Thanksgiving 2011

This year we headed up to Coeur d'Alene for Thanksgiving. We didn't know if this would be the last time we would see Carla and wanted to spend as much time with her as we could. Jeremy's brother James was also able to make it for the holiday.

With all the boys there, I decided I was going to try my hand at making the full meal deal. I have always just helped my mom or someone else with cooking, I've never had it all on my shoulders.

I bought everything at the store and brought it with us. I had everything planned out and had asked my mom for any advice she could give. I planned on getting up in the morning and slowly getting things ready with a finish time in sight. Jeremy and James would be available to watch Aaron so I could be working in the kitchen.

However, we didn't plan on Carla being in the hospital. She hadn't felt very good after chemo and was pretty dehydrated. We stopped by the hospital on the way into town to say hello and check in on her. She was able to be released Thanksgiving morning and Jeremy, James and Jerry went to go pick her up. Thank goodness Aaron took a nap for a few hours so I was able to work in the kitchen.

Overall I did pretty good with dinner only being an hour late. I got several compliments and we had lots of leftovers to eat on.

We were able to visit with Carla the next day for a little bit. She came out and sat on the couch watching tv. She loved on Aaron a little bit and ate some leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.

New truck

Jeremy and I had been bouncing ideas around on getting a truck for him. We even went in to talk to someone and get some prices based on what we wanted.

Jeremy was super excited and figured things out with having another monthly payment but as usual I was dragging my feet. Big money purchases always scare me and I need time to let it sink in before I give the go ahead.

We decided to hold off on it and wait until a little later. Ironically a week later we started having problems with our Pontiac. Our car doctor told us we had about $1000 of work and to get rid of it.

So...now we had to get a truck and we got a great deal on one. We were also able to sell the Pontiac to a friend. In the end everything worked out.

Halloween

I was so excited to dress Aaron up this year. Jenny found the perfect little dinosaur costume at Costco and Aaron looked so awesome in it.

I already had decided to head to Tri-cities to show Aaron off so I didn't have to be home for all the trick or treaters.

My mom and I went to see Grandma Doris and we took great pictures with Aaron sitting on her lap.

Jeremy even drove to Tri-cities to escape the trick or treaters.

Cannon Beach 2011

We weren't sure if we would be able to go to both Montana and the beach this year, but we were able to fit it in. We had planned to leave Sunday morning but when I got home from work Saturday night, Jeremy mentioned us leaving that night. I kind of brushed the comment off and didn't think he was being serious. He mentioned it again and I asked if he meant it. He said he was wide awake and if we drove through the night, Aaron would sleep the whole time and I could sleep as well. So I got into action and finished packing things up and we left the house about 10:30pm.

I dozed off and on while Jeremy drove and listened to music. Going through Portland was a breeze in the middle of the night. Jeremy tried to drag out the trip so we would pull up at the beach house just a little before my parents woke up but we ended up getting there about 4am. We parked outside and reclined our seats back and tried to get some sleep. It wasn't very comfortable and then Aaron woke up and needed changed. Jeremy took a picture of the front of the house and sent it to my moms phone. When they didn't answer, he sent another one and finally we saw them looking out the window. They were so surprised and excited to see us.

It was great showing the ocean to Aaron for the first time. He didn't even flinch when we put his feet in the cold water for the first time. Our time there was spent walking through shops in town, catching some waves, eating pizza at my favorite place, buying ice cream cones, spending time with mom and dad, getting pictures and eating s'mores at the bonfires.

Montana

This year we decided to vacation in Montana and meet up with Jeremy's Aunt Jane, cousin Paul, his wife Heather and their son Rylan. We headed to Flathead Lake in Polson for a week of camping.

Now realize that Aaron was only 5 months old and we were taking him "tent camping"! Was I crazy!!

First of all I am not a camper and so packing was difficult to try and remember everything especially all I needed for Aaron. Thank goodness he wasn't eating baby food yet because it was much easier to get bottles ready for him.

The drive was uneventful and Aaron slept most of the 6 hours it took to get there. Our campsite was quite a distance from Paul's and so we spend most of the first day at theirs visiting. Jane had planned a get together lunch for family from the area to come.

After everyone left the boys went to our campsite and put our tent up. While they were gone, the clouds started building and getting darker. We started hearing thunder and seeing lightening. I kept hoping the boys would get back soon and they did right as the rain started to fall. They barely made it under the cover before the rain started pouring. Jeremy came right over to me with a blanket to cover Aaron and he tried to shield us from the rain. It felt like the rain wasn't going to let up and I was a little worried about sleeping in a tent. The storm didn't last that long and we enjoyed the rest of the night.

Jeremy's mom and stepdad arrived the next day and checked into their room at a resort close by. That next day we took advantage of the shower in their room and as I finished getting ready, Jeremy said he had a surprise for me. He knew I had a chance to spend the day on a boat out in the water and so he rented one for all of us. I was super excited and his mom Carla was nice enough to watch Aaron for the day. We drove across the lake to put on our suits and pick up Paul, Heather and Rylan. We had a blast going all over the lake and I got really burned but it was worth it.

The rest of the trip was spent visiting, eating Jeremy's awesome steaks, sitting around the fire and playing games. Camping turned out to be a really fun experience and we had a great time.

4th of July

I was excited this year for the holiday because I could go to the parade I had missed the past few years and Jeremy and Aaron could come with me.

We set our chairs up in the same place with our same friends. I had brought Aaron's frog chair for him to sit in but the majority of the time he was passed around. I made sure to watch for when a loud noise was coming and to cover his ears.

I was curious to see how Aaron would react with so much going on. He did great and even fell asleep for the last part of it!

The afternoon was laid back while we got ready for the bbq. Before heading to the river I opened up some sparklers I bought. I wanted to see what Aaron would do and he was pretty much in awe! I was a little worried about taking Aaron to the river to watch the fireworks but he ended up falling asleep and not making a peep.

It was a great holiday spending it with family.

Jeff Dunham concert

Jeff Dunham is such a hilarious comedian. Randy I work with found out he was going to be at the Toyota Center in Tri-Cities and asked if Jeremy and I wanted to go with him and his wife. Jeremy loves watching Jeff and I knew he would say yes.

We bought tickets right away and the concert was only a few days after Jeremy's birthday. What a birthday present!

We all started counting down the days and then suddenly Randy's wife's brother died suddenly and they weren't able to go to the concert. Randy brought over their tickets to see if we could find someone else to go with us so the tickets wouldn't go to waste. At the last minute we were able to get Scott and Tamera.

The night of the concert we left in plenty of time and went to dinner at Red Robin. We had pretty good seats and had a great time. There was lots of laughing that night. We were sad Randy and his wife couldn't join us but were glad we were still able to go.