CHRISTMAS!!!

Ok, since January is more than halfway over, I figured I should just buckle down and post about our Christmas! We went up to Washington see my WHOLE family. We were able to go for 17 days, hence why I have waited so long to post, there is SO much to post about. Rather than getting into all the details, I'm just going to list the highlights, or at least the memorable moments!

-Kate's freak out session on the plane ride there. She and Jason were famous with everyone on the plane by the time we landed due to the fact that she screamed like a banshee and Jason got "reminded not to congregate at the front of the plane" over the loud speaker in his attempt to walk around with her and calm her down!
-Famous Daves!
-Reuniting at the Rainforest Cafe with my Sisters!
-Baking




-Shopping
-Visiting with my old friends
-Making gingerbread houses



-Ward party, complete with my little brother singing in a trio! He sounded awesome!
-The never ending pink-eye!



-7.5 hour trip (one way) to Bend, Oregon to and AMAZING house my parents rented, Kate slept almost the entire way! We were BLESSED!
-Christmas Eve pj's
-Kate's first Christmas, she sure loved to eat the wrapping paper!



-Sledding



-Hot tubing
-He-Man watching
-Family Pictures
-Endless Chinese food, fa ra ra ra ra!



-Car ride back home through Mt. Hood, it was snowing like crazy and BEAUTIFUL! We had to put chains on all the cars! Lucky for us, we were riding with my Dad, so we didn't have to stress about the drive and we could just enjoy the scenery!



-The BIG BROWN Christmas party
-Movie watchin'
-New Years Eve, I was in bed with Kate at 11, we are just a couple of party animals!
-Zoo lights!



It was "a very nice Christmas!" We loved every minute of it and are so grateful to my parents for making sure everyone made it home and providing a place for all 18 of us to fit!

JUST A VIDEO...

I am still planning on posting about Christmas, but I haven't even uploaded our pictures to our computer yet, so in the meantime, here is a video of Kate. Sorry about the poor camera angle, she always stops performing if she sees it, so I had to be sneaky. Please also excuse my annoying, high-pitched voice!

SMILES!

Kate is finally starting to whine a little less and smile a little more!!!

ICE ICE BABY!

Well, I've been waiting and waiting and winter is finally here!!! We've been hit! An ice storm hit a large part of the mid-west this weekend. We woke up Sunday morning to a stunning view out our window! I've never seen anything like it! It is absolutely beautiful! Everything was coated in about an inch of ice! Our church was cancelled Sunday and Jason's school was cancelled today. A lot of the Metro area is out of power, but so far we have lucked out! It is supposed to warm up some tomorrow afternoon, and the ice will hopefully start to melt, so cross you fingers that we last until then!

Kate finally has use for her winter hat!



Since I haven't had a chance to post for a while, I also wanted to add that Jason turned 25 on the first of the month! Aside from a hectic shopping trip to the mall and me almost burning the house down trying to cook a fancy dinner (no joke, there was a huge fire in our oven!) the day was pretty laid back! I made Jason 1/4 of a cake to commemorate him turning 1/4 of a century old (and because I ruined the rest of the cake)! Happy Birthday Jay! I love you!

THE ZOO!

Friday, Oklahoma celebrated 100 years of statehood! Jason had the day off of school so we decided to get out and do something fun. As I was searching to find an activity, I found out that in honor of the centennial, the Zoo had free admission! WOO-HOO! It was a perfect day to be outside. It was a clear sunny day and the fall leaves were breathtaking! We had a great time seeing all the animals and just enjoying the fresh air!

Kate's Quilts!

I am so fortunate to have such talented friends and family! Kate got some really beautiful quilts and I just thought I should showcase them!!! Ok, so not everything I am showcasing is a quilt, but everything is beautiful none the less, and I know a lot of work and love went into everything!

My oldest sister, Michelle, made this quilt for Kate's crib! I just love it!!! My Mom did a fantastic job making the beautiful matching bed skirt! It is just what I had in mind for her bedding!



This one is from one of my life long buddies, Autumn. It is the first quilt she has ever made!!! Can you believe that? It turned out so beautiful! She is so stinkin' talented and does good at everything she tries! Kate and I adore this quilt, it is our favorite cuddle blanky, it is so soft!


Autumn's Mom, Nancy, made this one. She is such a talented quilter! This is such a special quilt, there is so much detail and it is just pieced together so beautifully!


Here is a picture of some of the detail.


This one is from one of my former roomies and good friend Tristyn. I love the border and you can't see it in the picture, but it has hand stitching in the design of a giraffe eating from a tree, tons of work I'm sure and so adorable!


This last one is from my sweet SIL, Rebecca! It is a playmat; such a cute idea! I love it! It's so colorful and has ribbon on the corners to attatch toys! She is so creative!


I can't imagine how much work went into all of these! I am so lucky to have such sweet, giving and talented friends and family! I know once Kate gets older, she will love and appreciate all of them as much as I do!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a great Halloween! We carved our pumpkin:



With a little inspiration from our "Witchy Women"



Our little Katie-Bug was a Lady-Bug for Halloween!



Here is one of all of us at our church's carnival/trunk or treat! We still aren't quite sure what Jason REALLY was, so we are just going with a member of a 70's rock band!



I guess all the fun made Kate sleepy!



And I just thought this was too cute!



We hope everyone had a great Halloween!!