Christmas Eve

This year we went to my parents for Christmas Eve. Everyone was here, except for Deb and Greg and their 2 boys. I think there were about 30 of us in all. We had a yummy dinner and then the grand kids put on the Nativity. They did such a cute job. Thanks to Lucy for putting that together! Then we watched "The Nativity", a video put out by the church, and my dad finished off by reading the story of Christ's birth out of Luke. It was a special evening being surrounded by family.

My brother Chris has his birthday on Christmas, so we also were able to celebrate with him. He wife Annette brought Cake and ice cream for all of us - YUMMY!!!

Caden was a Wise man, and Avery was an angel
All the grand kids getting ready to start the play
Nicole was the narrator
Caden (Wise man) telling Joseph they'd have to sleep with the animals
Luke was baby Jesus
Angel Avery holding her sheepMy dad reading the Christmas story out of Luke

Chris blowing out birthday candles
Getting ready to open their Christmas Eve jammies - do you think that is what they thought was in there? Caden was a little disappointed it wasn't a toy, until he realized everyone got the same thing.
All the grand kids (minus Cole and Max) wearing their jammies

Avery hiding in the trunk of stuffed animals

Random Pics

Just some random pics of the kids. Luke is getting bigger, still eating and sleeping lots, Caden and Avery are enjoying all the snow we're getting and can't wait until Christmas!

Luke at about 9 weeks
Tired out after sweeping the heavy snow off the tramp so it doesn't break


The kids are trying to get him to love the bunny, just like Caden did. Luke is actually taken a liking to it and will squeeze it and suck on it.

2 months old

Here are the stats from the Dr. visit today.

2 months old
13 lbs 3 oz -90%
25" long - 97%
16" Head - 90%

Yes, we've got a big boy on our hands. Quite different from Avery who weighed just under 12 lbs when she was 7 months old. He is growing great and very happy! He loves his swing, Baby Einstein, his brother and sister, and sleeping!

Bumboo

So I've always heard a lot about these, but never cared to buy one for $40...but after snatching one at a yard sale for $1 I thought I'd give it a try. These are awesome! and I can only imagine I'll love it more as Luke gets older. Around 2 months old I started using it for him to sit it. It had amazing head/neck/back support. He was able to sit up, look around, strengthen his neck muscles...it was so great! I highly recommend for anyone trying to decide!

Christmas Caroling

Caden went to mutual with me tonight. WE went on hay rides and sang Christmas Carols to the neighbors. Caden wasn't too crazy about going with me, but I think he had a good time. I'm sure we were more entertaining for our lack of organization and singing skills than for good music, but it was a lot of fun.

Bowling in UT

While in UT we went bowling with Ryan's sister, Ronalee, and her family. We ran into our friends, the Owens, from Boise. The crazy thing though was that the Owens had just left Boise a few days before on their move to Arkansas. We were totally surprised to run into them at Fat Cats. We were even more surprised when we ran into the next night at Brick Oven...what are the odds?

I just this was so cute of his little hands in his pockets... Helping Avery roll her ball down the stand...not sure that is really necessary in bumper bowling?
Avery a little upset she can't have her own Rootbeer...oh to have the problems of a 2 year old :)

Sleepy Heads

We went to Ryan's mom's for Thanksgiving and I think the boys got a little worn out.

Caden's Thanksgiving Feast

Caden had a Thanksgiving Feast at school. I was so impressed at what they did. Each child made costumes out of paper...they had pilgrims and Indians and all the costumes were so cute. The kids were asked to bring different things for the feast. WE brought cheese slices and we had rolls, turkey, popcorn, apple juice. It was a fun thing for the families to participate in with the kids.

Luke's Blessing Day

Luke was blessed November 23, 2008. It was so nice to have as many as could be here. Andrew and Kelli came up from UT and were able to bring Ryan's mom with them. It was so nice to have them all here.

I struggled for a while what to do about the big day. You see, we were told that we could only have 5 in the circle for the blessing. How is that possible when I have 5 brothers alone, 2 brother in laws, a father and 3 more brother in laws on Ryan's side? How do you pick and choose. We were told if we couldn't choose then it should be the father and two grandpas. Well, Ryan's father passed away a couple of years ago, and it seemed weired to just have Ryan and my dad in the circle...is 2 even a circle? So we toyed with the idea of doing it in our home. The bishop agreed to that, but then I felt I was going against the council of our Stake President who receive this council from higher up....has anyone else heard of this?

Well, Ryan's side of the family was not able to travel. So we still had 8 total that we had to narrow down...how do you do that? The bishop said he could do 6, but no more. Well, I have amazing brothers of whom each volunteered to not be in the circle. That was nice of them, but when they all volunteer, we're back to where we started. I really struggled with this, right up to the blessing time. We were able to make a decision and I appreciate those who were not able to participate for understanding.

All that aside, it was a wonderful day. The blessing was beautiful and Luke was perfect all throughout the meeting...slept the entire time. Quite different from Avery, whom was screaming as I handed her to Ryan to walk up to the circle :( Anyway, the family all came over after for dinner and spent quite a bit of the day with us. Andrew and Kelli left and took Paula with them back to UT...it was so nice having them here even for such a short time.

Ryan's mom, Paula, with Luke
Ryan, Luke and my dad

The only decent pic we could get of us...Avery was blurry in all them because she wouldn't stop moving!

Luke and my dad, both sound asleep
The grand kids and Matt spent most of the day in the bonus room playing games...thank goodness for bonus rooms!!!
Rachel, Caden and Nathan

Did you get this deal too?

So, did anyone see this deal today? This awesome Britax car seat was sold on Target for $43!!! It's regularly $290 so it was a savings of 85%. I love a good deal, but this was over the top. I bought one, and found out later there was a glitch in the system and they weren't supposed to be sold for that. I'm still waiting to see if I get it. Some say yes, some say no.

My Big Baby

Isn't he just cute and chunky? I don't know when or how this happened, but he has turned into a little buddah. He eats so much and is so happy! We are so grateful for that!!!

Quick Sale

So, we finally had to sale the reliable, fuel efficient, Accord I've had for so long. I got this car the month before I met Ryan, so it basically felt like part of the family. Once Luke was born, and we are now a 3 car seat family, it was just too small and we either had to get a bigger car or always drive separately. That wasn't really an option, so we deliberated on a price and listed it on craigslist. Amazingly, after it was listed for 1 hour we got a call. A guy and his girlfriend were interested. After looking a few times, taking it to their mechanic, bringing their friends to see it, etc., it sold to him. When does something ever happen that fast? I guess it was a good time to sell a car like this. It was right before gas prices came down, so I guess it was a wanted vehicle. We felt lucky to sell it so fast. I guess the girl that bought it lives in the neighborhood next to us, so we often see it driving around :)

Halloween

We had a lot of fun with Halloween this year!!! Caden didn't have school on Halloween Day, so we pretty much had a mellow day. The costumes this year were fun. Caden decided to be Batman, and Avery was Minnie Mouse. Last year I bought a little pumpkin bundle type thing that Luke was able to wear. He just rode around in the stroller though, so it didn't get shown off much.

The night was beautiful!!! The weather was perfect and we really didn't need jackets until we were about done. We went with my sisters family and her kids and it was fun to see my kids really enjoy it this year. We took our sit-n-stand stroller so Avery was able to easily get in an out, but didn't have to walk much in between houses. It was a life saver!!! She held on so tight to her pumpkin, refusing to let us dump it into the grocery bag we brought so it wouldn't get too heavy. Caden loved running from house to house with his cousins, always exclaiming he was first. He has such a competitive streak in him and it comes out at really interesting times.

Leaf Party

It's amazing how many leaves fall in my parents yard!!! They've been there for a long time and the trees have gotten so big. We went over to their house with my sister and her kids to let the kids play in the hugs piles of leaves. I remember doing this all the time when I was little, and I would build little leaf houses with my friends to pretend play. We just don't get that many at my house, so it was a lot of fun for the kids to go over there and just enjoy being kids. Even Luke got to lay in the pile...which had to be very strategically done so he didn't get too many in his face.