Mom's Birthday Surprise

Mom's Birthday was this past Sunday, but David is in Texas right now so he wasn't able to be there with her. She was a little sad about that, so Sheila and I tried to make her Birthday extra special. I told her I was going to take her out to eat at Red Lobster, and that it was just going to be the two of us. However, Sheila and Mom's new best friend Sunny were going to already be there. Well, Mom decided at the last minute she wanted to go to the Olive Garden, which created quite a fiasco trying to let everyone know without telling Mom what was going on. She came over to my house after work and we did pedicures, and I stalled until seven o'clock, which was the only time Sunny would be able to go. Mom was VERY hungry by the time we got there. Sheila and Sunny had the table decorated beautifully with flowers, gifts, and balloons. Mom's face was priceless when she saw them there and she was so happy! We had a great time!

Introducing...Mom's new best friend Sunny!

Mom and Sunny are just too cute together!

Best Friends

Sheila and Me

Me, Sheila, Mom, and Sunny at the Olive Garden

Quarter of a Century

I turned 25 on November 12th. My friends met me for some yummy Mexican food at one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants. We had a really great time! Afterwords some of us went back to mom's house for some birthday pie! Thanks to Mom, Alan, Cory and Jenn, Jamilynn and T.J., Sheila and J.J., and Danielle and Khyl for making my birthday so special!

Sheila got me these beautiful pearls!

Jamilynn and T.J. got me this cute bracelet.

Cory and Jenn got me this beautifully bound set of Wicked and Son of a Witch, as well as a Walter Wick book, The Night Before Christmas.

Alan wasn't supposed to get me anything, but he surprised me with this adorable penguin necklace!

Alan also got me flowers. I like to do the color accent on them, so here are some with the green accented and then the pink.

Sheila, Me, Jamilynn, and Mom at Mom's house for pie.

We're so silly :o)

Thanks again everyone! You really made my birthday special!

Dad and Donna Visit

Dad and Donna came to Reno this past week to visit. We had a great time! It was a wonderful excuse for me to get to see my Grandparents in Fallon. I didn't take many pictures, but here is one of Alan and me with Dad and Donna.

Fall, Photo Fun, Family, and Friends

This past Saturday Alan and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and lovely Fall colors. We went to Caughlin Ranch near our house and took pictures. Jamilynn was nice enough to come along with us as well. It was just gorgeous outside, and we had fun.

Kathleen's Baptism

A couple weeks ago, my adopted niece Kathleen got baptized. She is so adorable! She even asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, which was such an honor! Always the teacher, I did an object lesson with a box full of items that represent the Holy Ghost. For example: a dove to represent that the Holy Ghost gives you peace, a best friends necklace because He can be your constant companion, a flashlight because He can light your path, and even earphones to show that the Holy Ghost can send you special messages, but they are for you only, and you have to be "tuned in" to hear them. Anyway, here are a few pictures!

The whole family: J.J. and Sheila with their girls Becka, Kathleen, and Beth

Kathleen with her Aunt Abby

Carving Pumpkins with Mom

Since Mom was not able to make it to the carving party this year, Alan and I carved with her on another night. Here are our pumpkins!

My Vampire Pumpkin

Mom's cute bat pumpkin

Alan's Ghost Pumpkin

Mom and Me - We are so cute!

All three jack-o-lanterns

All of us with our pumpkins!

The Gourd Adored

This year my pumpkin carving party was a huge success! Mom was supposed to host it with me, but she couldn't be there. She still let me use her house, though, and David was very patient with so many people there! We had a really great turnout, and some wonderful spooky treats! Thank you everyone for coming, and here are the pictures!

Jenn eating the tasty pumpkin guts!

Cory and Jenn both had HUGE pumpkins!

Yummmm!

This is Steve and Sunny, my mom and David's new best friends!

Jamilynn and TJ hard at work!

This was Danielle's first time to carve with a pattern,

and she did great!

David's Pumpkin

Alan's Pumpkin

My Pumpkin

Cory and Jenn's Pumpkins

TJ and Jamilynn's Pumpkin,

one of the winners of the Adored Gourd Sword Award!

Danielle's Pumpkin on the left, and Khyl's on the right.

Khyl also tied for first place!

Steve and Sunny's Pumpkins...Sunny didn't carve her pumpkin,

but scraped the skin off instead for a very cool effect.

The whole gang!

Thank you everyone that came! This was the best carving party yet!