Quick Update

Just a quick update on our little family:

Caleb is doing great. He has started to go down stairs by himself, likes to roll balls back and forth, and is weighing in at 22 lbs. 3 ounces. He is a solid little snuggle bug and loves to be held.

Aaron started going back to school this week and is taking a Calculus class, and a Chemistry 2 class and lab. He still keeps busy with working full time, helping out at church, rocking Caleb at night and many other things. I love him very much.

I keep busy doing lots of laundry, playing with Caleb and dreaming up decorating/remodeling/painting projects. Spring time and flower gardening fun is right around the corner!

We are happy, busy and doing good.

Our Road Trip Adventure Part 4

The day after Christmas we packed up the cousins, aunts, uncle and Grandpa and headed to Old Tuscan Studios in AZ. Caleb liked the stage coach, the train ride and riding the carousel.My favorite part was this dental sign. It reminded me of one of my English literature novels and made me laugh. :)After a very long drive home. -It took us an hour and a half to go 3 miles due to construction one day. :( We finally made it. We loved our trip and the opportunity to see our family at Christmas time, but there really is no place like home.Aaron got these wooden toys for Caleb! He loves playing with them and like always -- he is a very busy boy. :)The End

Our Road Trip Adventure Part 3

While we were in Arizona we also went and saw the lights and nativity displays at the Mesa, AZ temple.Aaron, Caleb and Kirsten ... say cheese. :)
Caleb especially enjoyed Shannon and Brent's piano while we stayed with them. -We always knew when he was practicing.Santa paid a special visit Christmas Eve and brought Caleb these Garminal toys. Aaron and I got some yummy treats from Santa too!

Our Road Trip Adventure Part 2

One of my favorite activities on our Christmas vacation was going to the Phoenix, AZ zoo. Caleb is at the age where he recognizes some animals, but also misses some of the neutral toned ones. His favorites were the coy fish at the entrance, a small and active monkey, attacking the goat at the petting zoo and of course the Macaw bird (although he was pretty tired by the time we found it). :)
Caleb also got to go on his first carousel ride! He was very interested in the gears and watching how everything worked.

Our Road Trip Adventure Part 1

On our way down to AZ Caleb got a little bored. :) He's never done this before -so we thought it was kind of cute. He was definitely a natural tissue puller.


At one of our stops Caleb found this singing puppy. Merry Christmas!


Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Sanders for the Baby Lap Top. It was very appreciated.


In Saint George, UT we stopped at the temple visitors center and walked around stretching our legs for a little bit.


On our way to the zoo we found a special toy for Caleb to play with. -Caleb loves balloons! Hopefully he won't ever really bite one. :)


To be continued ...

Me the Disgruntle Cookie Maker

This year I was asked to help with our church's Christmas Party. My job has been to make fliers and other advertising, sign up sheets, etc. -I was also assigned to make 25 snowflake shaped sugar cookies (recipe and cookie cutter included). No problem right?

Well, kind of. I am good with the computer and designing things so the fliers and advertising were fairly simple. As for the sugar cookies ... we will see. I have intentionally not made sugar cookies in a couple of years. I always end up using so much flour to roll them out that they end up more like a pressed biscuit. -That and the fact that I don't have a rolling pin doesn't thrill me (planning on using one of Caleb's plastic cups as a substitute). --That and the sugar cookie frosting meeting tomorrow and then the party set up at 9 am Friday followed by 5 pm pre party set up, family photos, passing out programs, 6:30 dinner (I'll be serving), lengthy program, Santa and finally late night tear down (poor Aaron gets Caleb while he tries to eat without me).

So ... as you can see the next few days will be crazy.

Last night was another hard one for Aaron and I. We started putting Caleb to bed at 10 pm, again around 11 pm, 12:45 am and then at 5:30 am (Aaron has to wake up at 6 am). As I lay in bed listening to Aaron shower grouchy thoughts ran through my head. Grumble, grumble stupid cookies. :) -Still tired, but knowing I needed to get up I made the bed so I wouldn't get back in it. Just as I finished Aaron came in with one of my Christmas presents from him and instructed me to open it. Hesitating I wondered ... hum, is it a nativity or something. But it was something even better ... a marble rolling pin and wood stand!!!!! I had mentioned my lack of enthusiasm about rolling the cookies with the plastic cup the night before, but hadn't said anything about my internal grumbling this morning. How did he know?

Anyhow, I have the best husband ever. :)

And although I am still a disgruntle cookie maker. I can at least laugh at myself and enjoy my beautiful rolling pin. And hey cutting the snowflake cookies may even be fun as well. :)

Mama Llama

Something tells me that this Mama Llama is getting another tooth. :)

Clementines

It's funny how some things like Clementine Oranges and sparkling cider remind me of Christmas. We found these at the grocery store and I just couldn't resist. I guess it's one of those memories from growing up, because baby oranges just taste better at Christmas time. :)

Christmas Time Fun!

I absolutely love Christmas time! We put up our tree the first of November and have been enjoying every minute of it. Caleb likes a soft penguin ornament and a polar bear and penguin sledding one the best. They are a little lower where he can check them out once in a while. :)This last Monday night we made cutter cookies, chocolate no bake cookies, rice crispy treats and buttery spritz and then took them to a few of our friends. It was a fun Family Home Evening night. :)Caleb is 10-months-old now and growing like a weed. He babbles a lot and is starting to climb up, over and around things. He understands concepts like "all done, bath, animal names and good night." Unfortunately, he doesn't understand the beauty of sleeping through the night. He is so curious about things that he has been trying to wake up for a 2 or 3 am intermission to play the last week or so.We took these pictures a little earlier this week and had a fun time with them. Hope everyone else is also enjoying this fun time of year. We love you all lots and hope you are well.Check out my teeth!I gave this present to Caleb to see what he would do with it. He liked it, but doesn't have a clue about finding a present inside. He just liked touching the bows. :)Ho ho ho ... Merry Christmas!

It Only Took Us A Year :)

Well, it only took us a year, but we have finally finished our Whinnie the Pooh Photomosaics puzzle. Aaron was the one to finish the last sections and piece the last pieces together! We figured after such a difficult finishing that we needed to photograph our accomplishment to prove that we did actually get it done. :)