an unexpected thanksgiving adventure....

A VERY FUN THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

now doesn't that look DELICIOUS!!!!

The one and only SWEET POTATO recipe... "grandma J style"

Apple cranberry pie! Thanks to Enrich-a-Dish....

yep....it was really yummy!

Aar thought it was FANTASTIC as well :O)

All bundled up because it was SOOOOO COLD!!!! Thanks deb for supplying us with warm gear :O)

Cousin Tyler feeding eliza...very cute eh?

Eliza and her second cousin Alex....whom might I add is just a DOLL!!!

Eliza gearing up for her very first SOLID food....plain homemade sweet potatoes!!! YUM!

FIRST BITE!!!! It didn't go as well as I would have liked...but she'll get the hang of it! :O)

hello hello...

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to everybody!!!!!

We had a really really terrific Thanksgiving this year... And I guess I will just start from the beginning!

So...Aaron and I had been planning on having Thanksgiving Dinner with some dear friends of ours here in town. We even planned the menu and everything!!!! (ps... thanks brooke for understanding the situation :O)

However, Aaron had a feeling that he needed to call his mom on sunday afternoon to just see how she was doing....after that phone call, he learned that his mother was unexpectedly flying to Utah for Thanksgiving with aaron's brother's family....kind of a big deal...:o)
To which Aaron also had the "feeling" that we should travel out to Utah to see everybody.
This was decided as a for sure thing on Monday evening, and we left the next morning (tuesday) at 4 am!!!!

We rented a car and were on our way...(we don't have the best car for traveling LONG DISTANCES!!!! :O)

I was really nervous about the long trip, but oliver and eliza did terrific....I'd be lying if I said it was absolutely FANTASTIC....but it was much better than I could have ever imagined...they were very patient.

I don't want to make this too long...I just want to say that we really enjoyed our trip. Planning and Making Thanksgiving dinner with his family was really so much fun... and very memorable.


We all worked together to get everything cooked, and it was just really really fun. I was over the SWEET POTATOES!!!! Now.... It is my mom's recipe, and I WILLL NOT eat them any other way...I was very happy and astonished that they turned out as good as they did!...It's just fun to know that you can make something and have it taste just the way your "mom's" recipe does...thanks mom!
I called her 4 times I think just to make sure I had all of the info....so yes, thanks for letting me bother you several times mom...it meant a lot to me :O)

Anyway, we spent time with his family for most of the trip, and then saw my family the saturday before we came home. Thanks Jen for letting us crash at your house....it was fun to see you!

Lots of love to everybody...and we hope you enjoy the holiday season!

sly
joni ann

5 months of cuteness!!!!!

Dearest friends and family....

I just feel so blessed to have our two little ones in my life. This month is eliza's 5 month mark, so I thought I would post her and oliver BOTH at 5 months!!!!
It's fun to see them both at the same age through pictures.....i just love them so much.

ELIZA BETH

November 2007

OLIVER AARON

March 2006

the latest...

OUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!!

baby jogger switchback hybrid trailer/jogger....

COOOOL!

Aaron took oliver for a stroll!!!! oliver wanted to go again and again...

HE LOVED IT!!!!

Isn't this PRETTTY!!!!

It's only a good purchase if the kids like it too....and they DOOO!!!!

don't they look so cozy in there????

Yes...as you can see I AM ABSOLUTELY thrilled about this new addition. We use this type of thing all of the time, so it was well worth it to get a good one...I really am just so happy. We've been borrowing our friends for a few weeks now, and I am just so glad to be able to rely on my own self, and be able to go WHENEVER I WANT!!!! I am soo excited!

Hey everyone...

I feel like it has been a while since the last post...so here we are!

There's Nothing too exciting on our end to report, but just a few tad bits of info. for you:

1. Nursing lottery was a NO GO for me! Most of you know what I am talking about...but for those who don't, here's a brief synopsis of an aggravating system:

When we moved here in 2004 I began prerequisites to get into the RN program. Due to things not transferring, and just all sorts of other stuff I had to pretty much start from scratch. FINALLY in Fall of 2006 I finished all of my prerequisites and was able to add my name into a lottery system. How it works at the particular school that I am trying to get into is this: Everybody who has met the qualifications to get into the program gets a ticket which goes into a lottery 3 times a year. For however many times you attend the lottery, you get an extra ticket...eg: This time around was my 3rd lottery...so I had 3 tickets in the drawing...and this just continues until you get in...or until you give up and say WHATEVER!

Anyway..I have been waiting for over a year now to get in, and I still have not been drawn out. The last lottery was held on tuesday. Over 400 people were in attendance. Thus, not only were there 400 tickets...there were 400 PLUS however many one person had accumulated over the years....ridiculous eh? (a lady behind me had 6!!!!)
Out of that ridiculous amount....they chose 20 students. 20....can you believe that?
I am definitely in the grieving process right now, and I'm not sure if I'm in the denial stage...or the ANGER stage...Hm?


Anyway, I'm tired of waiting, and just want to become a nurse so badly. Luckily I have my EMT class to fall back on to. I will not spend my life as an EMT, but it is definitely a great way to learn how to help people....and that is just what I want to do.





2. our Christmas present ARRIVED!

On the day of the lottery I was very unhappy and felt very discouraged...but to my surprise, our long awaited Christmas present had arrived, and we could go pick it up....

what is it? what is it? you ask....well I will tell you!

it is the Baby jogger switchback hybrid trailer/jogger!!!!!! This thing is VERRRRRY cool! It is, as its name states: a double baby jogger that can be converted to a bike trailer! It is so perfect. We just barely got it and have used it a ton already! Aaron has taken oliver for a spin in the trailer a couple of times, and I have taken the kids for a couple of runs! I just love it, and I am sooo happy with our choice! We were choosing between one other brand...and just felt the best about "baby jogger"....We are very happy with their single jogger and have used it thousands of times. Thus we thought we'd give the switchback a chance... it is brand new, they've only just recently come out with a jogger/trailer.....so it was a bit of a gamble that it'll be good, there are like 4 total reviews so far....BUT...we have faith in their products, and now we will just keep using it, and loving it everyday!!!!



3. THAT's ALL!!!!

oliver and eliza are doing great...and so is aaron!! We've been called as Sunbeam teachers and we ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!

sly
joni ann

i love my family...

A WHOLE BUNDLE OF PICTURES!!!!!!

one of oliver's favorite things to do is carry the skateboard up this hill...and ride it down on his tummy....he'll do this again and again and again!

boys will be boys :O)

definitely his father's son!

eliza LOVES this cool little "BUMBO" seat!!! Thanks to Brittney and Fam for letting her borrow it!


Oliver LOVES anything with wheels! He plays on the playground and goes from one mode of transportation to another...functional or not! :O) some of the toys are not in the best of shape :O)

The neighbor girls came to visit!

They like any project...blocks, coloring, feeding eliza etc...they are very VERY CUTE!

Just a cute one of our little aaron!

Oliver is becoming very skilled in his tower building skills! I am very proud of him, he loves it so much, and works so hard to get them so HIGH!...he is very strategic about it!

Poor OLIVER....we went running one morning with my friend brooke and her daughter McKenzie. I had NOOOO idea how cold it was going to be and did not dress oliver appropriately at ALLL! To keep him warm I had to put him in her little hat...added with a baby blue sweatshirt...I hope he won't mind later. :O)

Eliza on a Sunday afternoon...I wish that's how I looked after church :O)

Auntie Ashley came to visit, and the kids really loved her....oliver is still asking about "ASHA"....isn't that a cute little name for Ashley!

Mama and Oliver! Of course all he wants to do is go out to play!!!!

Oliver pushing another wheeled object on the playground!

oliver and eliza PROPERLY bundled up for a chilly little run!

us....WE ALL MADE IT HOME!...and the kids LOVED IT!!!! Oliver's favorite things to spot are: "egg-corns", workers, "big cranes", squirrels, water, a man running, a women running...and so on :O)

Isn't she pretty!

I could squish those cute little cheeks alll the live long day!!!!

A few of his favorite things !!!!!

well...I've been wanting to write a more "thought" oriented post for a while now....but quite frankly, I've just not been in the mood.

However...tonight feels really good to me, so I am going to go with it, and write a few thoughts and of course send a ton of pictures.

Life is really good right now...in most aspects :O) I am really loving where we live right now, I feel so blessed to be in such a wonderful area.
For those of you who do not know, my family lives in campus housing. We are included in and surrounded by a circular structure of family apartments....in the middle of this so called "circular structure"....aka a courtyard...there is a playground.
Tons of kids live within this courtyard and it is just the perfect place for little children to play. Not only is there one courtyard of the housing like ours....there are possibly 10 or so, I don't really know, but there are a lot within less than a mile radius....it really is heaven sent!Sometimes it gets a little "squishy", but for the most part it is so perfect. We have some neighbor kids that just open our gate and come over to play...oliver loves it, and is always telling them to "come in"... "come in"...he makes our home a very welcoming atmosphere....He is such a good kid.

It is beautiful here also. I am able to go running nearly everyday, and even the coolest weather isn't bad...it's actually really great. The best part about running is being able to take oliver and eliza with me. Some people find running to be there "alone" time...for me though, I LOVE having oliver and eliza with me. They both love it...and oliver loves to talk and ask about everything he see's, and that is so fun for me. Plus it is a better work out than just going by myself....so all around, it's perfect...don't get me wrong though, alone time is NECESSSARY, but I just prefer it in different ways.

Another thing that I have been reflecting on is how much I LOVE my husband...I love him for more reasons than I could ever explain, but the one thing that has made me so happy lately is how much fun we have COOKING together.
Most of you know that Aaron is an AMAZING cook. Family meals are important to him, and I have likewise jumped on this band wagon, and it's become such a FUN family/spouse tradition. Those of you who have visited, or who have been a part of Aaron's cooking in any way know that I'm not kidding when I rant and rave about it. It isn't that he is "just a good cook", it's that he and I both have such a good time doing it together....it's something that I truly cherish, and will always be so grateful for.

Moving on to Oliver and Eliza....man, I don't even know where to begin. They truly are Angels on Earth, and we have been so blessed to have them as our own.
Oliver is a beautiful little boy, and really is very nice...he's not perfect, but he really treats other children very well (including his little sister). He seems very Aware of other people's feelings, and I think that is such a good quality to have.
Eliza is just growing and doing so well. She's pretty small for her age, but it's funny because she has SO MUCH HAIR that people just don't know what to think...they first off think she is older than (5 months on Nov. 14th), due to the massive amount of hair that is on her cute little head, but then they see how small she is, and soon they become very confused.....it's funny to see this played out in real life :O)

Anyway....that is probably all I should write for now.

A good night to all, and to all a GOOOD NIGHT!!!!

ps....I CANT WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS :O)

sly

a VERY fun Halloween!

Some cute closeups of the slideshow pictures!!!!

A VERY Happy Pooh and Froggy!

A not so happy Pooh and Froggy.... :O)

Not sure about the POOH suit!

Oliver's VERY FIRST TIME....and we're pretty sure he couldn't get enough!!!