Shopping- It's not just for us girls!

Mason is seriously a pretty lucky kid. I mean honestly, the previous post shows some of the small piles of loot the little man already has waiting for him. And here I thought it would be the women of the family who would be shopping like crazy... Well. I sure wasn't thinking clearly. You see, Mason's grandpa, my Dad, runs an Old Navy. And apparently, grandpa just can't pass up a good deal. Or alot of good deals :)

My Dad has always been an embarrassing lover of Hawaiian button up shirts. His favorite from the stack? The Hawaiian shirt that he "wished came in big sizes". He is living vicariously through the little man and is jealous of the one Hawaiian shirt on the planet he doesn't own.

My favorite was a shirt that says something like "Mr. Fix It". Any son of ours will have to be a Mr. Fix It, or at least learn from the master. Nate can fix anything, I'm convinced. If he doesn't know how to fix it or do it off hand, he will research it to death until he has figured it out, and can tackle it like a pro. I'm sure he'll teach Mason all that he knows. I am really excited for Nate to have a little friend to teach and hang out with while he fixes things, (usually things that involve dirt, or grime, neither of which I am not a fan of!) because that means I don't have to! I can be clean, bring them drinks, and read a book!

And last but not least, the monkey outfit, as promised. Seriously. So cute I can hardly stand it. Check out the monkey feet... I love it.

Austin Family Annual Pumpkin Party!

We held the Austin Family Annual Pumpkin Carving Party the Sunday before Halloween. (I think it was the 4th annual according to my mom) It also happened to be my parents 24th wedding anniversary as well! The party was a good time... Lots of family came, and even a few friends showed up as well. Everyone brought a crock-pot full of something tasty... I brought Nate's grandma's recipe for Cheeseburger Soup. Needless to say it got RAVE reviews! Here are a few pictures from the party.

This is a pumpkin I carved... Custom Frankie. I thought he looked pretty neat!

This was another one that I carved... ANIMAL! from the Muppets!

Nate carved a really great Joker- a different one than before. I couldn't find a picture of his... So I will try to find one and post it! (Although if you look at the pictures below, Nate's is the Joker on the very top row in the middle! You have to see a close shot of it to see how great it really was!)

And these are the pictures of most of the pumpkins carved that night. A few people left before we could snap some pictures of them... But all in all I think it is a good looking display! I will try to dig up some more pictures... These all were from a cell phone camera.

Wendover... Show me the MONEY!

Or, not. I guess I shouldn't have set my standards so high! For our main anniversary gift, Nate and I gave each other the gift of a short little trip to desolate Wendover, Nevada. My parents, and my cousin Jared all packed into our Kia Sorento and joined us on our little excursion to nowhere.

Our hotel was so interesting... The "pool" was the size of a large bathtub, and the sheets came equipped with small little burnholes! It was great fun! The good news is, our room stayed mighty chilly, so we were definitely comfortable. The really good news is the lobby had a waffle maker! It was one of those flipper machines that allows you to make golden beauties like this one:

Enough about the hotel! To make a long story short- The penny slots stole my money. It may have been the neon enviornment that made me so unlucky...

I don't know what it was but every time I touched a machine the generosity in it dissappeared. I won not even a dime! Nate did much better than I did, he had a really good time, and found a slot he made friends with. He called it the "kitty machine". It screwed Jared and me, but for some reason, it really liked Nate. This is it.

Where did we spend our first anniversary dinner at you ask? Well, it was very fancy, and extremely exclusive... Pizza Hut! Okay so it may not be fancy, and we may have been the only people there, BUT it was very tasty, and great fun.

In the couple hours we spent in the casinos, I have one major complaint... I was never given a beverage! Everyone around me was fully hydrated, I on the other hand was quite parched. I simply wanted a diet coke, but no, not for me! The waitresses must have sensed my unlucky streak and decided I wasn't worth the buck. I lived, and got a beverage as soon as we left from the nearest gas station!

We had a great time! It was the best trip a 1st year veteran couple could ask for! My parents, and Jared helped make it even more fun. Thanks for coming with us!