A new church calling for Jen!

I finally have a new calling. As most everybody I have ever talked to knows, I have been teaching primary for almost 5 years now and I am completely burnt out. About two weeks ago I was called to be the new Activity Day Leader. I love it. We had our first activity this past week and it was so much fun. All of the girls are really great. There were about 11 of them (I think it is usually about 12-15 that come). It was a 2 hour activity rather than the usual 1 hour, since the next scheduled activity falls on Christmas. We obviously won’t be having that one so we had an extra long Christmas Extravaganza. I was a little nervous because I had less than a week to plan it after I was called. We made Christmas cookies, Christmas tree ornaments, an advent chain, wrote thank you notes to the old Activity day leader, had popcorn and eggnog, and read Christmas stories. Wow! We got a lot done in 2 hours. Anyway, I’m just really excited to have such a fantastic new calling. Oh, and added bonus, after January (I’m still filling in as a Primary teacher) I’ll be able to go to Sunday School and Relief Society or just help Adam wander the halls with Jack.

October-Jack's birthday party in San Angelo

On Sunday, before my Aunt and Uncle had to leave, we had a birthday party for Jack. He loved his cake as you can tell from the pictures. Thankfully he got a lot of really cute clothes, since he is growing out of all of his old ones so quickly. He’s only 13 months-old and he’s wearing 18 month clothes. He’s a big boy.

Jack's not quite sure about the cake yet.
Mmmmm good


I love it, I really love it!
I can't wait for next year.

More San Angelo Pictures

Mommy and Allie in the process of getting dressed.
Daddy and Jack-they are two handsome guys!


Auntie Kathy and Jen
A picture of Uncle Joe taking a picture of Jack.
Mom, Auntie Kathy, and Jen

October-Our Trip to San Angelo

So, no big surprise that I have not been able to keep up with my blogs like I said I would (that was back in October after having not posted one in over 2 months). So, I may just have to post one giant blog every month to chronicle what we have been up to in that month. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be lucky to write a blog quarterly.

At the end of October we went to San Angelo to visit my parents and to celebrate Jack’s first birthday. My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Niko were visiting from Boston. My brother, Joe, was also visiting my parents. My other brother, Matt, lives in San Angelo. So it was a family reunion of sorts. We had a great time. Joe has recently taken up photography as his latest hobby. He bought a new camera for over $2000. It takes amazing pictures, especially compared to our camera. Joe spent most of his time taking pictures of the family. It was so nice not to have to worry about snapping pictures of our own. Luckily he should be there for Christmas, so maybe we’ll get some decent pictures then too.

We were hoping to find a local Halloween party to go to since we would be missing our church party. But for some reason in San Angelo, they had all either already happened or were going to be on Sunday. So, we (I think it was my Mom’s idea) decided to get the kids dressed up in their costumes and send Allie around the doors of the house to get candy. We had a ton of people there, so first Allie went to all of the outside doors and then she went to the inside bedroom doors. She had a great time and was quite excited by all of the candy that she got.

Allie wanted in on Jack's pumpkin pics
The closest thing to a decent family picture that we'll have for a while
Me and my brothers (Joe and Matt)
My whole family (we finally got one without my Dad putting bunny ears on my Mom)
Grammy and Allie
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Niko
Mommy and Jack

What a happy little pumpkin
My Mom got Allie a cowboy hat while we were in West Texas (how fitting). She decided to put it on with her butterfly costume.
For some reason my Mom thought that the people who were passing candy out to Allie should also dress up. I reminded her that usually only the tricker-treaters dress up. Her dramatic side really comes out when she is with her sisters
Nana looking beautiful
This picture of my Dad's dog ("Girlie Dog" -that's the best name he could come up with for her) was taken at night. It was completely dark, but with Joe's new camera (did I mention it cost over $2000) we could see her in the picture. We thought it was funny that she looked like she was smiling.

I Spy...

Anyone remember playing the game I Spy...? Take a few minutes and try playing a game with the person on your left.

Plump Halloween Pumpkin

Jack was a pumpkin for Halloween this year. He actually was wearing the costume that Allie wore two years ago. There is a pumpkin hat that goes with the costume, but he kept pulling it off before we could get a picture. Maybe anyone with Photoshop experience can edit in a hat.

Last year Jack dressed up as a 3-day old baby for Halloween. He was cuddly and cute.

Halloween Princess Butterfly

Allie was a princess butterfly for Halloween this year (she was a cheerleader last year and a pumpkin the year before). As you can see in the below picture, she wore a pink leotard with a fluffy skirt and wings. She added a wand to complete the ensemble.
What were you for Halloween?