November

November is always a fun and busy month and this year was no exception.  We were supposed to be in KC for Thanksgiving this year but having just gotten back from Melissa's wedding, I couldn't possibly fathom flying again in the near future with Mr. Jack.  It was a hard decision to make, but after 2 months of straight traveling, we decided to stay home.  Skye's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, and earlier in the month Brit, Breck, and I took the girls to Yo Gabba Gabba Live to celebrate Miss Skye turning 2.  Also, our first snowfall came at the beginning of November and the kids couldn't wait to get outside and play in it.  November is one of my favorite months...I just love the hustle and bustle of the beginnig of the holiday season, but at the same time its the perfect time of year to spend quiet nights cuddling at home with the fam!

Jack's 1 year pictures

And what would a FIRST birthday be without a visit to Paige Davis for ONE YEAR OLD pictures and a fun CAKE SMASH?!  Here are a few of my favs...

Jack turns ONE!

I can't believe my little man is ONE!  And what a fun day to celebrate your 1st birthday, 11/11/11!  Jack is such a sweet, fun, happy kid.  I never dreamed I would love having a little boy as much as I do.  He's an avid (and quite good) stair climber, a very speedy crawler, and he loves his blanket and his big sisters.

My dad came in town to celebrate his birthday, and we had a fun little pirate party for him. He loved his cake, his presents, and even all the attention!

Happy 1st birthday little buddy, we could not LOVE you more! xoxo

The birthday boy!

Pirate Sophie and Pirate Mady

Jack with Utah Grandma and Grandpa and KC Grandpa

Cake time!

Playing in his new pirate tent

Halloween!

After 2 vacations, Mel and Shawn's wedding, and Jack's upcoming 1st birthday party, I didn't give much thought to Halloween this year.  When we bought the girls their princess dresses in Disneyland, part of the deal was that they had to wear them for Halloween.  It was nice to have it already taken care of, put them in their dresses, a wig for Mady, tiara for Sophie, a little blush and glitter, and voila` - Rapunzel and Cinderella.  I was already planning a pirate party for Jack's 1st birthday, so we decided it would only be fitting for him to be Captain Jack Sparrow.  No time for much creativity though, ordered a cheap-o costume and we were ready to go.  My mother-in-law always hosts our family's Halloween, we trick-or-treat, pass out candy, eat navajo tacos, and let the kids get sugared up on all sorts of sweets.  (My kids are funny, they love their candy that night, but basically forget about it the next day...unfortunately I do not:/).

 

That morning was Mady's school Halloween party.  I volunteered to help, and was so excited for her party.  Her teacher Ms. Hovanec is so great, the kids are all so sweet, it was really fun getting to spend time with Mady at school.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a really good pic, so this will have to do.  

Costa Rica

Wow.  Completely spoiled this year.  Following a perfect family vacation to Disneyland/Newport, we left to celebrate York's big 4-0 with our family and friends.  Leaving the kids at home with Kansas City Grandma, we met our famiy and friends in beautiful Costa Rica.  A-Ma-Zing!

We stayed in beautiful villas overlooking the ocean, completely secluded, with personal chefs cooking and cleaning up every meal.  A big thanks to my brother Johnny for this hook-up:).  Two of the days we ventured out on excursions, but the rest of the time was spent relaxing, going to the beach, monkey hunting, playing games, eating, drinking, and being merry.  SO. MUCH. FUN.

At the top of our beautiful resort

As I said, the whole purpose of the trip was to celebrate York turning 40.  After everyone arrived in town, we celebrated with a fabulous dinner, a surprise birthday cake, the good 'ole name game, complete with self-made aluminum foil hats.

The next day we headed out early for a day we will most likely never forget.  Our first excursion to a place called Rincon.  We started out horseback riding, went white water rafting, and ended with crazy, scary ziplining.  I mean, this stuff was intense.  When we were done, we all kept saying, "I can't believe we just did that!".  Here are a few pictures of our crazy experience...

For our second excursion, we went to Nicaragua.  It was...interesting.  I think at the end, we all agreed it was fun, but waaaaay to much driving.  The highlight was definitely taking boats out to Monkey Island, and seeing our first monkeys of the trip.

A beautiful boat ride, and me feeding the cute monkey

Emily celebrated her 26th birthday in Nicaragua.  I'm sure not too many people can say that...nor would they want to;)

And, like I mentioned, the rest of the trip was spent relaxing at the beach and around the resort.  We felt like a bunch of kids playing in the ocean, the waves were amazing!  What a fun, fabulous trip with (most of) our favorite people.  Happy birthday York, and thanks everyone for joining us!

The girls with our cute tour guide Norman

The whole gang!

And of course, a special thanks to my Mom for watching our babies while we were away.  I have to say, although we missed the kids dearly, this break was much needed and definitely appreciated.  I am so thankful to have parents that are so willing to watch our kids and so supportive of us taking time away to spend with each other. Thank you, we appreciate it SO much!

I totally meant to get a good picture of my mom and all the kids before she left...but I forgot.  So here's a pic of her and Mady the day left.

Melissa's getting MARRIED!

So, of course we had to celebrate!  After less than 24 hours home from family vaca, Jack and I (un and re) packed up and headed to KC to shower Mel with love...a girl who deserves it more than anyone!  Melissa and Shawn are getting married October 29th and we're so excited for them.  Shawn T. Furey is one lucky guy...oh wait, this isn't facebook...I can't tag him in my post so I might as well stop there, I'm SURE he doesn't read my blog;).  Anyways, the first night was a shower at my aunt Jo Anne's home with mostly family (and Greta:), and the second night was a shower/bachelorette party at my Aunt Judy's with her bridesmaids and a couple of close friends.  What a FUN weekend it was, and here are a few pics to prove it!

Friday night: A kitchen themed shower for the love of all things cooking/baking and Top Chef.  My mom put together a cute "know you're spices" game, we ate yummy food, and even got a little messy in Jo's kitchen with a fondue relay race that really brought out everyone's competitive sides:)

Saturday night:  A mexican fiesta at Judy's and a trip to the casino...or two.  Oh and did you know that KC casinos are similar to Vegas in that what happens there stays there?  Like all our money.  Except for my very last dollar that Sara Q. turned into $30 to provide us all with one last round of drinks.  That's what I'm talking about.

The lovely hosteses!  And checking out the lovely spread.

The games:  For the spice game everyone used all their senses to determine which spice was which and the winner was named “spice girl”.  And our mise en place relay race.

This one was fun to watch.  The final results of our mis en place relay race.  Looks appitizing, yeah?

Sistas!  And longtime friends, Greta and Mel:)

Opening gifts:  Mel got TONS of great stuff to stock her kitchen.  And Jenni, the lovely note-taker.

The looks for Mel’s Mexi-Casino night.  Love it!

Fun with friends and family!

Hey Kelly!  The cute party gifts she put together.

Opening her “Personal” gifts and our survial kits.

UH, pretty sure we all loved the glasses!

The lovely bride-to-be and Grammy!

Oh the limo.  It. was. fun.  Thanks for all the fun memories ladies!




Oh, and yes, "Hungry Jack" was there too because he's still attached to me at the you know what's.  A big thanks to my dad for taking care of him so I could go out with the girls!  (and of course to my dear husband who took care of the girls at home so I could go to KC - Thank you!)