festive.

oh man, it's been a while since i've blogged. what has happened?? let's see. levi had finals, did excellently, and we have been relaxing and partying ever since. that basically sums it up in about one sentence. our life is so entertaining. 

on friday, we went to the oakland temple to see the lights and nativity. we took a friend and had a good time celebrating finishing this dreadful semester of school. 

 isn't his puppy hat so cute? this is the only hat he has ever worn. ever. and it's only because it's his "puuuppppy hat". big win for mom for picking it out. 

"don't make me stand next to the water fall, it's too loud"

then we opened presents from grandma and grandpa lowry while skyping on sunday because we aren't going to be up there for christmas day. we have raised an excellent present opener. 

tashina & markus gave him elmo, which he was very excited for. too bad that picture is blurry. he does love it lots. 

then we went to this "winter wonderland" tonight, which was fun. not sure if it was worth the $25 bucks + $10 for parking, but it was enjoyable for the hour we were there. 

they had a lot of cool exhibits from all over the world lit up with lights, and random ones like turkeys and such. 

this weekend we go to yosemite & party hard for a day or two at the resort, swimming & playing racquetball, then we're off to grandma's for christmas & canada for new years! busy busy holiday and we are excited to get it rolling, if only levi never had school, then we could do it all the time. =) 

festivities.

the season is upon us. i love christmas. i especially love singing christmas songs in church, finding a cute christmas dinner outfit for the child, decorating cookies/gingerbread houses and ugly sweater parties. just to name a few. 

we had a fantastic weekend playing with our friends. we went to an ugly sweater party yesterday and it was fabulous. we ate delicious treats, played the newlywed game {which my husband and i utterly failed at. i'm a little embarrassed. the only question we got right together was the "what would your husband say when he saw you in a swimsuit?.... sexy mama. yep, we're deep i know. oh, and the one about how many kids levi wants. which is six btw. it was pathetic}, had a white elephant exchange and got very inappropriate gifts, and basically had a lot of fun. 

 aren't we all just so good looking? self timer works miracles. =) oh, see that naked lady? just wait, she'll be here again. 

one of our lovely friends found this gem of a picture at good will and decided it would be amazing as a present for one of us. yes, it is terribly inappropriate. please scroll down if you embarrass easily or would rather not look at a creepy, bald, naked picture. because once you look at it, you really can't stop. oh, and yes, she does have candy on her sensitive areas to sensor it. 

yeah, they thought it was hilarious. they even hung it in the elevator when we were leaving as a little treat for those coming home. 

zak was.... bored. during our entire night, though he took it like a champ. so instead of sitting with us, he decided to work out. and make mom take pictures of him. 

tonight we had some friends over and decorated cookies & gingerbead houses. one of which turned out to be an utter failure. 

the frosting in the stupid pre-made kit was too runny, so it ended up not staying at all, no matter how much you piled the stuff on. so the kiddies ended up just eating all the frosting and candy since it was going to go to waste. they're so resourceful. 

but the kids did decorate some pretty amazing cookies =) 

we just let him dip his cookie in frosting since he wouldn't be a very good decorator. which in turn, ended up being "i'm going to lick the bowl to get all the frosting and not actually eat the cookie". he loved it. 

zak also got to hold a baby for the first time, and he was very excited. he's going to be such a good big brother someday. =) 

i love christmas. now, i am counting down until the 16th. practicals & exams & finals are ruining my life, although not as much as if i actually had to take them. but christmas break is going to be awesome. 

thanksgiving.

we spent thanksgiving down in fresno at my grandma's house and it was lovely. we didn't do much but relax, eat WAAAY too much food, and play.

our official thanksgiving picture. 

 zak loves grandpa. a lot. 

this is our random assortment of cheesy pictures from breakfast. my kid is such a hoot. 

we also played with the duckies. zak loved to break the bread and throw it to them. and of course, they swarmed him.

then we went to the fresno st. vs san jose game. it was zak's first football game and he did remarkably well. the nachos from grandpa helped a lot. 

the manly men. 

the avid sport watcher. 

all in all, it was a successful trip, and a great way to start off the holiday season!! i can't wait for the rest of it =) 

preparing.

my family and i decorated the house for christmas this past sunday. i have been loving it. and so has zak. he LOVES the lights on the tree, and immediately runs out to the tv room to see them every time he wakes up.

to start off our holidays, i found this gem of a picture from two years ago when i was pregnant. we were such weird cat people. who takes a picture in front of their tree with their cat?? 

i may or may not be wearing the same exact outfit as that time. haha, i'm that awesome. i feel like we look so much more mature now. =) also, the self timer was killing zak, he would smile after it finally went off, so he just looks thrilled to be there. 

the beast was such a good helper putting ornaments on. 

aren't his pj's awesome? i bought them 5 months ago at a thrift store for $1.00, and thought "how appropriate it would be for him to wear them while we're setting up christmas". 

i love decorating for christmas. it makes me feel so festive. here are a few of my favorites around the house:

do you like how half of the tree has ornaments? the perils of having a child.... we have been making child proof ornaments out of pipe cleaners and beads and painted wax paper so those will be up on the tree soon.

i love this season!! we leave for thanksgiving tomorrow afternoon in fresno, and we can't wait! it'll be nice to see dad for more than an hour at night time too! =))

home sweet home.

be prepared for the most random post ever. i was too lazy to go into detail about our escapades over the past couple weeks, so they are all smooshed into one post. 

anyways, the last couple weeks have been a little bit crazy! the beast and i have been gone to reno last thursday through sunday and then in phoenix monday through friday, so it feels like we have not been home in ages! as for mementos of those trips, unfortunately, i only took two pictures, and only because it was my dad's birthday, so this is what we have to document those voyages: 

we made grandpa ding dong's for his cake and did not want to share. 

reno was excellent. my craft fair was fun, always nice to be inspired by other people's amazingness lol 

and then, phoenix was super fun! we spent part of the week with grandpa, zak's ultimate favorite person, mom went shopping and bought all of her christmas presents while he napped, and my favoritest roommate and i saw breaking dawn at midnight in our pj's. it was so fun! 

oh boy, that sweater i bought is not very flattering at all. i swear my arms are not that big. 

then we came home, and pawned off the kid to go on a date with some friends. and it was awesome. 

 aren't they so cute?? 

one year ago this weekend, we came to san francisco to interview for dental school. ironically enough, it was pouring just like last time, so to keep with tradition, we decided to go to dinner at the same place we went last year and it was amazing. 

this was our picture in front of it last year, preciousnesss..... 

i will admit that it was so much more enjoyable without our child there. it's nice to get out and do things without him every once in a while. especially after having him by myself for almost two weeks. i think that we will keep up our tradition for the next few years we're here, because it was really fun to go back and see how much has changed in a year!! 

and for your viewing pleasure, our child has now decided he loves wearing my shoes. especially the sparkly ones.  feel free to judge him based on this picture. i laughed immensely when i saw what dad captured. 

and why not complete the outfit with mom's jacket as well? i can tell he's going to be a dress up loving kid already. 

well those brief pictures sum up the last several weeks for us, i should get better at posting soon!

 next up: our christmas decorating we did tonight! =)