Thanksgiving!

I know I've been a horrible blogger, but I'm attempting to make up for it over the next few days. Let's start with Thanksgiving which turned out great and was a lot of fun. This was my first time hosting a holiday dinner because my sister came up with her family and then we invited Casey's brother and his family and his sister. I even roasted my first turkey (but forgot to take pictures!) It took a lot of work, but I had a lot of help and it turned out great. Thanks to everyone for their help. Casey was wonderful and was able to get the keys to the church building so we didn't have to cram everyone into our apartment too. Garth, Janelle, and the kids stayed for a bit and did some fun things. Unfortunately we didn't end up doing most of it with them because Casey had to study for his CPA test that Friday and Weston was teething :( We did go to the Forresthill Bridge with then though and that was fun to see again. A big thanks to Janelle and Garth for coming up to visit us!

All of the yummy food. Charity did a great job supplying the sparkling cider :)

The kid's table
The adultsMy two thugs on the bridge :)

The beautiful sky as we were leaving

CPA EXAM IS DONEZO!!! Thank you Jenna

I passed. The CPA exams weren’t nearly as hard as I anticipated, but I am extremely relieved that I am done. Now I’m going to do a little bragging before I distribute my thanks. Supposedly only 10% of applicants pass all four of the exams on the first try, which I did. And not only did I pass these tests, I straight dominated them. All you need is a 75 to pass, and believe me I was shooting for a 75. I took the hardest test first, FARE, and scored a 94. I was shocked, walking out of the test I was telling people that “I thought I scored between a 70 and a 78. I took the easiest test second (BEC) and scored a 90; then REG, where I scored a 95; and last AUD, with an 87. BYU definitely helped prepare me for these tests more than I can imagine. I wish I had the same amount of appreciation for BYU and the excellent accounting program when I was attending school as I do now. I am also very grateful to my Heavenly Father, I prayed fervently before and after every test numerous times and I know he blessed me tremendously. I received help from friends and family, but none more than my amazing wife Jenna. I began studying for the tests in June and finished the last week of November. During those six months Jenna was extremely helpful in building my confidence and with understanding my need to study. She pacified Weston when I came home from work so that I could get in some good studying, and she forgave me for not taking her out much as I dedicated most of my free time to studying. I feel so lucky to have such a supportive and understanding wife. I couldn’t have accomplished what I did without her. A popular quote, “Behind every great man is a great woman” comes to mind as I reflect on my test taking experience. Though I don’t feel like a great man, there was definitely a great woman behind me. Similar to my mom deserving most of the credit for my Eagle Scout award, Jenna deserves a lot of credit for me passing the CPA exam. Thank you and I love you.

Casey

My Great Eight

Ashley tagged me, so here it goes...

8 TV shows I love to watch:
1. Anything on Food Network
2. The Mentalist
3. House
4. Criminal Minds
5. The Hills - I can't help it. All the people are just so dumb :)
6. CSI
7. Law & Order SVU
8. Music Videos on VH1

8 Favorite restaurants:
1. In-N-Out
2. Rubio's
3. Outback
4. Jack's
5. Kneaders
6. Alpine Taco Shop
7. Extraordinary Desserts
8. Whosong and Larry's

8 Things that happened today:
1. Got flu shots as a family
2. Bought a dining room table. Yeah!
3. Went to Wal-Mart
4. Had In-N-Out for lunch
5. Went on a walk to get the mail with Weston
6. Sent Weston off with Casey to watch the BYU basketball game with friends
7. Put up Christmas Decorations
8. Watched a movie

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Christmas
2. For Casey to get his last CPA exam score
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the movie)
4. Casey's Work Christmas Party
5. Weston to be potty trained
6. Weston walking
7. Weston's 1st Birthday
8. Spring

8 Things on my wish list:
1. For Casey to pass his last CPA exam
2. A huge grocery budget so that I can make healthy gourmet food whenever I want
3. New iPod
4. For our rent to drop at the end of our lease
5. For Casey to not be sick :(
6. For there to be an Extraordinary Dessert in Roseville
7. To have unlimited funds so that I can visit our family whenever I want
8. For all the Prop 8 nonsense to be over

8 People I'm tagging:
1. You
2. You
3. You
4. You
5. You
6. You
7. You
8. and You

You know who you are! :)

8 months!

Weston is 8 months TODAY! I can't decide which is crazier. That he is already 8 months old or that I'm actually posting his month birthday on time : ) I'm loving this age though. He is starting to do so many funny/amazing things and is constantly keeping us entertained. Here are some of his latest and greatest:

>Can climb up stairs and on top of his Huggies box then on to the couch.

>Opens drawers, cupboards, and closes/pushes open doors. I now have to really close the door to prevent him from going through.

>Feeds himself using the pincer grasp. I love this!

>Got his first tooth two days before Thanksgiving and is working on the second one.

>Likes toast, bread, grated cheese, little pieces of fruit (especially grapes), pieces of chicken and turkey, torillas, and cheerios.

>Blows raspberries. He mainly does it on my face when he is giving me kisses, but he'll also do it on our arms, legs, and stomach.

>Likes to play chase with me. The other night Jason and Ashley were over with Paisley and she was crawling towards him and he thought she was playing chase so he got a huge smile on his face and was preparing to crawl away, but then she stopped so he stopped and looked a little bummed :) It was kind of cute that he thought she was playing chase with him.

>Waves "hi." We're still working on this one, so he doesn't do it consistently yet.

>Says Da-da and will look at Casey when I ask, "Where's Da-da?"

>

Here are a few pictures and a video from the last few weeks to show that we've got our work cut out for us with this one :)

Somebody found the toilet paper

After he climbs on the couch, he has decided that it is fun to climb on the side table and play with the lamp.

He likes to spread his toys all over

Hmmm...What's in here?

This one was taken today. We just love this little guy! Climbing

7 Months!

Weston turned 7 months on Halloween! I'm a little late, I know. Did I ever mention that procrastinating is one of my worst habits : ) Anyways, I'm constantly amazed by how fast it goes. My little baby is getting so big!

New Things:
~Crawling and getting into even more than before.
~Pulls himself to standing. He stands up in his crib waiting for us to get him when he wakes up.
~Can slowly walk along furniture, switch from things that are close together, and pushes a box around the living room.
~Loves baby food, cottage cheese, and plain yogurt. He is such a great eater. I'm pretty sure he would keep eating if I let him.
~Loves to spit, will mimic you when you spit at him most of the time, and starts to spit more when he's frustrated or tired.
~Fake coughs. He has been doing this since he was born, but now if you fake cough at him, he'll fake cough back.
~Is really good at drinking out of his sippy cup and can drink from a straw too.
~Went to his first BYU game and loves to hear us sing the BYU fight song.
~Fits in his shoes :)
~Gets really excited when he sees other babies or kids.
~Is playing by himself better. I'm able to leave the room and get things done and he just keeps on playing.
~Already fits in quite a few of his 9 month clothes.

Mr. Cool sporting his Faux-hawk and Adidas shoes (from Chris Weston).

The best way to get the glass was obviously over the box : )
Spitting

Checking out a dog with cousin Paisley.

Cutest Baby Contest

About a week ago I entered Weston in a small "Cutest Baby Contest." I read their online magazine, and I just thought it would be fun. Anyways, he made it to the finals! : ) Now it is up to the public to vote for the cutest baby. Click on the button above which has instructions on how to vote, and please take a few seconds to vote for our cute little guy (Entry #3)! Thanks!

Halloween Dinner

We decided not to take Weston out on actual Halloween because we figured that the Trunk-or-Treat was enough since he really didn't care : ) Also, Casey got home a little later than usual because he had to work out of town that day, so we just had a Halloween dinner and watched a scary movie. Here are some pictures of the dinner that I was quite proud of! : )

Mashed Boo-tatoes, sweet potato pumpkins, and tombstone meatloaf.

Ghost and Pumpkin chocolate covered strawberries

ROAR if you like Halloween

We missed our Trunk-or-Treat, so we went to Jason and Ashley's the Thursday before Halloween. Weston was a lion and I must say that he looked very cute. Casey picked his costume out of the three I was deciding on and he did a great job! I was afraid he wouldn't like having it on, but he didn't mind it at all. It did make it a little hard for him to move around though.

Is he not the cutest lion you've ever seen? :)

What goes around, comes around :) The little ones were very interested in each other's costumes.Weston decided it was too much effort to move around, so he just laid there for a while and Paisley took advantage of it.

Weston with Dad

Weston and his "mummy" :)

Getting his first piece of candy

Bad to the Bone. Underneath his costume, he had another costume that was a little more comfortable. I just couldn't resist it when I saw it.

Bowling

We attended Casey's work's family fun day at the bowling alley a few Saturday's ago. There was food, gift bags for the kids, and then unlimited, all-day bowling. I bowled 144 my first game and then 145 my second, which are both A LOT better than my previous best of 115. I was pretty proud! :)

Vote YES on Prop 8

Casey and I have both felt very strongly concerning this matter, and have put our best efforts forward as we try to protect traditional marriage in California. We feel that this is one of the most important things that we will ever vote on. This morning we had the opportunity to stand on a corner during traffic and hold up signs encouraging people to Vote Yes on Prop 8. Right when we got there a woman yelled at us with expletives and I almost cried, but I held myself together and held up my sign with pride. I encourage anyone who reads my blog and lives in California to Vote Yes on Prop 8. If you don't live in California, but have family or friends that do, encourage them as well. This is one of the most controversial propsitions I've ever seen, but also the most important. I don't like to think about what will happen if it doesn't pass, but I remain optimistic that our donation, walking for Prop 8, our calls to encourage people to vote, passing out literature, standing on corners with signs, volunteering at the polls tomorrow, and our prayers will bring about the desired result. Please Vote YES on Prop 8 on Nov. 4 and help protect marriage in California.

Pumpkin Patch

A couple weeks ago, Melody, Ashley, and I took our kids to a pumpkin patch. We basically wanted an excuse to hang out, so we are doing a play group thing once or twice a month. The pumpkin patch was pretty fun, but we'll have to go earlier in the season next year because the pumpkins were not very plentiful.

Weston posing with the pumpkinsAll the kids. It took some effort to get them all to look :)

I just love my little man!

BYU Homecoming

We had the opportunity to go to BYU Homecoming this year. Casey went up for a recruiting event and Weston and I tagged along. It was a really quick trip. We flew in Saturday morning, hung out a bit (Weston and I took a nap), made a necessary stop at the bookstore, went to the recruiting event, went to the game, and we flew out Sunday night. Our friends Richard and Rebecca were able to get some tickets for us and Casey's cousin and my brother, Jonathan, came too. Weston was super good even though it was a little chilly and slept through a lot of it. It was a pretty boring game, but we're glad we got to go to at least one home game this year.

On the walk to the game, Weston fell asleep. My brother Jonathan. Weston kept looking at his reflection in his sunglasses :)

Richard and Rebecca. They also let us stay at their house Sat. night. Thanks guys!The four of us
Our little BYU family

Stick a Sock In It

For some reason our little man loves to suck on socks. If he sees one on the ground, it's done for, so I have to make sure I keep all of Casey's dirty socks in the laundry basket.

Laundry

Weston enjoying being buried in our clean clothes by Dad. He thought it was so funny and I thought he was so cute! :)

Computer Time

Jason came over one night while Ashley was out of town and all the boys spent the night on their computers. It was too cute to pass up!