Catching up!

Fall & Winter Activities

One of the great things about living in this area is all the outdoor space. One afternoon in September we went for a drive and found a good place to hike near a lake. Sheramie brought his hammock and the kids loved it. We had a picnic and just enjoyed a Saturday afternoon together.

October

October was a fun month. My parents and sister came up the weekend of the 15th and we celebrated my parents birthday's! My mom, sister and I went to Time out for Women here in Reno for two days and it was a blast. I really enjoyed all the speakers and Hilary Weeks was the musical entertainment. It was really a lot of fun and I am glad they came.

We went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze on Saturday before heading out for mom's birthday dinner. It was fun to have my parents here to visit and it was nice to have Aunt Danni here too!

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze

Halloween 2011

Halloween was pretty fun with the kids this year. I made Madison's costume, and I think it turned out pretty good. She wanted to be Princess Minnie Masquerade, from one of her movies. She also wanted to be a Fairy Princess Minnie...maybe next year! Miles was a dragon and was pretty excited to have his face painted.

We went to a church Halloween party the Friday before Halloween and the kids liked being able to go trick or treating to all the different classrooms. Different families decorated the classrooms, some were a little too scary for Miles and Madison, but once they got the "trick or treat" = candy, they were willing to go into any room!

We only had about 3 trick or treaters on Halloween, which was fine, except for the 2 Costco bags of candy in our cauldron. Watching a little Hocus Pocus ended the evening.

Thanksgiving

November consisted of us mainly in Washington. One Monday morning around 5 am I woke up, Sheramie finished packing the truck, and I got the kids ready. I drove the 12 hour trip in about 15 hours with the two kids to Shearmie's parents house in south eastern Washington. I stopped in Caldwell Idaho to visit my cousin Traci and her two kids. It was a nice break for the kids and it was fun to catch up with her-I miss living near her.

It was a lot of fun to spend time with Sheramie's family, as we had not been there since last Christmas. The kids really enjoyed grandma and grandpa Tinsley. Madison got to ride on a tractor with grandpa (wish I had got a picture) and spent the evenings with Grandma and her cousin, giggling and watching movies. It snowed once while we were there, but didn't stay longer than a day or two. I got to spend time with two of my sister-in-laws and had a lot of fun laughing and getting to know each other a little better.

Snow

Sheramie flew out to meet us on Thanksgiving morning, it was nice to be together again. Over that weekend Sheramie's brother Shad and I made a headboard for our master bedroom. I love it! We got all the materials at Home Depot and despite my "help" it turned out beautiful! Sheramie painted and added some lights to it once we got home-it looks great!

Headboard

Christmas

We set up our tree once we got home, and the kids surprisingly don't bother it. Miles seems pretty mesmerized with the lights. We're almost ready for Christmas, the only things left to get are a couple stocking stuffers and a gift for my dad.

We'll head out on Christmas Eve to my parents house and stay there for a bit. I am excited to see all my sisters as they'll be coming home from school. My brothers will not be home for Christmas this year, we'll miss them and their families.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoys any time they can spend with families and friends!

This little princess of ours will be 3 this week! She is so sweet and full of energy! We love her and feel so blessed to have her in our family! Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Here's a couple more pics of the kids! Enjoy!

Madison wearing my Grandpa Boppy's U.S. Navy hat

Boppy's sailor hat

Why is it kids are always happier once pictures are over and they're in their jammies?

4 Years....

These past 4 years have been quite the fun roller coaster. I look forward to many more years together and am so grateful for my husband and all he does for our family! Happy Anniversary!

One Roof

We are finally under one roof again. For the past seven months Sheramie has been living alone because of work and finishing up his internship. Me and the kids have either been braving the cold winter in Rexburg or playing by the pool at my parents in California. Now we are living in Northern Nevada. We just moved apartments and are still getting settled in. Sheramie was living in a one bedroom apartment, and we moved in for a few weeks..besides it being not permitted, it was a little tight with us all sleeping in one room. We stayed down at my parents and went to the coast, zoo, swimming and just enjoyed playing with Grandma and Grandpa and the kids loved having their Aunts so close. Sam graduated high school while we were down there which is so weird, shortly after she started school at BYU. My 10 year reunion is coming up and that just unreal--where did the time go?

We enjoy our new apartment. My mom and sister came up to help us move and they were lifesavers. Dad came back through after dropping Erica off at BYU-Idaho. It was fun to have them here for a little bit. The apartment is nice. The kitchen is a little small (there is only 1 drawer and 4 cabinets above the sink and 3 under. (If you think your kitchen is small try this one.) It does have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths which is great. We were able to get rid of our storage unit and are slowing downsizing. The kids each have their own room and really enjoy it. We are enjoying it too because they are the majority of the time sleeping through the night. Miles now has a real bed instead of the play pen, Madison upgraded to a twin size bed and loves it. She picked out her own bedding and a matching stuffed dog which she named "charlie" after my parents dog. She has a style all her own (which should be obvious with the love of her pink stylish sunglasses she sports daily). They both have grown so much over these past months. Miles started walking and turned one in July he has been picking up a few words here and there, such as "up, down" (from a Winnie the Pooh song), "dog, cat and bird". Madison continues to work on her ABC's and counts really well..when she wants to. I am loving, yet still adjusting to being a stay at home mom. Hope you enjoy these pictures.

Madison looking stylish with her sunglasses....
Trying to see dad through the cameraEnjoying the extra playing room of our new apartmentThe new playground has some rock climbing structures...just another way to bring mom's gray hair on prematurely..and maybe a few heart attacks too...
Our sweet girl after church on Sunday...she loves Nursery...and we love her new leaders
So cute...I may be biased..but that's ok.

Going down the slide all by himself..kids grow up too fast!