's friends in her class. Madison, Lizzy, Mia, Bella, and Courtney (the girl in the purple looking away). Mia has been so lucky to have such nice and sweet girls in her class. These five girls are joined at the hip every chance they get.


Mia's teacher, Mrs. Lippa.

Prints in the Snow

The kids were so excited for the snow they couldn't wait to put on snow clothes, so they just went out on the deck barefoot.
I guess it's time for me to enter reality and stop denying that it is winter. Brrrrrrrrrrr!

Mia and Mason Fall '07 Pictures

I took some pictures of my kids and went a little crazy with the special effects on our new computer.

Jack-o-lantern

This is fairly self-explanatory. Here's the jack-o-lantern the kids carved with Jared.

Trunk-or-Treat

The kids had a great time at Trunk-Or-Treat this year. This is the first year Mason really understood what was going on. After one or two times with me helping him, he totally understood that if he went up to someone and stood there long enough looking cute he would get candy. Mia is a princess...again. She wanted to be a mermaid, but the mermaid dress up we have makes the dresses most hollywood stars wear look modest, so we went with her second choice. Mason on the other hand wouldn't even put his costume on, so he went as a boy...(Funny sidenote...he thinks his name is boy. When anyone asks him what his name is...he says BOY! I can't even get him to try to say Mason. o-well...how messed can he get....he's only two.)
Don't ask me what Jared was supposed to be. He put this on two minutes before we left and I guess he was going as something...I'm just not sure what. He's still hot though.
This is Mia and her friend Payton.

My Birthday Stroller

For my birthday a couple weeks ago, Jared gave me a fabulous running stroller. Here is a picture. As you can tell it has great shocks because the kids fall asleep on the bumpy trail while I run. I LOVE my new stroller! Thanks again Jared.

Mason's 2nd Birthday

Mason's 2nd birthday was October 10th. We had a fun day and Mason was very patient not to open his presents until Jared got home. He only snuck some of his cake once before I realized it was too close to the edge of the counter and he could stick his little fingers in and get the frosting.
Mason got so many great things from grandparents...Thanks again everyone. We couldn't pull him away from the first present he opened to focus on everything else(Thanks Maxine for the hammer game...he wouldn't let it go...he loves it!). But finally we got to the main event...
I sent Jared to the store the night before to pick out his present. I told him to get a truck and I was very specific in telling him that it couldn't be any bigger than a small toaster because there is no room for big toys. This is what he came back with...
Mason loves it! I don't know where we are going to put it, but the kids think its great.

Mia's 5th Birthday

Mia's 5th birthday was September 23rd. We had her party on Saturday and then she got to open her gifts on Sunday, her birthday. Here she is with her birthday haul
She and Mason love the skateboard. Now they can skateboard with Jared and not have to take turns on his big board.