Back to School!

Or in Jared's case, it was back to work!!! Just as a little background, Jared has been applying and interviewing for jobs since this past spring. There have been many promising interviews, even second interviews, with always the same result- the position was offered to someone else. The longer the summer has gone on, the more worried we have been. But as we would pray for guidance and direction, we always felt a sense of peace and that everything would work out okay. This was definitely our leap of faith because the outlook seemed so bleak. Last Thursday Jared was informed that a new position had been posted and that he needed to get his application in. Shortly after his application had been sent, he received a call to set up an interview for Friday morning. We were both so excited, and yet very nervous for his interview- which ended up lasting 2 hours! Talk about waiting on pins and needles to see what would happen next. Luckily, they didn't make us wait too long and Jared was offered a position at Pike High School that same afternoon!!! I can't even express how grateful we are for this huge blessing on our lives - we have shed many tears of gratitude over the weekend! As for the job - it is perfect for Jared!!! He will be teaching 4 periods of Project Lead the Way (a really cool hands on, more lab-based class), one period of Animal Science, and one period of Biology, with one prep period. Jared and I have both been impressed with how wonderful this job is, especially for a new teacher! And it couldn't have come at a better time - new teacher orientation was this morning and the students start school on Wednesday!

Here is a picture of our new teacher this morning - maybe a little nervous, but out to conquer the world!

Tori made sure to give Daddy a great goodbye as well!!!

Good luck Sweetheart, I know you are going to be an awesome teacher!!!

A Step in the Right Direction!

Recently, Tori has been cruising around like crazy. If she can get herself up, she will walk all over - as long as there is something to hang on to. But Jared and I have noticed that she is getting more brave, so we have been trying to get her to take some free standing steps. Usually this would result in her either sitting down and crawling or just leaning over without moving her feet. Yesterday we finally had a breakthrough. Out of the blue she took two very wobbly steps - but only those two!!! Tonight she decided to do a couple more and we were able to catch it on video!

Watch out world, I have a feeling she will be running before we know it!!!

Play Date

Tori had her very first official play date this morning! It was so fun having Owen come over to play for a little bit! And I realized that we need to have more play dates so we can work on things like sharing and being nice. But I was really proud of how well Tori did!

Tori and Owen loved playing with Jared especially!

Owen is such a gentleman and let Tori play with this one!

I think that Tori wanted to show off for Owen a little bit - she has never thrown a ball that well!

Both kids loved playing by the front door!

And of course, they had to climb up the stairs a few times!

Thanks for coming to play Owen - Tori loved having you over!!!

Jaunting through July!

I don't know if it's because we have Tori or not, but the months seem to fly by way too quickly. Here are some of our fun snippets from July! Hope you enjoy...

Tori is just a much a Daddy's girl as she ever has been (I love watching the two of them)!!!
Tori and Daddy's latest trick - the good ol' high five!

Tylenol not only relieves pain, but the bottle is an excellent chew toy (are we horrible parents?)!

So cute!

Tori loves to chew on her caterpillar's feet, we often find her asleep with one still in her mouth!

The easy way to tell if Daddy gave Tori a bath - look at her hairstyle....

yep - we have a mohawk!!!

After we got back from Texas, Tori decided she didn't like taking naps or going to sleep at night. The last few weeks have been a little crazy with getting her back on some sort of schedule. We have used her boppy a few times.

One night we found her asleep like this - head against the edge of her crib and practically folded in half!

This one made my heart melt a little - sleeping with her Pooh Bear!!!

Happy July to your family from ours!!!

Give Me a 2!!!

Jared and I celebrated our two year anniversary yesterday! It is amazing to me how quickly the last two years have flown by, and how much our lives have changed in those years. But the great thing is that our lives (and our love) have grown deeper and stronger and much more full than I ever could have imagined. I love that Jared and I can laugh and cry together - that we really are a team in everything that comes are way. It really is fantastic being married to your very best friend!!! If the last two years have been this grand, I can't even wait to see what is in store for us in the future. One thing is for sure, I know we will tackle everything hand in hand!!! Jared - I love you oh so very much!!! Mwah!
We decided to continue our celebrations today by going golfing. We had a great time and if it hadn't been for my 18 on the first hole, I think I could have given Jared a real run for his money!!!

World Tour in Pajamas!!!

This year our youth are completing a pioneer trek for youth conference. To help out, we got to spend the night with some awesome kids in our ward while their parents and older sisters were on the trek. Talk about a great time! First off, we were met with this awesome sign, some great notes and puzzles! After a very yummy dinner made by Natalie, we all got ready for bed and commenced in playing a little Guitar Hero. Simon soon dubbed it our "world tour in pajamas!" Here is the band!!!

Drew was our killer lead singer!

Simon rocked out on both the guitar and the drums!

Natalie was stellar at everything!

Here is a little snippet to give you a taste of our talent!!!

I think we should go on tour - what do you think?

Texas Time!

We are so sad that we had to head home to Indy today. But we have really enjoyed our visit in Texas! Here are a few more of our fun memories that we will always keep with us!

Jared's family has a pool - and we enjoyed it several times! I really think that Tori is becoming a little fish!!!

We love swimming, but it sure wears us out!

Sharing secrets with Aunt Meesha!

Followed by a little cuddle time (I absolutely love this picture)!!!
Tori had a great time crawling around with the dogs - I think they were a little scared of her!

Taking a break!

I'm not quite sure what this look was meant to convey - but it sure makes me giggle!

Wake up Daddy, I'm ready to play!

Tori's first cake and ice cream!!! We figured we would give her a trial run before her birthday in a few weeks.

She must be our daughter - her tongue is always sticking out!!!

Tori and GGpa Jones - what a fantastic pair!

Thanks for such an awesome visit - we can't wait to come back!!!

A Day at the Shop

Today we were able to spend the whole day in Mom Allen and Grandma Jones' shop. Jared had the (not so fun) task of helping with tax stuff. I had the awesome opportunity to work mostly with Grandma on her kits for upcoming classes. But I think that Tori had the best day of all! I hope you enjoy all of her adventures...

First off, Tori had a great time crawling around and basically getting into everything!

To keep her occupied, we tried out many "toys" - this is the one that stuck!

Uncle Dillon got to feed her lunch....

and boy did she love it- yum!!!

Grandpa Allen took some time to teach Tori how to blow kisses!

She got the sound down - now we just need to work on the hand part!!!

As the day turned into evening, Uncle Dillon found another great play spot- inside the boxes!!!

Tori had so much fun!!!

Thanks for a great day at the shop - we all had a grand time!!!

The Fine Art of Taking a Picture...

Today we took Tori and Linken into Sears to have professional pictures taken of them together. I just have to say to all of you that have a job taking pictures of kids, you more than earn your paycheck and about a million brownie points as well. The girl that helped us was so patient - especially when Tori kept crawling around, pulling herself up, and basically making her job a nightmare. And it probably didn't help that we all thought it was hilarious. The first set of pictures were taken in festive 4th of July attire. Linken was an angel, and Tori just didn't understand that she needed to stay on her tummy!!!

Again- Linken is perfect and Tori looks like she is going to get him!

Finally, Tori is actually smiling and looking at the camera. Love the look on Linken's face!!!

This picture turned out great - I wish we had been taking video at this point. As soon as we would put her on her back, she would flip over and then start crawling all over the place. It was pretty funny!

Then we had a wardrobe change and a much needed break for the kids. The initial idea was to get both of them in these really cute wicker chairs - if only Tori had cooperated!

And here is the resulting picture!

Grandma Allen is a genius and suggested we have Tori stand behind Linken's chair. We had much better results with this setup!!!

The photographer was a glutton for punishment and tried getting Tori on Linken on their backs again. Here's some video of the ensuing chaos...

Here is our big girl - you would never know it was such a struggle to get this picture! But it really was a fun outing none the less!!!

Thanks Grandma Allen for the pictures, they are perfect!!!

A New Cousin

Tori (and Jared and I) were so excited to meet Linken this week! I have so many cousins that are still some of my very best friends, and it was so great watching Tori and Linken start to build their own cousin relationship. I hope that they will always be awesome friends!!!

This toy was perfect - Linken rocked out on the inside, while Tori played on the outside!

Tori was very fascinated with Linken's hands!

I love this one - so cute that they are holding hands!!!

There is nothing better than sharing story time with Grandma and your cousin!!!