Who has a beard that's snowy white?

This is the picture we took this afternoon at the Christmas open house. I have to say I was impressed with this Santa.... he looked petty real. Quincy, luckily, doesn't cry when he sees Santa, but he was less than enthused about sitting on his lap. He was a little over due for a nap and this was the best shot. We tried right? Santa gave him a candy cane and a pinwheel-- which I thought we be more fun for him, except that we forgot it there. I will just have to pick it up when I work next.

Happy Thanksgiving.....Late, as usual.

Just so you all know, I would have posted something sooner, but since we were at the Howard's home this last week ****the other older Howard's :o) ****and they only have dial up... I decided to wait.



Unfortunately I had to work on Wednesday, so we couldn't head to Fruitland until Wednesday later. We did, however, end up making it for dinner with them. Kelly was driving from Jerome and so she stopped by on the way through to "kidnap" Quincy. Later on Wednesday night Heather, Trevor, and Derek got there also. We all had fun hanging out and watched Anchor Man. --- It would have been Elf, but Kent had just watched it before we got there---



Thanksgiving morning consisted of the usual tradition, at least in the Howard home, of playing basketball. Kent, Tyler, Derek, Trevor, and Kelly left to go play a pick game of basketball with some other families from the church. Meanwhile, Teesy, Heather, Quincy, and I stayed home to get ready for the day and prepare for dinner. I was totally okay with hanging out at home. I helped with my usual forte, the vegetable, cheese, and cracker trays. By the time everyone got back from playing ball and showered it was dinner time. I felt like for one of the first times ever I DIDN'T over eat. Everyone else did... as expected on Thanksgiving. It was nice to have everyone there.



Most of the rest of our Thanksgiving weekend consisted of eating, playing games, watching football, talking, watching movies, and shopping.



Friday Tyler went to the BSU vs. Fresno State game with Derek. I thought about going with him, but decided that Derek would like to since he's never been to a game at BSU. I stayed back with Tyler's parents, Heather and Trevor. We did a little late afternoon shopping in Nampa and Boise. It was nice that we didn't have to compete with crazy crowds.... by the time we were out, all the madness had slowed. I was able to buy Tyler a couple of things, which I was excited about, because he doesn't know what they are.... or at least he claims he doesn't know. We later went to dinner at Red Robin.



Saturday I had to work all day, which kind of sucked. I told my boss two months ago that I would, and so there was no getting out of it. Plus, we need the money for Christmas, bills etc. It wasn't as bad as I thought, mostly we spent the day redecorating the entire store into a Christmas extravaganza! It was a lot of work, but the day flew by. Before I knew it... it was 5:30PM and my boss told me I could leave. It was perfect timing because I was able to make it in time to Applebees where everyone was eating dinner. By the time we finished eating I was exhausted!



Sunday we went to our ward, we would have liked to go to Tyler's parent's ward, but Tyler had to teach primary and didn't get a subsistute. Church was nice..... it's SO much nicer at 9:00AM vs. 3:00PM!!! After church we ate left over Applebees for lunch and headed over to my work for the Christmas open house. It was beautiful and we got to see Santa and have our picture taken with him for free. We ate cookies and drank punch and walked around to see all the pretty decor. I was proud to say that I had a part in the gorgeous production.



We are so blessed to have family who live close. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and really enjoyed seeing ALL of Tyler's siblings. We can't wait to see them again.... perhaps at a wedding? If not a baby blessing. Either way we're looking forward to it.



I'm especially thankful for Tyler, he has always been the rock in our marriage. He's loving and kind, and treats me well. He is a great father and an awesome husband.



I'm also thankful for Quincy who brings so much joy to our family. We thoroughly enjoy watching him grow and learn.



I'm ALSO thankful for my family.... and although we couldn't be with them this year for Thansgiving, I love them dearly. We are so excited to see you guys in a couple of short weeks!

This was the only picture I have of everyone this week... too bad Derek and Quincy aren't looking. Left to right: Heather (and baby Hess) Trevor, Teesy, Kent, Quincy, Kelly, Kati, Derek, and Tyler.

We are Thankful.

The last one to get their hair cut....

I've been over due for a haircut.... but, of course, since I'm the one giving haircuts I'm last on the list to get one. I had a coupon for a $5.00 haircut at the Beauty College--- it's the only place I get my hair cut because they are the cheapest.

What do you think?

While I was there getting my hair cut, Quincy was flirting with all the cosmetologists. They thought he was adorable. Soon he was friends with all of them and they were giving him their hair clips and talking to him sweetly. He is such a little flirt!

---------I think he gets that from Tyler!---------------------------

Future Professional Photographer?

We were taking pictures of Q yesterday and he was tired of posing... so after some persuasion we decided to let him take some pictures of his own.

After letting him have his way with the camera, this is the final product:

Pretty classy huh?

Way to go Q!

The pre-holiday shopping...

Yesterday we did a little shopping for Christmas. Tyler bought me some really cute Nine West heels; When I walked in them at the store they had medal detector things on them, so it was hard to tell if they felt good walking around in. Unfortunately, even though they were to die for I just couldn't stand to walk in them. We had to return them and while we were out returning them Tyler found a really nice black jacket. It's really nice and we got a great deal. I think he looks handsome and it is not only practical, but versatile-- he can wear it for casual and business occasions.

I told Tyler to put it on so I could take a picture.... and wouldn't you know it Quincy wanted to be in picture too. :)

We did, however, find a great pair of heels for me though. I spent a good 20 minutes in the store walking in them to make sure they fit and felt good. Tyler wasn't too hot on the pointed toe, but after a while he came around. Hallelujah.... because I was going to get them anyway.

Too bad that we don't have any surprises in our Christmas presents to each other.... ah well. It's still nice to be able to spend a little money on us..... most of our moolah goes to Quincy.

Merry Christmas to us!

ZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzzz.....

This video clip is actually from October.... but I never had the time to upload it. We laugh hard every time we watch it. This goes to show that Quincy is quite the trooper when it comes to shopping. It gives the saying "shop til you drop" a whole new meaning.

Our little sleepy head!

At last the time has come... 15 month update

I was feeling a little down reading Katie Stacey's blog when she reported Savannah saying actual words like shoe, for instance. Then I would get to spend the rest of my day feeling frustrated when the only "words" Quincy would say were "dada" and other sorts of jibberish.

Well, I feel a little better now because Quincy is finally feeling comfortable enough to try new sounds and words. He can now say bubble *bubah*, cracker *gakah*, circle *gircle*, hot *haaa*,car *gar*, go, up, dog, out there, dada, mama, and yuck *ykkk*. I told Tyler, despite not being able to say any really important words for communicating, I'm not sure how bubble is useful in getting what he wants, we are excited for this new stage in his life. We look forward to him saying lots more and I'm sure along with all those new words he will also be saying embarrassing things like we both did as children. Either way, we are so happy!

Quincy can also climb on the couches by himself... he is very well balanced. He gives hugs and kisses... which is VERY cute! He knows what it means when we say *ouch*; If he hurts one of us we say *ouch* and tell him to kiss it better. He does and says *Mmmwah* while he kisses you. It's super cute. He also kisses characters in his books, other kids-- mostly girls-- and his toys and stuffed animals.

We are so proud of Quincy he a great son and we are amazed by everything he accomplishes each day!

New Haircut

We had to give Quincy another haircut.... it was getting to shaggy and curly around his ears. I broke down and gave him a buzz haircut. Immediately afterwards he was out of control. I informed Tyler I won't be giving this haircut again because I'm convinced it brings out the worst in him. At least it looks clean cut.

I thought this picture was funny. It reminded me of school pictures where you get one shot and if you're blinking... better luck next year.

**************Oh and as a side note, don't you love the snot on his upper lip? We really do bathe our child, we just can't keep up with his runny nose all the time. At least we keep him clean in public, right?**********************

The best husband ever...

Tyler and I are making a special effort to do things that the other person enjoys. Since Tyler grew up in a home where sports were a common interest among all, I try to be supportive of him watching games that he really wants to see. Though I'm not perfect at this, usually towards the end of the game I start to grumble, but I DO try. And in return, Tyler tries to be supportive of things I enjoy. Two weeks ago he went shopping with me and bought me a cute pair of heels. This week he decided that he was going to take me to the Twilight movie. I'd been looking forward to this since I finished all the book series. Unfortunately, we couldn't go to the movie premiere since we were at the game, so he treated me to a date night on Saturday. We were lucky to have some of our close friends in the ward, the Banks, watch Quincy for us while we went out.

It was SO nice to go out alone, we hardly ever go on dates alone... it was a nice change.

We both enjoyed the movie.... I was only slightly disappointed, but overall I thought it was nicely done. Afterwards we came home and snuggled up for a quiet night.

This picture is at the game on Friday night.... we never take pictures of us... I know our blog is a Quincy fest. Nobody really cares to see us, we're not as cute. :o) At any rate..... I have a wonderful husband who loves me so much.

I am Grateful!

Friday Night Football

Later Friday after we visited with my old roommate Britany, we helped our friends Connor and Lindsey pack up. We were sad to see them go, but happy that they're moving to Portland, OR. In fact, I think they'll be moving into an apartment close to my brother's condo, which will be great when we go to visit them. They were some of our closest friends.... we wish them good luck in their new adventures.

We probably would've hung out with Connor and Lindsey later into the night eating pizza, but we had already a commitment to go to the 3A High School Football State Championship with Tyler's parents. Fruitland High School, Tyler's old high school was playing and so he was excited to go. I wasn't thrilled... but it was nicer that my in laws gave us their season pass to get into the game free, and it was at BSU's football stadium, which meant we didn't have to drive too far. It was, however, freezing!!!!!!

We all got bundled up in various layers of clothing and brought blankets with us, but it didn't help me too much, I still felt numb. I had on two pairs of pants-- tights and jeans over the tights--three shirts, two jackets, a scarf and mittens..... not to mention that I had on two blankets. I was a little bit miserable, because I hate being cold. Tyler made it more enjoyable by talking to me and snuggling in close to keep me warm.

Overall, it was fun. We ate popcorn and candy.... Quincy sat with his grandparents all bundled up in several layers.... I think he stayed fairly warm. Poor little guy was sick though and I don't think it did his runny nose any good being out in the cold, but he was a good sport.

Fruitland lost.... not until the end, and I have to say regardless of the score it was still an enjoyable game to watch. Salmon High School, the other team, had an awesome quarterback; who was really great at making quick decisions and precise passes-- which is ultimately what pulled them through to win the State Championship title.

After all that fun sitting in the wintery cold, we went home, bundled up and cranked up our heaters!

Check out Q in his winter gear... apparently his jacket tastes good?

This is a pretty good cheesy smile.

Sitting with Grandpa Kent and Grandma Teesy at the game.

Fruitland vs. Salmon 2008

Roommate Reunion

Last month when I was at my parents house I had the pleasure of getting together with one of my closest friends and former college roommates, Kate Quayle. This Friday I had the opportunity to see yet another college roommate, same apartment as Kate Quayle. Her name s Britany-- Cox then-- Bragg now. This girl is so sweet. Although I didn't know her before I got to school, she was one of Kate's friends from back in Camas, Washington.

It's crazy now that we haven't seen each other since 2007.... at the time we were both pregnant. She is now pregnant with her second daughter and already has a little girl who's two weeks younger than Quincy. Granted I don't think the second pregnancy was planned.... she's a tough chick. I think it will take a strong mother to take care of two little girls so close in age.

The whole reason I got to visit with her and her daughter Baylee, is her husband was having a graduation from school to become an officer at a correctional facility. The school was here in Meridian; after they went to the graduation they stopped to visit for a while.

Left to right: Britany-- and future baby in her tummy-- Baylee on her lap, Me, and Quincy.

It was fun to watch Baylee and Quincy play together. I was curious to see how Quincy would play with a girl his age... since he tends to "play" a little on the rough side, but to my surprise he was very sweet. He shared all his toys and even gave Baylee some hugs and kisses--- big smoochie kisses might I add. Sometimes I worry this little boy is going to grow up to be lots of trouble with the ladies... but for now I know it's all sweet and innocent.

Here they are playing with Quincy's basketballs.

I tried to capture a little kiss action, but missed.

It was really nice to get together with these guys.... thanks for dropping by Brit. You are all welcome any time!

A good honest days work

I haven't worked in about two weeks, but the one day I did work I made several of these garden baskets. I was quite pleased to see that after this one was completed I made two more which were similar as a special request from two different customers. They each sold at $65 retail... not bad for only working 1 day and a 5 hour shift. I'd say I'm a good asset for the company.

We love Sesame Street yes We do....

.....Quincy loves Sesame Street, how 'bout you?

Some of Quincy's favorite toys happen to be some of the well-known characters from Sesame Street. This last week while Tyler was in McCall, we decided to hang out with Quincy's grandparents in Fruitland for the week. He had so much fun playing with all the movies and DVD's, hiding grandma's coasters, eating candy and cookies, as well as staying up late every night.

We were glad that they were able to have us stay with them for the week.

Thanks guys!

I thought this picture was funny... it looks like the Sesame Street massacre.

I'm a big boy now!

Our latest excitement was getting Quincy a brand new carseat. It's crazy how fast this boy has grown, and out-grown his old carseat. We found this snazzy booster seat at Sears for a steal. We thought that Quincy would thoroughly enjoy his new carseat, and he has for the most part. Although, he isn't always fond of the shoulder strap, he loves to be able to see us up front. I have to say.... he is growing into quite the little man.

This last picture is the first one I took of him in the new carseat, I don't think he know what to think of it yet. :o)

Who needs Toys?

Quincy is funny... he is just as easily entertained with our laundry basket as he is with some of his favorite toys!

This weekend's events.....

In times of economical turmoil we are forced into being frugal with our finances...... or in our case, or most young married couples starting families, you have no choice regardless of the nation's financial status. Despite the status of our bank account we have learned to have fun.

***Now mind you I didn't take pictures to document so you'll just have to use your imaginations***

Friday we decided that we should get out of the house, I mean there is only so much fun you can have in the same boring 4 white walled house that you call home, right? It was nearing lunch time and I thought we should go out to eat... mostly because I wasn't hot on the idea of me having to make something out of nothing-- due to bare cupboards.

Tyler agreed on the idea, but I didn't have him fully convinced until I counted out all the change I had in my wallet and purse (which might I add, consisted of $1.00 completely made up of penny's!). After doing some serious counting, we added up our grand total of about $7.85 or so.

I also remembered that we had some coupons for fast food restaurants and that should've been more than enough for all of us to eat. Plus my mom had given us some FREE Red Robin kids' meals coupons..... nothing beats free! We finally agreed to order Quincy's kids meal take out from Red Robin and then we would eat our lunch at McDonald's off the dollar menu, splurging the rest of our money on some root beer floats from A&W.

Lunch was delicious. I think food always tastes better when you don't have to make it yourself, or clean up the mess. After we ate we headed over to the mall because the Mervin's store is going out of business. Quincy is desperately in need of a new car seat since he's outgrown his, and so we thought we'd see if Mervin's carried car seats, who wouldn't want to get 60-80% of that?

Unfortunately Mervin's didn't carry car seats, or even if they did there were no longer any there. I did, however, find a super cute pair of black heals... which Tyler detested. I didn't get them, and I'm still a little sad about that. There are other things I'm in more need of than a cute pair of black heels though.

Tyler found a few nice dress shirts, which he's in need of. I've been trying to encourage him into trying new things, when it comes to fashion. We finally agreed on branching out in his variety or dress shirt colors. He reluctantly agreed to try a purple dress shirt, which might I add if very similar to blue... baby steps. He liked a lavender colored shirt, and it was even on sale in the clearance section of JC Penny, but he couldn't commit to it. I told him that I wasn't going to buy a shirt that he wasn't going to wear.

After our failed attempts at agreeing on fashion, we both agreed on getting some root beer floats. I also had a coupon--- we seriously use coupons all the time now--- for this. Our stash of change was down to $2.09... I thought that would cover two .99 floats. Unfortunately for us, the total was $2.10 and I was a penny short and for once.... didn't have a penny to spare. Lucky for us though, I used my flirtatious skills and mastered the art of looking helpless....the high school kid behind the register thought he'd be my "hero" and lend me a penny of his. I couldn't have been more happy to see this little high school kid making such a sweet gesture. And so off we went with our root beer floats in hand.

Saturday I worked, and the events of that day aren't really that exciting.

Sunday we had some ward and stake boundary changes..... so we only had to go to Sacrament mtg. Tyler participated in the primary program, and did such a good job reading his part. :o)After sacrament we headed over to the stake center to hear the new changes. Our ward is the same, but we have changes stakes. Weird, I know. And the BEST news EVER, is that we change time to 9:00AM instead of 3:00PM!!!!! We start the new time schedule next Sunday and keep it through 2009 year. Yea!!!!!!!!


So, that was it.... you've all heard about our exciting weekend now. :o)

Happy Halloween.... Late.

On Halloween we went to a ward Trunk or Treat. It was a lot better going "trick or treating" around a parking lot versus house to house. It's nice when you know the other adults handing out candy and you can trust to take their candy. It's also nice with little legs that tire easily to not have to make such a long distance. We had fun and Quincy got lots of compliments on his pumpkin costume.


Which by the way, is one of the costumes we wore as kids growing up. Glad to see my mom's sewing skills are still being put to use several years later.

In order to convince Quincy to wear his pumpkin costume, I dressed up too. I had this Halloween costume a couple of years ago and never wore it then..... I figured now was as good time as any. It worked too, Quincy was quite content to see he wasn't the only one who looked a little ridiculous!

We tried to get a picture before the trunk or treat, but he obviously wasn't interested!

Look at that face it's as if he's saying: "Come on guys, do I really have to do this?"

Tyler and I laughed so hard after we stuffed his costume up with news papers and plastic bags because everywhere he walked he would swoosh swoosh around the room.

We had a great Halloween this year and next year will be even more fun!

Last day in Washington.....

Monday:

At the conclusion of our Washington trip I was fortunate enough to have one of my life-long friends, Kate-- formally Marshall-- Quayle, over for a "play date" Monday morning. It's hard to believe that I've known Kate for as long as our mother's were pregnant with us at the same time. Though Kate and I have never been close in proximity growing up, we've always shared birthdays and other family friend get-togethers. We even were roommates for a year up at BYU-Idaho. I'm so glad, and blessed to have such a great friend like Kate.

It's even harder to believe that we both have kids now.... that are the same ages we were growing up as friends. I hope that our children will be friends too, of course if we continue to stay close I'm sure they will also. And thus the circle of mother-hood friends continues....


From left to right: Alexis, Kate, Vienna, Kati, and Quincy.

After our Kate/ Kati friend reunion/ play date... we had to part our ways and head off to the airport. When we got there we were informed that our flight was delayed by an hour!

Yikes another hour in the airport?!?

How do you entertain a 15 month old little boy in the Portland International Airport?




I'll tell you how: You spend about 30 minutes "riding" the moving sidewalks up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. Then you make a few trips to the bathroom to avoid having to change diapers on the plane. Then you spend 15 minutes trying to coax him into eating a Wendy's frosty when he's hungry. Then you have another 20 minutes or so of people giving you dirty looks because your child doesn't want to sit still and proceeds to protest the sitting by yelling and screaming. Then you have some lady who sits next to you who goes on and on and on and on about her life story and reeks of strong liquor. She continues to talk and tell you about her daycare and how she cares for an autistic boy who's two years old. She also tells you how cute your child is and how "fun" they are at this age. You look at her like, "lady you must be drunk, because any sober woman who had to deal with this child right now in these circumstances would not describe this as 'fun'". Then you feel utterly and completely exhausted and all but give up in the battle, only to be told that the plane will be boarding shortly, so get in line according to your boarding pass number.





This is how our down time was spent at the airport.



But I have to say, the plane ride back to Boise was pretty decent. Quincy did very well until the end because he was tired and hungry and started to cry a little; I think in all honesty I wanted to cry too............luckily I didn't.


Oh, this picture was taken before we found out all the bad news about our flight delay... can't you tell?



Overall, we had a wonderful trip to Washington and can't wait to come back with Tyler next time.

Love you Mom and Dad!

Washington trip continued...

Sunday:

Just to follow through with our Washington trip I wanted to include a few more pictures...

Sunday we spent together as a family, Spencer adn Johnathon came up for church and a family dinner. Later that night we decided to visit Nanny and Pappy. Quincy was a little nervouse at first around them, but after some brief bribery and coaxing, he gave in for a picture with Nanny Goat.

Nanny and Pappy have a little dog whose name is Fraiser. Quincy was excited to see Fraiser, but I don't think it was mutual. Fraiser started getting into a barking frenzy when Quincy perched up on Nanny's lap. We think he was a little jealous. Quincy also had fun terrorizing Jack and Bess, Nanny's little birds. I forget what kind they are but they make little beep beeping chirps.

There's that wandering finger getting closer to his nose. :o)

"Come out little birdies!"