Halloween 2008

Being a parent is a lot of work! In general it takes us a long time to get out of the house but a holiday like Halloween takes us forever. Next to Christmas, it is the kids' favorite holiday. Jared loves it. This year we had Minnie Mouse, Thomas the Tank Engine (surprise, surprise), Cinderella and Frank Gore.

We met some friends from the kids' school and had a great time trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. The little kids had a hard time waiting to eat their candy.

It is fun to see Claire in Leah's old costumes. Although their coloring is very different, they look a ton alike.


Lucas would wear this costume to bed if he could.

Our brunette Cinderella always enjoys playing the princess role.

Third grade boys always want gross violent costumes so we settled for Frank Gore.

Claire's 2nd Birthday

It is hard to believe that Claire is two. Having two little ones 16 months apart is a little tiring and at times, touch and go, but we've made it (so far). It is fun to see how much Lucas and Claire play together. Even at two, she is in charge. I think that Lucas would be much more shy without Claire. She makes him stand up for himself.

The other day we were driving home from school and Claire said, "Mommy, there's Halloween decorations!" In other words she loves to talk and has a lot to say.

The family came over for cake.


Her favorite outfit has turtles on it so we decided to go with a turtle cake.

Making Pizza

The kids love to bake and cook. Sometimes it can be a little difficult (and messy) to make dinner. They especially love to help make pizza. Today Claire got into the act - at least she had on her sister's apron.

Jared's Baptism

Jeff sent this email out to friends and family inviting them to Jared's baptism...


We're excited to let you all know that Jared turns 8 years old on September 15th, and in our faith - the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as though you didn't already know that :)) - that means he has the opportunity to be baptized! Jared will be baptized on Saturday, October 11th at our church in Saratoga, CA.


Jared is really excited to be baptized. I hope you'll indulge a proud father for just a moment while he gushes about his son... Jared is a very handsome boy - many say he closely resembles his dad. ;) He seems to excel at whatever he tries, from schoolwork to performing in his school's musical to reading countless books to playing soccer, basketball and baseball (and any other sport he can). He is kind-hearted and makes friends with everyone regardless of "social status." He likes going to church and he is on track to finish reading the Book of Mormon (531 pages!) entirely on his own before his 8th birthday - a goal he set for himself after he turned 7.


Lest you mistakenly conclude that Jared is on the brink of sainthood, you should also know that he regularly teases and picks fights with his sister, pouts about doing chores around the house and hates eating squash. You know, like pretty much every other 7 year old. :)




Jeff baptized Jared. In our church we don't baptize children until the age of accountability, which is 8 years of age.



Jared sang "I am a Child of God" at the baptismal service. Joey and Katie were great enough to drive up for the event. Joey gave the talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost.



You gotta love this kid!

Our Family

The Schultz Family

Here's the Schultz Family: my parents along with my sister's family (Loni & Steve with their two kids Branden and Sidney).