laughs and giggles

I know. . . lots of videos. . .but we are first-time parents, people. We get excited about everything. I took two videos of this adorable scene, the second one you view here. But these videos are all about the listening and not the seeing. These moments are my happiest moments when I know my life is blessed.

Who knew a guy with a walker could be so dang cute?

Mason has become quite good at roamin our house nowadays. . .


We took another video if you are just hungry to see anything of Mason doing the same thing. It could be a little overkill for those who got their fill on this first one.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has to be one of the best holidays... you've got family and friends (wish we could have had more family this year), lots of food, and football... what more could a person ask for?

More importantly though, it's a time to reflect on what you're thankful for. I'm thankful for the best wife a guy could ask for who prepared an amazing thanksgiving feast for three families. I would never have guessed that this was Brooke's first time preparing a turkey. She did a fantastic job, and got lots of compliments when meal time came.

Mason was happy because he got an early Christmas present in the mail from Bubi (Grandma) and Opa Hochstein. He gets really excited when he hears the jingle bell on the dogs tail.

Another reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving is for having a healthy, happy, beautiful child who learned to crawl on Thanksgiving Day.



Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as blessed as ours!

Future Pavarotti

The best part of the show starts at 1:00.

Who says white boys can't jump

I accidentally taped this on the compact setting. Yall can still get the picture.

Halloween Weekend

No one can ever say I don't know how to make a hot dog again.

Mason wanted to play in the pumpkin guts. So we let him.
I think we had more fun than he did.

Sunday morning at temple square with Grandpa Cheesman.

Monday morning at the AF Museum with Grandpa Cheesman.
I loved how excited Dad was with all these planes.

Saturdays at the Hochstein Home

I just wanted yall to witness the father-son football bonding time. It is adorable. Too bad both Nebraska and BYU lost this week. . .

More Mason Pics

I accidentally posted this to my cooking blog first. . . too many blogs for a scatterbrain. . .

Needing a high chair. . .

New toys! Our boy loves his trucks! He cried when I tried to pick him up.

New High Chair! He looks so small in it!

We take reading time seriously in our house.

Power to the People

Pearl Jam in Salt Lake

A few months ago, when I heard Pearl Jam had added several shows to their tour I got excited, but when I heard they'd be coming to Salt Lake I was jumping for joy. I've been a huge fan since the early 90's when they first made it big, and I've been a member of their fan club almost as long. Now some of you may be laughing, but when they go on tour the fan club definitely hooks its members up with good tickets. Brooke and I had seats in the fourth row, and since this was Brooke’s first time seeing them I was pretty excited about that.

Ben Harper opened the show, and did a great job. Pearl Jam ended up playing some stuff with him once they took the stage.




One of the coolest parts of the show was when Eddie Vedder called a couple up on stage. He explained that the guy had written a very special letter to the band, which was why Eddie called them up. Eddie ended up giving the guy the microphone, and he proposed to his fiancé. After that, Eddie gave them a couple of chairs on stage and played the song “Just Breathe” for them.

We had a great time… can’t wait to see them again next time they go on tour.

Georgia Rain

We went down to Georgia last week and it rained and rained and rained and rained. Then the sun came out the day we left. Due to the rain, we spent a lot of time indoors with Mason and the family. Mason can sit up now by himself, although we still don't leave his side without him being surrounded by pillows. Now he can really play with his toys, it's awesome! One of my favorite things that Mason started doing while we were in South Dakota last month is suck on his toes. I don't know why, but I find it absolutely adorable. I finally got a pic of it. We made a shirt for John's birthday since he's all the way out in Bolivia and hasn't met his nephew yet.
Justin and I went on a date with Lisa and Pete to Medieval Times, and it was cool. I want to take Mason when he's older; the kids in the audience were the best part of the show.
I had my 10 year HS reunion, and I LOVED catching up with my friends from way back when, especially my basketball girls.
We had a little get together at my parents' house so I could catch up with a few friends, and one of my very favorite people came - her name is Mearle Bean and she turned 100 years old at the beginning of this year. She played piano for us during the evening. Mason partied himself out.
We miss Georgia. Can't wait to come back for Christmas!

Riverboat Days!!

We all went to Yankton, SD to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hochstein from the 18th - 26th of August. It was a great time of year to go back... the weather was perfect, and Aunt Sarah and Uncles' Josh and Nick were all home. We were able to spend some time at Riverboat Days, which is a local festival Yankton has every year as summer draws to a close. We got to watch the River Boat Day's parade. We took a road trip to Wagner, SD so Mason could meet his Great Grandpa Podzimek. We also went out for pizza at Charlie's Pizza House, which has the best pizza ever! If your travels ever take you through Yankton, make sure you stop by... you won't be disappointed.

Since Mason had plenty of attention from Grandma and Grandpa and his aunt and uncles, Brooke and I had plenty of time to go on a few dates, play tennis, and go on bike rides. On our way back to Utah we stopped by Winters Quarters in Omaha, NE which is near the Omaha temple. We wish we could have spent more time there, but I'm sure we'll get to visit again someday. It was a great trip with a lot of great memories.

Feeding and Bathing Time

***Mason rolled over today for the first time!***

Uncle Dean and Natalie fed Mason his first serving of rice cereal. He didn't like that the spoon had to come out of his mouth to reload. . .


Bathtime will never be the same again. I can no longer bathe him while wearing and outfit I would like to keep on the rest of the day.

AF Airlines

One of the coolest parts about our travels to Hawaii was the planes we took to get there and back. The Air Force offers what they call Space-A, or Space Available, flights all over the world. If they have a mission going somewhere, and there's extra room on the plane for passengers, military members can get on and fly for free. I had never flown Space-A before, and since Brooke and I thought it'd be a fun adventure, we threw caution to the wind. The thought of having a free flight to and from Hawaii was also very nice.

We flew to Hawaii on a C-5, which is the biggest plane in the Air Force. It's used for transporting equipment and cargo, which may not sound like a comfortable ride, but other than being a bit noisy and having no windows to look out of it wasn't bad. On the plus side, the price was right, and we didn't have to put up with any of the headaches of commercial airports.

The flight back from Hawaii was on a KC-135, which is an aerial refueler (flying gas station). The flight went really well. Mason was great the whole time, even though the inside of the plane was a little chilly. We had a great experience. Here's a picture of a KC-135 and a picture we took on the plane.