buddy

exactly a year ago, we were where we are now, in eden prairie, mn, but only across the street, in a different extended stay. i was fat. prego fat, that is. so i sat on my butt all day and watched tv. go figure. tlc to be exact. i fell in love with cake boss! i wanted to bake and decorate cakes like that. fast forward to present day. buddy aka the cake boss, was going to be at the mall of america. 10 minutes away! i had to see him. to make a story short, i didn't get there in time to get a wrist band in order to get in line to see him and get his book signed. oh well. clay and i were able to get some close pictures of him. looks just like he does on his show. it was just cool to be there and see him in person. 

this he-she was standing right next to us on the floor above everything and yelled out "buddyyyyy" and buddy looked up and was pointing and just laughing. everyone started taking pictures. it was hilarious. this he-she looked like one of the customers in an episode of cake boss. we were standing next to a star.

Good-bye Austin

I'd have to say, I thought it was going to be a long, boring summer living in Austin for a short 4 months. Boy was I wrong. From the day we moved in, we were instantly welcomed with open arms. We were already invited over for dinner the next day, had plans with our new friends the next week, and I found some jogging buddies a couple weeks later. So, needless to say, those 4 months went by in a flash, and it's sad that we're not there anymore. We made long-lasting friendships and Kort hit many milestones. 

It was Scott and Nathaniel's birthday right close to each other, so we made the drive back to Austin to celebrate their special days!

Nathaniel turned the big 1! He's only a month and half older than Kort. He is such a good and adorable baby! I think he's what got Kort motivated to start sitting up and crawling. Too bad he hadn't started walking, otherwise maybe Kort would be by now (insert hand in mouth - I'm sure once Kort starts walking, I'll wish he was still a newborn).

This is Kort and his buddy, Ian. He made Kort a "Squash Man". His mom, Brytnie, was telling me that Ian was always talking about Kort, at home and church, which is funny to me because they only played together a couple times and then at library story times :) 

It was too cute.

We sure loved Austin! We made some great friends, and wished we could have spent more time getting to know those we did right before our move. Definitely one of the friendliest places we've lived. I don't know if I could retire there...guess I'll find out 

after this Minnesota winter passes. :)

halloween

I decided now that Kort is a little older, I wanted to start really doing holidays. Halloween was probably the first one with him being old enough, so I decided that we were all going to dress up. Well, only half of that happened. With us moving that weekend of, I really didn't have time to get Clay's and my costume together. I had already ordered Kort's, so Clay and I just had the accessories :) Our friends invited us to their ward halloween party, so here we are!

 Can you guess what Clay and Kort are?!!

This is Sam, Mr. SPAM. Clara is the before product. Jenna (not pictured), was the butcher :)

 My two handsome boys.

Clara is now crawling so she obviously was wanting to do that more than take a picture :)

Maybe I'll get a picture of Princess Fiona in there, if I can find it. 

Ha Ha

las vegas

The middle of October we were able to fly out for Leland's baptism. I don't have pictures for that yet, but I'll get them up here soon. Anyway, it was a great and fun weekend! We flew in late Thursday night and headed to Hoover Dam (will get those pictures from Clay's phone soon also). We took a short tour and headed back to the city. Saturday was the big day for Leland. It was so wonderful. Back in Washington, Clay and I were part of a lot of baptisms, mainly adults, so it was great being a part of our nephew's. That evening we drove past the strip and went shopping at the mall :) 

On the way back, it was way past Kort's bedtime, so he was super cranky. I whipped out the camera and he instantly stopped and started smiling for me. That has never happened. These are the adorable pictures I caught of him!

You would have never known he was extremely crabby seconds before :)

Clay and I figured it was probably the only time we'd get to leave Kort with family, so we took advantage and stayed the night at a casino hotel 

for an early anniversary getaway :)

(our view from the hotel)

After church on Sunday, we took a drive out of the city for a short hike at 

Mount Charleston.

 (Kort loves his celery sticks)

 Kort got lots of time with grandpa and grandmacita, as well as being fed well by auntie Barbara and cousin Leland :)