For family night the Monday before Halloween we carved Joshies pumpkin, unfortunately it went soft before Halloween night. So sad, but we kept it out anyway it just looked more like a sad Jackolantern. Haha. Here are some pictures from carving night.
Avalinea
Avalinea coloring her pumpkin, I forgot to buy paint so markers had to do. It didn't work very well. But she was more interested in coloring the paper towels anyway.
Joshie scooping the guts out of his pumpkin
His carving! Great job bud!
Halloween Day We took the kids to the ward trunk or treat that was held on one of our residential streets and they had a lot of fun. Great food (chili, nachos, hot chocolate) and of course Loads of candy!
Aunt Alayna the cowgirl with Minnie Mouse and Jack Sparrow
On October 10th, Josh and I were able to attend Kara and Andrew's beautiful wedding in Sanger, CA. There was a man made lake that was the backdrop to the reception and guests could take boat rides on it as well. We really had a really great time and we happy to be a part of their special day.
Formal pictures by the lake
Pretty flowers that lined the aisle
Vows
Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Riordon!
The cake! Kara and Andrew went to Disneyworld for their honeymoon.
Taking off the garter......with teeth!! ha ha too cute
Throwing the bouquet. I really should have gone to one of these before I got married. I always want to jump in, but can't now that I am an old married woman.
The happy couple!
Kara and I
Josh and I right after our boat ride
Eric and Rachel dancing to their wedding song
Thanks Kara and Andrew for inviting us! It truly was a beautiful ceremony and a great party afterward!
While we were in Visalia we got to take the kids to the pumpkin patch! It was so much more fun that picking them out at Albertsons. :) Joshie enjoyed the games, animals and riding on the train in addition to picking out his perfect pumpkin.
Riding the "train"
Posing as a Turkey
Now posing for Mom on the hay.
Avy and Uncle Jake
Avy picking out her perfect pumpkin
Joshie picking out his perfect pumpkin. (my hair looks like this for the wedding later in the evening, crazy i know, it was a little "big" for my tastes.)
Look how tall we are Mom! We will get to go on loads of rides at Disneyworld next year!
While we were in Visalia, Stacy and a friend of Kelly's, Danielle threw Kelly a baby shower. I was glad that Avy and I got to be there with her for this fun occasion. We had great food, played infamous baby shower games like identifying the melted chocolate bar in the diaper, and got to watch Kelly open all her cute gifts. Baby Lily is sure going to look great 24/7!
The shower decorations consisted of butterly patterns in pink, purple and green.
The Cake! Looks really slanted here doesn't it? And this was the 2nd cake because we made them redo the first one which was even worse than this one! Costco is usually much better than this.. Kelly and her best friend Danielle, and Danielle's baby Jayla. Danielle co hosted the shower with Stacy and brought lots of delicious food and fun games!
Kelly and Stacy with the baby blanket that Stacy crocheted for baby Lily
Me and Kelly with the bedding set Josh and I bought for her. It was called the "Kelly B. Butterfly Garden" set, could it be more perfect? Lets just hope that Lily likes it too!
A pretty pic of Kelly at 34 weeks, almost there!
Avalinea enjoyed the shower too, but mostly just looked for peoples shoes to wear!
We took the kids to a local attraction the other day called Kangaroo zoo. It is basically a giant room filled with bounce houses. It is really cool, because you can let your kids run and play while the parents just sit back and relax. Joshie had a lot of fun, he keeps talking about wanting to go back. Avy on the other hand wasn't so sure, but we think she had fun too.
This is what Chelsea and I did one Saturday afternoon to alleviate some of our storage issues. The shelves are 16 feet long and 7 feet tall. Unfortunately as you can see we have filled it all up already, granted this is not as organized as it could be but we really need to have a yard sale. :)
Anyway it was fun to do and I was able to finally use my circular saw that I got some time ago. Fully awesome.
We have struggled from day 1 with our agent. We purchased a new home and subsequently set up a homeowners insurance policy through Jared Eggett agency for your company. The appropriate documents were mailed to us and we signed and returned them, however when we went to the closing of our home the yearly amount for the homeowners insurance had been increased by nearly $100. This caused our monthly mortgage to be increased erroneously. After going back and forth with our agent for several days they discovered they had made an error and changed the price but we had already closed on the home and paid the higher amount. It took several months for us to receive a refund check for the difference and any time we would call our agent with questions it would take about 5 business days for someone to return our call.
We also set up an auto policy for our two cars. Apparently there were several changes to the policy (unbeknown st to us) because we received about 12 different ID cards in the mail over two months with different policy numbers on them. You can see how this would be confusing. We subsequently replaced one of the cars and called our agent to make the change. Once again it took 5 business days for someone to return our call. That is simply unacceptable.
Once they did call us back they told us they had no way of knowing how much the 2nd new car would cost or what our total change in policy cost would be. I find this to be ludicrous. Why would I agree to sign any forms to buy any product without first knowing how much it would cost me? I asked the agent to do some research on this because we are on a tight budget. She said she would return my call the next day. That never happened. Over a week later, fed up, I called to cancel. Amazingly she called back the next day! Wanting to know why were canceling I told her that I was extremely displeased with their agencies customer service and that it was unacceptable to take 5 business days to return a paying customers call, EVERYTIME. In fact, the last time I called and she promised to call back the next day, she never did. Her response to this was to tell me that she has been out sick for 4 weeks and then sarcastically said "I'll try to never get sick again". That was just plain unprofessional, to say the least! I told her that I was sorry she was sick but I find it hard to believe that NO ONE in their entire office could return our calls. I did not ever call her directly, I called the general phone number for the agent's office and got the answering machine every time. Never in the 5 months that we had Horace Mann insurance did we get a live person on the phone when we called; only an answering machine. I have no gripes with your product, the insurance, but will never ever do business again with your agent: Jared Eggett's office. We made the change to Geico, who offered rates as competitive as yours. When we called to make the change we were able to speak with a live person within 3 minutes. We were then able to set up a homeowner and auto policy AND receive documentation of the prices for both all within 20 minutes time. Even if your product is great, if the customer service is lacking it will drive your customers away. I would suggest this be discussed with your agent. Chelsea Barnett
That was therapeutic to write! for months we have been going through H**l with our insurance agency just trying to set up our stinkin cars and it has been sooo much stress on my shoulders. AND now its OVER!!!!! yeehaw!! I canceled and sent corporate this lovely complaint letter. I don't much care if they respond just wanted someone to know, ya know?
Here are the pictures of the project that Josh and I have been working on while the kids were away. It took a looooooooong time to get done since we only did it at night after work. The coloring in the first picture is the truest, the top is a bubble gum pink and the bottom a chocolate brown. The other two pictures make it look really washed out in the florescent lighting. I wonder if Avalinea will recognize her room?? :) We still need to hang her quilt which matches the same materials as the diaper stacker (seen in the 3rd picture)
So, i was noticing that in these pictures the paint looks like it is sea grean, its not. The paint color is acutuayl more of a Sage color, matching the green in the curtains. We still are in the process of putting up white crown molding in this room. I'm also looking for new bedding (and plenty of fancy pillows ;) ) . I can't decide on what colors i want though, which is why i haven't purchased. I'm thinking i want to go with a brown tan to accent the sage green. I am planning on buying a tall green plant to cover the wires from our TV, and you can see a tiny peek of the bathroom here, i am going to painting that the same Sage green as the accent wall. Still some work to do!!!
Avalinea really like the Zebras Joshie Keeping a close eye on the bears
Daddy and Avy Nothing better than an ice cream cone on a hot day! Grandpa Jennings and Avy Joshie making silly faces and making everyone laugh Grandpa and Grandma Mickelsen Mommy and Joshie By the cool Elephant The Carousel ride, a favorite for both kids Blowing out all 4 candles!! Joshie and his Monkey Cake And lots of Presents..........."this is the best birthday ever" he said
