Christmas

This year, we were in SLC for Christmas. It was great to see most of my siblings, many aunts and uncles, cousins, my Grandma, and friends.
Christmas Eve with my mom's family. My mom is such a champ- she hosted about 4 parties while we were there. She is such a great hostess.
Gracie on Christmas morning.
Gunner LOVES this giant cow pillow he got from Justin's mom. He played with it for a good 15-20 minutes. I'll post a picture of his sock monkey later, but his two stuffed animals have seemed to be his favorite gifts.

The blanket I made for Justin to put in his truck.



The kids with their stockings and matching jammies on Christmas eve.

Finding Myself

8 years ago, I went to St. George with my girlfriends and chopped my hair. It was super choppy and short. I really loved it... one of my favorite haircuts ever, but I started to grow it out because I was going on a mission and didn't want to look too cute :) (Actually, I just knew I wouldn't be able to get my hair cut as often). Anyway, for years I have gone back and forth between long and short, but I was trying so hard to play it safe that I never really got it right.

...until now! I went in on December 23rd to get my hair cut and colored. I feel totally liberated by my short hair and feel like I've found a part of myself that was lost (does this sound weird that I feel this way about a haircut?) Do you have a favorite haircut on yourself?

Jolly old St. Nicholas, lean your ear this way

We also made it to the mall today to visit Santa after we visited the reindeer (see post below). I think I got a cuter picture on my friend Meredith's camera, but i thought I'd post this while it was on my mind. As you can see, Gunner doesn't know yet how to feel about Santa, but Gracie sure liked him. We are getting so excited for Christmas!

Santa's Reindeer

Lucky for us, Santa was storing two of his reindeer at a nearby nursery. We went and checked them out today. They were awesome.

"Okay, now give a really cute smile for the camera"

Giving Thanks

This is just a quick Thanksgiving catch-up with a lot of pictures and a brief re-cap of the fun time we had. We went to Billings for Thanksgiving to spend it with Justin's parent's in the mission home there. Luckily, all of Justin's siblings were there too. We had such a great time. Thanks again to those who made it so enjoyable.

Father and son.


Justin and I before the annual turkey trot with Miley. I wanted documentation that I sometimes exercise.

This is our little family at Pompey's pillar (a huge rock with the signature of William Clark).

Justin and Camille in front of the Yellowstone River.

Gracie and Gunner.

Gunner with Aunt Kim. So cute.

Carol Ann and I made some pies, and we had some extras in case the Elders came around. What you see is a small part of the goodies we ate :) Yum.

Oh, how we wish we could justify having several 3 gallon tubs of ice cream around.

Wedding pics!

Jeff tried on his tux the day before the wedding, so this is a practice for the temple steps cheering picture.

For those who didn't know, we went to St.George this last weekend for Justin's brother's wedding. Jeff and Sara got married on Saturday and it was such a beautiful day (80 degrees and sunny). We are so happy for them and are excited to have a new sister in-law. I love Jeff's victory fist as they came out of the temple.

Gracie and Maddie (her cousin). Aren't they cute little buddies?

Gunner and Kim. Also cute little buddies. Kim held Gunner so I could dance with Justin.

One of our favorite missionaries got to come home for the wedding. We sure missed our other favorite missionary (Justin's dad).


Jeff and Sara again.
Here are some family pics we snapped. I'm hoping to take some pictures another time with the kids in these outfits. By the time we got to pictures we had hair falling out, shirts untucked, tears, and Gracie slept through the entire luncheon (but woke up conveniently when the cake was cut. Coincidence? I think not). Speaking of the cake- one of the best I have EVER had, and also gorgeous- maybe I'll do a post about the cake...later.

You won't believe it...

But this cutie stood by himself for 7-10 long seconds tonight- a couple of different times. GO GUNNER!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. We celebrated time and time again and are just about ready for a nutritious November. We went trick or treating on our street with some friends and then came home when the kids were done.

Cinderella and her dancing partner.

Cinderella, A cowgirl, and a horse.

Bo Peep and Cinderella :)

It's a marshmallow world in October!

Last week on Wednesday and Thursday we were surprised with all of this white stuff! Can you believe it? I bet it snowed 16-20 inches. We stayed at home, mostly because I didn't care to unbury my snowy car (and our broom broke while cleaning off a tree-don't worry, we fixed it). Good thing Justin is so nice and shoveled the driveway several times and cleared off my snow covered car. Oh, and this is our humble abode- for those who haven't been here in person.

Happy birthday, dear Gracie

Dear Gracie,
Before you were born... I never knew how sweet a little one could be. I had never pulled an all nighter- (even though I had tried). A lot of things grossed me out (It takes a lot these days). I worried a lot about how to take care of you (still do :)

Before you were born:
I never knew that messes could put such a big smile on my face. I was well rested. I had to look a lot harder for reasons to be silly. I had so much time on my hands (what did I do with my time?). I hadn't mastered the art of carrying a million things in my arms.

After you came:
I wondered if I'd be able to love another little one as much as I loved you, but learned that love just grows and grows. I loved to sit and hold you all day long. I loved to see your daddy make you laugh and hear him sing special songs just for you.

I love to hear you shriek with excitement, giggle, or play make believe. I love to see you learn new things or hear you use your manners (Nein, danke. No, Thank you).

I love to have a helper on every project I work on.

I'm inspired when I see you overcome challenges (the picture above is Gracie at age 17 months with her thumb sucking casts on. They didn't work but she wore them for two months. She finally stopped sucking her thumb this summer).

I'm amazed by your bravery and willingness to try new things.

I love to see the wheels turning in your mind and wonder what you will surprise us with next.


I love the way that you made us a family of three and love the reminders you give us to pray and read the scriptures.

I love your happy smile, and all of the things you do that make me smile. I love to hear you sing.

I love that you look like your brother, and your dad, and me.

And even though you're not as tiny as you were the day you were born, you are still just as sweet.

We love you , Gracie. Love, Mom