Christmas 2010

Can you believe it, 2 posts in 2 days!! That means we're getting closer to a Brazil post that's gonna take me forever...don't worry, I want it done as bad as you do :)

Okay, okay, so our Christmas season this year was pretty casual and I liked it that way. I didn't drag every decoration box out of the attic (to Ryan's delight), we only did stockings for each other instead of gifts, and actually got to spend it in our home. Most of this was because of our upcoming trip. Anyway, I went with a green and silver theme this year.Two observations you may notice about the tree, 1st: a certain small cat underneath it who decided that would be his escape from Baby and 2nd: no ornaments on the bottom which I'm sure you can figure out why :)

We did attend the ward party and my work Christmas party which is an occasion to dress up and enjoy good food with friends. Can't beat that right?

I had to work Christmas Eve night but that was okay cuz then I went home and got Ryan up, we did our Christmas morning together, enjoyed breakfast, then went back to bed. I LOVE Christmas morning ambiance!

Gifts from our wonderful families!
Santa comes to our babies too!



Post present bliss: toys shredded, chewing on bones on new dog beds

Thanks to everyone who sent Christmas cards, it made my day each time I opened one and placed it on our dining room door. Despite the challenging year we had we continue to feel blessed to have such caring friends and family, good health, a job, a warm home, each other, and more than anything the Gospel. Hope you all had a great holiday!

Thanksgiving 2010

I know, I know, it's January and it's taking me forever to catch up my blogging. I'm trying! Before I cover Thanksgiving I have to pay tribute to our Utes. Earlier in November the Utes came out to play Notre Dame in football. Ryan's dad came out for a visit and joined us for the game. I commend him for being on his best cougar behavior :) The day didn't turn out like we were hoping...the weather was awful, drizzly rain and cold the whole time, the fans were annoying and relentless, and the Utes played like crap and deserved to lose but I'm still glad we went down to support them. (Thankfully we were able to remind the Notre Dame fans that our dear Michigan State Spartans took care of them earlier in the season).



Now on to Thanksgiving. We went home for the holiday this year and enjoyed more time with the fam. There were several birthdays to celebrate while we were there. Including...
Mr A

Fritz

Myself

and my dear sister Leslie


It's always great to catch up with our family and spend time together.


Tyler took us indoor rock climbing which was so fun!


I especially enjoyed the many faces of Katie :) I melted every time she said "I love you I do!"


Ever since my sister's Ironman race this last summer I've been more motivated to learn to run and actually not hate it. She got me started on a "couch potato to 5K" program and then ran with me in my first race Thanksgiving morning. It was a 4 mile race in Orem. It was unbelievably cold when we all went outside to start and I was pretty worried about how cold we were but once we got started it was fine. My sister was so good to stay with me at my pace even though she could have finished way faster. I was worried I wouldn't be ready for it but I felt great and even finished before my goal! Thanks sis, you are one awesome coach! And thanks Ry for your role as photographer/cheerleader/babysitter!



It's official, I finished my first race!

Kids races



After the race we went back to Ryan's parents home for their family Thanksgiving. Of course Nancy prepared beautifully and it was lovely meal. After eating, C provided the entertainment with sharing some of his school work which was mighty impressive!


We spent the evening with my family and had yet another yummy meal and enjoyed some good family time.


While we were home we made our stops to bring our Grandmas and Ryan's Grandpa some early Christmas cheer with these cute trees and santa. Don't you love them?! I actually wanted to take them home myself...




Once again, another great trip home. Of course I wish we lived closer to spend time together more than 2-3 times per year but thank you guys for always making time for us when we do make it back! We love you! (oh and friends, sorry we didn't have time to get together this trip, let's try this summer!)

Happy Halloween/1st Birthday Jack!

This year was a pretty low key Halloween for us but celebrating Jack's 1st Birthday livened it up a bit. Hard to believe we brought this tiny, shivering little kitty home a year ago!
We were so happy to see that the dogs didn't attack the cat

Watching Baby mother him was priceless.
He sure is a good cat despite his desire to take out the neighborhood one squirrel/bird/mouse at a time...
{all grown up}

We love you Jackie!
(sad but true story...so when Ryan gave Jack his cupcake he didn't seem too familiar with the candle so he leaned in to lick the frosting and singed the hair on his face! Don't worry, it scared him but not bad enough to not finish his treat)

As far as Halloween we attended our first "trunk or treat" and actually had fun decorating the car. I learned my lesson though about not buying enough candy! It was so embarrassing to tell the kids we ran out...they just don't understand.

As I mentioned before this Halloween was low key so the babies didn't dress up to their full potential but we thought their jester collars and tie were pretty cute all the same. We attempted a family picture but had no luck. The out-takes are pretty funny though so I thought I'd share them.

Take 1: test shot, Baby's bored, Norris is photogenic like always, and look who's peeking out the front door

Take 2: Jack is NOT happy and Norris appears concerned

Take 3: ditched the cat

Take 4 and 5: okay so these are great but they are missing Dad

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!