Kalli's Halloween/Birthday party

We had to pleasure of attending Kalli's third birthday party with a Halloween theme. We painted pumpkins, went to the park, hit a pinata and ate lots of pizza, candy, and cupcakes. It was SO much fun. Happy Birthday Kalli!!!


Painting pumpkins. . . and the table. . . and mom.


Look at all the little artists.


Boston trying to escape the picture.


Boston is the luckiest boy~ surrounded by all those pretty girls


First time hitting a pinata

Welcome Ashton James Kraemer

My good friend from college had her precious little boy~ Congrats Heather and Nick!




Born October 26th 3:27am, 21 inches long, 7lbs 3oz

B's first haircut (trim)

Boston needed a haircut, but there was no way we were going to touch those curls. We went to St. George last week for a couple of days and are so fortunate to have an amazing hair stylist in the family. Jeremiah's little brother is married to Aubrey, who did a excellent job on little man's hair.

Boston's Hair has it's own personality

Grumpy Hair



Happy Hair



Wild Hair

Is it time for a haircut for Boston???

I can't believe I'm even saying those two words together: Boston and haircut. I have always wanted to preserve those blonde curly locks and the California surfer boy style on our little man, but I had 3 comments today that are having me question otherwise. Keep in mind that Boston is wearing a very manly casual sports outfit with very boy colors and very boy sandels.

1. At the doctor's office- "Is it a boy or a girl?"
I've actually been asked this question more frequently lately.

2. Rite Aid Pharmacy- "She's so cute."
It was an elderly lady and I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt because maybe her eyesight was bad.

3. Albertons- After his shoe fell off a bagger walks by and says "She looks like she wants to put it on herself."
I'm not sure what excuse I would give him except that he's never seen a kid before.

Sigh. . .

I'm not going to do the "thing we don't talk about" yet, but it's been on my mind.

October in New Mexico

I miss New Mexico, especially now. New Mexico hosts The International Balloon Fiesta every year at the beginning of October. There are over 1,000 hot air balloons that launch every morning. It is customary to wake up at 4am, drive the balloon park dressed in your heaviest winter gear (it is freezing) and get hot chocolate and green chile breakfast burritos (though you have the option of buying roasted corn or turkey legs as well~ lots of vendors ~ lots of food and souvineers). The dawn patrol lifts off at 6am to check the winds and the balloons start inflating. It's an INCREDIBLE site. Here are some pics from 3 years ago- the last time I went. They have fun events like The Balloon Glow in the evenings and The Special Shapes Rodeo where they launch only fun shaped balloons.











The Mass Ascension.






Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!




The first wave of balloons after the dawn patrol~ still sunrise.

Bananaslugs or the Fighting Artichokes?

Below is a list of the top 10 worst school mascots. I thought this was so funny because I'm constantly asking Jeremiah what a Buckeye is or why Stanford has a tree on their uniforms. My high school was the Manzano Monarchs and everyone thought it was a butterfly, but it was a Lion - like in king of the jungle- and monarch being a king. Confusing, I know.


1. The Anteaters (UCI): Such an honorable and brave animal. Everyone should want to be an anteater.

2. The Bananaslugs (UCSC): Does anyone even know what a Bananaslug IS?

3. Crimson (Harvard): … that’s like, a color, right?

4. The Fighting Artichokes (Scottsdale Arizona Community College): As if they weren’t already feeling down that they are at a community college; they had to make their mascot a fighting VEGETABLE?

5. Hawaii Rainbow Warrior (Hawaii): This one goes without explanation. We know Hawaii has lots of rainbows, but rainbows aren’t for beating and winning! They are for leprechauns and Care Bears.

6. Beavers (Oregon State): Come on, bite that wood!

7. Violets (NYU): What’s with all the smarty pants and their colors? Harvard Crimson and NYU Violets? Are these people too busy studying to pick out a tangible mascot?

8. Volunteers (University of Tennessee): While it’s honorable, it’s also lame.

9. Lord Jeffs (Amherst): Yes, we thought it was a joke too. Amherst has the oldest athletic program in the nation. Doesn’t that mean they could have picked the COOLEST mascot because no one else had one yet? And they picked the Lord Jeffs. Tragic.

10. Mule Riders (Southern Arkansas): We weren’t even aware that people still rode mules. Do they? In Southern Arkansas, maybe.

Copy Cat

I know that kids like to copy and mimic people. But have any of you had your child mimic a pet? Boston and I went with our friend Beth to visit her family in Tennessee a couple of months ago and her parents have 4 cats and 7 dogs (something like that). Boston LOVED the animals and it made perfect sense that he should drink out of the dog bowl like they do. Hey, he's about the same size as them! Note: the bowl and water are clean.

Beth's moving from Aliso Viejo to Newport Beach and Boston and I went to her new place a couple of days ago. She has 3 cats, Jo, Bo, and Sadie. Beth was teaching Boston how to give Bo cat treats. She would offer Bo a treat and he would eat out of her hand. Boston would grab a handful of treats and spread them on the floor and then try to push one up Bo's nose (he's not quite coordinated yet with placing small objects into small spaces). So Bo's ignoring Boston so Boston (sitting on the floor) bends down and attempts to eat cat treats like Bo, with his mouth. He quickly finds out that cat treats are disgusting and gags on it. Man, I wish I had my camera.