Getting our Christmas Tree and Making Gingerbread houses!

It's become a tradition for our little family to get a Christmas tree at Ted Drewes' Custard. We loved our little tree this year. It's always so fun to enjoy an evening or two sitting with the lights dimmed and the Christmas lights plugged in.

Making gingerbread houses has become quite the little family tradition for us. Kevin and I did our first house when we were dating in the Prov. Come to find out later, this was a date he'd done with a few other girls. But I'm okay with that. I'd rather be the last than the first in this situation;) We've since upgraded. Well, actually the Newmans have improved our house by actually making real gingerbread cookie pieces that you can fit together to make your own cozy little place, with gingerbread people no less. (We've done this with them for the last two Christmases and think that this alone might just be enough reason to stay in St. Louis for residency.) This year the Valentines joined us. We hope no actual marital spats arose from this evening, as it can sometimes be difficult to meld (is that a word?) two visions into one when it is something (like gingerbread house decoration, and therefore post-decoration candy eating) so important at stake. Merry Christmas!

Back at the Riv. December 2004
December 2007. Jill is about 18 months and we were expecting Peter.
Marie and Blake, pre-Isaac. They were expecting too, unbenounced to us.

December 2008, Isaac not pictured here. Something funky going on with the camera. These are the master cookie bakers.

The Valentines and their masterpiece

Family...isn't it about time?

Thanksgiving Festivities

At last our Thanksgiving Festivities! We woke up early to run the Arnold City Gobble Gobble Run. To us, it was worth leaving our warm beds and we hope to make it a family tradition for the years to come, even if there isn't an official race in the place(s) where we live. We finally convinced Jillian to put on this blanket right before we got this picture, crazy girl! Peter had his own personal goal, which we didn't find out about until half way through the race. He wanted to see if he could scream for one and a half miles. Well, he did it:) Luckily people were full of holiday cheer and lots of people reassured us "Don't worry. Been there, done that." Once again, we discover how warm and kind midwesterners really are! Emily also used this "battle cry" to keep pace. She would hear us coming and speed up:)! We ran the race in under 33:00 minutes, with which time we were pleased after having to stop several times to try and appease our Peter, to no avail. Now we also have a goal time to try and beat next year. There was a couple who we repeatedly passed and who also passed us as we fixed blankets, secured hats, picked up toys. The dad, we assume, was pushing a double jogging stroller and the mom had a single jogger. At the end of the race we were ahead of them and they came sprinting past us. It was quite clear, and funny, that their goal was to beat us! Maybe there was an award for the fastest stroller to cross the finish line? We didn't stick around to find out because we had to get home and finish cooking!

The shirt did not disappoint! Which is good, because isn't that half of the reason for running the race? A cool shirt?

There was quite a crowd there, with over 500 people coming out.

Jillian was such a big helper in the kitchen!!!

So we didn't get a picture of the finished product but here's the big bird ready to roast!

I look forward to some day looking back at this picture and reminiscing on the fun of cooking a whole Thanksgiving dinner in this tiny kitchen! Aside from one long cabinet and two short ones, like the size that fits over a refridgerator, this is our storage space in the kitchen. It has forced us to pack up most of our kitchen stuff and store it in the basement, which has actually been really nice! Simplify, simplify! It was quite the juggling act though on Thanksgiving.

Jillian and Elliot trying things out. I had a fun time setting up the table display and we're grateful the Blanchards let us borrow their table! As you can see, we set things up in the family room to have a place big enough for everyone to sit.

Here is Emily and our new friends Madelyn and Brian Blanchard. Unfortunately in the excitement I didn't get a photo of Kevin and I or the Karimnejads! Sorry guys!

Sweet Peter hanging out behind my chair during dinner!

In honor of the old Calvin and Hobbes reading days with my Dad

These are great, festive and hilarious cartoons! Check them out on here.

Just a question

Has anyone every tried changing the email address they sign in under? We want to because currently we're not using our gmail account so automatically our computer signs into Kevin's mission's blog and then when we do sign out of that and sign back in under our other account it kicks us out of our gmail account and we have to sign in again. Annoying. But it would be even more annoying if we attempted to change it and our entire blog got erased or something. So, just wondering if anyone has ever attempted this, and if you were successful, how did you do it? Thanks!

New Calling and other exciting news!

Well, Kevin and I got a new calling today. We will get to work together....any guesses. Of course, I always think of callings that would be super hard for me, i.e. Primary Chorister, for those of you who don't know, this requires SO much energy and talent:) But that was not the calling. We were called to teach the sunday school class for the youth! We are REALLY excited. It has always been my dream to work in the Young Womens program and I was pretty disappointed when we moved here and found out there weren't any young women in the ward. Just the other day I had the "passing" thought "Huh, we've been here for more than three years and neither of us have had the chance to work with the youth. That's too bad. I think we would have enjoyed that." And then, she-bam. New calling to work with the youth. So, either, Heavenly Father was preparing me or He heard me. Either way, He knows me and we are excited and feel lucky to have this opportunity to study the lessons together and teach the awesome youth here. We do have a few Young Women now, one of whom is the sweetest new convert. We also have two brothers and a few others who we are anxious to get to know. There is only one class since the youth program in our ward is so small. Yeah for new callings!

Peter, your crap me up!

So I guess it sounds gross when you write it out but Jillian kept saying this tonight and was "cracking" me up. Especially since, with two kiddos in diapers, I can totally relate!

She also recently discovered a piggy bank someone gave her when she was born. She wanted to know what it was for and when we told her it was to put money in she said "Oh, I know where to get some money. In Auntie Em's purse!" And she ran to get some "monies." We, of course, told her she needed to "earn" the money she got to keep and so she's been giving us back scratches at every opportunity. I still catch her pilfering any coins she finds though!

She's done it again!

Our friend, Emily, has done it again! She took family photos for us and we LOVE them. I have wanted to have her take some of the whole family since Peter's newborn photos turned out so well. I don't know why I love photos so much but I have always been particularly fascinated with looking at pictures of people. From any time and place. Whether I know them or not. And I am so glad that I live in the age of digital cameras where no harm is done, or money spent, if you just click away and save them on your computer! And I am also ecstatic that we have crossed paths with such a gifted and affordable photographer to preserve what our family looks like right now! If you're interested, you can see our recent photo shoot here. Thanks again, Emily!

So big!

Here's our little guy at six and a half months. Such a sweetheart. He's recently learned to sleep through the night, so brave on his little tummy and barely even wimpering when we lay him down now, and how to sit up on his own.

Giraffe Man







Even doing laundry is fun with this boy!

Bubbles Everywhere

These are out of order, from before our trip. Just thought they were fun.






Budding violinist, I'll try not to push my dreams on her:)


Good buddies!

Jack and Jill

This gal cracks me up! If you can't tell, she's saying "Jill came after tumbling!" EXCLAMATION POINT!

Trunk or Treat 2008

Here's our Jilly Pie explaining the ins and outs of Halloween and leopard life. Look at that cute giraffe!

We've had such a fabulous day. Kevin finished a paper for his last elective last night and we got to spend the whole day together. Since he's been getting pretty bad allergies from running on our favorite tree-lined street:( we decided he had better take the day off so that he wasn't weezing during our family photo session(which we had tonight with our friend Emily Southerland-she's awesome!). Anyway, this gave me the chance to go for a run outdoors by myself. It was an exquisite morning with bright sunshine and blue skies! The sun was streaking down between the yellow and orange leaves and I couldn't help but feel that I could just about reach out and touch God and Heaven. I love being in nature and if I don't get out often enough I feel like something is missing! Just ask Kevin! I also love how close I feel to my Father in Heaven. I am subconsciously reminded that all that is wrong and imperfect and unjust in this life can and will be made whole through the Savior. It fascinates me that nature in and of itself is a type of the Savior. And even though the winter and the falling leaves and the dormancy(is that a word?) of nature is supposed to represent His death, in His perfection he has even managed to make that beautiful! I am so grateful for this beautiful earth and that I got to enjoy it this morning! And thanks to Emily for taking time to take our pictures! That was fun!

Question!

This is driving me crazy. Can you now only see your pictures on your post in html form or did i hit something wrong? i also no longer can center my writing or pick a font? Did that just change in the basic blogging format? also, how do people cluster their photos together, i.e. put them all touching in the center? if anyone knows the answers to these questions, i'd love to know. thanks.

Turkey Trot Training

Since moving here I have heard about the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning and thought it sounded like a neat thing to do as a family. Finally the pieces all fell into place so that we can do it this year.
A)We have a jogging stroller! Yeah!
B)Kevin has a light schedule and we are enjoying "training"- well, at least working out together, which we haven't gotten to do for a while.
C)We'll be in St. Louis and I'm not pregnant:)
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week! Can you believe the vibrance of these leaves???!!!!

Our little running partners. Usually Peter falls asleep and at they hold hands for a bit of the ride. They're troopers!

The lovely street "Flora" where we usually run.

HALLOWEEN - OOooooooooooOOOOhhh! Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on?

This year Halloween was a blast, now that Jillian understands a little bit more of what is going on. She was so excited to say "Trick or treat" and get CANDY! One of the first things she said when she woke up was "It's a candy day!" We never did convince her to put on her tail, which she was nervous about for some reason, but she loved putting the makeup on her face and ran around screaming "Roar!" She was a little more timid once we got to the Trunk-or-Treat at the church and would barely whisper "Trick or Treat." She and Pete sure made some cute zoo animals. Jill was a leopard and Pete was a giraffe, if you can't tell. We didn't end up dressing up, except for the signs on our backs that said "Party Pooper #1 and #2. Oh wait, Kevin was SUCH a party pooper that he didn't even put it on. Stinker!


It took me all night to get this picture but I think it was worth it.



Janelle and Angela, some creative and pregnant friends from the ward. They're due two days apart.

Feels Like Home!

This is not only the song Kevin and I danced to at our wedding reception :), but it is also how we feel right now! We had such a wonderful time visiting with family, well, mostly the kids and I had more of a chance to do that, but as we drove home, and then finally arrived, we realized just how much St. Louis feels like home to us. I am not sure what confirmed it most. Maybe it was during our Saturday morning jog when we heard someone open their front door and yell out "Hey, Shut up that Dang Dog!" Or maybe it was the car with the missing mirror that had been ingeniusly replaced with a few rubber bands and a handheld mirror that we saw next to us at our local gas station. No, I think most of all it was Jillian who put it so well when she said "I love mine house. I love our house." These little apartments have been our first homes as a family and we're sure going to miss them. Well, most things about them:) The kids are adjusting really well to sharing a bedroom and Peter is loving his new "luxury" crib mattress. Jillian has taken to waking up in the middle of the night and relocating to the hallway for the rest of her beauty sleep, where she sleeps for the rest of the night if we don't hear her, but hopefully that's a quickly passing phase. Anyway, it's felt so good to be back and to feel like we're "home," for now anyways. And guess what? No more smoke smell!!!!

Family Fun in Raleigh

The last two weeks of our hiatus from the real world of school and housework were spent in Raleigh, with Kevin joining us the last week. He was still working hard studying for his Step 2 Boards so that's why he is still not in any of these photos! The kids and I got to spend some time with Grandma and our Chapel Hill Cousins! We had a blast and miss everyone now that we're back in Missouri!

We went on several adventures while we were in NC. Here we are at a pumpkin patch/ farm/ fall festival type place. Jillian and Hunter loved this slide that was so slippery it shot them off the end if we didn't slow them down! Jill, of course, had to include Baby in her fun, and wear her sunglasses upside down. It's so much cooler that way!

Jillian and Hunter on the hayride

My gorgeous sister-in-law Doreen and her kiddos!

They had a fake cow with fake utters that the kids could practice on. The kids thought it was pretty fun, until they found something more fun...filling the bucket with rocks:)


Already so good at being the big sister!

Funny expressions

Have you ever played the laughing game? Peter doesn't look like he gets it yet but Hunter is enjoying himself.

Our big fan in front of the "Biggest nut ever," a line from a favorite book and a subject she obsesses over a lot. In Raleigh, this huge acorn is dropped every New Year's Eve.

Gayle and I after we participated in the Run for Autism

Jill sat so still to get her face painted afterwards!

Playing in Grandma's stream. I'm sure we'll have many of these fun pictures in the future as the kids grow up.

There's just something about putting your feet in a cold mountain stream! I have always loved this- it reminds me of going up the canyon with my grandparents for hikes or Saturday morning breakfasts when we were visiting them in Utah. This reminds me of that.

Rescuing Mr. Penguin after his courageous dive.

My book lover

Jill loves to walk like a penguin ever since watching the March of the Penguins about 400 times with Dad. Here she is using Peter's toy as her egg and making her joke face. Classic Jillian!

Children have such bright eyes! I just wonder what he's thinking and what he knows about heaven!

Here's our sweetie hanging out on Grandma's front porch and spoiling us with his sweet smiles.

Sweet Mason

The whole gang, minus Kevin who was studying hard, outside the Tarheel Basketball Museum, which is right down the road from Matt and Doreen's place.

Here's our future baller! This kid has had HUGE hands and feet since birth. He's also grown almost an inch each month he's been alive. He's just got to play basketball!

This one is for Grandma! Here's our Chapel Hill girl:)