Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas. We started off the morning at our house. Because we had a lot to do that day, we had to wake up the kiddos around 7:15 AM. We opened presents at our house, then went to Grandma and Grandpa F's house. After that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa K's house, then back home for naps. And then down to Grandma and Grandpa A's house. Phew! Busy day, but so wonderful to spend time with family that we don't get to see all the time.

I'm not sure why Jack isn't in these pictures, but I'm glad I got some shots of Alex and me with my Grandma and Grandpa A

Early morning at our house. Both kids made out like bandits.

I think this was the best picture of the day. I don't think Alex could look any happier.

Fun Getaway

JP turned 30 on December 7. He really wanted to do something fun for his birthday, so we headed to Midway for an overnighter. As Alex won't take a bottle, we brought the kiddos with us :) It was a lot of fun. In the pictures above, the boys are in the process of soaking the bathroom.

It snowed almost a foot overnight. I think this is just the cutest picture.

It was only about 15 degrees outside, but the cold didn't bother Jack a bit. JP said that he tried to show Jack how to do snow angels. For some reason Jack didn't like lying on his back to do them, so he'd do them face-down. Silly boy.

The Polar Express

We rode the Heber Valley Railroad's Polar Express the day before Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa F. We thought Jack would love it, but he has a fear of Santa Claus.

I think this is my favorite picture from the whole evening.

This is Jack letting us know that he did not want to have anything to do with the Big Guy. I feel kinda bad for taking a picture of him so sad, but it was part of the experience. When Santa did make his way to our row on the train, Jack had settled down and was thrilled to get his bell from Santa. And Santa was great and kept it all low-key.

And once Santa was gone, Jack was back to his smiley self :)

Thanksgiving Fun

We weren't able to attend our Mommy and Me group in November because both kiddos had terrible colds. Kim was nice and saved the turkey craft activity for us. We put this together the day before Thanksgiving. Jack had a great time eating the marshmallows :)

Preschool Fun

There is a school near our home where the school district holds classes for its Child Development Center. Our friend told us that they were looking for Peer Models (children who like to talk a lot...Jack fits the bill :) ) for their toddler classes. I called and enrolled Jack. He goes once a week for an hour and a half and LOVES it. His friend Kate is also in his class. I'm glad he has something that is his own thing to do once a week. The picture above is one I took of him before I took him to class for the first time. Below is Jack holding up his first craft project after going to class.

Halloween 2009

Jack wasn't too keen on dressing up for Halloween this year. We borrowed a Spider-Man costume, but he refused to wear it even though he'd told us several times that's what he wanted to be. We finally improvised with a construction worker costume. It worked well, because Halloween night was freezing, so he was able to wear his coat. And it was cheap. That was even better. Alex made a cute puppy.

This was the first year that we've gone trick-or-treating in our own neighborhood. It was fun, and we look forward to doing it from now on. We did our family Halloween party the night before, so we were able to have a fun party and everyone was able to enjoy Halloween at their own houses.

Family Photos

We had some family pictures taken by Lindsay Williams, threebluebirdsphotos.blogspot.com. She did a great job. I've posted a few of my favorites.

"Gutterball!"

Jack has fallen in love with bowling. I think it started with a Curious George episode. I took Jack on a Mommy Son date. He had a blast, and I did too. I love that he calls it Gutterball. He can really chuck that ball down the lane. He had a couple of wipe-outs when he'd step over the fault-line.

Tibble Fork

Yesterday we went for a drive up American Fork Canyon to Tibble Fork Reservoir. The first thing we wondered: Why haven't we gone there before?!? It was absolutely beautiful. The leaves were so vibrant on our drive up and around the reservoir as well, although we didn't get any pictures of the beautiful leaves. Jack had a great time throwing rocks into the water and Alex just loved being outside and part of the action, as always.

I love how JP and Jack are in sync while searching for rocks to skip

What a good helper!

The other day I was making a dessert to take to a lunch playdate with our friends in Lehi. Jack can't pass up an opportunity to help me in the kitchen, and he looked so cute in Daddy's apron that I had to get a few pictures.

Some of the cake mix spilled on the counter. Jack was not about to let any of it go to waste. Awesome.

Big Boy! Almost 8 months

I've been quite a slacker on updating the blog. Also a slacker on taking pictures of my boys. Just wanted to post a few to show how big Alex is getting. He'll be 8 months old this Thursday.



He only has to wear his helmet during naps and nighttime. Woo hoo! You can see above that it gives him a nice ring around the top of his head :)

Wow, he looks a little intense in this picture. Don't know what was going on with his eyes. If you look closely though, you can see two bottom teeth coming in.

We went to the zoo for playgroup last Friday. I had Alex in a coat, but forgot a hat, so I bundled him up. He liked to be out and about looking at the animals.