Massive update: the past 4 months!

WARNING: There is a ridiculously long post! I'm sorry I've been so terrible about updating...I've been busy! Here's a recap of the last 4 months!

August
In August, we had a wonderful visit to Tennessee to see Brandon's dad, and spend time with all of his 7 siblings and their families! It was (as always) such a blast!

Jaxson and Grandpa TerryThen, my bestest friend Amie came home from her mission in Florida!Of course we took Jaxson to the fair to ride the rides. He would literally cry at the end of every ride because he had to get off. (By the way, I chopped my hair off).

September

I started student teaching! I couldn't even believe that it was actually happening...I am almost done with school!

My cute little first graders!

Jaxson is getting so big and is so much fun! It's hard going to school full time and spending so much time away from him, but I know I need to do it. Brandon also took the plunge to go back to school full time (online through Washington State University) and is doing really well. He should graduate next December!

October
October became very busy for our family with all of the school and work we were doing. I fully took over my class (student teaching) and was in charge of everything. Then, at the end of the month I had to help out with the Primary presentation at church, and of course we had Halloween!

Jax was the cutest little cow!Jax wasn't too sure about trick-or-treating at first, but once we met up with cousins and friends, he was SO excited. He would say "Trick-or-treat" then when I would tell him to say thank-you he'd say "you're welcome". Is trick-or-treating for the children (or the parents who eat all of their candy, or is that just me)?

November

As many of you may know, I am a personal trainer and actually really enjoy working out (usually). Well, I am also a very competitive person and often need an outlet to let my competitive juices flow. So, I have been thinking about getting more serious about running and competing in races in order to have some competition. There was a 5K race that some family friends were putting on to raise money for our local Cancer society and Brandon, Mariah (my sister in law) and I all decided we would be supportive and run in it. I was thinking I might enjoy it, but once the race was over all I could say was "why do people do that?". I was actually quite bored (and a 5K isn't even that long)- however, just because I was bored does not mean I wasn't tired. But, I'll admit, I was pretty proud of my time.

As I kept talking about how I have no desire to run in long distance races (and I literally had not worked out for 3 weeks after my first 5K), I got suckered in to running another one! On Thanksgiving day, Mariah and I ran in the "Turkey Trot" (which by the way Sarah Palin was running in as well-weird). Well, this race was a little more enjoyable and my time improved, but I still have no desire to continue running in them. I guess we'll see how that ends up.

After running in the Turkey trot, we headed to the fields to watch the boys play some football. This is my cute little nephew, Blake (who is actually not so little anymore). Most of this team is made up of my family (husband, brothers, and cousins) so it was pretty fun to watch all of those out of shape boys run around (just kidding, they weren't all of out shape).

We had such a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had lots of family come to visit and had a blast spending time with them. My mom's sister, Barb and most of her kids came (with their kids) and my grandparents came as well. However, it wasn't very much fun when about 4 people came down with the flu, including Jaxson who was throwing up compulsively for a whole day (probably the saddest thing I've ever seen). Lastly, it was also mine and Brandon's 4th Anniversary on Thanksgiving day! Needless to say we haven't really celebrated yet. (4 years! Can you believe it?) Oh and I can't forget to mention how crazy Brittney (my cousin's wife) and I were to go out shopping at 5am on black Friday (mainly so she could get a glorious camera (yes we waited for 2 hours in line at Best Buy! You're welcome Brit! But, it really was OK because she took some beautiful pictures for us the next day:-)Take a look...
I also would like to share some more beautiful family pictures we had taken earlier this month by my cousin Elaina. She has started a business called Graceful Photography and takes great pictures! Thanks to both of my cousins for the wonderful pictures!