Sunny Southern Utah Christmas Trip!

Christmas Eve we went to the Anderson family party at Whit's sister's house.  We had a cousin's gift exchange and Edie is the youngest so she got to open her present first!  She didn't really understand what to do, but she loves the little book and puzzle she got :)

Winston did a little better at ripping the paper, but not much.  He still needed help.  But he was so excited to get some balls for the bath.  He loves bath time!  

Christmas morning we woke up and drove down to Spanish Fork to open presents there.  Winston and Edie almost posed in front of the Christmas tree :)  They had fun playing with their new toys!

And then of course they wanted to watch Bob on my parent's new tv :)

After lunch we all got in the car and headed south.  It was such a peaceful trip at first, both kids slept all the way to Cedar City where we stopped to feed Edie.  They took turns crying on and off the rest of the way there, but luckily we stayed pretty close to St George so the last part of the trip wasn't too long.

 They day after Christmas we went hiking in Zions!  It was still pretty cold, but it was beautiful to hike in the park.  It's been a few years since I've been down there, and it was fun to see it all again.

 Winston wasn't a big fan of being in the backpack, so my dad carried him on his shoulders for a hike.

 Edie didn't like being in the backpack either, so we took turns carrying her as well!  Good thing we did all the easy hikes :)

 Winston did love being outside.

 I enjoyed seeing everything in the cold--we saw lots of snow and ice.

 On our way back to the cabin we stopped at the St. George Temple.

 Friday we went to the Valley of Fire in Nevada.  It was much warmer and so neat to hike around!  We all loved it!

 We did lots of little hikes and got to see some beautiful scenery.

 We had to get at least one picture of Edie in the backpack.  She started crying right after I took this picture :)

 Winston loved riding on Uncle Dallin's shoulders!

 And he fell asleep at the end of one hike,

poor guy got worn out.

And then he cried for most of the trip home on Saturday.  We kept him happy by feeding him m&ms, and he eventually fell asleep.  I love the chocolate drool mark mustache!  What a fun and tiring trip :)

Merry Christmas!

 These two love sliding together.  Yay!

 Our house is coming along nicely--they've got all of the interior walls framed out,

 bathtubs in the bathrooms, 

 and the roof is all ready to be shingled.  Yay for progress :)

 I had to wake Edie up from a nap on afternoon so we could go somewhere.  This is how I found her, completely wrapped up in her blanket--well at least her head was.  She's so funny :)

Winston has been practicing his smile.  I think it needs a little work but it makes me laugh!

 Saturday we had all of Whit's friends over for dinner.  It was really fun to see everyone and the food was really good!  

But I liked our Sunday dinner even better!  Whit made me sushi and tempura and it was soooo delicious!  I think it needs to become a Christmas tradition in our home.  Winston loved the sushi too :)

 His smile is getting better :)

 He had fun playing in the snow!

 It's so pretty in our backyard with all of the snow on the trees, so I wanted to document it.  The kids did surprisingly well.

 Edie just wouldn't keep her bow on.  Oh well.  Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Happy Days

 Edie loves to walk with her little walker.  She only stops once she has run it into a wall and can't go any further.  She's funny.

 And these two are getting to be great friends.  Edie loves being close to Winston and he's getting more and more comfortable with that.

 He did get a little uncomfortable once he climbed up here and realized he couldn't get down on his own!  I heard him whining from the play room and laughed when I saw this.  He's definitely an explorer :)

 Wednesday was Whit's work party.  We got a babysitter for the kids and enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Grand America.  We were really really happy to find out that Whit won second place in the game they played--they prize was an ipad!  So we had fun playing on that when we got home.  Yay for new toys.

 And yay for progress on our house!  It just keeps getting further and further along and we keep getting more and more excited :)

 Sunday Edie and I were twinners in navy.

 That evening we bundled up the kids and went to see the lights at Temple Square.

 The coldest part was waiting in line for 25 minutes to pay the parking booth!  

 But seeing the lights was really nice.  Everything looked so pretty!

What a wonderful time of year :)

Happy Holidays!

 December has come with lots of cold and snow!  But they are still working on our house which makes us super excited :)  We drive there at least a couple times each week to see the progress.  We can't wait until it's done!

 I was asked to help with our ward Christmas party, which meant that I got to talk Whit and his Dad into being shepherds for the program.  Whit's dad has these cool robes that he got in Lebanon, and I thought they would be the perfect people to be the shepherds.  Neither one of them enjoy being in the spotlight, so it wasn't their favorite thing to do, but I am really grateful they were willing to help out.  They did a great job!

 Santa came to the party too.  Winston wasn't a huge fan, but Edie was fascinated by him!  :)

 One night I took the kids for a ride on a blanket.  They loved it!  I loved how good Winston was to hold onto Edie.  They're cute together :)

 Saturday we had our annual "Progressive Dinner," except that we had a brunch and stayed at one place.  The tradition started years ago when we were in the single's ward together.  We went around to different places for appetizers, main course, and dessert.  As we have gotten married and had kids, it has changed a bit.  But we still get together and have a great time.  I've been so blessed with such great friends!

 And our kids have fun running around together too :)

And Edie is crawling and climbing all over the place these days.  She's definitely a mover!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Thanksgiving morning we braved the cold and bundled up the kids for our neighborhood Turkey Trot.  It was along my regular walking route and it was fun to see so many people out and about.  It was a fun way to start off the day!

 While we were getting the food ready to take to my aunt's, we let the kids watch Bob the Builder on the big screen!  I've been saying this for a long time, but the theater room is almost done!  They just need to come touch up the paint, re-adjust the sound, and move in the furniture.  Hooray!  I am really looking forward to no more construction workers in and out of the place all the time.  Now we'll just have movie-goers :)

We went to my aunt's for Thanksgiving and it was a great time.  Lots of kids running around and lots of visiting.  We are so grateful she lives so close, that was nice not to have to travel very far :)

 One day I asked Winston to put Edie's socks in the dirty clothes.  This is what I found.  He got the room right, just not the dirty clothes bin.  It made me laugh pretty hard.  He's a really obedient kid and I'm so happy about that.  It will be an even better attribute the older he gets, hopefully!

 And here's our house as of last week!  I'm glad they got everything poured before the snow started...

 Friday we went down to Provo to hang out with family.  It was a beautiful day so we took the kids to feed the ducks.  There were so many ducks, it was a little crazy!

 Then we went bowling at BYU.  I had to bowl with my left hand since my right elbow is still hurting me.  It was interesting bowling left handed.  :)

Whit helped Winston bowl a couple of times.  Winston would squat down and watch his ball travel down the lane.  It was really cute.

Saturday was Whit's 40th birthday!!!  His friends took him out for breakfast in the morning, and then his sister Katie came over that evening to watch the kids so we could go out for dinner.  We went to the Mandarin in Bountiful and it was delicious!  Yum.  It was really nice to be out and have a good dinner together.  A very nice birthday treat.  Then we watched the Hunt for Red October in the theater room for as long as I could stay awake.  I made it about halfway through!  I love the movie and haven't seen it in such a long time, it was like watching it for the first time.  But I just get so tired these days, I can't stay awake past 10.  It's pretty ridiculous!  So we'll have to finish the movie another night.  Sorry Whit!

Sunday we enjoyed playing with the kids after church.  

Edie loves watching what Winston does.

And she's starting to follow him.  I'm not kidding, she did this all by herself!

Of course I was standing by, reading to catch her when she fell off

But she didn't she made it all the way to the top, all by herself!

And then she tried to climb up the slide!  She's a mover :)