Christmas

Sorry it has taken so long to post some Christmas pictures. The Monday before Christmas I woke up with a fever. I couldn't do anything except lay there, luckily my wonderful sister Mandy came and got Andrew and I slept from 11 am until 5:30 pm. Only waking up at 1:30 to eat a piece of toast and to make sure Dave was getting Andrew from my sisters. The fevers proceeded along with a stuffy nose and a sore throat to the point that I could not swallow anything! So lets just say Christmas morning is a blur and it is a good thing we took pictures for me to remember it by. I went to the doctor on Friday morning and they gave me an antibiotic. By late Friday night I was starting to feel normal and could finally eat something. We finally ended Christmas on Sunday but having Christmas dinner. I was glad we waited and I was actually able to enjoy the meal! Here are some pictures of Andrew on Christmas morning.


Andrew truly loved his train set and kitchen and has not stopped playing with them. I loved that he was so excited for each present as he unwrapped it! I think it will make his birthday even more fun because he understands unwrapping presents and that when you do unwrap them you get a toy!

...Our dear old Allen High!

My high school won the Texas High School Football championship last night. It was an awesome and suspensful game! (Dave so kindly upgraded our Direct TV so I could watch it.) If you don't know, I have a tremendous love for football and learned everything I know about it from watching the Allen Eagles play. I went to practically every high school (away and home)game since I was born. This was the first time they made it to the championship and they won!!! Go Eagles!

What does your snow taste like???

Ours tastes like COOKIES!!!!

Christmas Time...

So I thought I better begin posting the Christmas activities before I become overwhelmed. We put up our Christmas tree on Monday. We searched long and hard for the perfect Christmas tree, after a couple tree lots I found it at Home Depot. The same place we bought it last year, I must remember this next year so I can start there. I wanted short and skinny. I think it is perfect and it smells great! Andrew wasn't that interested in the tree decorating but was excited to put the star on. He was interested in our nativity scene which I decided to go out a buy him a small one to play with so I didn't have to hear him cry any more. He now carries around Jesus baby Jesus and Jesus baby Jesus Mommy (aka Mary).

Happy Thanksgiving!

We made this turkey for FHE this week. Andrew has carried it around ever since. We then took turns saying what we were thankful for.

Dave-Andrew and Katie
Katie-Dave's job (espescially in this scary time!)
Andrew-Lights! (I was so surprised he actually came up with something.)

So Dave and I were some of the crazy that went shopping this morning. Being the awful parents we are we woke Andrew up at 4:45am and went to Walmart. It was so out of control. Neither Dave or I had ever seen anything that bad. So we quickly just got back into the car and went to Target. I got in line while Dave and Andrew went for breakfast. I had a blast at Target because I was part of the craziness and I got what I wanted, a new vaccuum. Then we headed over to Big Lots, which had already been open for about half hour and by some miracle we got the $5 Tickle me Cookie Monster! It was the only one on the shelf and when we went to pay for it the lady said that everyone in line at 6am was coming to buy that so she didn't know how we got it! We brought Andrew home and he wanted nothing to do with sleeping so Dave and I took turns taking naps, but when we left to meet my family for lunch he was out the moment he got in the car. You would think he is wearing the glasses to be cool but I think he choose to wear them so he could fall asleep without Mom or Dad knowing.

All Aboard the Choo-Choo Train

Good thing we bought him a train set for Christmas! You have to commend the 21 months old little brain for coming up with his own make shift train which he pushed around for an hour tonight.

A Wall-er...

So I haven't blogged in forever, I blame it on the fact that so many of my friends and family update their blogs so often I easily get my blogging fix. Sorry! Here is what has been going on lately (meaning, here are some things that I have taken pictures of in the last weeks thinking, "I should blog about that.")

A couple of Sundays ago Andrew really wanted to sit down and read books. I happily obliged because who can say no to your kid wanting to read. He sits down in my lap with a few of his favorites and within two minutes he has already turned the pages so fast that I could hardly get the first word out from every page. I quickly became frustrated and sent him over to his Dad's lap to read. And there he sat, contentedly listening to every word on every page. I am telling myself he just liked hearing from some one different for a change!

Smith's had one of its 10 for 10 sales so I decided to get these great jugs of water for $.50 each to add to the food storage. They have been lined up, stacked in the hall for about a week. Put there as a suttle reminder to Dave that they needed to be in the basement. Last night Andrew carried each one individually into the living room. By the end he was so tired, yet so determined he began rolling the waters until he had them exactly how he wanted them.

And last, but not least, Santa visited Dave and I early this year. We got our new TV and the HD reciever comes tomorrow. Just in time for everyone's most important program of the year.... BYU vs. Utah!

The Elections

So I know I haven't shared any opinions about the elections but I did have some things I was thinking about since the conclusion last night. I voted for John McCain, largley based on some simple beliefs that I have, for example abortion. When I was watching the election coverage last night I thought to myself, I do not want to feel bad/sad that John McCain lost, espescially for my child. I need to show that even though who we wanted to win didn't, doesn't mean we can't turn around and support the good things that Obama brings to the table. Obama is going to be our president for at least 4 years. He seems like a good man and what he needs most is our prayers. It felt so good to face these facts and not have to feel impending doom. I am tired of hearing "The world is falling apart and we are all going to live horrible lives!" (Okay, not really a quote but wanted to emphasize what I feel.) What kind of mother would I be if I raised my child in that kind of attitude and atmosphere! Staying positive and fighting for what you believe in is most important. I think my sister-in-law Janet who has a great way with words said it best. Thanks Janet, for sharing.

Halloween, finally!

Here are some pictures of the Halloween festivities!


We carved our pumpkin Monday night. As soon as the top came off and Andrew could smell the pumpkin he made a noise like he was going to gag and we became very clear that he was going to have nothing to do with it. After we got it carved I bribed him with a cookie to sit near it for a picture.



On Halloween day we went to Grandma Bev and Grandmpa Les's for lunch and fun with cousins. Andrew enjoyed himself running around with his cousins but I did find him once sitting on the couch next to Uncle Scott watching football. I had to drag him outside to continue in the Halloween festivities! On Halloween night Andrew enjoyed passing out the candy but didn't understand why he had to come back inside instead of going out with other kids. Mandy, Martin and the girls came over around 7 and Andrew was finally let out to go Trick-Or-Treating. As you can tell by the picture he was ready to run out the door and get candy, he was not going to pose for a picture!

To teach or not to teach....

that is the question. You experienced moms out there, what did you do?

Food Calendar

I got this idea off my sister-in-law's blog many months ago and I finally decided to sit down and make it. I can get into a real food rut and I hope that this will help me not forget about good recipes. I plan on adding ribbon to it and hanging it below our white board that it is sitting on. All I did was attach a page protector that is made for slides to a piece of paper and ta-da. It only has 25 squares but lets be honest there a some nights that you end up picking up McDonalds!

Blogging laziness=Major update

I have been super lazy with blogging lately. I just sat down to upload pics and I had 40! That is a lot for me, I don't seem to take a lot of pictures at one event. So here is the update....

Andrew is really loving apples lately, except he will not eat them cut up, it has to be whole. I have just started wrapping them up in Saran Wrap and making him eat the same apple for more than one meal/snack time.



On Friday night we met up for a fun night with Heath, Lacey and Crew. First we went to Joe Morley's for dinner. Delicious barbeque, the best brisket I have had in a long time!!! (A must visit if you are in Utah.) Then we went to Gardner's Village to ride the horses and look at the witches. The boys wore their costumes. Andrew borrowed the horse costume from Lacey's little brother and he loved it. It was hopping along like a horse. Lacey took video of it, she will have to send it to me and I will put it on.




In an effort to salvage the last of the good weather Dave and I got up early and we went to the zoo. Andrew loves the zoo and we had a blast. He espescially likes riding the train and carosel. Hopefully we have a few more, semi warm days so we can continue to go and use our pass.



Then on Saturday night we went to Cornbelly's for some entertainment. Dave was dreading another outing but Andrew had so much fun I guess he decided it was worth it. Andrew rode the cow train, played on the playground and much more. His favorite was the bouncing pillow, unfortunatly it was too dark to get pictures of it. We also got our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. I guess we are ready for the real Halloween to begin after all of our fall fun!

Sunday night we had a stake meeting to realign the wards. Our ward was barely affected and I am glad that we don't have to make any big changes! Espescially because we have a weekend of church coming up!! (Meetings, primary program and the real church!) I am SUPER excited too because Rachel is coming to town this week and we get to meet baby Kennedy. I have been prepping Andrew, he says he wants to hold the baby and sing her a song. When I asked which song he gave a resounding "Cougars!!!!" (meaning the Cougar fight song). So get ready baby Kennedy!

A much needed date night...

So Dave and I finally were able to go on a date tonight. It is not like we don't have a trillion people willing to baby-sit for us, we have just been so busy the last "few" weekends that we really haven't had a chance. We went to Archibald's for dinner while Les and Bev watched Andrew. It was pretty good, and nice to relax while eating. Thank you Les and Bev!!! They said Andrew was great, of course he loved running around and playing ball with Grandma and Grandpa.

I also got my hair cut this week. I went in with a picture of Reese Witherspoon and I think the girl did a pretty good job. Reese's hair turns under, but for the life of me I can not get it to turn under. I think it still looks good flip out, espescially because this is what it does naturally when I don't dry it with the hair dryer. Less work, who would complain!

Things I am loving...

Life has been pretty much the same lately. Yesterday my sister's and I got together and made a Halloween decoration for our homes.

This is how mine turned out. It is a mummy if you can't tell. I personally think it is adorable. I guess this means I need to pull out the other Halloween decorations that I have.

I went to Ross this week and discovered this book. It has 5 different books in it. Now of course I told Dave that I purchased it for Andrew but lets get real, it is for me. I love ther Berenstain Bears!!!! Talk about childhood memories.

The last thing that I am loving is that I am almost done with my Christmas shopping, yes you heard me correctly!!! No I won't rub it in but I am super excited. (It does help that we bought my parent's BYU vs. TCU tickets, and Dave and I are purchasing a new TV so it narrows down the number of presents I have to buy to Andrew and a few extended family gifts!)

Dave and I are off to Logan on Friday to cook dutch oven for his work and to watch the BYU game. I am looking forward to it and hope Andrew's energy doesn't run me ragged before the game even starts!

Weekend in Review

So Friday night Dave and I baby-sat my sister Mandy's kids so she could take her husband out for his birthday. We had a lot of fun. We first picked up Ashlynn (4 years old) and she was so excited to being going on a date with Andrew. Then we picked up Alex (6 years old) from a birthday party and the night of fun began. We went to Carl's Junior for dinner and then to the farm at Thanksgiving Point. The kids loved the animals and Andrew loved riding the horses.



Then on Saturday we went to the BYU game. I tried to get some pictures of Andrew but was really too into the game. He loves the games and is so good at them. We did leave early this time though because he spilt some popcorn on the ground and didn't understand why he was not allowed to eat the dropped popcorn, despite the fact that he still had half a bag left!


Sunday we went to church of course. We decided to walk this week, which we should do every week because of the proximity of the church to the house. Instead of pushing Andrew in the stroller he walked the whole way and loved it. I guess he is really growing up! I even let him walk to go visiting teaching today and he was in heaven! Later on we went for a drive in the big car (Dave's car). We drove down to the lake and throw rocks into the water. Andrew's new found love is rocks, he picks them up everywhere. (It reminds me of Evan's stick obsession for all the Clawsons that know who Evan is.) Lets just say he was quite distraught when we had to leave the lake.

We are back to the work week. We took Andrew back to the doctor this morning to get his arm checked out. The doctor gave us a new wrapping and splint (I am pretty sure there was a mold growing on the old one, GROSS!) but said to keep in on another two weeks. Everything is healing just fine so we should be good pretty soon!

A Nigh, Nigh

Every week when I do laundray Andrew finds this sweater dryer and asks "A nigh, nigh?" Translation, is this a crib? I usually just say no and he moves on. I think today, he finally gave up on asking and pulled it into the bedroom to try it out himself.


Who needs a port-a-crib when you have a cozy sweater dryer!

Aviary and Fair

So last week I went to the Tracy Aviary with Lacie and Crew. Andrew was not that big of fan of the birds, but Crew loved them. He wanted to pet them. Afterwards we had a picnic lunch at the park and then we let the boys play in the water. I am pretty sure that that was Andrew's favorite part.




Then on Friday night Dave had to judge a cook off at the State Fair. We met up with Scott and Amy and the kids had a blast looking at all the animals and riding down the big slide. The only place I got my camera out was at the interactive kids area. This is were the kids travel from building to building, milking a fake cow, planting vegetables and so forth. Andrew loved it!