Art Contest

Matt and I have a new rule about our weekly date night. We can not repeat the same date for the month. Example: we watched a movie the first weekend so now we can't watch a movie again until the following month. (Oh, and it has to be free or really really cheap). We have to get creative, so this week we decided to have an art contest.

Rules for contest:

• We each called our family to ask them for five random unrelated objects.


• We then had to incorporate those five objects into our pictures.


• Drawings had to be drawn free hand.

We need your help for the last part. We want you to be the judge!! Whose picture do you think is the best?

Rules for judging:

• You may not know whose picture is whose


• You must choose one or the other (no ties)


• You must vote if you are reading this blog :)


• No mean criticism (We both know we are not Michael Angelo or Bob Ross)

*Please note that neither one will not be offended if we do not win*

PICTURE 1

Random Objects: Flag, Map, Rock, Cloud, and White Out

PICTURE 2

Random Objects: T.V., Door knob, bed, car, and tree

My sister in law Jen is taking up photography, and I might add that she is very good at it. Over the Christmas break she took pictures for Matt's family and of course I didn't object when she offered to take a few of Blake. Here are a few samples:

Okay, so there are more than a few pictures, but I think I am a little conceited about how cute my little boy is. I think Jen did a wonderful job especially with Matt's family. It takes a lot of work to get 22 people (3 of those people are 2 year olds!) to look at the camera and smile.

I Love to Laugh

Another Update

Well, we finally have the Internet!! Yeah! Now hopefully I will be better at updating the blog.

We are really enjoying our time here in Arkansas. Matt recently finished his first semester of Law School and did very well in all his classes (They say it is the hardest semester). Before he finished we got a much needed break for Thanksgiving to visit family.

Thanksgiving started off with the Mesa Turkey Trot 5k. It has become a tradition with the Backus' to run the 10k. This year was the 4th year Matt and I have run together! Matt's brother Scott, sister Joni and her husband Tim all competed and did very well. This year I was able to convince some of my family members to join. My sister-in-law Jessica (she did awesome), my sisters Nicole, Nellie, Noelle, and Nellie's good friend Justine all came. I can't speak for them, but I know I had a really great time with them there.

After the 10k we went back home and enjoyed a wonderful meal my mom prepared and of course ate lots of pie. This was the first Thanksgiving my family has had with just the immediate family. (usually we have Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family which usually consist of 95+ people). During the break we also had a nice picnic with the Backus' and a fun game of kick ball. The break of course was way to short, and we went back to AR to finish off the semester.

The weeks flew by and we celebrated my birthday and Matt's completion of the semester. Next thing we knew we were back in sunny AZ! This vacation was a little longer and we had a wonderful time being with family.

Here is a list of just some of the things we did:

Made Gingerbread cookies

Went to Zoolights

Ate

Played Milles Bournes

Madyline's Baby Blessing

Ate

Taylor Family Talent Show

Acted out the Nativity

Shopping

Played Milles Bournes!

Played Scum

Saw National Treasure

Went to the Museum

Dance Parties

Ate

Played SCUM!

Played Milles Bournes!!

Made really really cute boxes

Played Scum!!

Amazing Jake's

Taking Noelle driving, Yikes! (JK, Noelle you did great)

Blake's first Christmas. Christmas day was spent with the Backus family.

All the grand kids opening up their presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They all got pajamas with matching flashlights. I thought that was a really cute idea and the kids loved it. They even gave us a pajama fashion show!

We also had a lot of fun with the Santa Pinata that Phil brought for the kids to break. He said that the kids could now get back at Santa if he hadn't brought what they wanted this year for Christmas.:)Grandpa Backus playing songs on his guitar.
Blake giving Grandma Backus lots of love and a big slobbery kiss!
Grandad holding his two grandsons, Carter and Blake.Blake meet his Great Grandma and Granddad Wyeth for the first time at the Wyeth family reunion.

My sisters and I had a girls night at Jen's. We thought Blake might have been feeling left out so we put on his cousins Addylin's headband to make him feel like one of the girls. (Matt hates this picture:))The headband thing didn't last to long and I think Blake felt a little more "manly" (according to his dad) and had a better time playing in this car.

Noelle turned sweet 16 on Dec. 27th. I can't believe she is old enough to drive and to date! She is a wonderful sister and a great example to me. To end Noelle's B-day celebration we had a Wyeth girl dance party!We had a great time in AZ and we can't wait to go back!

Side note: I'm sure you have noticed that our blog background keeps changing. I am just learning how to make my own backgrounds and I have some mixed feelings about the current one so don't be surprised if it changes a few more times. (Any tips about making cute blogs would be great!)