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Can you say blog-slacker? Blogging used to be one of my favorite things to do, but other things have taken its place (namely a 2-year-old, photography, being pregnant, etc). But I had to get a little caught up. Over the next few days, I'm going to post pics from Dec, Jan and Feb in hopes of keeping some kind of family journal/scrapbook.
So here comes December...
We started off the season with Drew (my nephew), making ornaments for the grandparents and Nursery teachers.
Then Claire got to sit on Santa's lap. When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas she said, "a candy cane." Easily satisfied.
Ready to go to another Christmas party!
We made gingerbread houses at my family's Christmas party (and Nate was in charge of the camera that night...hence...one picture).
I had a great GNO with some high school friends (thanks again Dede for hosting!).
My family decided to check out the "Larry H Miller Christmas Singalong" at EnergySolutions Arena this year. It was actually a lot of fun!
Claire, Ry, Livi, Corgan
My dad, Claire, my mom, Corgan
Then we rode Trax up to Temple Square for some light action.
Claire, Drew, & Corgan...freezing cold.
Group shot at the lights.
Family shot
Random temple shots I got that night.
During the day on Christmas Eve, we did a little sledding.
Corgan, E'Shell, Claire, me
Self-portrait family shot
The only group shot of the day: Brad and Nate watching the kids sled down the hill, Claire and Corgan sledding, E'Shell and I taking pictures. So typical.
On Christmas Eve, we got together with my family at Brad and E'Shell's house. When we were little, we used to have this tradition of making a "Jesus Cake" on Christmas Eve. I think my mom did it to remind us that we are celebrating Christ's birth. We thought we'd let the grandkids try out this tradition as well. They were supposed to decorate the cake, but 95% of the candy went into their mouths, not the cake.
Great Grandma Stevens was there too.
Claire loves her Grandma Stevens.
Group shot (we're only missing my brother, Brandon, who is on a mission in Peru - miss you B!)
Christmas morning! The thing Claire got the most excited about: fruit snacks. Should have just bought a few boxes of them and called it good.
Pretty much everything in her stocking got the biggest reaction. Look at those eyes. If only I could get her that excited about eating every day.
She did love her new easel too.
Opening presents with Dad.
Christmas is so much better with kids!
Christmas morning family shot (we try to get this shot every year - thank you self-timer).
My niece, Annika, was blessed a few days after Christmas. I love this little girl!
Claire and Drew sang "I am a Child of God" for everyone at Annika's blessing. So cute. (Should I be in trouble for taking pictures at the church?)
And that's about it for the month of December. It was an insane month for me (photography-wise), and I was a little burned out on the picture-taking. So I didn't as many as I would have like. :( But January is coming up next...lots to share from that month!
{I promise to do a post soon with an update on us....SO BEHIND!}
We are so excited!
Nate and I decided that it might be fun this time around to find out the sex of the baby with the family. So we went to the ultrasound and saw the baby, but told the doctor we didn't want to know the sex yet. When she was checking out "down there", she just told us and we looked away. I had printed two signs - one that said "It's a girl" and one that said "It's a boy". So after the ultrasound was over, the doctor went into a back room and placed the correct one in two manila envelopes (so I couldn't see through - Nate's idea). Then Nate took it back to work with him so I couldn't cheat (another one of his ideas). :)
This was right after we got the envelope. It was a LONG day waiting to open it.
{Side note: I have a funny, well funny now, story about why I'm wearing my glasses. I normally always wear contacts, but the day before I had been chopping jalapeños. Have you ever chopped jalapeños? I made the mistake of itching my eye right after I cut them. I have never been burned on my eye, but this felt exactly like I had. I immediately turned on the water to flush my eye and thought "I better take my contact out." Umm....mistake. Putting both fingers directly on my eye felt like I had poured gasoline and lit a match on it. It hurt so BAD! And apparently, the juices stay on your hands for a few days, no matter how many times you wash them. Hence, the glasses and inability to put my contacts in. Just know that if you plan on chopping jalapeños, you have been warned.}
That night my family came over and we opened the envelope. We wrote down everyone's guesses.
Had to have pink and blue cookies...
Here we are, DYING to open it.
Claire did the honors...
She was really surprised. But her first words were, "I wanted a sister." Nice.
We were so excited!!
Me pointing out to Nate that yes, its definitely a boy.
All the grandkids on my side, there will be five soon!
So far, the Chinese Calendar and the Pencil Test have predicted the sex of my babies correctly. We'll see if they can keep it up...
I think almost everyone who was sent one of our Christmas cards has them by now, so I can post it. Back story: I can never decide what design to do on my own Christmas card. I design cards for tons of people and I'm always jealous of how decisive they are! This year, I designed five different cards, got them printed and then had Nate vote on his favorite. His favorite was probably my least favorite, so I took them to my parents and grandma for a vote. The vote was unanimous among the five designs. They all voted for Nate's favorite. :( I still couldn't let go of my fav, so we printed both. Here they are:
Nate's fav
My fav
They are double-sided with pictures of Claire (of course) on the back.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
For those who haven't heard - we're expecting Baby #2!
{Ultrasound at 12 weeks.}
It took a little longer than expected, but we couldn't be more excited!
Claire loves the Little Mermaid...you'll see the devotion on this video...
(and of course she doesn't go anywhere without her new favorite doll, Jessie. Thanks again Lauren!)
From Jessie the Cowgirl
Labor Day ROCKED this year. It started bright and early Friday morning at Swiss Days. We were not the only ones thinking that...it was a zoo!
The scones were SO good. I will be going every year to at least get a scone.
It was hot, but so worth it!
{I - gasp! - forgot my camera...so thanks, April, for remembering!}
That night we got to meet our friend's new addition, Rocky Charles, at the hospital. He was born at almost nine pounds...way to go Danielle! Such a cute, chubby little guy.
Claire just loved him.
Saturday thru Monday we went camping with the fam. Claire and Corgan loved jumping on the air mattress.
We were right next to this little river. The kids entertained themselves by throwing pine cones in.
Nate and me
Action shot of Nate chopping the wood.
My cousin Nancy brought bubbles and they were a hit!
My brother, Ryan, and his cute girlfriend Olivia.
Group shot, with a few people missing who had already left. This was taken on our last morning after cleaning up the campground...so we all look really awesome.
Finally, on the evening of Labor Day, we went to a luau at Thanksgiving Point. YUM, I love luau food! Here's everyone waiting on the grass for the show to begin.
All the girls (minus the moms)
These kids love playing together!
Family shot
Claire got to go up on stage and learn the hula. She was front and center and loved every second of it. I've got to get her in a dance class.
I've decided that we need to petition that it be Labor Week, not Labor Day.
