Thanksgiving

I was very excited for Thanksgiving this year.  Last year we had a lot of fun but we were out of town so we didn't have a good old fashioned home made turkey dinner, so I couldn't wait for this year.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I love getting up super early and helping my mom in the kitchen for the ENTIRE day.  I love snacking all day long and visiting with family.  well this year my parents ditched out on us and went to Italy.  (I can't be too mad, I would bail too if I got to go to Italy)  I was pretty upset that my mom wasn't going to be here to make the best Thanksgiving dinner that she is known for.  Good thing my older sister Cindy volunteered to host!  she has had years of practice with my mom so she pretty much got it right :)  here's a few pictures of the crowd.

 Want some?

 Carson is such a stud :)

 My brother Jer holding Dallas

 Me and my cute sister Ashlee

 The family all eating

Carson Turns 2!

I can't believe Carson is two already!  I was watching him play with this truck he got for his birthday. It came with a drill and he can take the truck apart and put it back together by using the drill to take out the screws, well I couldn't believe how smart he is.  and he didn't look two!  he looked so old as he concentrated on what to do I was amazed.  We are very excited to see what the years bring but my goodness it is already going by way to fast!

Family Photos

These are just a few of our favorites :)  we can't post them all!

Halloween

 This year we did a ton for Halloween.  we started out on Wednesday going to the U of U's Halloween party.  they had Trick or treating, pumpkin bowling, fishing for candy and lots of other games.  here is Carson as a cowboy waiting for trick or treating

 we made sure to carve our pumpkins!  Carson painted his with finger paint and helped daddy pull all the gunk out of his pumpkin

 our little western family

 Jake borrowed some skinny jeans from my nephew.  they were TIGHT!

 Dallas had 2 costumes. the cow was more of a coat so we put it on him while outside trick or treating

 then he had his cowboy costume underneath.  we had so much fun this year! Halloween is my favorite holiday so I am already planning for next year!

Introducing..

Dallas Jared Holmes

 Born October 8, 2010
8 lbs 19 1/2 inches

Family is doing great and adjusting well

We love him to death! 

Mall Outing

My sister is staying with my mom until they can find a house in Wyoming.  While she is here were are taking total advantage of being able to hang out and let our kids play together.  She needed to get some new clothes so we thought it would be fun to go to the mall!  we didn't really have room for a double and single stroller so we only brought two single strollers for her two kids and Carson.  we figured her oldest boy Dreysen could walk since that's what he does most of the time anyway.  we started out the day meeting my mom for lunch.  She works at the Church Office Building so we took a stroll across beautiful temple square and stopped for a picture in front of a big fountain.

after lunch we headed to Gateway mall.  I don't know what we were thinking.  all three of our kids usually have  nap right after lunch, we figured they would be fine for an hour or so.  ended up shopping for 3 hours, and had quite the time chasing around the two toddlers while Ashlee's 13 month old kept crying in the stroller.   We probably had a total of 8 potty breaks and 4 meltdowns while we were out but mingled in there was alot of giggling and chasing from Carson and Dreysen.  We did end up finding some great deals at Old Navy and Wet Seal.  So it was worth it! next time we will just make sure the kids get a nap and we have enough stroller seats to strap them all in :)

Why didn't someone come up with this sooner?

Yesterday my family celebrated my birthday, and I got a new outfit from Lilac Clothing .  All of their clothes work for maternity or regular clothing.  so you can wear it your entire pregnancy and then after you have the baby it will still fit! I didn't believe it at first so I tried on the shirt and pants, (remember I am 8 months pregnant and not at all small right now)   it fit perfectly and is super comfy. so then I had my younger sister try on the exact same shirt and pants and it fit her perfectly too!  she is basically the same size as me pre-pregnancy. (she is actually a little skinnier then I was)  I am very excited about this new concept of only having to buy one wardrobe.  and they are super stretchy so even if I don't lose all the baby weight I know they will still fit!  anyone who is still having kids needs to check out their website.  they are a little expensive but soooo worth it :) 

I got this shirt

and this pair of pants,  notice how one model is pregnant and one isn't and they look great on both of them :)

Ducks

Since I spent the day yesterday making salsa and bottling tomatoes, I didn't get to play with Carson very much, so after we had everything cleaned up, we packed up his bike and headed to the park to look at the ducks.  

It was the best time to go!  usually the park is packed with people but we went late enough nobody was there.  The ducks were very excited to see us, they came running right up to our feet for some food.  that scared poor Carson to death!  he wouldn't let me put him down until all the ducks went back into the pond.  after the ducks realized we didn't have any food they backed off a bit.  then Carson rode his bike back and forth just watching them play in the water.  

We got to the park around 8:00 and it wasn't long before it started getting dark.  so this video is a little hard to see

Tomato Pickers

Yesterday we went to a farm down the street and spent a couple hours picking tomatoes and peppers

Carson had a hard time walking through the plants so I would put him in the middle and then hand him a vegetable to toss in the box.

He had a blast!  then today we made it all into salsa. YUM!  we also bottled some plain tomatoes. we still have a lot more to stock up on but this was a good start on our food storage for the year!

Dentist

Today was Carson's first time going to the dentist!  I really liked the pediatric dentist we chose.  it's called Atlantis Pediatric.  I think kids can just sense when your go to a Dr. office.  as soon as we got Carson out of the car he started clinging on for dear life and being shy. but  when we walked in the door, the receptionists immediately said hi to Carson and offered him a balloon (his favorite) then they were asking him different questions and helped to make him comfortable.  The dentist also went really slow with him and let Carson warm up a little before he tried to clean his teeth.  when he did, Carson let him brush his teeth for a full minute before he decided he was done!  I'm lucky to get 20 seconds of brushing in at home before he tells me no.  as we were leaving they gave Carson a little toothbrush and a bouncy ball!  after that he was blowing them kisses and waving and completely showing off. I think we're off to a good start!

Biker Boy

Carson's new favorite activity is to ride his bike.  He will say "hat" so I will put on his helmet and then "bak" which is bike so we head outside and watch him ride!

When we come back in, he will still want to wear his helmet for about another hour, until I can find something to distract him enough to take it off.  then he has major hat hair!

that's Carson's smile. He pulls that face every time you pull out a camera! haha

going ridin!

I was surprised how brave he is!  he can get going pretty fast, but when he comes to a hill he will just pick up his feet and fly down!  

that's a lot of work! time for some refreshment :)

Drumroll please

Carson went pee in his potty!

I guess it's time to think about potty training :)

Dragon

Today has been an awesome day!  We went to lunch with my mom and sisters at Olive Garden (my favorite) and then we were planning on going swimming with my sister in law and her 3 kids before school starts, but the weather turned pretty yucky so instead we went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" at the dollar theatre here in Kaysville.  I haven't been to that theater in a LONG time.  It almost feels dirty because it is so old but it was only $2 a person and super family friendly.   I wasn't able to get a babysitter for Carson so I brought him along. the theater was packed with families of young kids, some younger then Carson so I felt a little better about having him with us.  It was his first movie in a theater and he had so much fun.  all through the previews he was yelling "WOW" and "Woa!" at the top of his lungs.  it was really cute.  when the movie started he did pretty good!  he really only distracted me with the constant climbing up and down on my lap, but he stayed in my little bubble and he was quiet so he didn't bother anyone else! I was pretty impressed!  the Dragons were a little scary for him but he would just cover his eyes with his hands until the scene changed.  It was really cute! 

My sister was in town this week also.  She was only here a couple days but it was really nice to see her and her cute boys.  We went shopping yesterday. and did a lot of baking.  We were making pumpkin cookies right around dinner time and ended up eating 2 1/2 dozen of them between ourselves instead of making us dinner!  aah it was probably not the healthiest but it was sure delicious!  I think we should open a bakery so others can enjoy the goodness :)

Boys Room

It's finally finished!  (mostly)  For those of you, who have been to our house you know how limited we are on space.  especially in the boys bedroom.  but I think we finally have it set up the way we want it. 

There's still a couple things I want to add when the baby is born, but until we have a name and some pictures, his side is a little bare.  but I LOVE how it has turned out so far.  and Carson loves all the balls on his bedding and on the wall :)

Little Ham

We have another ham in the family!  Is anyone really surprised with Jake being his dad? :) 

It all started with a pair of snow pants...

It all started 6 years ago.   Jake and I had barely known each other when he showed up at my house wearing a giant blow up ostrich costume.  when I answered the door he said hello and came walking right in.  He said hello to my mom and asked her for a tomato sandwich!  I didn't know what to think.  Here was this random kid from school visiting with my mom in my kitchen like they were already good friends.  

I knew then that I kinda liked him. 

Later on in the school year I saw him in the hall wearing a red power ranger costume made  for a 5 year old.  (it was pretty snug on him)  I asked him what he was doing and he told me about a handicapped kid in his math class that really liked power rangers so he wanted to do something nice for him. 

I decided I liked him a little more.

I was president of the drill team at the time and we were practicing on the football field every morning for 3 hours in a foot of snow wearing our dance pants and dance shoes. I called Jake and asked if I could borrow a pair of snow pants for practice. He of course said "sure come on over!"   While i was there, we shared our first kiss.    

Now I really liked him.  

that's how it all began.  The story of Jake and Marianne.  3 years later we were married.

 

We always knew we wanted to be sealed for eternity in the temple.  a year later on August 21st we were

It's been 3 amazing years! and here we are today, a 20 month old and I am 71/2 months pregnant with our next little adventure!  we've made it this far and are looking forward to many more years (and kids) to come!