Halloween

Parkers first real Halloween was a HUGE success. We started the night off by having a fancy meal at McDonalds (perfect halloween dinner), and then we headed to the church to check out the halloween party. Parker had a fun time running around the gym and destroying anything that he could get his hands on. We wanted to stick around long enough to be able to go trick or treating around the church doors. Well...we stayed but there was only about 6 doors to go to and Parker was really getting the hang of taking candy from people and getting it in his bucket, so we decided to test out the real thing in a neighborhood. Usually Parker gets shy around strangers but he was really friendly on this particular night. Yes, it was only because they had candy but hey it works. We had fun watching all the people goo and gah over him. He was the cutest turtle around.

It's About Time!!

Well the title of this blog is for a couple of different reasons. The first is for the fabulous weekend that I had with my mom and sisters at Time out for Women. And honestly It was About Time I had a time out from the life here in Redmond. I know both Megan and Darcee have already posted this as well but here is my perspective.

Mom and I drove over to Portland Friday afternoon to meet up with Megan and Darc. Our plan was to get there a little early so we would have time to do a little birthday shopping for me. Well when you get two girls in the car who are not from Portland, well...you can probably guess. Mom was sure we were going the right way but once I started seeing signs for the airport I knew we were on the wrong path. But Mom reassured me she knew what we were doing. So, we ended up in Washington. OOPS! But, we turned around and soon found our way to our hotel. However, in my Moms defense she said there was a way to get to downtown Portland from the airport. After getting checked into our hotel we headed to the Lloyd Center where we found my super cool 80's shoes/boots. Thanks Mom for the birthday present!

I don't know if I will ever be brave enough to wear them with a shorter skirt but they are way cute with jeans. So, after shopping for a bit Darcee and Megan finally joined us for a gourmet meal in the mall. Subway and Chinese food was the assortment we had. After we stuffed our faces we headed to the convention center to start our Time Out experience. We had a great night filled with speakers and fabulous music. After the evening session was done we headed to Red Robin for a healthy snack of decadent mousse pie and Megan's request French Fries. We chowed down the Pie and minutes, and fought over the best pieces of it. Darcee even licked the plate clean :)

And of coarse there has to be a goofy pic of the sisters in here somewhere. I think I am the only one who really made a face...

After Red Robin we headed back to our hotel where we stayed up late watching Selena, and talked about old times. Saturday our day was full of great speakers who in each of their own ways had a message that was perfect for me. I love being able to be uplifted and rejuvenated to come back to real life. And what is a great adventurous trip without having car troubles. Well let me tell you it isn't one, so I am glad we got the opportunity to experience a shot clutch. It's even greater when you have four girls yelling in the car because we feel like we are going to die. Okay maybe not four girls but definentley two of us (Darc and me). But after hours of trying to figure out what we were going to do, we finally made it to Megans house. Mom and I had to rent a car to make it home the next day. It was another Memory to put in the books. Thanks for a great weekend Mom and sisters!!

The day we traveled back from Portland was my 25th birthday! It's About Time! We arrived home just in time for me to catch the last two hours of church and to see my boys who I missed so much. When we came home from church I was granted to opportunity to go take a much needed nap, since mom and I got up at 5:00 in the morning. When I woke up I went downstairs to find a decorated house by Chase.

He invited my family over for a wonderful Sweet and Sour chicken meal, and cake, that he also made and decorated.

Now one thing that I love about Chase is that I can trust him to go clothes shopping for me. He got me a cute outfit from AE and had it in the box so perfectly with all the layerings.

So with Chase making my birthday so perfect, I wanted to do the same for his which was the next day. However, I am afraid I am not much a cook so I didn't want to attempt the whole dinner thing. He wouldn't tell me what he wanted for his birthday so I had to find something, which he took back, and I didn't have time to decorate the house so he got the left overs from my birthday. We did however have a great dinner at Johnny Carino's and our favorite dessert, Italian Chocolate Cake.

So we both had great birthdays, I think mine a little better, but we are both one year older and hopefully a little wiser as we get into our old age. I am a quarter of a century now. I would say that is a pretty big deal!

About a year and a half ago Chase and I had some really good friends who moved away from here, and we were super bummed. I am always complaining that we have no friends and I have always been jealous of Megan and Darcee for always being able to go our with different couples. Well I am proud to say that It's About Time we had another young couple move into our ward who has a 11 month old son!!! YEAH!!! I had to come out of my shell and introduce myself to Keira because I was so excited that someone was our age. It's been only about two weeks and our families get along perfectly. Even weirder, Keira and I were delivered by the same doctor in Salem. I know, we were destined to be friends. Well last weekend Keira and I took Jaiden and Parker to the Pumpkin Patch, hoping for a good time and some cute pictures. Well we started off okay but then all we had were tears and more tears. All Parker wanted to do was pull the wagon around, and of coarse when I took it away he screamed. But boys will be boys. So here are a couple of pictures from out adventure.

So Sunday we had Keira and Brian over for dinner and so we could carve pumpkins. The boys did most of the work. Okay maybe they did all the work. I did have a pumpkin but it's hard to do more then 2 at once when you have 2 little kids in the house who require all your attention. So Keira and I stood back and watched while we tried to figure out what the pictures were on the pumpkins. We could not tell until after they were lit.

After the pumpkins were carved and lit, we had yummy carmel apples to end our festivities. We are so grateful to have new friends.

Oh one last thing. I forgot to mention Parkers new best friend. This best friend goes everywhere with Parker. He eats with it, rides in the car with it, and you better believe it is the first thing he grabs when he wakes up in the morning. So what is it?

Yup, that right a birthday balloon from my birthday. But, whatever makes the kid happy.

I was tagged by Darcee

THE RULES: You have to post the 4th picture in the 4th folder in your pictures folder. Then give a brief description before you tag a few others. So here it goes!

Well thank goodness it wasn't a scary picture of me. So this was the picture I found. The two loves of my life, Parker and Chase. I am not sure where we were going, so I don't have a fun description. Parker does kind of look scary though. I never thought he was an akward looking baby, but in this picture he kind of does. I tag, Breanne, Jessica, and Stefanie