Thanksgiving and some other fun things

First I would like to say how cold it was in our apartment yesterday, I was not happy and that heater was turned on ASAP:

Second, Thanksgiving.  We spent Thanksgiving day with both my side of the family and Erik's side.  I had brought my camera and had intended on taking lots of pictures, but of course that never happens.  His side of the family came in from California and it was so great to see his aunts, uncles and cousins.  On Thanksgiving night we went to see the temple lights, and this was the only picture we managed to steal:

(There's more to the fam, but these were the only ones there that night)

All in all we had a really fun Thanksgiving, full of lots of food, family, and lots of Christmas music.

On Wednesday I hit 33 weeks and I cannot believe how fast time is going.  It feels like just yesterday we found out that we were pregnant, and now it is almost time for him to come.  I feel so ready for him to finally be here, and at the same time I don't feel ready at all.  I don't think those fears will go away until he is here and in my arms, and all I can do for right now is pray that everything will go alright!  It feels that in the past few weeks, and even more in the past few days my turkey popper has really popped.  I can tell we are going to have a big boy!

Yesterday was a very exciting day in the Payne home.  You see, Erik has not cut his hair since December 4th of last year.  LAST YEAR.  He was growing it out a year ago, and he finally cut it for my birthday because I had been bugging him about getting his hair cut for 8 months.  Well then he decided to grow it out again.  When we found out we were pregnant, he said he wasn't going to cut it until right before Jude was born.  At first I just let him believe that, and I figured I could sucker him into getting it cut again.  Boy was I wrong.  I finally decided that the arguments weren't worth it, and if he wanted to grow it out then I wasn't going to say anything more about it.  So it has been growing and growing and I have kept my mouth shut.  At times I will admit, I did sort of like it (don't tell Erik), but I like it way better short than I do long.  In case you didn't remember, this is what it looked like before he cut it (I chose this picture as an excuse to put in on the blog.  It was taken about a week ago, and I loved it so much because no one put her there, she was just handed a bottle and then crawled right up to his leg and laid down.  I melted.  But you still get the idea with his hair):

Well yesterday we had our maternity photo shoot which is one of my birthday presents.  I told Erik my only condition was that he wore a hat, because he looks better with a hat on with his long hair.  Of course he didn't mind because he agrees, and I think he could tell I was secretly stressing about how they were going to turn out with his long hair, even though I didn't say anything.  Before we went to bed Friday night, he told me he was going to cut his hair for my birthday, and that he would do it a week early for the photo shoot.  I obviously was sooo excited, and decided that because I have not said anything about his hair for the last year, I should be able to have some fun with it before he chopped off the 8 inches.  So I straightened:

And curled:

And french braided:

Did pigtails:

And made it look girly:

We then decided we couldn't just cut it without having any fun with it, so we pulled out the scissors and started chopping. Erik and I both agree that this picture makes him look extra creepy/Asian in a weird sort of way:

Mullet:

Rat tail (I'm not sure why it rotated this one and I couldn't figure out how to rotate it back.  Sorry):

Afterwards I was a very happy wife, and I was even more happy that he said he was tired of his long hair and that is why he decided to cut it.  Even though all of our primary girls laughed at him and told him he looked funny, I think he looks great! Now Jude will know he has a mom and a dad, instead of 2 moms.

I am so grateful for many things in my life.  I am grateful for such loving parents and a wonderful family that support us so much.  I am so glad I have the gospel in my life I love the strength that it gives me everyday.  Most importantly I am so grateful for having Erik by my side.  He is such a good husband to me and I could not have asked for anyone more perfect for what I need.  He keeps me laughing every day, and life is always fun with him.  I can't wait to start our little family together!

We hope you all had a fun Thanksgiving weekend!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

I have been waiting for this last weekend for a very long time now. And I'm sure you all know why......

Remember how I'm a nerd? And I read these books over and over again and never get tired of them? Oh yeah, me too.  I have been counting down the days until November 19th since I heard that was the release date.  And I'll just say this, I was not disappointed.  And I even cried at the end. But I'm not going to say any more than that.

Second: Yesterday Erik and I went with some friends of ours to cut down our own Christmas tree!  Erik and I have sworn for the rest of our lives we will get a real tree because we love them so much, so what better way than to go out and cut it down yourself?  So we loaded up early yesterday morning and set off for Cameron, just outside of Flagstaff.  We had the boys in one car and the girls in another which was full of lots of girl talk and singing to Christmas songs.  Erica and I traded off driving, and lets just say I have a lead foot just like my mom:

 (Actually my parent's speedometer is broken on their tahoe, I'm not that daring)

Erik and I had to search for a while until we found the perfect tree, the "Douglas" for this year.  After lots of searching, and many maybes, we finally found him.  So Erik grabbed the saw and got to work.

He's not as full as last year's Douglas, but we still love him.  We are so happy that we got him so soon, more time to enjoy him!

After we cut down our Christmas trees, we stopped by the local Indian stand for some Navajo Tacos.  They were soooo good! Mine just had beans and cheese so it wasn't as big as Erik's, which was massive.

Erica and Albert brought Ruby, and she was so much fun as always.  I love this picture of the two of them, and it just proves how Erik is going to be such a good dad.

And then I see this picture and all of my fears and anxieties and stresses are confirmed that I am going to be a terrible mother!  Maybe it will all change when it's your own child (I hope).

 (P.S.... like my earmuffs?)

And then I just had to add this picture because I thought the name was so funny.  It was a stocking hanging at the fireplace at the restaurant, and I thought the name "Delfred" was hilarious.  I couldn't get enough.

(Sorry if you know anybody named Delfred.....)

We hope you enjoyed your weekend, and as are excited about Christmas as we are!

I'm excited for this weekend....

But I'm not going to tell you why, just yet.

:)

P.S.They started playing Christmas music on the radio today.  I am a happy person.

October's Events

***Warning: Picture Overload***

October has been such a fun month, its such a shame I haven't blogged about it until now.  Lucky you, you get it all in one big massive post!

October is breast cancer month and every year my family does the breast cancer walk in Phoenix.  My very special Grammy is in her 5th year of remission, so she is officially a SURVIVOR! She has fought so hard and we are so proud of her! We do all of his for her.  The whole family:

Erik and I after the walk. We nailed that 1 mile family fun walk.

The next week my mom, sisters and I went to Time Out For Women in Phoenix.  It was Friday night and all day Saturday so my wonderful dad got us a hotel room for the night so we made it a whole girls weekend! Even though I see these girls almost every day, we haven't had a whole trip like this in such a long time it was so great to be able to spend time with them.  This picture was taken right before my mom fell off the bed, many laughs and many wet pants (which weren't mine! It runs in the family I tell you!).

This year I also went back and cheered at the Mesa High homecoming game with all of the alumni.  Let me tell you this much, it is not as easy as it once was. 

It was so great getting to see all of the girls again, especially this girl!

My family goes to the state fair every year, mainly to watch the demolition derby.  I was so involved in the derby I forgot to take pictures.  But the day was full of indian fry bread, eating fudge, and watching Ruby cry petting the animals. 

This year my family decided to throw in a little competition with our pumpkin carving and we had a contest.  Erica won with her Dwight Schrute carving.  

Here's Erik and me with our pumpkins:

Mine, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jude-Man

And Erik's, as always keeping up with what is going on in the world today

Erik and I (mainly Erik) planned a Halloween party on Friday with a bunch of our friends.  It turned out a lot better than expected and was a lot of fun! Here's us in our Halloween costumes. Me: Buddha.  Erik: it's a surprise. :)

Here's part of the group, the ones that were able to gather for the picture:

The party consisted of lots of games, throwing screw drivers at Jacob Black, and twister:

Erik worked so hard on his costume, and I thought it turned out so good! 10 points if you know who he is by this picture:

20 points if you know who he is by this hint:

Anyone get it???

Leave a comment if you know who he is!!

We hope you all had a good October and a Happy Halloween!!