Christmas

I really have not felt like bogging lately so I keep putting it off. I think its mainly due to I have a lot of things to post. I figure I just better do it or it won't get done. I will just do a few different post so its not a long one. Joe has informed me that no one will want to read if it is long.

On Christmas Eve we did a Nativity scene with the little kids. It was interesting but fun to watch. All but 2 of the kids were two and under. They sure were cute to watch. In case you can't tell what Gabe was (I know it must be hard to tell with my mad costume skills) he was a wise man. Christmas Day was a lot of fun. We didn't open presents till about 9 AM I think that is the latest I have waited. I am not gonna lie, I liked it. I didn't have to wake up early!
It was fun to watch Gabe open up presents. He really got into the hang of it and enjoyed it! I have to mention the present Joe got for me. He got me a really nice camera! I was so excited it brought tears to my eyes. ( I know... cheesy) I would like to say those tears were for being mad at Joe for spending that kind of money but I think it was being excited. He did tell me it was money he had been saving. It made me feel better. He sure is good to me:) Anyways...I have wanted one of these cameras for the longest time. I have always been into photography. Not that I am any good but I would like to learn. The rest of the day we spent with family. I am grateful that we have family around that we are able to celebrate with!

This is Gabe and Great Grandpa Dean. Papa Dean, as Gabe calls him, likes to play cars with Gabe. I think he sat on his lap for almost an hour.

Joe and his brothers. Yes, the pajama's to have feet and a bum flap! Paul bought some for all the brothers a few Christmas's ago.

Opening presents! Pretty good at it.

One of his favorite toys!

Getting into Santa hat. Joe's family does Santa hats instead of stockings. Then they take a picture with the hats on after opening presents.


When my mom saw this she said, "Gabe is bring baby Jesus his most precious gifts." That made me laugh because Lighting McQueen and Sally

are his most prized posessions!

These were before Christmas. Gabe has been playing with his cousin, Carter, a lot more lately. This picture makes me laugh.

This was back in November when my parents came to visit.

Help!

I just realized a couple of days ago that my blog is not updating(since August) on my family and friends blog even though I have. If any of you know how to fix it please let me know!!!!!!!

Family Pictures

Back in April I won a photography session from Bishop Images. I entered on http://www.mygiveawaytoday.com/. The site has a free giveaway every day. I always enter but never win. When I saw my name I was shocked. My heart was beating so fast! I had to look at my name a few times just to make sure it was really mine. We finally took the pictures at the end of October. I think they turned out well. Especially for the weather conditions. It was rainy! I tried to post some and it would not work. I will post the website so you can look until I can figure out how to get the images posted. The one at the top of the blog is one of them. bishopimages.zenfolio.com/p654968029

Gabe's Birthday and Halloween

October 30 was a very busy day for us not to mention that it was Gabe's second birthday! The day started with the Halloween Half Marathon. I finished my last race of the year. Out of all of the races I have done I would have to say that this was the toughest. The first 5 miles were downhill. A lot steeper than I had ever trained. At the end of five miles my thighs were burning. I did not think I would be able to finish but I did and I had my fastest time ever. Luckily the rest of the course was flat. Joe and Gabe were there to cheer me on at the end!
After the race we came home put Gabe to bed. When he woke up we took him to McDonald's (He loves going there) for dinner. He loved every minute of it especially playing around at the play place. When we got back, we got him ready for Trick or Treating. I will have to say Gabe made a cute Woody. He stuck his cars in his candy bucket and was ready to go. (He would not leave the house with out them. )When we first went out it started raining. Luckily after about 5 houses it stopped so we were able to stay out a little longer. He did very well the entire time and was very excited about all the candy he got. He had to show Grandma and Grandpa when he got home. This was a very long and exciting day for him. Needless to say he slept very well that night!
Since Halloween as on a Sunday and every one celebrated it on a Saturday, we decided we would do a family celebration on Sunday instead. We didn't do any thing too big. We had a family dinner and cake and ice cream. I think he was happy in the end.

blew candles out by himself
my attempt at a cars cake. not what I had in mind but I ran out of time.

mr. bones

Gabe's "cheese" face

trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa'sbirthday present

ready to go!

daddy dressed up too.

woody

birthday boy

yea I finished!

Pumpkin Patch

Joe's parents took a few of the grand kids to a pumpkin patch a couple weeks before Halloween. They had several activities for the kids such as a corn maze, animals, blow up toys, swing sets and more. I think Gabe Had a good time but he was very tired.Afterwards, we decided to go to another place to get pumpkins. Here are pictures of the festivities.

What I Have Been Doing

Well it certainly has been a while since I have been on here to update our blog. We have done several different things. I will give a short brief update of each month.
July
On July 24, I ran my first 10k ever. I had some family friends of mine come up from Tennessee and we ran it together. It was a lot of fun. I thought and went pretty well. Looking back I think I could have done a little better but overall I was pleased with my time.
At the end of July, Gabe and I went with my friend, Brittany, and her two little boys to the zoo. We were able to get free tickets and didn’t have to pay for the boys. I thought it went well. I think Gabe enjoyed it somewhat. I am sure he probably didn’t really know what was going on but he was happy and went along for the ride. I think we got to see all the animals and a really neat bird show which I would recommend.

August
Joe and I had our fifth wedding anniversary this year! Yea!! I can’t believe it has gone by so fast. It has been a great past five years. I am looking forward to many more to come. We were not able to do much as Joe was doing an internship so we just went to dinner.
My sister Toby and her family came out to visit. They were having a family reunion on her husband’s side. After they were done with the reunion, I was able to spend a couple days with her before she went back home. It was so fun to visit with her and her family. She is probably one if my siblings I get to see the least. Joe and I went with Toby and her husband Tyler to see the play Big River up at the Sundance outdoor theater. I thought it was a lot of fun. I have wanted to see that for a long time! I love it, especially the music.
The next day Gabe and I went with her family to 7 peaks. I was a little nervous to take Gabe but I shouldn’t have been. He loved every minute of it. They had several play areas for little kids. It was perfect for him. He eventually wore himself out as you can see.
I found him like this in the Wave Pool.

My sister-in-law, Laura, painted nails. (My sister, her daughter, mine, and Lauras) Bet you can't guess which ones are mine.

September
Let’s not forget College Football started!!! Yea!! I had been waiting forever for it to start. I love football season. Even though the Volunteers are having a building year I still like to watch. Go VOLS!!
Joe finished his internship. The company had sent a request to get him hired but it was denied due to the lack of work. So he got to spend the rest of the month hanging out with Gabe and I. Gabe loved every minute of having daddy home. Often times if Joe and he were doing something and I would come over and sit by them, Gabe would say, “Go away, Mama.” He loves the time he gets with his daddy and who wouldn’t because Joe is so good with him.
We also made a trip to Boise. I signed up to run a 10K called the “Dirty Dash.” For this race you had a team of 5 people, me and 4 in-laws, and you ran together and had to cross the finish together. Overall it was fun to run with family. The race itself was not my favorite. They ran out of water. There was only mud at the very end and not through the whole race like advertised. It also ended up not being a 10k which in the end I was grateful for because the first 2+ miles were all uphill. To give you an idea of what it was like let me just say there is a reason why you have ski lifts. Yes, we ran up a ski mountain. Running may be an overstatement. I think everyone was walking up it. The race also had different obstacles along the way which was kind of fun. Needless to say we did get some very good pictures out of it at the end.

Visiting Boise also gave Gabe a chance to play with his cousin Bailey. As you can see they had lots of fun together.
I cannot forget that I finally finished the Harry Pottery series. I had started a lot time ago and stopped in the middle of book 4 about 2-3 years ago. I finally told myself that I wanted to finish the books before the new movie came out. So I picked up book four and started all over. Those next 3 weeks I spent a lot of time reading the rest of the series. I loved the books. I don’t read much but out of all the books I have read those have, by far, been my favorite. I have now just started the Hunger Games. Interesting.

I forgot to mention you could dress up for the race... we chose to be nerds. How do we look?

My cute boy. I sure love when he cuddles.

October
At the beginning of October Gabe and I were able to go visit my parents in Tennessee for a week and a half. We had a good time. It was nice to be able to relax and visit with them. The only problem with being at my parent’s house was that Gabe had access to every single door and could open them. I had to put a 5 gallon water jug in front of the front door so he couldn’t go outside. That stopped him for maybe a day then he figured out how to move it. He is a smart kid. The problem with him going outside by himself that worried me was the creek behind my house and the street. I was so worried he would sneak outside and I not know it. We had to watch that little guy like a hawk. I was able to see a 2 of my brothers and 1 of my sisters which was fun. I love being around family.
We have been home for about two weeks. I will give a more detailed update of what is going on as of right now with us. We have a busy weekend which will give me plenty to blog about next week. Hopefully.
Constanlt asking Oma for marshmallows

Riding and wearin cousin Eli's bike and helmet.

Loved to sit in Opa's chair