Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we had a small program which consisted of lots of songs, a christmas story and then the annual nativity. Some of my nieces and nephews had made this amazing backdrop which was a great addition and they did such a good job with it.



Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.



The shephard and angel.



The three wisemen.



Growing up we always had a tradition of opening a christmas eve gift which was usually pajamas or slippers. So I had to throw in a picture with Addy in her first Christmas jammies!

Getting the tree

This was the first time I've ever gone out and chopped down a Christmas tree and it was a lot of fun. The snow was really deep so it was fun to watch the kids try and walk through it.
















Mitch was our trusted leader and as you may have guessed he tried really hard to sell us on chopping down the ugliest charlie brown tree that was in Island Park but we ended up finding another one that satisfied everyone.


















Nobody wanted to dig the tree out so I did!














Once everyone was on their way back to the truck we ended up chopping down the charlie brown tree as well.














When we got back to the cabin, we showed everyone who stayed back the charlie brown tree and pretended it was the actual tree and they pretended to be excited but were very relieved when we brought in the real one.














The kids had lots of fun making the tree ornamaents and then decorating the tree. This is the only picture I have of it and it is after santa has come (well mostly, there were a few straglers)

Fact...

My baby LOVES the bath!

Temple Square

This past weekend we went down to Utah for a cousin christmas party in American Fork. On the way down we stopped in Salt Lake and met up with some of my family, in fact I was finally able to meet my brothers girlfriend who is very cute. We didn't have much time so we just did a little wandering around the lights, took a couple pictures and got some dinner at Crown Burger (I love that place)!

Then we went to the party which was really fun. I got to meet a lot of Mitch's cousins and in fact he found himself a ticket to the BYU bowl game this coming weekend so he was THRILLED to say the least! The rest of the weekend we just hung out, did a little shopping and then watched the snow dump so we didn't make it back until Monday but at least we will be having a white christmas!!!


Notice how Mitch is trying to flip our child out of the stroller.




Addy loved looking up at the lights. Her eyes would go back and forth from side to side, it was very cute.

The Shoes

I got these cute baby shoes at one of my baby showers and I have been waiting for the day when they would fit and not just fall off. Well the day finally came and I was so excited because she looked so cute and they matched perfectly with this little outfit. Then Addy just kept fussing and I couldn't figure out what was wrong and so I was trying all sorts of things and then finally I took the shoes off and she stopped crying.



A little while later Mitch and I needed to run some errands so I put the shoes back on. She screamed the whole way to the store which was very odd for her. We get out of the car and she is still screaming so I take the shoes off and instantly she stops crying. Needless to say, the shoes went back into the drawer.


Until...today!!

Mitch was incharge of getting Addy dressed this morning because I was heading to Idaho Falls with him to do some shopping and he comes up the stairs with her and her shoes are on her feet and there are no tears. I was amazed and I thought by the time we go out the door she would be crying. I was wrong. She made it all through the shopping and everything and the only time she cried was when she was hungry. So that means the shoes can stay out of the drawer!!!


PS- As for our family picture above, yeah, we did that ourselves! It only took about two hours to get a decent picture and Mitch turned our front room into a little studio. Including moving all the furniture out of the way, rearranging the lighting to give us a softer tone, and taking about 20 different shots. But hey, we got a great picture and I didn't have to pay a professional.

innocence

I just couldn't resist posting these precious pictures.

Spontaneous Creativity

I have been wanting cute baby headbands for awhile now because I have a bald-headed baby and so sometimes it is hard to tell if she is a boy or a girl. Anyways, everytime I see ones that I like, they are just way to pricey for a headband so I always talk myself out of it.

Then the other day I was folding the laundry when the idea came to me that I should just make my own. I thought about using ribbon but knew that would never stay on for long because it wasn't stretchy. So then elastic pops into my head but that will just look goofy because I would have to cover it with fabric but what kind and am I really that skilled of a seamstress? probably not. While thinking through all of this, I pick up a pair of Addy's tights to fold...wala...TIGHTS!! they are stretchy and I definately wouldn't have to cover them with fabric because that just wouldn't work.

I quickly finish folding the laundry and start digging around trying to find an old pair of tights (they'd have to be old because I never wear them). I dig through the underwear drawer and in the back are an old pair of white tights. Actually, they looked brand new because I bet they only got worn once. I pull out the sewing machine and dig through some scrapbooking accessories and tada....this is what came from my spontaneous creativity!





Super cute baby headbands!! and the best part was, I didn't even have to spend a dime!

Thanksgiving in Arizona

This year for thanksgiving we decided to go to Flagstaff and visit my grandparents. We thought it would be a good time to go while Addy was still little enough that the drive wouldn't be so bad. And of course she was an angel baby, I really don't know how I got so lucky!!



On the way down we stopped and spent the night in St. George to help break up the trip and visit Marnie and the kids. Then we went the rest of the way on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun to spend time with all my family, accept my brother Tyler who is on his mission in Spain, and just relax and play together.




Addy slept through her first thanksgiving dinner and then woke up when we were cleaning up.


Thursday we had a great day of turkey and the mixins, a bowling tournament on the wii in which we all got a formal invitation. my grandma had a great comeback, where she got a "turkey" which is three strikes in a row, but she actually got four in a row and ended up tying my sister Chelsea for first place with a score of 202. We were all very impressed with her skills.


These were our invitations to the bowling.


Friday we obviously had to go shopping especially since my dad surprised us all with a little extra Christmas money!



Saturday was spent hiking around Sedona. This is always my most favorite part of the trip. The scenery is just gorgeous and the weather is sooo warm. It was a little different with a two month old but I do think Addy enjoyed herself and will want to go back.





Then Sunday we woke up early and hit the road so we could make the twelve hour drive back home.