thanksgiving 

kind of wish i wouldnt have seen this pumpkin pie banner on pinterest. i HAD to make it once i saw it but it was a beast to put together! i do love how it turned out though.

also the target dollar section really upped their game this year. i loved all of their thanksgiving table decorations!

always proud of a well executed bird!

and pie! :)

my favorite thanksgiving humans.

and for some reason i was still i the mood to bake pies after thanksgiving. i tried this apple cranberry pie and it was a winner.

nothing holds a candle to thanksgiving leftovers. simply the best meal of the year.

a day in portland for jocelyn's birthday

i drove down to portland a couple saturdays ago to celebrate jocelyn's birthday with her. i will NEVER figure out how we fit sooooo many activities in the 20 hours i was there. we went to barre in the morning, massages afterwards and lunch downtown at a very cool indoor market.

then it was off to an eclectic nail salon to have our custom nails did!

followed by dinner, a movie and salt & straw. such a fun day filled with all our favorite things.

close up shot of my pregnancy announcement nails. pretty proud of these puppies.... and the new baby! :)

weekend in utah

two weeks ago my mom and i traveled to utah to spend the weekend with my grandma. brooke joined in on the party at the last minute. we spent a couple days up in deer valley/park city. it was so fun. 

the weather was beautiful up there. 

while shopping at city creek the following day we stumbled upon the pinterest convention at the convention center across the street. could that BE more up my alley?!

on sunday we went to sacrament meeting and then had a big family (and friends!) dinner. it was a great weekend filled with laughter, good shopping (utah has the best home decor crap) and sodalicious cookies. 

HALLOWEEN!

we had a great (but suuuper busy) halloween season this year. nothing like a ward trunk or treat to get things started. and it didnt rain. so that was a plus.

pumpkins on the porch.

donut party invitations!

its so scary to make the donuts each year. the yeast, the 5 billion times they have to rise, rolling out the dough, cutting each donut out by hand. its a lot. but so worth it. 

craig's contribution each year is his amazing pumpkin ghosts. they are the best. 

spooky mudroom. 

the calm before the storm.

tess enjoyed the donuts. 

she couldnt get enough.

i cant blame her though. they really are so yummy. theres a reason we only make them once a year...... :)

the striped gang. 

the actual day of halloween was INSANE. dont ask me why but i signed up to chaperone sully's pumpkin patch field trip. it wouldnt have been thaaaat bad if it hadnt POURED the entire time, i had to bring tess and i slipped and fell in the mud while carrying her. so yeah. glad sully had a smile! 

the minute i got back from the pumpkin patch and changed out of my muddy clothes i had to go right back to the school because im the room mom and was in charge of the halloween party. holy crap.

after a relaxing afternoon (we allllll needed it) the kids got their costumes on and we headed out for some trick of treating. i was very proud of that freaking vending machine i made. what tagg wants, tagg gets. except next year he is wearing a store bought costume. 

tess had practiced her "trick or treat" and had so much fun running up to each door with her brothers. it was so dang cute. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2016!

a band aid birthday!

tess celebrated her second birthday last month! we had a little band aid birthday party for family. she looooooves band aids ("bamaids").

band aid birthday banner!

happy tess.

that night the boys chose the dirty bird (red robin) for tess' birthday dinner. that way, she could have the waiters sing to her. 

after dinner we came back home for presents, cake and ice cream. she couldnt sit still.

grandma cheri and grandpa rod!

just a few pictures of her during her birthday week. she loves a good stroll through target like her mom.

dont even ask what shes doing here but i loooove her smile. i think her brothers have taught her some bathroom humor....

i was fixing her piggies in the mall one afternoon when a stranger walked by and said i had to have an action shot. ha! 

happy birthday to our princess tess.