2013?!

Happy New Year! December FLEW by and here’s a look at what we did…

We took a weekend trip up to Utah for Peter and Summer’s wedding. Peter and Kenny were mission companions and then Peter lived down here with Kenny for a summer. He worked at the law firm where both Kenny and I were working. We were pretty excited to go to the wedding and had a really fun weekend while we were there! Rachel and Russ decided to come with us so we piled up their Yukon with four car seats and four adults! I was pretty nervous about the ride…with four kids under 2 1/2 I didn’t know if we’d have any peace and quiet but the kids did GREAT! We got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Varney who we all love so much! They are the best and it’s always so much fun to get to see them. And who doesn’t love CHOPS for breakfast?

 

We went to Uncle Hank’s swing again up at Sundance. We thought the kids would like it and wanted Rachel and Russ to see it and we also took Grandma and Grandpa with us. Taylor came and met us up there too! It’s pretty fun up there and makes for cute pictures…

 

 

 

I love Utah at Christmastime (actually anytime) and definitely wanted to get up to Temple Square and City Creek. It’s beautiful up there anytime of the year but with lights up it was so pretty! Casey and Eli met us at City Creek. She is one of my favorite friends!

And then we paid a fortune for this lovely picture…

And here are our blurry Temple Square pictures…

 

 

And these nice people now have a photo-bombed picture thanks to Kayli and Adam! Haha.

Thank you to my Aunt Cindy, Uncle Scott, and my cousins MaKenna and Lindsey for watching the kiddos while we went to Peter and Summer’s sealing and reception the next day. The sealing was at the Provo Temple and it was freezing that day. I, however, had to have BYU creamery ice-cream thanks to my sis-in-law, Lindsay. She introduced us to the best ice cream ever…

The next morning we woke up to snow! It was great, we played for a few minutes, went to church with Grandma and Grandpa and then left the snow to come home.

 

 

We got to see Josh and Mandy when they came through Vegas on their way home to Salt Lake for Christmas. This time though, they had a baby with them! Their little Lexi was born on December 6 so she was only 2 weeks old when we met her. She is adorable of course! Beau looked like a giant next to her and you forget how fast babies grow! They still have to come back through Vegas on their way back to San Diego so we will get to see them again this weekend!

I love everything about the Christmas season but there is something about having a little kid who loves it too that makes Christmas even better! Kayli loved singing “Jingle Bells” and when we caroled at one door one night she thought we should do that every time we knocked on a door. It was fun! She loved reading Christmas books and looking at Christmas lights. Our neighborhood was pretty decked out and everyone had blow up snowmen, Santa Clauses, or…MICKEY! (Kayli loved having “her” Mickey out her window).

Kayli got to go with Grandma and Grandpa England to The Magical Forest at Opportunity Village. They took her and Adam and all 4 of them had a blast! They spent 3 hours there! We also went to Springs Preserve to see the lights and Kayli loved when it “snowed”. Grandpa and the kids made a gingerbread house and Grandma and the kids decorated Christmas sugar cookies.

 

Kenny and I made a gingerbread house with Grandma Eliason while Kayli and Beau played on the iPad with Grandpa.

 

We also tried seeing Santa again, but Kayli still didn’t like him-but she did ask him for things…a doll and Princess stuff.

We spent Christmas Eve with the England family.

 

and left cookies and milk out for Santa.

Christmas morning Kayli was pretty excited to see that Santa ate the cookies and that he had left her some toys! He brought her a doctor kit…

that she uses on Beau.

Poor Beau must have been bad this year, because he only got socks and pacifiers…(he didn’t need anything!) But he was still happy…

Santa made me a table that I get to paint! I can’t decide on a color yet, though!

 

Christmas Day we spent with the Eliason family.

 

We had a great Christmas! We are very fortunate to have wonderful families who help us and love us so much!

A few days after Christmas, this showed up at our house!

And then…we had to say good-bye to Mimmy (Kim)…who left us for freezing cold Idaho! She just started school at BYU-I and she is loving it! She sends the family update texts every day and they are pretty funny. We haven’t been over to my mom’s house yet so Kayli hasn’t realized that she’s gone but when she does realize, she will sad! She loves Mimmy! Luckily, Aunt Kelli is going to step in as her nail painter.

On New Year’s Day we went on a little hike and had lunch at Red Rock with Rachel’s family…

 

 

And then everyone in this house (except me) got sick! And BAD! They are still recovering.

 

Beau is 5 months old today! Here’s what he’s up to:

1. He is happy most of the time these days (thank goodness)! The first few months of his life were a bit hard on this momma. He liked to cry.

2. He has just recently become a GREAT napper. It took about 2 weeks of hard-core nap and crib training but he now goes right in his crib, falls asleep on his own, and naps for a long time (also thank goodness).

3. He LOVES Kayli (as long as she isn’t hitting or kicking him-how do you get your 2 year old to stop doing that?) He thinks she is funny and when she sings Reverently, Quietly to him (La La La…La La La…La La La La La La La) he instantly calms down.

Kayli has been up to LOTS:

1. She LOVES singing and dancing. She can sing “I Love Mommy She Loves Me, We Love Daddy…” not sure what the exact title is. She also knows all the words to “I Am a Child of God”. And her favorite song is still “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift. She also likes “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and Call Me Maybe.

2. She like to sneak cookies. She’ll pull a chair over to the counter to get whatever she needs from the counter. Usually cookies…

 

3. She likes going to daddy’s work. She’s been down there a few times with him or we’ve gone down to have lunch with him and she loves it there. She asks if we can go all the time.

4. She chooses to sleep on the floor.

5. She loves the library. Whenever we Face time anyone she wants to show them her library books.

6. She loves to hide. We sometimes look for her and say, “where’s Kayli” and then we hear “Kayli hiding!” If you come visit us you’ll have to find her when you walk in.

7. She has a very good memory. She remembers everything! Blows my mind.

Here’s a few recent pics of the kids…