Happy Birthday Ann!

The girls at lunch celebrating the birthday girl. FYI: Paradise Bakery is a great addition to Utah County-- even if it is in AF!

Baby Chase summer 2005 (One of my favorite pictures of all time!)

Recent photos in the canyon

The cutest baby ever-- Baby Maeve and Grandma!

Happy Birthday to the greatest mother/ mother-in-law ever! We just wanted to wish her a happy birthday on this happy halloween! Some of the things that Ann has taught us:

• Unconditional love (when I think of Ann I know how much she loves and she is the greatest at not just telling us but showing us!)


• To laugh (she is always happy and I know that I am funny because she is usually laughing)


• Her service oriented life (anyone who knows Ann knows she would do anything for anyone!)


• Great listener! You can tell Ann anything!


• And of course her passion for her Air Force teams! Little did everyone know she loves the Cougs but there will always be a soft spot in her heart for the Flyin' Falcons! (Oh and can't forget the Lone Peak Knights)!

Thanks Ann for being always being there for us! We love you to pieces! Our lives are truly better with you in it! Love Jami, Randy, and Chase

My Mother My Friend

Happy Birthday Mom! I just wanted to tell you what a great mom and friend you are to me! My world would most certainly not be the same without you as my mother. I just wanted to list a few things in which you have taught me:

• A love for any holiday but most especially Halloween and Christmas! I have a plethora of decor that have been handed down and I love it!
• A love for decorating!
• A love for scrapbooking!
• A love for the Braves and the Jazz!
• My feisty competitiveness-- most think that is from my dad but would be surprised to know my mother wants to win just as much!
• My love for family.
• My love for books.
• and lastly (even though there are many more) my love for my Savior. I am thankful to you for inspiring me to lean on and love the Lord!

Happy Birthday! May it be a good one!

Our Fall Fun

Yesterday was a big day for us! First, we were fortunate enough to go to Pumpkinland with Chase's preschool class! He had a great time running around seeing the little animals they had and playing in their playground. I think his highlight was the corn maze! He has been obsessed with Curious George and the Corn Maze episode and so he was thrilled when we got to run around in our own maze!

After Pumpkinland we had to book it up to his cousins house in Cedar Hills for their annual Halloween party! This was so much fun. They had a halloween bingo game, Pin the Wart on the Witch, a neighborhood scavenger hunt, and a cake walk! It was fun to see all the kiddos in their costumes-- and my personal favorite was seeing Debbie in the Tigger costume! Thanks Deb for a great time-- that is a lot of effort and we are so lucky to come!

We ended the night with Orem vs Mountain View (rivals). It was senior night so it was a little sad knowing it was Lance's last home game ever. Well, they ended with a huge win 32-0! Shutting out the Bruins in a game that many predicted would go the other way! Of course they underestimate the power the Tigers have over them! It was really fun too-- I forget how much fun it is shouting, "we are Orem-- and don't you forget it!" (Yes Kira-- I did!) Oh, the magic of high school rivalries!
*I do need to give a shout out to Lance for his stellar work! He was just named as an Academic All Stater! Great job Lance-- we're very proud!

Fruitfly Problem

So I have no fruit around. I got rid of it all the other day when we had a few of these flying around. Now three days later there is still three or four flying around. I have studies about these little guys on the internet and discovered they can live in the drains-- which is where I am guessing their leader is. I need to find him and exterminate him/ her in order to solve the problem. Anyway, anyone ever had this problem before and if so how did you take care of it? I am going INSANE!

2nd Annual Primm Trip

So we just returned from our second annual shopping trip to Primm and Vegas. It is a quick trip we take to jump start our Christmas shopping. Yes, we are aware that the gas to Primm and back may negate all our precious savings that we make at the outlets but who can beat the precious bonding moments that we make along the way? We had a great time and we definitely broke in the new acadia! We grew our group by one-- thanks Ann for coming. I think next year we may grow by even bigger numbers! I can't believe we have to wait a whole other year!

Welcome Our Newset Member

So today's the day we finally did it. We finally pulled the trigger and purchased a vehicle. The newest member of our family is this GMC Acadia and we couldn't be more excited. After over a month of intense searching, debating (friendly word for arguing), and second guessing ourselves-- we finally found the one that made us say, "yep, this is the one." We LOVE it. I knew about acadias before but had never been in one and driven one. Once I did that I was instantly sold! So now all we need is a name for it-- Debbie any suggestions?

What a Week...

So this has been a busy week. We started the week by babysitting my sister Kelli's two youngest. They went on a quick jaunt to Disneyland-- in part for Brian's work and in part for their 10 year anniversary. Anyway, we had the kids from Saturday to Tuesday. We had a great time with them-- probably too good of time. We went to the movies and to Kangaroo Zoo and the Bean Museum. We ate junk food and just basically had tons of fun. Once Kelli returned Randy left out of town for a very quick, 2-day business trip to Jacksonville. He had to go for a two hour meeting. Kind of crazy. Then last night we went to the Orem High Homecoming game vs my old friends from Timpview. Timpview beat Orem 30-12 but we felt a moral victory for holding them to only 30 points which didn't allow any of their second string to play. (If you are unaware-- Timpview is like the Yankees of high school football!) Anyway, my nephew Griffin had to dress up in a suit and stand in for one of the football players who was nominated for Homecoming royalty. Griffin looked stellar! I forgot my camera so once I can get a hold of a picture I will post! As for the rest of the week I get to chaperon the Homecoming dance with my sisters! Should be interesting!

The Great Outdoors

So Thursday Debbie invited us up the canyon for a little cook out! So we decided to take Randy's mom Ann (Jim was out of town) and go! We hadn't camped or cooked out in over a year! (We like to camp-- it's just not our number one activity-- falls somewhere behind hotels and condos) anyway, we had such a great time and realized that Chase isn't "too young" (which has been one of our excuses as to why we don't camp). Needless to say Chase is anxious to do it again-- and the next time we told him we would take a tent and actually sleep there. Anyway, we had tin foil dinners, hot dogs, and of course smores! Yummy! Thanks Debbie for the great idea-- let's do it again anytime!