goodbye, 2016!

this year was a good one. 

we made lots of memories and did lots of really fun things!

from celebrating andrew's first birthday, to brandon graduating and getting his MBA.

to andrew touching the ocean for the first time and 

experiencing the magic of disneyland as a little family. 

we went on lots of camping trips with family and loved every single one of those trips.

we loved the simple every day life stuff too. 

from painting our kitchen white and making our home a brighter and happier place. 

to one of my favorite things of the year. 

planting flowers and a garden. 

going out every morning and watering them with andrew. 

those are some special memories to me.  

and taking a photography class. 

that was one of my highlights of the year. 

2016 you were a good one and i can't wait to see what 2017 brings! 

christmas!

christmas has came and gone and it was a good one!

we did lots of christmas activities this year and we really enjoyed this season. 

christmas morning was SO magical! 

andrew walked out and saw the presents from santa and he did the funnest face. 

it was a mix of excitement, confused and a little look of what the heck are those! 

once he opened a few gifts he realized what was happening and was all about it. 

it was the most perfect christmas morning!

^^if you asked andrew what santa says, he will say, "ho, ho, ho."

if you ask him what santa is bringing him andrew will say, "choo choo." 

and santa did not disappoint and brought him a choo choo!^^

this little guy is in heaven will all his new toys. 

christmas is magical i tell you. 

hope you had a lovely holiday will people you love! 

gingerbread house!

we decorated our gingerbread house over the weekend! 

this is one of my favorite christmas traditions. 

andrew was all about the candy this year... ha! 

he even helped decorate the house. it was the cutest. 

he acted so proud after he put a candy on the house!

this is my 4th year blogging the gingerbread houses we make.. goodness where has the time gone. 

2013 here, 2014 here, 2015 here. 

some photos below! 

^^always wants to be my his dad!^^

^^pure excitement!^^

^^my little lover... where did you get those pretty blue eyes?^^

^^candy helper right here!^^

^^helping decorate the house!^^

^^the final look!

every year i think we make the cutest one. i really like this years! maybe cause andrew helped ;) ^^

happy almost christmas everyone! 

little family update

some of my other favorite bloggers i follow do these little family updates 

every now and then and i love that idea! 

i would love to go back and read what was happening in our little life right now. 

so here goes the first family update! 

JENNIE: i'm just trying to be the best mom, wife, daughter and everything else i can be. 

recently i shot my first wedding and it was so much fun and so different then just shooting andrew! 

getting into photography has been so much fun. 

i love taking photos and creating memories for people. 

i really love the whole process from taking the photos to editing them! 

i'm also the activity day leader in my ward and its the best calling. 

we get together twice a month for an hour and i get to hang out with girls. 

besides cooking, cleaning, laundry, helping my mother hahaha love you mom 

and taking care of andrew i usually am busy and when i get a chance i love to read a good book. 

i love being a mom and its the best thing!

BRANDON: he loves working at L3 communication. that job has been the greatest thing. 

he normally works 4/10's but if he needs to he works overtime. its so great to have him home for a longer weekend. we love the weekends. 

he also started going into work earlier and working out. he gets up so early 

and he's always so happy still! 

he's the elder quorum president right now. he really enjoys working with his counselors.  

he's still all about the denver broncos and has already started brain washing andrew that they're the best team. ha! he loves to be home with andrew and those two are the best of friends. 

he loves to fly his drone with andrew! 

ANDREW: he's the happiest little 1 1/2 year old boy! 

he still loves tractors, cars and his newest obsession is trains. 

he loves to say what a train says.. choo choo!

words andrew can say are mama, dadda, tractor, up, no 

(thats his favorite and its the silliest cause if you ask him any question he replys back with the sweetest no! ha) also can say slide, cup, light and also has said grandpa before. 

he loves his chocolate milk in the morning and likes to get his hair done. 

he tells us when he poops and climbs into his high chair when he's ready to eat. 

he just got a cold for the first time in his life. 

poor fella had so much snot and coughing it broke my mama heart! 

he knows he needs a coat on to go outside, likes to put on his own shoes and takes one nap a day for 2 hours. he's the best little guy around and we're so lucky to have him! 

polar express!

we went last week on the polar express down in heber. 

it was so much fun. andrew is really into trains right now so he was in heaven. 

i made a little video... i'm all about photos but i also love a good video cause

andrew loves watching them and it really helps him remember!
enjoy. also, some photos below! 

^^once we got on the train... we got a cookie and lets just say andrew was all about it!^^

^^silliest cousins! ha ha^^

^^he really enjoyed himself. having a child is so much fun especially during the holidays!^^

thanks for taking us in laws! it was a night we will always remember! 

happy december!

happy december! 

i still can't get over how its even december and a new year is going to start soon. 

like when and how did that happen? 

this month always has me happy and excited. 

lots of christmas traditions and so much goodness. 

it finally snowed here and we're loving it. 

i hope it snows a lot this winter. 

i don't really have much to say here just besides the fact that its winter and christmas time already! 

i just felt like we were just camping. 

anyways, my goal this christmas season is to not just focus on the christmas side of the holiday 

but also the CHRIST side. 

happy holla-days!

decorating the christmas tree video!

we made a little video of us decorating the christmas tree this year again. 

we did one last year and oh my goodness andrew was just a little baby! 

not even crawling yet... you can watch last's year here.

he has done so well with the tree, everyone was saying we will only be decorating the top half 

cause he will grab the ornaments down. but he has done the opposite! 

i thank the train for that! ha ha 

he's really really into trains right now and you'll see his excitement in the video when the train 

gets turn on. goodness andrew, please stay this little forever 

and never get rid of your little voice! 

enjoy the video and happy holidays! 

thankful

thanksgiving is almost here!!! 

this year has just flown by. it's been a great year. i have loved it. 

i just wish time would slow down. 

every year i make a shutterfly book of all my photos i take throughout the year 

and i'm over half way done with it. and i can't help but feel blessed. 

we have had a great year! 

we did lots of fun trips as a family and made lots of special memories. 

with thanksgiving coming i just think of all the things i'm thankful for. 

husband- he's the best i tell ya. 

he's always willing to listen to me ramble on about who knows what and he's always supportive of me and my goals and what i want! i'm so lucky to have you. i thank my lucky stars we found each other. you are the best decision i've ever made.  

andrew- nothing has made me happier than being your mama. you're so funny, sweet and full of personality. i really love that about you. i hope you never loose your spunk. 

my family- goodness i ended up with the best ones. 

feeling very thankful for everything they do for us. especially my mama. 

she's the best i tell you. 

the gospel- church is really hard with a toddler. 

i think i hear about 5 minutes of the entire sacrament//talks. 

but i'm so thankful for the gospel. it brings me and my family so much joy and peace! 

i sure do love my heavenly father. 

i love this time of year.

all the festivities and fun and thinking about everything i'm thankful for 

and christ with being christmas. 

i'm just thankful. 

happy thanksgiving everyone. 

and also happy gilmore girls reunion soon! eeeeek. 

you wouldn't believe how happy i am about that.  

happy 30th husband!

brandon turned 30 last week!!!

happy birthday again husband. 

i just wanted to write a little and say how much andrew and i are lucky to have you. 

thank you for always putting us first and working so hard to provide for us. 

if someone was to write a definition of a perfect husband and father, 

your name would be in that definition. 

i hope your thirties are wonderful and great and filled with so much happiness! 

i will say his birthday day was lovely. 

him and i went to a movie! we saw keeping up with the joneses and it was so great. 

we were dying from laughing in the theater.

then we went to brandon's favorite dinner place and then had a little party to celebrate him. 

i love you hubby!! i hope you had a great birthday, because YOU deserve it. 

ps. i should add he got a drone for his birthday and he's like a kid with it. its cute. ha! 

halloween 2016!

 

happy halloween from the fox and the hound and the hunter! 

this halloween was one of my favorites. 

andrew was just SO much fun! he was all about trick or treating. it was the cutest thing. 

he ran to all the houses so fast and wouldn't let anyone carry his candy bucket. 

brandon and i kept looking at each other saying, "can he stay little forever?"

hope your halloween was great. 

we probably have enough candy to last till next halloween! ha! 

also, enjoy the video!

 i look so silly but andrew has watched this video like 10 times now 

and he laughs every time at my part. ha!
also, he really didn't like wearing the hat. hahaha

^^gunna get the fox!^^

^^guys i'm no makeup artist but i was pretty happy with how my makeup turned out!^^

^^I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM!^^

^^my crew. goodness halloween was fun doing a family themed costumes!^^

^^andrew with his cousins on my side!^^

^^and andrew with his cousins on brandon's side!^^

it was a good good halloween! 

now off to christmas. ha!!! 

jk thanksgiving, i love you too. 

a trip to the zoo!

hello hello! 

does anyone's weekend go super duper fast like ours do? 

it was a good weekend. we got lots done and i should add we had good food. ha! 

burger bar and costa vida in one weekend.. means my stomach was in heaven.

annnnyways, besides the point. ha ha 

we went to the zoo this weekend. we had free tickets and decided to go! 

andrew liked the zoo but he also didn't care for it either. i guess he's still young. 

we made a little video clip of our time there and you can find it down below! 

best part is at the end when andrew says what a monkey says. ah! i love that kid.

^^enjoy the video...some photos are below too!^^

^^thank you stranger for taking our photo! ha^^

^^he was all about watching the otter swim!^^

family time is my favorite time! 

have a happy last week of October! 

andrew at 18 months!

this guy turned a year and half.

my life has been changed for the better because of him. 

18 months with you andrew and i love it!! 

he just had his doctors apt so i wanted to write down his stats. 

33 inches tall

23 pounds and 5.0 ounces

68% height, 36% weight and 97% head 

a couple things about you. 

-animal noises you can do are dogs, horses, ducky, fishy, lion, monkey, 

dinosaur, cow, bird and chicken

-loves to jump and walk backwards and spin in circles 

-you love to dance especially with daddy

-you can say what the tractor says and what daddy trucks says and what mater says, dada

and my favorite mama! 

-you love trucks, tractors and cars

-you also love to read books 

-you take one nap for about 2 hours on most days 

-loves to be cuddled to sleep 

-tucks his arms in when we carry him 

-if you poop you point to your lower tummy ha!

-loves the movie cars, planes and recently finding nemo

-you love your chocolate milk in the morning 

-copies mom with cleaning and doing dishes

-loves to climb up on tables and chairs 

-being outside is your favorite thing

-when you do something naughty you say no no no with your little finger pointing

-you have mastered running and throwing yourself on the ground when you throw a fit 

you do so much more and you make us happy and laugh everyday! 

WE LOVE YOU ANDREW! 

fall time is here!

this weekend we went up to snow basin to see the fall leaves! 

YOU GUYS. if you haven't yet, get in your car and go for a drive and see them! 

it was so darn beautiful! 

couple of days before we went up, it snowed so the bottom of mountain was fall 

and the top was winter.  it was breathtaking. 

we spent a couple hours up there and i love how much we love mountains. 

andrew was right at home i tell ya!

^^i kept telling brandon my favorite was the pops of red and orange!^^ 

^^those blue eyes..... like what!^^

^^it was so foggy up top!^^

^^and this is why daddy is the fun one!^^

^^he would just start walking and go exploring. he loves the outdoors!^^

^^we rode the gondala and it was so worth it! this was right when we started going up and andrew wasn't so sure with what was happening! ha^^

^^and then he got comfortable and was all about it!^^

^^it was so pretty riding it! you could see for miles and got an extra good view of the colors!^^

^^just talking away!^^

^^this was up top. it was freezing! there was about a foot of snow and we saw people snowboarding and skiing. i will say that snow got me really excited for christmas ha!^^

^^baby in a winter coat... nothing cuter i tell ya!^^

^^I LOVE YOU SO MUCH ANDREW. and red nose from being up in the cold!^^

^^back down at the bottom again... guys these colors are just beautiful!^^

^^snow basin has the awesome playground!^^

it was such a good weekend up in the fall mountains. 

i can't believe how beautiful it was up there. 

go go go and see the leaves before they're gone. 

trust me it's worth it!