Homecoming 2012

Turning 16 meant that Jared FINALLY got to go on his first date.  It just so happened that Homecoming was 2 days after his birthday.  Phew!

He was so handsome!  He picked a black shirt & vest, and an off-white jacket & tie.
I love that he's not afraid to wear what he wants.

The pinning on of the boutonnieres.

He went with a great group of friends.

Jared & his date, Julia.

After the group & date shots were done, they did some other random shots.
We have the Mormons, 

a proud mama,
(Jared was the only one in the group that would take a picture with a parent).

goofy friends, 

and soccer players.  (This grouping was his idea, since 4 of the girls in their group play on the Varsity team.  Smart boy!)  :)

After pictures, they headed to the ferry.  Practically the entire BHS student body was on this boat.  Here's another "Mormon" group shot.

Once in Seattle, they rented a limo . . .

ate dinner at Spaghetti Factory . . .

then took the limo over to West Seattle to see the beautiful Seattle skyline.  Cute kids!

Sushi with Emma

A couple weeks ago, I heard that Shima, a great local sushi restaurant, was closing it's doors.  I immediately grabbed Emma & we went out for dinner.

Emma loves sushi as much as I do.  This was her order (she's holding her hand up in place of the piece that she'd already eaten).

This was mine.  Mmmmmmm . . .  I have a couple missing pieces too.  As soon as our food arrived, we couldn't wait to eat!

It's so fun to eat with Emma because she'll try just about anything.  This is her first bite of raw octopus.  She loved it.  :)

While we were enjoying our Girls' Night Out, Torah & Baba kept texting us goofy pictures.

Jared is 16!

On September 27th, my sweet boy turned 16!!!  

His birthday present from us:  he inherited his dad's Toyota truck.  Nathan put on new wheels, and we got him a new stereo system.  (It was Spirit Week at school, which is why he is dressed as a Mountainman.) 

I WISH this picture had better lighting.  Jared posted it to Instagram & labeled it "My two favorite things."  

He had already passed the written and driving test, so he was able to just go in & pick up his license on his birthday.  Happy day!!

Taking a picture of his birthday cake (chocolate mint) with his new iPhone (his bday gift to himself). 

He had a fun bday party at our house.  Swarms of teenagers hung out in our backyard, chatting by the fire, 

hanging out in & around the hot tub,

and passing Torah around.

She LOVED all the attention!

Nathan spent the evening trying to keep them all fed with hot dogs, 7-layer dip, and homemade milkshakes.