Saturday, December 29, 2012

November 2012

November in Illinois was lovely and mild. 
The weather never dropped below 40, which meant lots of days outside. 

The path behind our house follows the golf course. We can take it right to Teya's school which is just a 5 minute walk away.

 We visited the park at Teya's school several times on Taber's days off.

The kids loved running around and playing soccer with their Daddy.

They also really loved climbing on the playground. Cam is getting pretty good at navigating the jungle gym on his own, so is Brinley.

 I'm starting to make friends and get settled out here. Last month I went to a Girls night out to see Twilight, got invited to a jewelry party with the gals in my neighborhood and did a Bunco night with some of the ladies from church. I'm so happy to have such awesome social neighbors and to have such a fun and social ward. 
 Last month we got a surprise visit from our besties the Hogges! They were driving through Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with their family in Minnesota and stopped by for a quick (3 hour) lunch with us. We love our Hoggie Hogges and are so excited that we are only 4 hours apart now!


For Thanksgiving we got invited to a friend's house and had a great time getting to know everyone better.
 We had all the usual delicious Thanksgiving fare, and plenty of pie for dessert.
 The kids had fun sitting at the kids table and making friends too.

 Naomi and Kevin were sick on Thanksgiving but they came up a few days later and slept over for a few nights. The girls are having so much fun living close to their cousins and are in absolute heaven every time they are here. 

 Teya got to be in a little play at her school for Thanksgiving. Her teacher gave her the Indian name, Gentle Fawn. I thought that was very fitting for our sweet little girl. 

 And the best part of November was having Daddy home for a few extra days during his Thanksgiving break. Everything is better when Daddy's around. 

Friday, December 21, 2012

11 Year Anniversary!!

Today is our Anniversary. 
I have a lot of blessings in my life, but one of the greatest is being married to such an incredible man. 
He is my very best friend. 
He makes me feel safe, special, loved and secure. 
He is patient, forgiving, thoughtful and kind. 
He loves being a father, and does everything he can to make me and the kids happy. 
Life is beautiful when you're married to a person like that. 
I thank my Heavenly Father every day for bringing Taber into my life. 

Happy Anniversary my love! 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Happy 32nd Birthday to Me!

Last month was my birthday :) 

Earlier in the week the sweetest girl from my ward invited me over for lunch and fancy gourmet cupcakes to celebrate my b-day with some other ladies from church. Those cupcakes were so good I almost cried (but didn't want to embarrass myself in front of my new friends, so I held back :) 

The night before my b-day Taber took me out on a fancy dinner date. The food was amazing and it was soooo nice to be out on a real date (no kids) with my man :)


After dinner we walked through the cute downtown and found this adorable coffee shop that had chocolate fondue. Delish!

Then we found the fancy little bakery where my sweet friend had ordered the cupcakes from and I just had to have another. This one was pumpkin with maplenut frosting. So good!

 The next day, on my actual b-day, Naomi and Kevin came up after church and had dinner and cake with us to celebrate. Naomi's b-day is 2 days after mine so it was kind of a joint celebration.


Me and my cute kiddos with my birthday cake. (Cam is doing a super intense cheese face in this pic)

It was a great b-day and I'm grateful I got to spend it with the people I love.