Kick off to Christmas

On the Polar Express!! Kids in their matching jammies courtesy of one of the clients that goes to the animal hospital I work at.

Getting ready to leave!! We are all so excited!!!

I have the cutest stinking baby EVER!!!

Cookies & Hot Chocolate.

Or should I say COLD chocolate! The drink wasn't hot at all, it was quite disappointing :(

My parents with their grandkids!

Thanks to them this trip is made possible!!

Jhett was hilarious to watch. When he is unsure & excited all at the same time he gets very serious. This was the exact look he had last year!

Tredd was so good on the Train ride, he didn't cry at all. He did however make this face when he got his picture taken. Silly Boy.

As we approached the North Pole, Jhett looked out the window to see if he could spot Santa & the Elves.

We made it to the North Pole! Look! Santa!! Jhett immediately got super excited and started saying "oh I want out!"

Jhett spots SANTA on the train!!

Is he excited or scared??

I am just glad this year he is awake!!

Tredd getting a bell from Santa.

Santa asking Jhett for a high five. The little stinker wouldn't give him one.

Family picture in front of the train.

The Polar Express was successful! Jhett's reaction to the whole thing made all the hard work to get there worth it. This is another tradition I am loving & can't wait for next year!

Day AFTER Thanksgiving

For the last 2 years I have gone out shopping on Black Friday. This year was insane! Stores were opening earlier & they had some pretty sweet deals. The insanity actually started Thanksgiving Day or should I say night at 11:30 PM. My MIL, FIL, & SIL all went to Walmart where they were having deals starting at midnight. It is so nice having the Walmart literally less then 5 min away. I couldn't believe how packed the parking lot was. We had to park so far away! It was freezing outside too! So we get in the doors & start heading towards the back of the store. The main things I wanted were movies & to check out the toys. So I walked back to the toy section. On the intercom a walmart employee says "go ahead & grab what you want!" It was amazing how fast people were grabbing things. It took me a while to figure out that all of the "deals" were in piles up & down random aisles throughout the store. I actually feel quite dumb for not recognizing that in the beginning. But I lucked out & got the few movies I was going for & a toy. I am proud to say I only spent $20. Then we headed back to my house where my FIL & MIL decided they were done & wanted to go back to bed, however my SIL & I wanted to head to Target. They opened their doors at 4 AM. I told Emily to come pick me up @ 3:30AM. We got to the Target parking lot about 3:45AM, once again I could not believe how packed the parking lot was. She parked her car & we started walking towards Target where I saw this HUGE line formed outside. I didn't realize how huge until we got up to the doors where there were 3 security guards and a barricade made of carts blocking the entrance. So we walked to the end of the building where we looked down & noticed the line was all the way down the side of Target & probably wrapped behind. We looked at each other & decided to go back to her car & wait until it was actually 4:00 AM. Now let me just tell you we were not there to get any big door busters like tvs, fireplace pits, etc. All we were wanting were a few toys. So when 4:00 AM approached we ran up to the huge line & as it was moving there came a gap & we weaseled our ways in. We almost got pulled out by a security guard because there were tons of people screaming behind us "THEY CUT!! THEY CUT!!" but some lady said to the guard it wasn't us but someone in front of us. I probably should feel bad for cutting, but like I said I wasn't there for the big things so I didn't feel I cheated anyone. Especially because I was the only one grabbing this particular toy when there were mobs of people around me. I also got a few more movies. Emily got some sweet deals. It would have been nice to have more money but I had a budget & I am just proud of myself for sticking to it.

That day turned out to be pretty fun. We went & saw Tangled. CUTEST MOVIE!! Jhett & Tredd did great! Jhett & I went goofing golfing with my mom's family, & that night all the adults went out to dinner then came back to our house & played games, ate dessert, & watched Grown-Ups. I absolutely LOVE Austin's family. I have so much fun when we all get together. As long as Fred & Lisa are in Utah I hope they can continue to come to Arizona for Thanksgiving. I just wished it wasn't such a long drive & cost so much to fly there. I would love to see them more often. The important thing is memories were made & I will forever cherish them.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving morning since I was a teenager my family would go out to breakfast then to a movie. My parents decided to do this so as we got older and married we would still be able to go to a lunch thing with our spouses family. I have really liked this tradition. But the last 2 years Austin & I haven't been able to enjoy the movie since Jhett is not one to sit still. So this year my parents decided to bag the movie & going out to breakfast. They said as family changes so do traditions. Instead we all met up at my parents house and ate breakfast then headed off to the zoo. The weather was great & we were able to see the lions just finishing up breakfast & the rhinos coming out for their breakfast. We were all really able to interact with one another and it was nice.

Jhett posing with a lion.

We thought we would dress Tredd up for the occasion.

My little Tiger & Grandma.

The baboons were really the only animals we saw that were doing much of anything. This one was hilarious. He walked right up to the window & just sat and stared at us.

Jhett is spoiled rotten. Being that he is the first grandchild & first boy in my family means double trouble. Well this little fellow got to ride the camel! Aunt Scotlyn volunteered to be his chaperon.

Aunt Scotlyn & Jhett riding the camel. Jhett had a death grip on the bar & would not look at the camera. You wouldn't know it watching him that he had fun but as soon as Jhett got off the camel & we were walking away he says "Mom, that was fun!"

Of course when we saw the tractor Jhett needed to get on it. He is completely obsessed!

Jhett is at a really fun stage. He gets a lot of things but is still quite unsure on other things. He wouldn't go inside the turtle shell so Aunt Shalae came to the rescue and went inside with him. His face really cracks me up.

I told Jhett to watch out for the alligator, that it was going to get him. Hehe. I am so mean :) Jhett was really unsure & got scared. Thank goodness Jhett has a grandpa who is a super hero because my dad jumped on him and quickly grabbed his mouth so Jhett could touch him. I really did scare him because he wouldn't touch the alligator.

After the zoo we headed back to Emily & Kell's house for a Thanksgiving feast. The food was yummy as usual. We all stuffed our faces, watched movies, & took naps to prepare ourselves for BLACK FRIDAY. I am so thankful for this time of year and the time we get to spend with our families. I am thankful for the traditions we have and the fact that they bring us closer together.

Home Blessing

For Tredd's blessing, we decided to wait until Thanksgiving to bless him. That way everyone could be here for it. We got special permission to do the blessing in our home the night before Thanksgiving. We had quite a turn out. Tredd is one lucky boy to have so many people who love and support him. I feel so blessed to have him for a son. He brings such joy and has such a sweet spirit.

I knew the night of his blessing would be difficult to get a good picture of him in his whites. So I did a mini shoot of him a couple weeks before. This was the picture I put on the invitations.

I thought this picture was cute.

It was like he was pondering about something.

Here were the Men in the circleFrom Left to Right top row...

Great Gpa Carpenter, Great Uncle Scott, Great Gpa Wood, Great Gpa Udall, Uncle Kell, Poppy Sandor, Great Bompa Porter.

From Left to Right bottom row...

Uncle Dallyn, Gpa Udall, Dad, Gpa Carpenter.

Grandmas.

Top Row... Great Gma Udall, Great Gma Carpenter, Great Gma Wood
Bottom Row...Gma Carpenter, Mom, Gma Udall, Gma Sandor


Our Family.

It was a great night. I didn't get a picture of the everybody that was there. But there were about 40+. I had prepared home made soups and had french bread for dinner & my mom made pumpkin bars for dessert. Thank you to all who made the drive out to our home to share that special night with us.

Family Pictures

I absolutely LOVE this time of year and taking pictures. I enjoy looking at other people's pictures too. This year I thought it would be fun to get my boys in Camo and for me to be dolled up since I am the only girl. Taking pictures with a baby and toddler is not an easy task, so therefore we took pictures 3 different days. Thank goodness my parents have a nice camera they let me borrow and my sister takes our pictures so we are able to take pictures as often as we like.

This picture is one of my favorites of the boys. Tredd is totally giggling now and its so easy to get a smile out of him. Jhett on the other hand has no interest in cooperating and in this picture he is being his goofy self. It really captures both of their personalites :)

I LOVE this picture of Jhett! I was literally snapping away at him in hopes to getting a great picture. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

I love Tredd's puckering lips in this one. For whatever reason I couldn't get a good close up picture of him smiling but I must admit I love this one!

For our family pictures I made Tredd this onsie. Once again I am in Love!

(The pictures of the boys were done on day 3 in my backyard taken by me.)

So I was dead set on getting pictures in front of a graffiti wall. There happens to be a couple of abandoned buildings by our house that is covered in it and worked out perfectly.

These pictures are from day 1.

You will notice my hair is curly and Austin and Jhett are in white.

Day 2 pictures were taken right before we headed to my mom's house for her pictures. My hair is straight & Austin and Jhett were in brown shirts. The only good picture is the one I have for our header. After taking those pictures we went home, changed our clothes then headed off to my moms.

Sisters.

This is the picture my mom is sending for Christmas Cards. It has always been a joke in our family that our family wasn't capable of having boys. Well after 26 years of my parents being married, there are now more boys then girls!!!

Carpenter Family 2010.

PS. For all you people that have nice cameras that can take pictures like a professional, make sure you bring your camera with you to Walmart if you are going to print there. I got such crap from their employees and they almost didn't let me take my prints because they didn't believe me when I told them I took the pictures with our camera!!!