Tia's 1st Birthday!!!

That's right...our little girl turned one last month!!! It's so crazy how fast time flies, but we are loving every minute of it!

A few things we LOVE about Tia:

1. She absolutely LOVES her big brother (despite the headlocks and body slams from him)!

2. She's a tough little cookie. She is finally big enough to defend herself. If Jayden takes a toy from her, she will hold on for dear life...even if that means being dragged across the room while holding onto a toy.

3. She's determined! She tries over and over all day long to walk-it doesn't bother her when she keeps falling.

4. She loves when mom or dad come home!

5. She's got the best little giggle..it makes you laugh just listening to it!

6. She loves being tickled.

Here's a little glimpse at her Birthday week...

Having fun with Grandpa

Grandma & Grandpa Atkin came out to help celebrate.

Loving the sweater that Grandma gave me.

I got a really "cool" car from my grandparents.

Happy Birthday to me!

Jayden was SO excited to help me blow out my candle.

Eating dinner at one of our favorite restaurants...Macaroni Grill.

Tia's Big Day!

We took Jayden and Tia to the Dollar Tree...yes that's right...the Dollar store...and we let them run wild. They had a blast!!! They couldn't believe how fun it was to play with the toys! We had to drag them out of there at the end!

Tia with hair..ha ha!

My birthday balloon that Jayden picked out for me.

Eating at John's Incredible Pizza (similar to Chuck E Cheese's)

Playing at John's after dinner.

October Birthdays!!!

I didn't have time to Blog our October Birthdays last month, so here they are:

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Jamie is a GREAT addition to our family! I don't know how Joe got so lucky (just kidding Joe-he he!). Jamie is an awesome, patient, loving, kind mother and friend! She's very pleasant to be around and we are excited to have them back in Utah! We love you Jamie!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

This is our Little Jer Bear. Look how much he has blossomed (I'm sure blossomed is not the right word for a boy, but I couldn't think of another one-sorry Jer). Jeremy has always been a blast to be around (except for when he used to throw knives at my friends-he had some crazy kid years). He is an AWESOME tennis player and just married a fabulous young woman. Jeremy we love you!

Happy Birthday Rick!

I couldn't resist putting this sweet picture of Rick on here. Notice the hair sticking out and the pegged pants (you rock Rick). I also love the tucked in tennis shirt! Those were the good ol' days! Rick went from a shy, quiet, kid to an outgoing, spunky, spontaneous world traveler! He's a great brother and friend and we miss him not living in California, but we're glad he moved back east so he was able to find his beautiful bride! Love you tons Rick!

Our Little Monsters

Last year I picked Jayden's costume for Halloween (he was a penguin...why???...I have no idea...it just looked cute) and Jayden was NOT excited to wear it at all!!!

So this year I let him choose. I asked him over and over for the last few months what he wanted to be and EVERY time he said "Monsters Inc.", so he and Tia were Sulley and Mike from Monsters Inc. I know, I know....Tia's was a boy for Halloween, but I did put a bow on her beenie so you could tell she's actually a girl :). I really wanted her to be Boo, but I couldn't find one small enough and there was NO way I could make a Boo costume. So we made Tia a Mike costume instead (not my bright idea...I borrowed the idea from a lady on ebay).

So here are our Little Monsters..

This is Jayden the day we got his costume in the mail. He was SO excited he couldn't stop looking in the mirror!

Our family full of monsters

Dad and Tia

Little Tia as Mike

Jayden's Monster ROAR

Our front porch. Heading out to "trick or treat".

Hope you all had a FABULOUS Halloween!!!

San Diego Vacation

Last weekend Shane had some time off from his rotations so we went down to San Diego for a little vacation. We were totally pumped because everything we did was FREE (we love good deals-if you know of any send them our way) and fun!

Day 1: Disneyland

(FREE only because we already have passes)

Jayden is now 35" tall so he was able to ride his first BIG/fast rollercoaster. He was SOOO excited, but as you can tell by the picture below...he WASN'T very excited when he came out at the end--Poor kid :(!

We captured Tia's new face while waiting in the Monsters Inc. line.

Day 2: Sea World

(FREE with our Military I.D.)

Jayden thought it was cool that the dolphin was staring right at him.

Yes...that's MITT ROMNEY! I'm embarrassed to say that we followed and cornered him in hopes that he'd let us take a quick picture. I don't think he was too excited, but he was kind enough to smile for us.

Tia really liked Shamu!

Our good friend Kimberly (from our BYU ward) spent the day with us. She & her husband just moved to San Diego a month ago. We had a great time getting to know her cute son Carter for the first time. Thanks Kimberly...we definitely need to do it again!

We then had a pizza party at Kimberly & Dan's house. This is Dan chillin' with the kids.

Day 3: Miramar Air Show

(FREE to the public)

We were able to go inside lots of planes & helicopters. Jayden couldn't believe all the cool things he got to see!

Flying a helicopter

Giving the pilot "the punch".

Watching the airshow

Jayden AFTER the airshow. He made us wrap him up like this so that he couldn't hear the LOUD airplanes anymore.

The Ellen Degeneres Show

If you haven't been to Ellen yet...you should definitely go! I went today (our show airs Tuesday, Oct. 7th) with my friends and we were laughing so hard and dancing so crazy that all 4 of us were exhausted! She is hilarious! Although I don't share the same views or beliefs as her(YES on Prop 8), I still think she's one funny comedian!

Paris Hilton was on, but we DIDN'T get to see her. They actually filmed her a couple of days before :(. We did get to see Kanye West and watch him perform. They also showed us a video he just made...WOAH...I'm sorry for anyone else who saw it. Did you think that was too skanky for television?! I did!!! Anyways, our gift we got was a book called Wisdom by Andrew Zuckerman. I haven't checked it out yet, but it looks cool!

Yeah...I FINALLY got to go to Ellen!!!

ReAnn, Missy, Becky, and I

*Sorry the pictures aren't so great, we couldn't take cameras with us so my cell phone had to do!