My primary class got smaller and smaller through the year because of people moving out. I taught the kids turning 8 so it was an awesome class. Anyway, by the end of the year I just had four really cute girls. I made them these notebooks that I thought turned out so cute.

For our neighbor gifts this year we gave them these cute bags filled with yummy candy. They are crushed mint oreos mixed with cream cheese and then dipped in chocolate. They were so fun to make and I think everyone loved them. They were so cute I had to take a picture.

November 2009

Just a few pics from our month of November.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with my family this year. Mason loved the dinner, especially the potatoes. He had to skip out early though because it was nap time when we were eating and he was barely making it.
Luckily, the first part of November still had really good walking weather. We just had to get all bundled up. Mason's hat is a monkey. He would fight me everytime I put tried putting it on but he was so darn cute I couldn't help it.

Mason had rolled over so much one day that he had this huge red mark all across his bald head.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year, thanks to Mason. He helped us carve pumpkins and we even went to a few homes to trick-or-treat. Mason was the cutest little lion. Jared and I were the tooth and tooth fairy once again. We wore our costumes to our ward Halloween party and everyone loved them. Next year we will have to do something "tooth" themed for Mason.

Mason is helping carve the pumpkins. He wasn't sure what to think about the insides.

Dad and Mason's pumpkin

At the ward Halloween party

Dad and Mason getting ready to go trick-or-treating

He found the candy bowl!

Boston Baby!!!

Jared ran in the St. George Marathon where he qualified for Boston! He beat his qualifying time by 3 minutes. I am so proud of him. The last four miles his legs were cramping and each time he took a step he felt like he was going to collapse. He was running with another guy that just kept telling him he could do it and he wasn't going to leave him behind. Thanks to him Jared was able to finish. My dad and brother-in-law also ran and did awesome. We also had a bunch of friends that ran also and we went to lunch with them after the marathon. It was a very fun weekend. Jared is signed up to run in Boston in April.

The night before the marathon - at our hotel

I couldn't believe I actually caught this picture. I was screaming and yelling at the same time and just kept clicking hoping I got a good one. Couldn't be better!

My dad, Ronnie, and Jared (and my nephew Kyson) after the long run.

August 2009

August was a whirlwind. Jared had the opportunity to do a humanitarian mission with the Air Force in Guyana, South America for 2 1/2 weeks. He has been preparing to go all year and everyone was really excited to go. He was over the surgery part for extracting teeth. He said he ended up doing a lot of full mouth extractions. It was a very eye-opening experience for him. There was no AC in the school where they worked and it is 100% humid there so everyone was drenched in sweat by the end of the day. There was no hot water to shower in just kind of warm because they have big barrels full of water that the sun heats. They did have a couple of days to sight-see so enjoy the pics.

Working hard!

These are the stations and chairs they worked from.

Long day!

This little boy came everyday and followed them all around wanting to help. He wants to be a dentist when he grows up. So cute!

This man made one of the souvenirs Jared brought home. He hand carved this statue with three people with their arms around each other in a never ending circle. He called it the "Family Reunion". Pretty cool!


They got to go to the zoo. Crazy animals there and still wild. Their taxi driver told them that a jaguar got out of his cage and killed a man just a couple of weeks before. Nobody got too close to any of the animals!



They had the chance to take an airplane ride to see these beautiful falls. This was by far the highlight of the trip.

Some of the crew

While Jared was in South America I went to Idaho. I had a lot more fun! I did a lot of shopping with my mom and sister. It went by really fast and even though I missed Jared more than words can express I was really sad to leave my family and come back to my pretty boring life! Here are some pics of Mason from Idaho.

We went to a Republican Party barbeque. My dad made Mason his own nametag.

We started Mason on baby food a few days before Jared left so Mason was really getting the hang of things while we were in Idaho. He loves everything he has tried (he's his dad's son!). For the longest time he would stick out his tongue as far as it would go and then cry if food wasn't immediately there.

St. Anthony (my hometown) has a summerfest every year. My parents ward does this amazing rib and scone dinner as a fundraiser for the youth. It was sooooo delicious.

Mason at summerfest. Really excited!

One of my favorite things about this stage is how Mason grabs his toes any chance he can get. Another favorite is watching him eat his toes!

We went out to eat when Jared got home. Mason loves to put his feet up on things. Here his feet are up on the table. He's just always hangin' out.

Mason loves this rhino. The first time I handed it to him he grabbed it and started sucking on the horn. It kept him quiet lots of times in church. So funny!

July's Happenings

4th of July

We went to Idaho for the 4th. My Grandpa's birthday is also that day and he turned 80 years old. We did a big party/family reunion for him. I had not seen some people on that side of my family for years so it was nice to catch up with them. I think we were only missing one of my sisters and one cousin. This is the best picture I had of the whole family.

10 year Anniversary

I can't believe Jared and I have been married for 10 wonderful years. That makes us feel very old but we are still told we look like newly weds! We have been able to accomplish so much, travel, and do some really fun things. This year we were so blessed to have Mason celebrate our anniversary with us. He is definitely the biggest blessing in our marriage and has made Jared and I look at each other totally different. I feel like the luckiest girl to have found a guy who cares so much about our little family.

We didn't do a whole lot for our anniversary. A friend watched Mason for us while we went to dinner. We actually couldn't agree on a place so I got Thai and Jared got Greek and we went to a park and ate. How romantic! Jared took the next couple of days off so we went stayed the next night at The Alaskan Inn. Of course, we took Mason with us. I can't leave him overnight yet. Anyway, the Inn was amazing. They decorate all the rooms with a different theme from Alaska. We stayed in the Northern Lights. The next day my sister watched Mason while we went hiking at Mt. Timpanogas Caves. It was very cool and fun to be outdoors.

One of the biggest stalatites I have every seen.

I think the guide said it weighed at least a ton.

There was a gorgeous view of the valley at the top of the mountain.

We live in a beautiful area!

Random Pictures of Mason 4-5 months old

So close to rolling over. He would just stay on his side for a while!

Jared put a burp cloth on his head and made him look like a biker boy.

Mason is obviously not impressed.

Grandpa and Mason. I thought they looked a lot alike!

Rice Cereal! At first Mason had a really hard time keeping his hands out of his mouth. This time he put his hands in his mouth then rubbed his eyes. So cute but so messy!

I couldn't resist taking a pictures of this!

Can you see the stray hair?!? Mason doesn't have a lot of hair so when this long one appeared we thought we better document it!

So cute!

One of my favs!

Sun Valley

Finally A Vacation!!! It was short yet so much fun. My dad has had meetings in Sun Valley every summer ever since I can remember. We decided to go this year along with my brother and his family. This year the weather wasn't as "sunny" as usual but it did warm up enough to go in the pool. We got there on Father's Day in the evening. We had a late dinner and then soaked in the hot tub before bed.The next day started off quite chilly. Jared and I taught everyone how to play one of our favorite card games - NERTZ. While the kids played in the hot tub us adults stayed in and played the game. That night we were up until late playing - we were all so tired we could hardly think!

Finally, late in the afternoon we made it to the pool. It had warmed up a lot and the water was actually very nice. This was Mason's first time in a pool and he wasn't sure what to think. He screamed for the first few minutes and then decided it was pretty fun and was babbling and kicking like crazy the whole time. He was so cute. Here is Mason screaming!Happy!What's fun about a pool unless someone does a chicken fight!

My nieces, Kaylie and Ashlyn were showing us how it's done.

Playing keep away

This is my cute nephew, Jace. He just kept going from pool to pool

I love his sunglasses!

My niece Brynn decided it would be fun to hook straws together and see how tall she could get it and still be able to suck her Root Beer out. She maybe barely got a taste and kept making it bigger and bigger. Jace caught on pretty quick and did the same thing. It was so funny!

Here's our little man tuckered out after his day at the pool.