Adam Turns One

We celebrated Adam's first birthday last month.  I can't believe our little baby is a year old!  We threw a pirate party for him, and it was a blast.  I love to plan/host parties, so this was so fun for me.  Probably won't be having a party for him for a while because I spent quite a bit of money (sorry, Matt!), but it was totally worth it!

My family came down for the party, and Matt's family drove up from Arizona!  Only grandchild privileges... We also had a few neighbors over.  Everyone dressed up and looked so awesome in their costumes!

 Lacey made Adam's cake!  Isn't this incredible!?

December Highlights

One of my goals for this year is to be better at posting updates as they occur and not a month or two later.  So, before I officially begin this goal, let's take a look at December!

We kicked off the Christmas season with a trip to Salt Lake to see the beautiful lights at Temple Square.

I turned 27!  Matt surprised me with a DSLR camera and some online photography courses!

 We attended the Qualtrics Casino Royale Christmas Party in true Bond fashion.

My brother, David, came home from his mission in Oregon just in time for Christmas!  It is so great having the whole family together again.

We continue to watch Adam learn and grow and get into everything!  I feel like we have to re-baby proof the house every week as he learns how to do something new.

We had a lot of fun this Christmas watching Adam experience everything for the first time.  He loved our Christmas tree and even had a tear-free first encounter with Santa Claus!

We spent Christmas this year in Northern California with my family.  More pics from that trip in the next post!

Happy Birthday Matt!

I love celebrating Matt's birthday every year.  It is such an important day to me.  I mean, how different would my life be if Matt had never been born!?  Plus, celebrating October birthdays is so much fun because there is so much to do!  You can carve pumpkins, go to haunted houses, watch Halloween movies, eat pumpkin food, go to football games... basically any and all of the fall festivities can be incorporated into the birthday celebrations.

Since we recently went from two incomes to a half an income (Matt works part-time while he is in school), we decided not to get gifts for each other for birthdays this year and to keep our celebrations simple in an effort to save a little extra money.  So, here's the run down of how we celebrated his special day.

I decorated our apartment with streamers and balloons while Matt was at school/work.  Then, Adam and I picked Matt up from work and had lunch at the duck pond before his classes started.  Adam loved it!

When Matt got home from school, we packed up our hot dogs, buns, and condiments and headed to the canyon to have a fire with our neighbors.  We love going to the canyon, especially this time of year when the leaves are changing colors and the air is getting cooler.  We have made some really great memories there over the years.

After roasting hot dogs and enjoying time by the fire while we listened to the river, we came home and ate the delicious apple pie that Lacey made for Matt since he doesn't really care for cake.  Lacey has made it a tradition to make a cake for our birthday's every year.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the pie, but is was delicious!!

I'm so grateful that Matt was born and that I get to wake up every day beside him.  He is my favorite person on the planet, an incredible husband and father, and my very best friend.  Here's to 25!

Happy 26th to Me!

I still can't believe that I'm 26!... and apparently certain family members can't either!  

I received a text from my mother-in-law wishing me a "Happy Birthday" the day before my birthday.  Later in the evening, she texted me back and said, "So, I bet you've been wondering how to break it to me that today is not your birthday..."  It was hilarious.

I can't hold that against her though because when I checked my email at work on my actual birthday, I had an email from my dad wishing me a "Happy Quarter Century!"  Thanks, Dad :) but you're older than you think you are!  We had a good laugh about that one...

I woke up to streamers and a big "Happy Birthday Jenni" banner (you can buy kits and make those custom now!) decorating our living room.  Matt went out early that morning before I woke up and bought everything to make sure my day started perfectly.  He is always so kind and thoughtful.

After work, Matt and I went out to dinner at Tucanos- my choice.  I tell you, pregnancy does weird things to you.  I swear I've eaten more red meat in the last 6 months than I have in the last 6 years!  I looked into a lot of different restaurants and finally decided that it had to be Tucanos-- unlimited buffet and meat.  And don't even get me started on the grilled pineapple, or those cheese bread things, or the strawberry lemonade... ok, you get the picture.  Dinner was amazing.  Plus, if you're a member of the Tucanos Birthday Club, you get to eat for free on your birthday!

After dinner Matt and I came home and I opened up the presents he got for me.

The best present was this new coat!

Then we headed to Thanksgiving Point to join in the holiday festivities there.  I love having a birthday in December because there are so many fun activities going on all the time!  And Christmas is my favorite time of the year, so I love being able to spend my birthday doing Christmas things.

Thanksgiving Point has an amazing drive-through light show!  In all the years that I've lived in Utah Valley, I have never been!  It was awesome!

We bought hot cocoa, fresh donuts, and got to see real reindeer!  It was so cute to see how excited all of the little kids were about the reindeer, which of course made us even more excited about our little man who will be 9 months old this time next year!  

26 was another wonderful birthday!  I'm so grateful for all of my family and friends that wished me "Happy Birthday" through texts, phone calls, and Facebook posts.  I'm looking forward to it being my best year yet!