Girls' Trip to Chicago

Brooke, Holly, Megan, my mom, and I got away for a girls' trip to Chicago! It was our first time doing a girls-only trip together, and we had a blast. It was actually my first time visiting Chicago. Next time we go somewhere we hope Heather, Natalie, and Karren can come as well. Highlights from the trip include:

• Bus tour around the city

• Field Museum of Natural History

• The Art Institute

• Millenium Park

• Walking around the city together (although it was quite cold)

• An off-broadway play of Great Expectations
• And eating lots of good food, or course, including real Chicago style pizza. This was my first time ever trying it, and I liked it. 

Noah update

I haven't done an update on my Noah for a while. He is 21 months old and already acting and looking like he is two. Noah recently revolted against his high-chair, although we compromised and he still eats soup and cereal in his high-chair. Noah loves to stack blocks, play with cars, and jump around on pillows that are constantly on the floor. He loves animals, both real and pretend. Life feels pretty good for Noah if he can pet at least one live animal each day. Most of the time Noah is carrying around something silky (blanket, bear, ribbon, etc.) in one hand while he takes his fingers in and out of his mouth with the other. Noah LOVES for us to read stories, and he will often pull out books to look at pictures on his own.

The only thing that gives him away as not being two is his speech. He is not nearly as talkative as Jason was, but he has a few words. They are mama, dada, ball, hi, duck, kitty, puppy, hee-haw, boo-boo, uh-oh, choo-choo, no, and EWWW! Most of the time Noah reminds us of Curious George because he makes sounds like George all the time. No wonder because my boys love to watch Curious George. Oh and I almost forgot that he also says "me" when he wants something. It's pretty funny because sometimes we have a real conversation when I ask something like "Who wants breakfast?" and he says, "Me!"

This flimsy construction hat is a recent favorite for Noah. He loves to walk around with it on. You can also see him holding Jason's green silky bear. Noah kept taking it from Jason's room, so I commented to Jason that we would probably buy one for Noah for Christmas. Jason promptly decided to give his green bear to Noah and would instead receive the new one for Christmas! I think it is a fair trade because both boys are happy. Now Noah sleeps with this green bear every night instead of Jason.

Lately I find myself putting Noah's clothes away in Jason's room on accident because it doesn't seem like that long ago since Jason was wearing these same 2T clothes.

Nursery time in church is getting easier-- he settles down quicker after we leave him. However, when we pick him up, he gets all pouty as if to say "I can't believe you left me!"

Halloween

Jason was so solid in his answer all October long-- he wanted to be "Hulk" for Halloween. So he surprised me when our week-long string of parties hit and he changed it up a bit.

At the ward party and on Halloween night trick-or-treating he was a Star Wars Angry Bird.

At his pre-school party and Grandma Diane's party he was Batman.

And at Thanksgiving Point and his friend's birthday party he was the Incredible Hulk.

Noah was always a Tiger.

Kyle dressed up once as Batman, and I dressed up once as a pirate.

Some pictures from our visit to Cornbelly's. 

Kyle's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Kyle. We are so happy having you in our lives.

7 Years of Us

Kyle and I celebrated our 7th anniversary by going on 7 dates. Those 7 dates were a combination of big dates (we had a babysitter) and small dates (we stayed home). Our big dates took us to a Jazz game, a homecoming dance, the temple, and dinner at Macaroni Grill. We had a blast going on all those dates together, so next year we'll probably do it again with 8 dates for 8 years.

I love you, Kyle!

First Time Playing Soccer

Jason played soccer for the first time this fall. He played just how Kyle and I remember playing soccer as kids-- a lot of running around, but not really going after the ball. Jason played on a team with his friend Isaak.

 Jason's faithful supporter came to all the games.

Huntington Beach Day

The boys got to see the beach for the first time, and they loved it. We went on a Thursday morning, which was perfect-- not too busy and easy to find parking. We also got to visit our friends Adam and Lisa Hall that day, who are our friends from college. We wish we didn't live so far apart, so it was fun to visit.