Our Thanksgiving in Mesa

We had our own little Thanksgiving at home this year. Chris had his 40 page paper to edit over the holiday, so it was too hard to go to St. George. We missed our families, but we did enjoy the bit of time that we got to spend together, just the three of us.

We got a little pre-cooked turkey from Costco that was stuffed with stuffing and cranberries (and it only took 5 minutes to heat up!). Then we picked our favorite other things we like in our Thanksgiving dinners and made those too. Chris made his family's traditional jell-o salad, and I made yams with marshmellows on top. YUMMY! Then we had rolls, corn, and mashed potatoes with no gravy (just how we like it). And everything we got was ready in 20 minutes or less... that's my kind of cooking:) And Chris made enough jell-o salad, that we ate some left overs every night for a week. Good stuff! Carter loved it all... especially the jell-o and mashed potatoes.

Then that Sunday we put the tree up together. It was alot of fun, and Carter loved to help. He was the "middle-man". Chris would hand him a branch and he would bring it to me to put on the tree. He loves the lights on the tree, and especially loves the ornaments... which we ended up moving to the top half of the tree. So our tree is kinda retarded, but its still fun to have around. If we say the word Christmas, Carter points to the tree.






We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our families in St. George. We'll get a nice long (much needed) break. We are leaving on the 16th and get to stay until New Year... unless we get kicked out before then :).

Fun with Carter

We got some little sunglasses for Carter and he likes to wear them around the house. Its funny cause he'll prop them up on top of his head for awhile and then pull them back down over his eyes. He thinks he looks pretty cool.













Carter looooves cars. He carries all his little cars around in a backpack, and then he'll dump them out to slide them down a ramp (which is the arm of the couch) over and over. Also, his big cozy coupe has turned into a fort for him. He discovered he could push it over on its side, climb in, and hide in there.








Carter loves watching these nursery rhyme videos that we found on tv. We watch them everyday over and over. He has just realized that he can interact with the TV, and he gets so excited about it! He loves to jump, clap, and dance like the kids on the video.

Good times

We are having so much fun with Carter these days! He is all over the place, and he is a very happy boy. He is already a little thrill seeker, and has no fear... which is kind of scary for us:) This is a "double decker" park that we went to with a play group from our ward. While we were there the sprinklers came on and Carter couldn't stay out of them! He doesn't care how cold it is, he loves playing in the water, and he got absolutely soaked! He did the same thing a few days earlier at the park near our house. I took some pictures, but they are missing somewhere on the computer so I'll have to track them down. Anyway, I am excited to have a play group to go to every Friday! It'll be a good chance for Carter and I to make some friends.
TABLE DANCER

Chris had a few awesome things happen for him this week! He found out that he got the externship that he wanted for the spring. He will be working for a 9th circuit court of appeals judge. He didn't think he was going to get it because he had some tough competition, but he got it! And I think he definitely deserves it with all the hard work he has done! Yay, for Chris! Also, he applied for a fellowship, which is only given to one person at ASU law school for his 3rd year. And yep, he got that too!! He will be doing a clinic in the summer and externships in the fall for four different prosecuting offices. Plus he gets a freaking awesome scholarship for his last year of school. I'm very proud of Chris and all that he has accomplished so far!

Fun at Kids club

Carter has absolutely loved going to Kid's Club every week! And this week was extra fun because his best friend Adam came! Emily and Adam Blais made the treck over from Scottsdale to join in the fun, and it was a good time had by all. Santa was there too, and the boys loved dancing along to all the songs. Then we fed them some yummy corndogs and rode on the carousel. Yahoo fer free entertainment! :)

Halloween 2010

We had so much fun on Halloween this year! Chris's parents and sister Shari got to come down for the weekend and party with us. On Friday night, while we were waiting for them to arrive, we carved pumpkins. Carter had so much fun playing in the messy pumpkin seeds!
On Saturday we went to Peter Piper pizza for lunch (which is like Disneyland for Carter), and went to our ward's Trunk or Treat that night. Carter dressed up as a lion, which is his favorite animal. He was so excited about his costume, but didn't like the fuzzy hood to be on his head for very long.






The Trunk or treat was awesome! We couldn't believe how big of a turn out it was! We brought 150 pieces of candy and ran out way before it was over. First, we ate dinner and then took turns giving out candy and taking Carter around to all the cars. Carter was confused at first, but soon got the idea, and loved holding out his bucket to get some candy.





After we went home and put Carter to bed, Jeff, Lori, Shari, and Chris went to a haunted house called "the nest". It is supposedly the 2nd best haunted house in the nation. (Not my cup of tea :)) I stayed home with Carter and tried to find something on tv that was NOT scary. I have sworn off the scary crap, cause I know I can't handle it. Chris said it was pretty scary. There was one part where they were walking in the pitch dark for 15 minutes! And not only was it pitch dark, but they had to squeeze through tiny spaces! Scary.


On Sunday night we had some trick or treaters, but nothing like the trunk or treat the day before. We bought way too much candy for Sunday... which we are still slowly scarfing down ourselves.

Carter's favorite new trick

He's a natural gymnast! Just like his dad:)

Pictures of our new place

Starting upstairs...
This is the guest room (which is obviously not quite put together yet). Carter likes to jump and play on the matress in there.

This is Carter's bathroom, which is inbetween the guest room and Carter's room.


Carter's room (He loved to wake up and get his picture taken. He thought it was pretty funny!)


Master Bathroom

Loverly new tile

Yahoo fer a walk-in closet! No more leaving half of our clothes in boxes:)

Master bedroom


Loft at the top of the stairs.


Behind the stairs and kitchen there is a half bathroom and our laundry room/pantry.
Kitchen

Family room

We've got a lot of space to fill and not a whole lot of stuff. Hopefully, (eventually) after I get some more pictures up on the walls it will look a bit better. I'd go nuts decorating if I could. Perhaps we'll just spread Carter's toys throughout the house, and then the rooms will look plenty busy. :)

Carter joins a kids club :)

I found out that the mall near our house has a kids club that has activities every Thursday. It is free and Carter absolutely loves it! There is a show where the kids sing and dance along, they get a free carousel ride, and free lunch in the food court!
I wish I would've gotten it on video, cause it was so funny and cute! Carter was laughing, jumping, and dancing with all his might. He wanted to touch the chipmunk so bad. After the chipmunk picked him up and gave him a hug, I had to take him away and put him in his stroller, because he kept trying to get back up on stage. He kept holding out his arms for the chipmunk to hold him again. After a long tantrum, he settled down and clapped his hands and enjoyed the rest of the show from his stroller.
The carousel was a big hit! He got a bit anxious and wanted to get off before it started, but once it started moving he loved every second of it! After another giant tantrum when he had to get off:), we went down and played at the playland and he ate a yummy corn dog. The whole thing by himself, of course.



When Carter escapes the playland he likes to run into this store. I don't know what the heck it is, but it has old army stuff in it. He likes to look at the jeep and little airplane. He points and says "vroom vroom".