Merry Christmas!

Scan0019 -

Holidays and a Baby Girl

I neglected to take a single picture of our Thanksgiving. We went to Idaho and spent it with my family. My sister and her family and my brother and his family all met at my parents house where we celebrated our Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday (due to traveling schedules, etc). My parents are temple workers on Friday mornings in the Twin Falls temple, so while they were gone Friday morning the rest of us at the house got busy in the kitchen to come up with our delicious feast. It seriously was so good and I over indulged in the worst way possible. I'm not even sorry. It was so worth it. It was so fun to be with family and all the millions of grandchildren. The noise level in the house was unreal and I'm sure my parents were happy to see several sets of tail lights drive down the road, but we had a lovely time while we were together.
Our family tradition is to put up the Christmas Tree and decorations as soon as Thanksgiving is over and that's what we did. Greg and I realized that several strings of our house lights are dead and unusable from last year, so that will be a project for another day, but we did get the tree up and the kids were happy to help hang ornaments and set out nativities. This is such a magical time of year and my heart is full as I count my blessings and realize how much we have.

Notice the baby under the tree. She LOVES to stare at the tree.

I also have been negligent in posting pics and growth updates and info about our baby girl. It's because I can't bear to see her grow up. She's been the sweetest angel and our family has grown together so much because of her sweet little spirit. Her favorite thing in the world is still her mama. And I must say that I love this. I will drop anything and everything to go snuggle with her or sometimes just watch her sleep. I love being the one that can get her to smile the most or do her belly laughs when she's in a particularly good mood. And I also love that I'm usually the one that she'll stop crying for. Poor Greg. But he understands.
99% of her awake time is spent sucking on her hands. She spits the binkie out every time in favor of her fists and fingers. Might be teething, who knows. But she'll suck on her fingers and her fist if she can manage it. Even if I swaddle her up in a blanket just to get her hands away from her mouth, she'll struggle and wiggle and worm her little hands out to get them up to her mouth. Silly girl.
She is laughing right out loud if something strikes her as funny. It's the most precious sound in the world and the whole family stops and comes running when she's laughing. She's a chubby girl who still loves to eat. Her cheeks are droopy and kissable and perfect.
What a blessing she has been in our lives and we love her more than words can say!

Family Hikes

One of our favorite family activities is hiking. We have been just about everywhere that Utah Valley and SLC has to offer. However, we heard about a new trail up in the mountains above Payson from my friend Amber. We decided to go and found that it had snowed. A lot. We didn't have snow down in the valleys, but the hills were all white. We should have known better, but we hiked the Grotto Trail in the snow and ice anyway. It was lovely and we'll have to go back in the spring when it's warmer and not so slippery.

Halloween

We did celebrate Halloween this year. I'm just really behind on my blogging. Here's a rundown.

Both boys wanted to be Harry Potter this year. It didn't bother them that they would be the same thing in the same costumes (borrowed from our neighbor) with the same accessories. And if it didn't bother them, it didn't bother me. David's costumes was recycled from last year. It still sort of fit. And Elizabeth got the worst of it with just a little bit of face paint on her nose and cheeks. Talk about thrown together Halloween at the last minute. I didn't spend anything on anyone's costumes and it still went fine.


The school parade is always fun for the kids. They march through the halls of the school and then through the gym for all the parents.


Loot!

The month that was October

Is it just me, or what? I mean come on! Elizabeth is 2 1/2 months old. Christmas will be here before we know it. Time is racing at an alarming pace. And it's a pity because this is my favorite time of year and I'd love it to drag out a little bit. Fall colors, sweaters, soup, a chill in the air, wearing slippers around the house, etc. Just a wonderful time of year.
We finally broke down and took the boys to CornBelly's at Thanksgiving Point. They've been asking for a couple years now and we just didn't ever do it. We went on a chilly afternoon a couple days ago. Lots of bounce houses, go carts, pumpkins, pig races, a pitch black walk through beast, and to top it all off, the biggest corn maze I've ever been in. We actually didn't even make it through. We got to the second checkpoint to let us know we were on the right path, which took 45 minutes. There was a watch tower to climb so you could get a hint and a peak at the lay of the land. We climbed up and realized we were barely a fraction into the huge maze. And my kids had had it by that point. I thought they'd have more fun in the corn maze, but it was super tricky. Way too many options and dead ends and sneaky loop arounds. They were frustrated and bored. Maybe it's meant for an older crowd. So we made our way back out to the entrance. Too much corn.




Do you see the beast laying down in the distance? It's massive! And a completely dark maze you have to find your way out of. You come out near his rear end.








And of course the annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch to select our family pumpkins to be carved. Lots of fun. Isn't fall the best?!




We've also recently hiked the City Creek trail up in SLC with my brother. It's a hidden beautiful little trail that works its way up into the hills above the capitol building. We hit it at the perfect time with the fall colors at their most vibrant. So lovely. The boys brought their scooters because the trail is paved for bikers. They had a great time (going back, downhill anyway).

Something to do

Yesterday was Greg's day off and also was early out day from school. We decided to make use of the day with Dad home and go have some family time. We drove up Provo Canyon to Sundance. We kept going up the mountain enjoying the beautiful fall colors. We saw signs for Cascade Springs, which we'd never been to, and decided to go. There is a short little paved trail up and around the springs and we took a little walk in the beautiful mountain air.








Last weekend we had family in town for Elizabeth's blessing. My parents suggested we take the boys to the Kennecott Copper Mine up Bingham Canyon. We'd never been and it was really interesting. The boys loved looking down the huge hole in the earth to see the trucks and machines excavating way down there. We watched a little video in the visitor's center about the mines and some interesting history.






And who can resist a naked baby shot? She's more loveable every day.
Belows is a small preview of Halloween Costumes to come. Can you guess what my boys' current obsession is? It's odd how they go through phases. It used to be Star Wars and everything to do with it. Now suddenly it's all about the man with the lightning scar.