Tolman Family

My mom already called me saying that I was too slow getting Halloween pictures out, so here they are! This was earlier in the month. We grew about 20 pumpkins in our garden this year! The pumpkin patch ended up taking over half of our yard. We celebrated the holiday yesterday. First we went to a fun party with our moms group. Games, face painting, crafts, trick or treating, and lots of food. Jessica loved her witch costume (thanks Grandmas!) and does the cutest little "hee hee hee!" During the costume parade she held up the line 'cause she didn't think walking around the room would be that much fun. But because no child can be left behind she still got a medal at the end for doing such a good job. Then we went to a multi-ward trunk or treat. Jessica absolutely loved it! At first she was nervous saying "trick or treat," but once she realized it was the ticket to more candy she was practically yelling it at people! And the best part about Halloween.....

Jessica is two! Yep, we've had this little angel in our family for two whole years! We threw her an impromptu party at Grandma's house while we were in Utah. Boy, did this girl get spoiled! The great part about being in Utah is that we can be with both families at the same time...which means double the presents! One of Jessica's favorite new toys was her shopping cart. She went around Grandma's house and "shopped" out of all of her cupboards! Dora cake! Unfortunately, Jessica got sick on her actual birthday, so we didn't get to do quite as much as we wanted. We went to Applebee's for lunch. This is Jessica, casually taking yet another birthday call. Great Shape Barbie from Toy Story One grateful girl! They came and sang to her at Applebee's and brought ice cream. Jessica was enthralled with the singing...and a little scared! But she loved the ice cream! All day we were telling her it was her birthday, but all she was concerned about was w...

September 24th was Anna's (official) due date, so we went up to Utah to see her newly placed headstone. We invited our families to come out for a little picnic at the cemetery. It was a beautiful day, and a nice way to remember our little girl. Click on the picture to see an enlarged view of Anna's headstone. Jessica pointed to the engraved baby and said, "Anna" and then pointed to Jesus and said, "Jesus." It's amazing how clearly she understands everything that's going on. Sometimes I think she understands more than we do. Soon after we got home from Utah in July, a friend brought us dinner and these beautiful mini yellow roses. They weren't doing very well indoors, so I looked it up online and found that they could revive if planted outside. When I went out of town in August Hank planted them outside for me. For a couple months nothing happened and we thought they were gone. Then the other day we went outside and saw blooms! They'r...

Well, we've had a very busy Summer. Just a two weeks after we got home from Utah in July, Jessica and I were on our way out again. I went to the Cookie Lee convention in Las Vegas and earned an award for selling $25,000 in jewelry. From there we went to Zion's for a Sommers family reunion. It was our second time camping this Summer and Jessica did really well. I was thankful for her squeaky shoes so I could keep track of her in the woods! Then we headed up to Utah for a couple more days to visit Hank's family and Anna's grave. September 17th was Hank's last day in the Army! Woohoo! We thought we would be moving when he got out so we spent the weeks beforehand packing our house....only to find out that he got a job here so now we have to unpack everything. Hank's brother, Mark, came down to visit us for about a week before he leaves on his mission. While he was here, he and Hank convinced me to take a last minute trip to Southern California. We went ...