Happy Birthday Elle!

I can't believe it! Elle, my beautiful little niece, turned 1 yesterday. This picture is a couple months old, but it is my favorite picture of her. She is having a huge birthday bash tonight in Utah that I wish I could attend. It is amazing just how much I love her. I don't get to see her much, but I do think about her and wish I could steal her kisses more often. Jess you better get some good footage of her and her 1st birthday cake.

New Countertops

We have officially started the Kitchen remodel. Here are some shots of the counter tops. At first I was unsure on whether or not I liked them, but I just needed a day to get used to them being a lot darker than our old sunshine yellow counter tops.

I tried to get out of the pictures, but Jeremy was determined that I be in every shot. Next we will tackle refacing our cupboards and then laying tile.

Jeremy was so proud that he fit all of the old countertops including the old sink in one garbage can. You can see what a beautiful yellow the countertops were and how it complimented our honey toned paint on the walls.

Happy Halloween

I must say that this year for Halloween we really outdid ourselves. Our costumes were quite extensive and even required me sewing some leather vests and designing a pair of chaps for Jeremy. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment because this was my first sewing project using a pattern all by myself with the help of my assistant Jeremy of course. So in case you can't tell we are supposed to be Bikers. At work there is a bonafide biker who coached me on several points of my costume. Those are real leather pants that I am wearing that I borrowed from my friend Brittnay, she only has 5 pairs so she decided that she could spare one for the evening.

We took about 50 pictures because everyone at work wanted to see what I came up with. Jeremy actually found this Sturgis shirt at DI which was perfect for the costume. You can't tell but Jeremy has a little hoop earring on. He loved wearing it.

My mom and step-dad came up for the weekend. They had a lot of fun at our ward party. We had a lasagna dinner, carnival for the kids, and then followed that up with a trunk or treat. We had a fun weekend with them. We went to a local aquarium at Redondo Beach and then Mom and I worked on our 72 hour kits. So we are now ready for a natural disaster. Raggady Ann and Andy are our friends Mark and Brittnay.

This is one of my favorite pictures. We really tried to get in character.

Fall Stake Dance

This is our gang at our Stake's Fall Dance. I told everyone to dress western so Jeanne went to DI and bought western shirts, huge belt buckles, and she wore her boots. Needless to say I was in trouble because my pigtails and shirt weren't western enough.Left to Right: Brian & Brianne, Me & Jeremy, Jeanne & Bryant

We caught Brianne singing her heart out to Brian. She turned beet red when she realized we were all watching her. I can't remember if that was this exact moment. Brian always makes the best faces. I am taking voice lessons from Brianne so I know Brian didn't mind her belting.

The Dreaded Candy corn Vampire

This is John & Pat. Pat is the Young Women's Pres. who I talk so much about. I love her, she is great to work with. Her husband is hilarious.

Bryant is showing his bull riding number. Bryant had some pretty sweet moves. We had such an awesome time at the dance. They played the lamest music and when I asked to request a song because I wanted something faster I got an earful from the lady in charge who informed me there were old people here too. So we danced to all of the songs anyways and as Jeanne said in church the next day "we were the floor show."

Phantom

We went to see Phantom of the Opera on Friday in Seattle at the Paramount Theatre. It was so much fun. First we got all dressed up and went to a seafood restaurant in downtown Seattle. Then we had an adventure and rode the bus to the theatre. We did have to do quite a bit of walking as the bus didn't take us right to the place we needed to be. It was raining really hard, but luckily I got a cute new blue raincoat from Nordstroms Rack last week so I was fine to walk in the rain. The only annoying part was that I was wearing a knee length skirt with nylons and the dirty water kept splashing up on the back of my nylons. It did wipe off, I just had to do it a few times during the night. The theatre was so amazing it was built in the 1800s and it felt like you were back in the regency era. There was beautiful gold paneling and the stage and sets were amazing. The theatre seating was so steep you felt like you could fall. The special affects were awesome and the singing was wonderful. We did fall asleep a little in the show because of the lateness of the hour and not because of a bad performance. Man we are getting old.

Called to Serve

Jeremy and his 2 younger brothers looking sharp in their Sunday best. Matt in the middle just returned from his mission in Illinois. We are so glad to have him back and to see the growth that occurred on his mission. We are doubly blessed because Michael, on the right, is leaving for his mission on Oct. 1 to Denver, Colorado. I wish we could go to the MTC with him. I loved going to the MTC with both of my brothers. It is such an exciting time. I know that he will be such an awesome missionary. We will miss him.

Pictures from Utah

Alright I can't get the slideshow to show on my blog like Kaylene's does. To view the slideshow click on this link.
http://s481.photobucket.com/albums/rr173/jerlara/?albumview=slideshow