HALLOWEEN!

Here are some pictures of my cute little whoopie cushion! Who would have thought this is what she wanted to be for Halloween? As we were looking online for witch costumes, this one popped up under the "funny" category. When she saw it, there was no turning back. She's so funny and definitely has a great sense of humor! She was even impressed that both great grandmas knew what a whoopie cushion was : )

This is a picture of Matt's sister Lisa and her fiancee Tim. Lisa has been living with us for the past 6 months, and is like a daughter to us. They got engaged 2 weeks ago, and are getting married on December 29th!! We have a lot of planning in the works. I didn't think I would have to be doing this for at least another 10 years, but here it is, and we love it. We also made mummy pizza for our Halloween dinner. They were very yummy mummies!!

I Did It!

You all should be so proud of me for posting twice in such a short time! Anyway, for those of you that don't know, I have been working on my Master's degree for the past two years. I have always told Matt that I wouldn't do it because the Bachelor's was enough for me. When the school district took on a cohort program and offered it right here, I had to jump at the opportunity. The neat thing is that it was offered through the same university where I got my Bachelor's degree. Go T-birds! I am now officially a "Master of Education." I have to say I am proud of myself for this accomplishment I have made.I also want to thank my family for being so supportive. They helped with Rachael during the summer, brought us meals when I was doing homework late at night, and provided amazing moral support. I couldn't have done it without them. I also appreciate them coming to graduation to celebrate with me. I know it was hard to sit through long ceremonies, but it REALLY meant a lot to me. We also had a really fun time! Spencer and Annie couldn't be there because they had already planned a trip to Hawaii. I know they wanted to be there though. Thanks again, I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Shocker!

Ok, so I know it's a shocker to all of you that I am FINALLY posting! Sorry, but I got behind, then it seemed too overwhelming to post all that has been going on. I am only going to post our most recent happenings so it isn't so overwhelming : )

Spring break was last week and we decided to take a family vacation. Matt gave me tickets to Wicked in Portland Oregon for Christmas and we were just going to have a weekend getaway to go see it. By the time we had decided to make a vacation out of it, Wicked was sold out and we couldn't take Rachael with us. We left on Friday and saw Wicked on Saturday with Matt's parents. My mom flew out with Rachael on Sunday and met us in Oregon. While in Portland we went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. We got to see the Da Vinci exhibit there. It was very fascinating. We then drove down the Oregon coast which was absolutely beautiful! I have never been there and now I wonder why it has taken me so long to get there. We stopped at every lighthouse we could get to and took lots of pictures there. I'll post some of those pictures later. We also drove through the redwood forest and stopped to look at some of the trees there. Ok, so I have heard the redwood trees are big, but I had NO IDEA how huge they were! They were beautiful, and I was so amazed. I know this world didn't just "happen." It was created for us and seeing these things has made me appreciate it even more. We kept driving down the coast and ended up in San Francisco. I liked Wicked so much that we got tickets to see it again in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theatre. This time my mom and Rachael got to see it with us. I could see it over and over and over again! It is SO GOOD!!

The next day we went to see Alcatraz. We didn't spend much time there because mom was getting nervous in there. We then made the trek from San Francisco to Reno and stayed a night there, then we drove home the next day. It was so much fun spending time with my family, and it was a nice break. Now we only have 6 more weeks of school...yea!

Last, but not least, Matt and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 11th. It was the day after we got back from vacation and Matt surprised me the next morning with 2 dozen roses and a bracelet. He is so thoughtful and never forgets special events in my life. I want him to know I am grateful for him and I appreciate how good he is to me. I am so happy we have eternity together : )