Dancing, vacationing, and Christmas Tree cutting

Last weekend when we got home from our vacation we headed up into the mountains to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. It is always so much fun!! I'll post pictures of it all decorated soon. It took me awhile to finally get it decorated because it kept tipping over and after the 2nd time I decided I needed some new decorations anyway and had fun redoing my tree a little bit.


Family Vacation!! We went to St. George and Vegas with Jason's family it was a lot of fun. I was not very good about taking pictures, my sister in-laws have much cuter pics on their blogs from the trip. I guess I can blame it on having to juggle three kids-- right?!

Kate is in ballet this year and loving it!! I love watching her. I've decided that I would love if she stayed in ballet forever!!! She was a super cute gumdrop in Hansel and Grethel and did such a great job. Plus she was so cute to watch!!!

Chicago!!!

Jason had a seminar for work in Chicago and I jumped at the chance to go with him. We had never been before and it was soooo fun!! I spent the first two days relaxing and shopping while Jason went to his seminar. I got to meet him for lunch and then the evenings were ours. We got to eat at lots of yummy restaurants and relax-- so nice. On Friday night we went into Chicago and walked around Navy Pier and ate yummy shrimp at Bubba Gumps (yes, it was named after Forest Gump). On Saturday we took a tour of Chicago--which I would totally recommend and made Jason and I want to visit again-- so much to see and do. We also got to go on Sky Walk in the old Sears tower (103 stories up) it was amazing and we were so lucky to visit on a clear, beautiful day!! It is always nice to get away and great to come home. I definetly think that I need long weekends away to really reappreciate the amazing gifts mychildren are and the blessing it is to be a mother.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. We started the day off carving the pumpkins we had picked out at the pumpkin patch a few days earlier. We then took Karson and Kate to Grandmas and headed to Twin Falls for an "eventful" day at the car dealership. To make a really long story short, my car went kapoeee on Friday and we are now proud owners of a new Honda Odessy. I told Jason, "I guess I should never say never, I live in Burley and drive a minivan" Such is life :0)!!! (and by the way I do love where I live) We finished up the day by going to grandma and grandpa's ward halloween party. Kate slept through the whole thing, but woke up in time to take some pictures and do a little trick-or-treating. All in all it will be one Halloween we will never forget. I made their costumes-- thank you Pottery Barn for the inspiration. Kate and Claire were little lady bugs and Karson a pirate. We found a little pirate costume for $2 at Old Navy for Rudy, so he got to join in the funl.

Birthdays

Claire is 1!!! She had a great birthday. Ate lots of frosting and pizza, got lots of presents, and had no clue what all the fuss was about. I decided 1st birthdays are all about the pictures and we took lots-- here are a couple of our favorites.
Karson is 6!!! He had a great Birthday complete with a trip to Boise to the Zoo. He also had a fun party with his friends. He is such a cute kiddo!!


I'm 29!! Yes this will be the last year that I will ever reveal my age :0)!!! I got spoiled for my b-day. Jason got me an ipod nano-- love it!!

Jason turned the big 3-0 this year!!! He is such an amazing husband and daddy love him so much!!!
We went camping to celebrate Jason's big day. I loved this picture of him and Karson fishing.

Summer Fun

I know, it's been forever since I've updated!! Here is a little picture recap of our summer. Summer is never complete without cotton candy at the Rodeo!!
My little cowboy and cowgirls!! They love getting all dressed up for the fair and rodeo!!
I must say. I just can't get over what a cute little cowboy he is!! He's growing up too fast and is way too cute!
Jones Family Outing!! The kids rode this bad boy and ended up soaked. They fell off and were screaming. Latter I found out it wasn't because they were scared or cold, but because one of the kids felt a stick under water and told the others that there was an alligator in the river--to funny!
Cute little cousins!!
Swimming lessons. The kids took swimming lessons and did really well. They were so proud of themselves.

One Sunday afternoon we drove up in the mountains and walked around. It's so nice to have such beautiful places so close by.

Fourth of July!! We had a blast watching fireworks at Jason's parent's house. They put on an amazing show!
Karson played T-ball this summer and had so much fun. His favorie part was the trophy he earned at the end!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken about a month ago by my friend Marissa. I think she did such a great job. If you want to see more of her work check out her web site photographybymarissa.com. I must say I do think I have the cutest kids in the whole world.
Our family--I love the vintage look of this photo. We bought this couch at DI and are getting it recovered for our new home. I love it so much!!
Kate-- look at those beautiful blue eyes!!
Karson-- such a cute boy!!
Claire-- she is sooo yummy!!
Just a little update-- our house is coming. We have a couple of painters helping us out right now. We had a little setback at the begining of the week, so our cabinets will be postponed a day or two, but overall it is going well. We still aren't sure when we're closing on our home we live in.

CRAZY!!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we have an offer on our house and should close the end of the month. We only had a sign out for 9 days!! Jason is working half-time at his job (from 6:00 to 10:00 am) and then heads out to the new house to try and frantically get it livable until about 11:00 pm. It's crazy. I try to be helpful, but have decided that it's not so easy to do with three children especially when your baby is a total mama's girl. She wants to be held constantly. I run around picking out all the last minute things, appliances, carpet, counter-tops, etc. I also am in charge of caulking and filling holes in all the beautiful trim and molding Jason builds at the new house. I've decided that there really is nothing worse than caulk!! I can't wait to paint-- I actually really enjoy it. So, wish us luck on this crazy adventure. There's still packing and cleaning and...... I can't even think straight.... Yesterday I used the word "weller" I really think I'm losing it :0)!