Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve at our house for the first time since we've been married. We made some yummy soup for dinner. Jared made a scavenger hunt for the kids to find their presents Grandma Garbett sent. The kids put on their new p.j.'s  and then watched A Christmas Story, while I wrapped presents in the other room. It was a fun to start our own traditions as a family.

The boys wanted a wii for Christmas, and Santa Claus did not disappoint. Allie loved helping rip open presents. The weather was so bad, we ended up staying home all Christmas day and playing the wii. 

Christmas time happenings!

This Christmas we made the effort to get a family picture for a christmas card, I even went to the trouble of  designing it myself! The weather has been so crazy snowy here in the Portland/Vancouver area, I wasn't able to get out to have it printed, so I've resorted to putting

 it on the blog for you all to see. Thanks to everybody who sent us a Christmas card, we love to receive them and to hear how you are doing!

Jared pulling the kids on a tarp in the snow!

Allie is growing up so fast! She loves to read books especially "momo" (Elmo) books.  She is walking all over the place, getting into everything including the toilet, the cupboards and the garbage. She loves mommy but when daddy comes home she wants nothing to do with mommy! Some of the words she is saying are; Mommy, daddy, ball, bear and baba (bottle). She loves her pink blanket, her bottle and her binki. 

Decorating gingerbread cookies.

The remodel complete

In August we purchased this house, I hated the inside but Jared talked me into buying it and then remodeling! It was tons and tons of work but it is finally done, except for the backsplash in the kitchen and replacing the light fixtures. We were finally able to move in Nov. 14th. So here is the project that stole our whole summer, has practically made me antisocial and made me neglect my blog! I'm soooo glad it is done! Was it worth it?... I'm still not sure....but it is fun to finally say after 81/2 yrs of marriage we finally own a home!

We replaced all the trim, painted the entire house, and put in new blinds.

Rounded the square corners and replaced all the doors.

Replaced the wire racks with the old cabinets from the kitchen.

We put in granite countertops, undermount sinks and new faucets in all the bathrooms.

Jared's Dad helped us open up this wall. 

We knocked out this half wall up the stairs and replaced it with a wrought iron railing.

And my favorite part, but the most work!.. The Kitchen. We added recessed lighting, new cabinets, new appliances and put in tile flooring.

A fun Halloween!

This year Brycen and Blake were so excited for Halloween. They both were totally into their costumes. I think Blake tried his on 5 times a day for the whole month of  October. Brycen was hilarious to watch in his costume. He would put on his cowboy boots and walk around stiff legged. Allie however did not like dressing up, it was more because mom thought she was so dang cute in her costume and made her wear it! She especially did not like her antennae, we would have to put them on her head and distract her until she forgot about them.  Jared had fun being Napoleon Dynamite, because nobody recognized him. Allie freaked out the first time she saw him in that wig! My parents came to visit, and we had fun trick-or-treating together. 

COWBOY BRYCEN

OFFICER BLAKE

LITTLE ALLIE BUG

Jared turns 30!!

Jared turned 30 last week! It doesn't seem possible, but it's true. The thing is I'm not too far behind him, but I like to tease him anyway. His long day at work unfortunately had to be on his birthday, but the staff took him to lunch and brought all sorts of treats and cards for him. When he got home we had a birthday dinner and a dessert cake! We celebrated the weekend before his birthday with his family at Olive Garden, and they gave him a halloween basket full of all sorts of fun things for a date night.

Pumpkin Carving.

The kids could not wait to carve their pumpkins, so the day after we went to the pumpkin patch we carved pumpkins. Here they are so proud of their work! They insisted on keeping them in their rooms, so I let them. A few days later I noticed black mold growing inside of them, and had to sneek them in the garbage!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a Pumpkin patch called Bauman Farms in Woodburn, Oregon. It was a gorgeous fall day and we went with Emillie and Riley and their kids. We ended up staying all day because there was so much to do. The kids loved going on the zip line, jumping on this huge air pillow, running through a maze, and finding their perfect pumpkin. Allie kept pointing to the pumpkins and saying "ball." 

4 wheeling

We had a fun time going 4 wheeling with some friends of ours Jordan and Emily Young. Jordan went to Dental school with Jared and has recently bought some fun toys. They invited us to go to Sand Lake and go 4 wheel'n. They boys had such a fun time and Allie loved to play in the sand, and try to eat it too!