Christmastime

We have been busy enjoying this Christmas season and I keep thinking I need to post about all the things we have been doing but I keep forgeting to bring my camera with me! We put up our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving so we have been able to enjoy it for awhile. My family has a tradition of cutting down our Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving with Jared's family so my family picked out a tree for us. I think they picked out a perfect one!

Last Sunday we had a Christmas dinner with Jared's family. Jared's Mom is going out to California to visit Stephanie and Dave so we celebrated Christmas early. Steph and Dave just had their first baby, Matthew David Martin. He is absolutely adorable!!! I wish they lived closer so I could have a chance to hold their sweet baby.

Monday night we were able to go visit Jared's Grandma and Grandpa Gunnell. We enjoyed visiting with them and having some yummy food!
Wednesday night for mutual we watched a bunch of the children from the ward so their parents could do a little Christmas shopping. We had quite the crowd. Caleb enjoyed pushing the little chairs around while a few of the bigger children chased him.
Jared took Thursday off work just for fun. We enjoyed shopping during the day and that night we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and to the temple lights afterward. Caleb loved walking around and of course he wanted to touch all of the lights.

This last picture didn't turn out great but I really like it. It's a picture of the nativity with the temple in the background. While I was standing in this spot I was just thinking about what a special time of year this is. I am so grateful for our Savior and for the temple. It is a blessing to live so close to such a beautiful temple and to have a knowledge of the gospel.

Ward Christmas party

Last night we went to our ward Christmas party. There was a nice program with dessert served afterward. We had a good time.

Santa came at the very end and the kids were so excited to see him.
I was hoping to get a picture of Caleb with Santa but it got too late.

Embarrasing moments...

Who, you might ask, are those men sitting next to me? Well they are paramedics(firemen)of course!
Ok so last night I went to dinner with a bunch of ladies from my ward for Koe's birthday. It was so fun getting to know them and chatting with them until...I passed out in front of all of them! Yes it's true. It was so crazy because I get light headed a lot being pregnant but I've only passed out one other time. They all got really worried and had the manager called an ambulance. By the time I "came to" the fire truck was already on the way so of course they had to check me out to make sure I was fine. Thankfully the firemen agreed with me and said I didn't have to go in the ambulance.
I know I made the ladies in my ward all very worried but just to let them all know I called my doctor's office this morning and the doctor said it was pretty normal for this to happen mid-pregnancy. He didn't even seem to think it was a big deal.
So, now I guess I can chalk this up as just another embarrasing moment. I'm glad I could make it a memorable night for everyone:)
Oh, and I took this picture off Margo's blog. Hope you don't mind Margo!

Friends

Caleb is getting to the stage where he is learning to play and interact with other children. I love to see him laugh and play with them. A couple of weeks ago I went to lunch with some of my good friends. April brought along her little boy and we took pictures. They were so cute together!

Caleb also loves to play with his friend Garrett Tompkinson. Most of the time they do really well together. They have been around each other since they were born so I think they know one another.

Caleb also has a friend named Jeffrey. His mom and I go walking together and Caleb gets so excited to see him in the morning. They often play a game of trying to reach the other one's hand while we are pushing them in their strollers.
Caleb has such a fun personality and I am loving it. He smiles and laughs so much and I am just grateful to be his mother!

Caleb's collection

Yesterday Caleb wanted to go for a walk. He loves to be outside!

Along the way he found some great things to pick up.

Here is his final collection. What do you think?

Seven random things

I know I have done this before but I was tagged again so here goes...

1. I love to save money. I think about every dollar I spend and I rarely buy things unless I feel like I am getting a really good deal. I have to admit that Jared is the same way and sometimes he's worse than me. We have made it through school so far without going into any debt so I guess it's a good thing!

2. I love to hang out and do things with friends. I feel like I have always been blessed to have the greatest friends and it has been a huge blessing in my life.

3. I love Josh Groban's new Christmas CD. Thank you Karli for getting it for me! I have to admit I have already been listening to it and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! (I'm sure some of you are thinking I'm crazy!)


4. I am the second counselor in my ward and I love working with the Young Women. My Beehives have so much energy sometimes I just don't know what to do with them! They make me laugh though.

5. I am 22 weeks pregnant and I'm already getting heartburn really bad at night. Hopefully it doesn't last the rest of my pregancy! Does anyone have any suggestions for me on what to do to get rid of it?

6. I love to be barefoot. I rarely wear shoes around the house. Here in the valley I wear flip flops almost year round because they are so easy to put on and kick off.

7. I am so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is my favorite time of year because I love to spend time with family. Plus Jared gets time off work (I'm so grateful he has PTO and paid Holidays). It is so nice to spend time together!

Halloween

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been wanting to show pictures of Halloween but we left our camera at the Moore's house when we were there Halloween night. It was a fun evening and I know Jared especially enjoyed it. He loved reminiscing about the time his family lived on that same street. I know he has a lot of great memories from that area. That street has to be one of the funnest places to be Halloween night. Everyone gets into it. One neighbor always shows movies with a projector onto their house. I think Jared and I have gone there every year since we've been married and it's always fun. Sister Moore always makes fresh donuts and TONS of other food. Then everyone sits outside and hands out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters. It's almost a constant flow of kids from 6:30 until about 8:30. We had a fun Halloween.

Jared dressed up as a doctor (how original!) and Caleb was a bee. Here they are getting ready to go.


Let's go! You better catch up because I'm going to get some candy!

Day at the park

Last Saturday was such a beautiful day here in Mesa! The weather was perfect and it was so nice to be outside. We decided to take Caleb to Freestone park and we had so much fun. It was very beautiful and we just enjoyed being outside.



Most of all Caleb enjoyed playing on the swing. He just didn't want to stop!


I'm so grateful to have the summer overwith...now can we please enjoy a few more weeks of nice weather?

Boys, boys, and more boys!

It's no surprise to me but we are definitely having a boy! I went to the doctor today and had an ultrasound done. The first picture that popped on the screen showed that there was no question, he's a boy. He must have known we were looking at him though, because after we got a good look he got shy and he covered himself up with his cute little hand.
We are excited to have another boy. We already have everything we need and that is a huge blessing. I'm also excited for Caleb to have a brother. Hopefully they will grow up to be the best of friends.
After my appointment I went with my friend, Karli, to check out the new hospital, Banner Gateway on Higley and the US 60. It's so nice! Everything looked so clean and new. It was crazy to think that in about five months we will be having our second child there.

Going to Grandma's house

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to Show Low. It was an enjoyable and relaxing trip. Caleb really enjoyed playing with his aunts and uncles. He loves his Aunt Amber who is only 7 and his Uncle Stephen who is only 9. They just love to keep him entertained which gives me a nice break!
I really enjoyed listening to conference. My goal is to listen and read all of the talks many times before next conference.
Caleb enjoyed "playing" Grandma's piano while we were there. What a musician he is!


And just to let you know how much he loved it:

BABY TWO!

Wow! So, I am almost 17 weeks. This ultrasound was done at 13 1/2 weeks and the doctor said my due date is March 11.


It has been such an interesting pregnancy so far for me. I don't think the first 13 weeks felt real to me. We have told most of the people we know now so it feels more real each day. Last week I thought I felt the baby move for the first time and I am so excited to feel it move more often. I am definitely starting to show and all of my clothes are getting too tight! Pretty soon I'm going to have to whip out the maternity clothes...yikes!

Even babies have a story to tell...

If only we could understand what they have to say!

I don't know if that's bad or good...

Jared just received his MCAT score and definitely didn't do as well as he'd hoped. It is a devastating blow to both of us because he worked so hard to prepare for that test...many, many hours of preparation. Of course we question why he wasn't able to do better after working so hard and after all the prayers and fasting that were done in his behalf. Recently in our stake conference there was a talk that has stuck with me ever since. I think it is particularly important in our lives right now.

There was once a wise Chinese man who had one son, one horse, and one acre of ground on which he made his living. One day his son went out to feed the horse and left the gate open and the horse ran away. All of the man’s friends and neighbors came to him and said, “Oh that’s too bad. You’ve lost your only horse. How will you make your living?” The wise Chinese man just said, “I don’t know if that’s bad or that’s good.” But they insisted it was bad.

A few days later, the horse got thirsty and came back to the corral bringing 9 other wild horses with him. Now all his friends came over and said, “Oh, isn’t that good. You’ve got 10 horses.” The wise Chinese man said, “I don’t know if that’s bad or good.” And they insisted it was good.

A few days later, the wise Chinese man’s son went out to break one of the wild horses. In the process, the horse reared up and came down, severely breaking the son’s leg. This time all the neighbors came over and said, “Oh, that’s too bad. That’s your only son. What will you do?” And again the wise Chinese man said, “I don’t know if that’s bad or good.” And they insisted it was bad.

A short time later, war broke out in the country. The government came through and gathered up all the able-bodied young men and marched them off to war where they were all killed.”

Our speaker then went on to say "Of course, this story can go on indefinitely. This is the story of your life and my life, our lives."

I don't know why Jared wasn't able to do as well as he'd hoped, but I do know that we are both trying hard to follow the Spirit and do what the Lord has in store for us. There is a reason why this didn't work out at this time. Although this seems like a bad thing to us now, there is a reason for everything, and maybe in the end it will turn out for our good.

Last day...

For about the past three months I have been working from home every other day. I worked for my Brother-in-law that owns a business called my4closures.com. Well, ever since Jared went back to school the job has been very difficult for me and sometimes very stressful because I don't have him here to help me out with Caleb during the busiest times.

I haven't wanted to give the job up because I felt like we needed the money, but I finally decided it wasn't worth it anymore. Today is my last day and in many ways that is a huge relief!

All I know is I just want to be a good mother. Nothing brings me greater joy and I didn't like having something that was taking me away from that. It is definitely a blessing that Jared has a good job to provide for us. I was blessed to have a mother that was always a stay at home mom and I hope that I can give that to my children also. I thought this job would be great because I could work completely from home, but in many ways it still took me away from Caleb. I'm so grateful to be able to move on. Hopefully I can be a better wife and mom now.

Enjoying the campfire

We went camping over labor day weekend. The first night we got there it started pouring rain as soon as we got the campfire going to make dinner on. We'd planned to make foil dinners but obviously mother nature didn't want that to happen. It rained and hailed for so long everything was soaked! We decided to go spend the night at Jared's parents cabin in Pinetop. We sure enjoyed nice warm comfortable beds that night!

The next day turned out to be really nice so we went back out to our campsite. That night we built a fire and enjoyed sitting around it, singing songs. We also got to enjoy our campfire treat...SMORES!! They were yummy! Camping is just not the same without a campfire.

I definitely didn't take enough pictures out there because it was so beautiful and green after all of the rain, but here is one of Caleb and my sister Jamie.

Our California Vacation

A few months ago my Mom's side of the family had a Fish family reunion. It was fun and I got to know a lot more about that side of my family. While we were at the reunion we actually met one of my Mom's cousins that is going to medical school right now at Western University in California to become a DO (doctor of Osteopathy). This is exactly what Jared wants to become. We were excited to meet a family member who could tell us more about what we are getting ourselves into. Well, he had a lot of great advice and he invited us to go stay with his family for a weekend to visit the med school. We got there Thursday and Jared spent the day with my cousin looking around the school.

Friday we went to the beach. Caleb thought the water was too cold so we played in the sand together. He seemed to love it.



Saturday we spent the day at the park and riding moutain bikes. There were some really beautiful trails.

We came home this morning and I can't believe our vacation is already over. I have been looking forward to it for a long time and now we are already home. It was a fun weekend though and I'm glad we were able to go. We definitely learned a lot while staying with Boyce and Downi and their family. They have been though so much to get to where they are today. They have a neat story. Their story gives us hope that we will be able to make it also. This morning when we left their family, Boyce also had to leave his family for an entire month. He is going all over the country looking for a place to do his residency. Once he gets back he will be home for a little while and then he is leaving for another two months. I know that things like this are in our future if we go to medical school and I know it will be hard. It will be worth it though, because although many things in life are hard, in the end hard work pays off.

Such a mess!

Last week I walked into the kitchen and I found this...

At first I was a little frustrated because it seemed like Caleb had been making a mess of everything all day, but then I just started to laugh. I couldn't believe that one drawer of kitchen towels and wash cloths could make such a mess! I ran and grabbed the camera so I could show Jared what Caleb had done. As soon as Caleb saw me, he came running (or crawling would be more like it) and gave me this smile...

Now how can you be mad when you get a smile like that?

MCAT over...school begins

It was such a relief for Jared to finish taking his first MCAT. He worked so hard to get ready for it! We really appreciated all of the support we recieved from family and friends. Now we are just waiting a month for the results. Yikes!

It was nice to have him all to myself for one weekend. He was so relaxed and stress free and it was great. The only problem is school began again today. I always dread school starting again. How does he do it? He works from 7:00 to 3:00 with no lunch break, and then he goes straight to school. On Tuesday and Thursday he has class until 9:00 at night. At least on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday he will be home around 5:00. It's a crazy schedule and I know Caleb is going to miss him too. He won't even get to see his Dad on Tuesday or Thursday for the next few months.

Although it will be tough, I am grateful Jared is working so hard. It will be worth it in the end!

Jared's personality!

I thought it would be fun to have Jared take this test...

You Are An ESTJ

The Guardian You're a natural leader and quick, logical decision maker. Goals are important in your life, and you take many steps to acheive them. You enjoy interacting with others, mostly through work related activities. Your high energy level means you are great at getting things done! In love, you tend to bring stability to relationships. You feel comfortable being in charge, and you enjoy being a provider. At work, you take charge. You thrive in structured environments and don't mind enforcing the rules. You would make a great teacher, judge, or police detective. How you see yourself: Realistic, stable, and pragmatic When other people don't get you, they see you as: Rigid, bound to rules, and a bad listener

What's Your Personality Type?

Four wonderful years!!!

Yesterday was our anniversary. It's hard to believe this was four years ago. It has been such a great four years. I am so grateful for Jared and for all he does. He is wonderful.


Here are three of the top reasons I love him:

3. He is a great provider. For the past eight months he has been working full time, going to school full time, and preparing to take a major test (the MCAT) to get into Medical school. In fact he is off taking is MCAT right now! He has worked so hard and I am proud of him.

2. He is a wonderful father. Caleb loves him so much! He gets sooooo excited when Jared walks in the door. Although he has been so busy lately he still finds time to be with his family and I love him for that.


1. The most important reason I love him is because he married me in temple. We are an eternal family and I get to be with him forever! He is so strong in the gospel and he honors his priesthood. I know there is no greater blessing in this life then to be sealed to the one you love.

Pictures

One of my really great friends, Karli Tompkinson, has a really nice camera. Ever since Caleb turned one year old she has been offering to take some pictures for us. I thought it would be fun to have a few family pictures too. I think she did a really great job!

Personality test...

Okay so a friend of mine had this personality test on their blog so I decided to try it. The results were quite interesting! What do you think? Does this describe me?

You Are An ESFJ

The Caregiver You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first. A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change. You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project. You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people. In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding. You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner. At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people. You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher. How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all

What's Your Personality Type?

I've been tagged...

Okay so I have been tagged at least three times. Maybe I should actually do it! I don't have a great excuse for taking so long except every time I sit down at the computer Caleb cries until I pick him up so he can play with the keyboard. There's just something so COOL about this keyboard! There are so many buttons! It doesn't even compare to the TV remote or a cell phone (two of his other favorites that he's not supposed to have:). Anyway I have finally found time when he is taking a nap where I can sit down and type seven things about myself. Where do I begin?

1. First of all I guess I will tell you about how much I love to play sports. It doesn't really matter which sport, just any sport. I love the competition, I love the exercise, and I love the fun! I miss playing so much. I don't find the time to do it very much anymore but each time I do I love it!

2. I come from a pretty big family. There are eight of us kids. Five girls, two boys, and then one more girl. Right now there are four of us girls that have moved away from home and surprisingly we all live in the valley right now. I love doing things with my sisters and I'm so glad we all live so close. They are the best!

3. I have never liked talking on the phone very much. I would just rather talk to someone in person. It's kind of funny because anytime Jared and I want to call someone to do something with us, I always make him call. I especially hate making phone calls to people I don't know (like insurance companies). I don't know why I care because they don't have a clue who I am and I doubt I will ever talk to them again, but I just don't like it!

4. I love to read good books. The only problem is I get ADDICTED. I can't put the book down and nothing else gets done until I'm finished. Recently I read the two books Twilight and New Moon. I'd heard they were such good books but I was skeptical because they are about vampires! Anyway I really did get addicted and I am glad to be finished because now I can get something else done! Too bad the next book comes out on Aug. 7! I guess I'll just have to set aside one more day for that book too!

5. I love to be out in nature. I love trees, grass, flowers, lakes, and mountains! I love to go camping and enjoy the beauty of the forest. Someday I hope to live in a place that has all of these things.

6. Growing up we always had a huge garden. It was at least 1/2 an acre. I always loved eating all of the fresh vegetables out of the garden. I loved going and out and finding the first cucumber or the first squash that was ready to be picked. We always had fresh green beans, corn, squash, carrots, onions, tomatoes... Anyway someday I hope to have a garden like that too!

7. Well, I can't tell seven things about myself without mentioning how much I love my husband and I love my son. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have them in my life. They are just so special to me.

So now that I have finally done this, I can't think of anyone that hasn't been tagged yet, although I don't think Stephanie and Allison have done it yet. For those who tagged me I would like to tag you back so how about you tell us seven things about your husbands!!!

Dinner at Oreganos

Saturday night we went to dinner with my sister Natalie and her husband Dallas. We had a really good time. The wait was about 50 minutes but we didn't mind because it was sooooo nice outside. I was actually saying that it felt good to be outside and I am in Mesa Arizona in July! Amazing. Anyway we enjoyed our meal and of course we couldn't leave without having a pazooki! Caleb was dying to try it so we gave him a few bites. He was making me laugh so hard so I grabbed the camera. It's really loud in the restaurant but the best part is the faces he makes!!! Enjoy!

Caleb turned one year old!

Thursday July 26th was such a special day for our family. Caleb turned one year old, his Aunt Stephanie turned 24, and he had a cousin (Taryn) that was born that day! So much to celebrate!!! By request from Stephanie we went to Gecko Grill for dinner that night. Caleb got a glow worm from Grandma Gunnell and he was quite fascinated by it!
Caleb also got some really fun books from Grandma Pearce, and a card with money from Great Grandma Gunnell! He has loved playing with his new toys.

We also decided to throw a little party with cake and ice cream for him tonight. We had a few friends and family over to celebrate. I made him a Lego cake. It didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to (I am a perfectionist) but it was still fun.


He got his own piece of cake and he LOVED it! At first he wasn't sure what to do with that blue frosting but he got the hang of it as soon as he realized how good it was...

All gone!!!

Our Camping Adventures

Our camping adventure began Friday night at 6:00 when we finally managed to get everything packed in the cars and we drove away from our house. Natalie and Dallas rode with Karli and Jared, while Jared and I followed behind in our little car. All was going well until 20 minutes out of Payson traffic came to a complete stop! There was a bad accident and they shut down the road. We were completely stuck! We all got out of our cars and sat around talking.

Finally 2 1/2 hours later (about 9:30) we were on our way again. Of course we hadn't eaten dinner yet so we had to stop in Payson somewhere along with the other thousands of people who were stuck in the traffic jam! We finally got our dinner around 10:30. Let's just say it wasn't very appetizing so late at night.

We FINALLY arrived at our campsite around 12:30 and we set up camp. Once we finally got to bed I was so tired I couldn't go to sleep. Of course as soon as it was light outside (5:00 AM) the babies were wide awake and there was no more sleeping. The boys left to go fishing while the girls stayed at camp to watch the babies. A couple of hours later the boys returned with very little luck fishing.

Sometime around noon everyone decided it was time for a nap! Just as we were all laying down we heard the first signs of the storm. We got back out of tents and put everything away. It rained for about two hours but it was quite nice because Caleb enjoyed the sound of the rain and slept the whole storm!


Once it was over we were able to enjoy some nice weather for a few hours. Jared and Dallas decided it was time for a campfire to cook dinner on. Jared found a dead tree for Dallas to break up with his big rock. Lets just say these boy scouts used all of their resources to get this fire going. (and then we went and bought firewood for $5 from the ranger:)


We cooked dinner, (foil dinners, one of my favorite camping foods!) and sat around the fire talking. I really was looking forward to cooking marshmellows and making smores on that fire but then around 6:00 the rain began again and we were in the tents for the night!

We packed and cleaned up Sunday morning to go home. Caleb enjoyed playing around in his playpen while we were packing up.


Once we finally made it home we enjoyed our wonderful showers and went to sacrament meeting together. Our last event of our journey was eating a spagetti dinner at Natalie's house together.

Looking back I think we all had a good time. It never fails that we have some kind of adventure when we go camping.

Thirty seconds of snuggle time

Caleb has never been much of a snuggly baby. He has never been one to fall asleep in my arms. Sometimes I just really want to snuggle and hold him while he is sleeping but that rarely happens! Well, yesterday was one of those days where I just wanted to hold him and love him. He didn't want anything to do with it, but I kept trying. Finally I got him to lay his head down on me and Jared grabbed the camera. Don't be fooled though it lasted for about 30 seconds (no exaggeration) and he was down playing with his toys again!

Caleb is almost a year old!

Caleb is going to be a year old in just two weeks! I know everyone says this, but it really is amazing how much they change in their first year. It has been so much fun for me to watch. It is a special thing for parents to be able to experience all of their child's "firsts." His first smile, the first time he rolled over, the first time he sat up, and so on... This video is fun because it shows a lot of Caleb's personality. He has learned how to clap when he is excited and we have been teaching him how to play patty cake. He is just so much fun!

My "Surprise" birthday party

So last Sunday (July 1st) was my birthday. We traveled back from Show Low that day and had dinner with Jared's parents (which by the way was a very good meal)! Anyway we didn't really get a chance to do anything together that day so Jared decided to celebrate my birthday yesterday. He tried to make it a surprise but that didn't really work! I knew he was going to try to get me back for making him wear that crazy shirt on his birthday when we went to a family reunion. When we got there he made me dress up like a princess:

Don't I look cute? Ha ha...at least I'm a good sport!
For dinner Jared made his famous lasagna that I love. It was so good!

After dinner Jared wanted to make a bigger fool out of me so he made me play the traditional bubble gum game. He asked me a lot of random questions and if I got it wrong I had to eat some gum. Well by the end I had quite the mouthful!!!

Can you believe that piece of gum fit in my mouth! SICK!!!

After that we just played Uno and few other games. We had a good time and all I can say is Jared better watch out for next year :)