Special visitor

Monday night we had a special visitor at our house. Jessi and Tanner got to see Santa again!

Jessi was so excited to show Santa all her favorite ornaments. She also showed him the bracelet that she made that was like Santa's bells on his bag.

Then she got to sit on his lap and talk to him before he gave her a new bear.

Tanner wasn't quite sure about this strange man with the beard and stayed as far away as possible. Until Gaga let him sit on her lap. Then Santa got out a toy car for Tanner and drove it on his leg. He set the car on his knee thinking Tanner might come over and play with it there. No such luck. Tanner took it on a run over to me behind the camera. Maybe next year. I think we are done with Santa for this year.

Our weekend

We were a bit insane this weekend and decided last minute to drive to Washington to go to Chris and Melissa's wedding reception. MJ called me on his way home from work and said, "Let's go." So we packed and left about 5pm Friday night for Washington. We didn't really check the weather, which wasn't the smartest thing we have ever done. The 13-14 hour drive ended up being more like 18 hours but luckily most of it was while the kids were sleeping. The roads weren't too bad, there was a lot of snow though and visibility was a problem most of the way. We arrived safe and exhausted at about 10:30am Saturday.

The reception was that night and we had a ton of fun visiting with friends and family. Jessi and Tanner especially loved playing with their cousins. The only one missing from the family was one spouse and had he known we were coming he would have been there too. I had my camera this time but the battery died so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have like but a few more than in MO and everyone else has lots of opportunity also to take some.


I finally got a good picture of Melissa and Chris. This is also their cake(the picture doesn't do it justice, it was beautiful) and them feeding it to each other.


Melissa and the nieces. She had a beautiful dress that was amazing on her!


Jessi wanted to hold the flowers in the previous pictures but Mikenna didn't want to let them go. This is Jessi trying to get them and pouting and then her smile when she did get a chance to hold them.


All of Jessi's cousins. She doesn't have any yet on MJ's side.


All the sisters on my side of the family.


The best picture that we got of our family. I hope the photographer got a better on so this one doesn't go up on my mom's wall.

Then Sunday about 8am we took off again for home and the roads weren't that much better. The difference as the day light. We shaved off a few hours and made it home a little before 12am. Next time we do a spur of the moment trip, we will definitely check the weather first. Thanks to a lot of prayers we made it home safe and the kids were excellent both ways. A miracle in itself!
So now we are home and catching up on sleep and getting ready for Christmas again.
What did you do this weekend?

More Santa

We went to the ward party and had a great time. Jessi has been coming into Primary for singing time so she was able to sing with the primary for our Nativity program. She loved it. I forgot my camera so I didn't get a picture but a good friend lent me hers to get some pictures of the kids with Santa. Jessi was the first to sit on his lap and never strayed far from his knee after that. She was so excited that day that she even brought Santa a picture. Near the end of the night I get Tanner to sit with Jessi just for a minute. He wasn't really sure about this big guy in the red suit.

Home Depot

We went to Home Depot today for the kids thing that they have every 1st Saturday. The kids got to make art easels. And as a bonus, Santa was there. This is the first encounter for Tanner and the first time that Jessi would sit on his lap. We will have more pictures from our ward party later. These are the photos that they took for us as home dept.
 

Something so little

How can something so little make such a big mess? It took me about 20 minutes to clean this room up and as soon as it was done he dumped out another backpack of toys. Good thing he is cute!

Our Fish

So we have had a fish for a long time. Maybe 6 months, I can't remember. I mentioned him before but never got around to getting a picture of him. Well, I have finally cleaned his tank again and he is presentable so here he is.

It looks like two fish but really the one that you can see him in is his reflection off the tank. He is a Red or scarlett swordtail. About the size of a small goldfish. But he hasn't grown at all since we bought him.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! MJ got 4 entire days to spend with us. I loved having him home and I think he enjoyed relaxing with the kids and his family. We had dinner at MJ's Aunt and Uncle's home here in San Jose. His parents, Aunt, Uncle, cousins, Grandma, and our family were there. We had a wonderful time as always and the food was wonderful! Sorry, no pictures.

Then, the day after Thanksgiving, Mj went shopping early with his Dad. They were up as 3:30am and were home by 7:30 in time to help me get the kids ready and out the door by 8 to go and get our Tree. We always go up to the Santa Cruz mountains and get our tree and love every minute of it. The kids enjoyed walking around and helping with the trees that we found. And for a change it was warm at the top of the mountain. We then set up Christmas at our house the rest of the day.









Jessi always loves to help MJ put the star on. I think our tree was a little taller this year and Jessi a little heavier.


Jessi was pretty cute putting on ornaments. We told her to put them on the bottom of the tree and she did exactly that. Every bow of every branch had an ornament before the tree fell down and almost every one after.


We put the tree in the stand, had the lights, the star and half the decorations up and then the tree fell down! It took MJ about 20 minutes to get it to stand up again while I held it and to say the least, it was a little frustrating. But it missed Jessi and MJ when it fell and only a few ornaments broke so we aren't too much worse off for it. Luckily Tanner slept through the whole thing. So, the tree isn't exactly straight this year but it won't be falling again. And we have a story to tell for years to come. Mj asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him a new tree stand.


Saturday I went up to IKEA to get a deal on the kids Christmas gift it was more than 50% off and we were already planning on getting them this gift. So it was worth the 20 minute drive with Tanner to go and get it. While we were there MJ and Jessi were going to go and help his parents put up their lights but his dad called and had fallen off his bike and ended up breaking his collar bone. So Mj and Jessi went and put the lights up with out Daddo's help.

Overall we had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to Christmas and the time we will be able to spend together again. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too.

St. Louis

This weekend MJ and I were able to go to Missouri to attend my brothers wedding. We left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa here in San Jose Thursday and returned on Sunday night. We had a great trip and were able to see all my siblings. Not a small feat since we now live in 4 states, none of which is MO! We were also able to stop and see The Arch with my sisters before flying out on Sunday.

At the temple.

At the reception.

Candids at the reception. I didn't get any of the whole family.

The car.


This was our 7th anniversary.


Sisters again, and Ethan.

Before and After

This is the house before we painted, as it looked when we moved in.

This is what it looks like now!

Again, before. . .

And after!

While we were away this weekend we finally got our house painted. It is called Marina, it is a blue/grey color and the trim is white. It looks like a new house to us and it finally stands out when we drive up. Honestly I have passed my own house driving by before because it was so bla, now I don't have that problem. We traded some work with a neighbor that is a painted for some sprinkler work and we are finally done. Just in time too because we will probably put up the Christmas lights this weekend.

The Redwoods

We went to the redwoods a few weeks ago and had a great time. Unfortunately it started raining about 5 minutes before we got out of the car. We got a little wet but the kids still had a great time. They loved walking with Daddy and picking up sticks and exploring fallen trees. We will have to go again when we can stay longer and are a little more prepared for the weather.

Ready for Rain

We are very ready for the weather to change here. It has been warm for so long we are ready for a change. Who heard of 85 degree weather in the middle of November. I know I shouldn't complain but I'm very ready. Jessi is too. It sprinkled a little a few weeks ago and Jessi wanted to go out and jump in the puddles in her rain gear. She was very disappointed to see that there were no puddles when she got out there. Here she is in her gear.

From Halloween 2008

Super Moms

For all those super mom's out there that need a laugh go to this link. It made me laugh and hopefully it will you too.
http://traverstribe.blogspot.com/2008/11/if-only.html

Halloween

From Halloween 2008

We went to Down Town Willow Glen's trick-or-treat again this year. We were in a time crunch so we were only able to go down about half of one side but the kids had a great time. I ended up parking a lot farther away than I would have like and had to bring the stroller so Jessi held Tanner's hand the whole time while I tried to not run anyone over with the stroller. Everyone kept saying "Cute Nemo" and when we got home Jessi asked why no one said "Cute turtle". It was kind of sad but cute too.

From Halloween 2008

Then later that night we went Trick-or-treating on our street and took some pictures with the giant Pooh Bear that is a few houses down from us. We also went over to MJ's Aunt and Uncle's and went to a few houses on their street. Tanner didn't get a nap that day and so fell asleep on the way to thier house. He woke up after we got out of the car and started to chew the skittle that was still in him mouth that I was giving him in hopes that he wouldn't fall alseep. I guess it didn't work:) He was so tired!

Another attempt

So here is our latest attempt to get Tanner to eat sitting down. We got this great table from IKEA and finished it in the hopes that he would sit down and eat his food. Now our meals consist of either MJ or I gettin up, setting Tanner down, getting him to take a bit and then him running off again until the next bite. So much for this attempt but we are going to keep trying. Any ideas?

Giordano's Pumpkin Patch

We went to another pumpkin patch with some friends last week too. I liked it a lot. It was just the right size for the kids that we had. And best of all it was only $2 to ride the train and everything else was free!


Jessi loved these bunnies. Tanner wasn't quite sure what to think of them but after we went back in a second time he got the idea. I think he even got brave enough to touch one. He was more interested in their nasty water than them for the most part though so we didn't stay in long once he discovered that.


We got to ride the train too. I was the only adult on the train since it was pretty small and Tanner was the youngest. There is a little gyser that goes off as we go around in a circle and Jessi and another little girl were pretty scared so I was glad that I was on. Tanner liked it so much that he tried to get back in the gate by himself.


Here are the pictures that we tried to take of the four kids that were there from the ward. As you can see I didn't get a single good one of all the kids but I thought it was pretty funny looking at all of them together.


Tanner decided that he liked to roll pumpkins and would try to lift the biggest one he could find. He was able to turn over a few. He and his little friend Nate also had a blast playing with the wheelbarrow and the pile of pumkins.


I just loved the kids running through the field full of pumkins. I couldn't resist the pictures.


They also had a blast running through the hay mazes. I think they probably would have run through all day if we had let them. My friend Beth also had a go at it.


I brought their costumes for some pictures and I'm glad that I did. I never got a picture of them at the other events and it is supposed to rain tomorrow on Halloween so I'm not sure that I'll get them then either. Jessi is a turtle (really the turtle from "Over the Hedge", but she just says a turtle or sometimes "speedy") and Tanner is Nemo. I'm glad that we have gotten so much use out of that costume.



And finally the picture of me with the kids. They were both ready to be done sitting still so I'm glad that one of them turned out okay.

Ward Party