it's about time

Once again, I apologize; it has been way too long since I've written.

Here's what Jared and I have been up to lately.

January. . . well let's just say it was a little chilly for Texas :P meaning below 40 degrees.

And by snow, I mean lots of ice and sleet; 

SO MUCH (maybe 1/2 cm), that Austin pretty much shut down.

One thing that is popular in Texas is breakfast tacos 

(same thing as a breakfast burrito - they're really set on the "taco" part)

Jared and I decided to make homemade breakfast tacos!  Tortilla, eggs, cheese, sausage, hashbrown/potatoes and ketchup/hot sauce.  Sooo good.

February was wonderful :)

My work had a party on Valentine's Day, so Jared and I were able to attend and have some fun dancing!

I'm so glad that my work is flexible in letting Jared come and have fun with us.

We found out that my cousin Laurisa and her husband, Joel are expecting :) and I had the privilege of taking their announcement photos!  Super special and a gorgeous day! 

 So our car was getting kind of REALLY dusty and dirty from all the "snow" and rainy weather.  I kept bugging Jared that we needed to get our car washed.  He kindly searched for a car wash in town and we found this place, BUT it only took cash and we didn't have enough on us . . . Cost was $6 but it only took $1 bills and $5 bills . . . we had a $10 bill.  Luckily I kept a stash of quarters in our car (about $7 worth) . . .

Good thing no one was behind us in line, because we took FOREVER getting all 24 quarters into the machine . . . we had a good laugh!  On the positive side, our car was nice and clean - well sort of . . .

In later adventures, I participated in my work's dance showcase.  I competed in several dances (Waltz, East Coast Swing, Hustle and West Coast Swing) with a student who ended up taking first place in his division!  Super fun!

Jared was able to join me and was so wonderful to take photos and be there with me through the day!

Oh and on a side note, I made this dress :)

another month flown by...

Woah, December flew by . . . I don't even know where to begin.

On Saturday the 14th, our Church ward had a Christmas Dinner/party.  They asked me if I would be the photographer for a photobooth.  So .  Much .  Fun .

 

On the left: our senior couple missionaries

On the right: four of our elder missionaries and the two in the middle are members of our ward.

Sadly, being the photographer, I forgot to ask someone to take a photo of us :( sorry.

In other news, Jared and I are now teaching primary together in our ward (group of 8-9year old children).  We love it so much and enjoy the kids we have.

Work for me has picked up quite a bit and it's been wonderful.  Jared is loving his job more and more and loves learning new things.  Because we were traveling to Seattle for Christmas break, we decided we would open our Christmas presents before we left :)

Jared LOVES to read.  We also got some Maple sugar Santas.

    

We got a wonderful puzzle piece that we put on our mantle and Jared got me a toilet paper holder (I've been wanting one for a while) :) It's wonderful

I surprised Jared by getting him a large present that he could not figure out :)  I was loving the looks on his face as he was trying to guess what was inside . . .  He loves his new chair that he uses when he reads.

We then set off to the Austin airport to fly to Seattle to meet my family.

We spent Christmas with my mom's parents.

They own an Alpaca Farm (small llamas) and we tried to get them in the picture :)

We then took off to see my Brother Chad, his wife Nicole and their family.  They just welcomed in a new little princess Bella Rose.  

We then needed a family photo because we had a new addition to the family :)

There was lots of presents opened, lots of shenanigans and fun stuff :)

We had a lot of fun, BUT the vacation wasn't over yet.  We then headed to Oregon to visit my dad's parents and spend a couple days with them . . . and most of the extended family :P

It was fun getting everyone to sit still, BUT we did it and the photo turned out great.

And that ends our wonderful vacation to Seattle/Oregon.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season :)