Friday, December 31, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We were able to spend time with most of our family members and are still enjoying visits from some of our out of town relatives.

Sophia wasn't quite sure what to do with the gifts, but she had fun playing with the paper and ribbons!

The kids got their jams on Christmas Eve. Cozy!

This year Santa didn't bring much that our kids asked for (Olivia wanted a motor scooter (?!), an iPhone, and a whole long list of other out of reach things) and Coleman wanted Legos, Musopoly (a music version of Monopoly that is out of print), and a motor scooter (?!). Instead, Santa was tech savvy and brought our family a new printer that printed out (magically) a fun letter from Santa while we were looking at gifts. It said that he was going to send us to Disneyland in a few months! Hooray for Santa saving the day!

Of course we gave them some other fun things... these skirts are the cutest ever and were made by my friend Tina (who also happens to be my sister-in-law Laura's mom). You can check out  more of her talents and beautiful creations at her website www.sewingtink.com. Coleman only had to open a few things of clothes (his and Ryan's worst nightmare for gifts at Christmas!).

One of my favorite things about the holidays is hearing from and seeing photos of friends and family members. We love our cards! Thank you!

This year I got to add another stocking to the mix! I had good foresight a few years ago when I made the stockings for the four of us and got enough materials to make a few more. Which one of these is not like the other? Despite several times picking re-sewing I couldn't get it to look like the others. It's a shorter stocking with an abnormally long foot. Sorry Soph! It held goodness just the same though :).

All in all it was a wonderful holiday! Hope yours was great too!

**Does Santa always bring things on your (or your kids') lists?
**Any suggestions to fix the stocking, or should I just admit defeat and start over?

Monday, December 20, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

We spent Thanksgiving this year in San Diego! We got to stay with our dear friends on the way down and back, but for some reason didn't get any great photos with them. Thank you Reis and Simon families!

On our first day there we helped my sister Heather move into a great studio apartment. I was so glad that we could help out, it seems like when we live far away we don't get to do the things that family should do. We had a great time too :).

Near Ocean Beach there is a hamburger joint that we love. It's called "Hodad's" and there is usually a line just to get in... they have amazing milkshakes and fries and burgers and onion rings. We didn't want to miss it and after working up our appetites loading and unloading boxes we were ready for some eats.

Jaxton, Olivia, and Sophia sitting at the surfboard table waiting for our food to come...

...and Olivia is enjoying a french fry with her shake. The atmosphere there is LOUD (heavy metal playing in the background) and crazy.... but fun.

It was chilly (but way better than the snowy cold at home!). How cool is the Hodad's van?

Coleman LOVED jumping in the sand dunes.

On Thanksgiving morning we honored our tradition of eating pie for breakfast. Our choices: pecan, banana cream, and chocolate cream.

We spent some time that afternoon at the beach in Coronado. It was beautiful! I was so glad that my sister Lindsey and her family were there (she is on the left with Jaxton) and that we could visit with my daddy-O and Heather (on the right). I loved being with them!

The sunset was amazing!

We had a delicious dinner with so much good food. Sophia even got  a place at the table. She loved the yams and apples (thanks Lindsey!) and mashed potatoes.

Cute cousins... Jonah, Coleman, Jaxton, Liv, and Sophia.

 This was my favorite picture of Liv and Soph after dinner while we were all doing dishes. They were some tired girls!

On Friday we went to Balboa Park and explored. These tree roots were so interesting.

Sophia and Jaxton were great stroller buddies.

Our kids wanted to find the tiled animals to climb on.

Sweet Liv

Sophia is such a happy baby. I love that.

Coleman was in heaven climbing and having fun. Love that smile.

We went to Costco (can't seem to go on a trip without stopping at least once!) and got gelato. Gelato! Who knew Costco has gelato? I guess only this Costco has gelato. It was delicious, but it was pretty chilly outside.

Our last stop was at La Jolla. We got there in time for another beautiful sunset.


Chad and Lindsey and their cute boys at La Jolla.


My dad got some gingerbread house kits for the kids to do. They had a great time!

We had a great visit and were glad to get home safely. We missed a decent sized snowstorm by leaving a day earlier than we had planned to.

We finished out the month of November with our "Thankful Wall" and some family togetherness.

Below is our list of things we are thankful for... Some of them are so random and we aren't sure who wrote them (it was Coleman :) ). They aren't in any particular order:

  • prophets
  • fun trips
  • Christmas
  • Dad's hard work
  • teeth
  • grandparents
  • rules
  • muffins
  • my mom
  • American
  • Spanish
  • candy
  • China (it's cool to say)
  • air
  • school
  • good health
  • Mikayla
  • food
  • our family
  • Chance
  • Ryan
  • forgiveness
  • a great family
  • leaves
  • service
  • Coleman
  • church
  • Sophia's laugh and smile
  • my dad
  • electricity
  • talents
  • books
  • Olivia
  • warm jams
  • pudding pie
  • Sophia
  • watching my kids serve each other
  • Mom and Dad the great cooks
  • TV
  • video games
  • piano
  • Thanksgiving
  • presents
  • nursing
  • birthdays
  • God
  • Jesus
  • Best Mom Ever
  • Best Dad Ever
  • Best Sisters Ever
  • Money
  • the world
  • the gospel
  • everything
  • great-grandparents
  • repentance
Happy (late) Thanksgiving! It is my goal to feel and express gratitude more throughout the year.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Nine Months

Sophia is nine months old!

She is crawling and scooting and pulling herself up. True to form, she didn't want to stay still for her photo op with the cutest ball ever. She is always on the move...

She's very helpful with projects of all kinds.

She loves to eat and has a new tooth! Her top left tooth came in first, which seems strange to me, I thought the bottom teeth always came in first?

From certain angles resembles "Sloth" from the movie "Goonies" just a little bit.... a very cute version, of course!


She doesn't love to get bundled up, but she sure is cute when she does.

We love Sophia so much!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Christmas 2010 Piano Recital

Last week Olivia and Coleman played in their Christmas piano Recital.



We were so happy that Grandma Harper was in town so she could come!

Olivia played "Little Drummer Boy"...



...and the "Russian Dance" from the Nutcracker.



Her teacher is wonderful! We love that all of her other students are our friends so that we can hear their progression too.


Coleman played "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam"...



and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with Ryan.



Coleman has just been taking for about two months from our wonderful friend Sister Brantley. All of her other students are our friends too (benefits of having your piano teachers in your ward!).

We love that our kiddos love to play the piano!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Festival of Trees 2010--I'll Think of You

We've been working hard on a tree for Mikayla for the Festival of Trees. It turned out so great thanks to help from Laura, her mom, her sisters, sisters-in-law, and her cousin! If you are in the Salt Lake area and can go, do it! It's at the South Towne Expo Center (9400 South State) in Sandy and runs until 10 pm tonight and tomorrow.

Laura chose the theme "I'll Think of You" which was based on the sweet poem she wrote for Mikayla. The poem talks about all of the things that remind Laura of Mikayla (to read it go here) and includes all things girly. The tree and all of it's surroundings are bright and fun and remind us all of sweet Mikayla.

Here are a few pictures of all the goodness...




Laura did such a great job organizing it all! I was so glad to be a part of this project.  Hope you can go and see it and support Primary Children's Medical Center!