Christmas Festivities

My parents must have been in heaven this Christmas as we had the whole family gathered together. It was so good to see Lindsey and Derrick who just got married about 6 months ago, as well as Clayton and Kara with their darling little girl, Ellery. My elder brother moved to the Netherlands about 4 months ago from living 10 minutes away from us, so we were so excited to have them back for Christmas. Cousins have definitely missed each other!

I failed at taking pictures of everything, but we enjoyed a nice dinner together. Our Christmas Eve traditions always involve acting out the Nativity story in Luke 2, chimes, and White Elephant.

Here are Gavin and Carter as wise men

Sammy as Mary and Dallin as Joseph

Drew was an angel, and Caleb wanted to be a shepherd.

Grandma and Grandpa's gift to Carter. He can't quite reach the pedals, but he still loves to ride it.

A new tradition we're going to continue. Matt and I played this game at a Christmas party we attended this year and loved it, so we introduced it to my family. A pair of dice are passed around; if someone rolls doubles, he/she has the opportunity to "dress-up" in winter clothes and attempt to open a present in the middle of the circle. It's a lot of fun!

Caleb and Carter on Christmas morning opening their stockings. Carter got a stuffed Elmo that he is quite attached to. It goes everywhere with him. A few weeks ago he caught some sort of stomach bug and the only things that made him happy were watching an Elmo movie we have or Tangled. He's especially obsessed with Tangled for whatever reason.

Caleb's big present this year. It's a little too complicated for him to build all on his own, so Matt and I have enjoyed creating marble runs. Caleb will sit there for quite awhile continuing to feed marbles and watch them go down.

Carter's big present was a little car ramp and cars.

More chunky Legos to make big towers.

Caleb and Dallin made a gingerbread house together one night, and then enjoyed eating it! I love Gavin's face in this picture. He seems mesmerized by all the yummy things in front of him!

It was so nice to spend so much time with family. There were lots of nights staying up late and playing games--our favorite thing to do. We did some Spades, Canasta, Bang!, Ticket to Ride, and lots of Dominion. We even went Black Light Miniature Golfing all together. So fun! I don't feel it was necessarily a relaxing Christmas vacation however. With finishing making Christmas projects, planning preschool, and church responsibilities weighing over me, there was no time to do my most favorite thing on a "vacation." Read! Everything else trumped reading time, but memories created with spending time with family are definitely more important!

Snow at the Zoo

Last weekend Matt took the boys to the zoo because they were making snow at the zoo! Of course everyone in the city also went to the zoo to see snow, so it was quite busy. Here are the pictures Matt captured (no snow pictures):

Carter loves the carousel!

Dancing to Christmas music

Carter's a little obsessed with the goats. The goats get a lot of TLC every time we go to the zoo.

and a kiss or two...

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It is so fun to have both of our families near so we can see both on each holiday. (Plus we love hitting up two Thanksgiving feasts each year!) We enjoyed going to Matt's Uncle Chris' house for a Thanksgiving lunch and spending time with his extended family. They are all so relaxed, laid-back, and so sweet. Uncle Chris has a large plot of land with cows and chickens, so it's very exciting for the kids.

The bull that approached us at the fence.

After lunch, there was some face painting to occupy the kids.

Caleb and Carter with their MeeMa

(Poor Carter was ready for a nap.)

MeeMa and Papa

Matt's family minus Rachael's husband. Rachael is a proud new Mama to Bryan Eugene. Matt is standing next to his younger brother. Can you believe it? Matt and his eldest sister look just alike favoring their mom, and Rachael and Patrick look just alike favoring their dad. I would never be able to guess that Matt and Patrick are related or Matt and Rachael for that matter. It's funny how those things work.

Back row: Olivia, Jeff, Rebecca, me, Matt, Patrick, baby Bryan, Rachael

Front row: David Earl, Abby, McKayla, MeeMa, Carter, Papa, Caleb, Hunter

After a Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house, some of us took a walk to get the kids out of the house for a bit. Here's Dallin, Carter, and Caleb with my dad.

Over yummy pies, we played some family games. All in all, such a relaxing day (besides all the cooking). I love spending time with family and playing games!

Meeting Baby Ellery

While in Utah for my grandmother's funeral, I was able to meet my new niece: Ellery Jean Shurtliff. It's so exciting to see my younger brother as a father. Ellery is so precious. We can't wait to see her again for Christmas!

Caleb holding his cousin Ellery for the first time at Thanksgiving.

Family

This Thanksgiving I am really grateful for family. My dad's mother passed away November 12, 2011 and we celebrated her life this past weekend in Utah. It was wonderful that so many could gather together on short notice to support my grandpa and reflect on my grandma's life; all but 4 grandchildren were able to attend the funeral. During the funeral services, I loved hearing from my dad's brothers and sisters about their memories of Grandma. There were some very tender moments, but I also was able to learn things about my grandma's life that I didn't know. To sum up my grandmother's life, she led a life of service and charity. She had a testimony of Jesus Christ, and her greatest hope for all of her posterity was to continue our faith and honor the covenants we have made in the temple. Most of my memories of my grandma are before I moved from Utah when I was 7. She loved having her grandchildren over, and I could always feel that love. I loved my grandma's house because she would give me sugar cereals, which weren't allowed at my house; she always had candy or treats. We played games frequently at her house. I loved playing games with all my cousins in the basement of her house...lots of "Murder in the Dark" as we grew older and visited for Christmas. Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's involved gathering around the player piano and singing Christmas songs. It was also so special to have my grandparents at my wedding in 2006.

My grandma was diagnosed with kidney cancer several years ago. I remember gathering for one "final" family reunion in 2007 when I was pregnant with Caleb. We did not expect my grandma to live much longer. I was earning my Master's Degree at the time and was able to finagle my way out of a mandatory class because my grandma was pretty much on her deathbed. She was a fighter though and continued to fight in order to take care of my grandpa who struggles with Alzheimer's. It was difficult to see my grandpa deal with the funeral. Some days he is more lucid than others. We're hoping that he will be able to join her soon and continue the mission they have led on earth on the other side.

Some pictures from the funeral:

My grandma and grandpa on their wedding day

All my aunts and uncles on my dad's side.

Saying goodbye

Grandma loved the bagged pipes

Sisters

All the male grandchildren minus my brother Jared.

Dad's 4 sisters and 1 brother + Grandpa

Our family minus some spouses and Jared's family. Lots of closed eyes in this picture :o)

I was really grateful to be able to attend. Matt stayed home with the kids and amazed me when I got back with how well he survived 3 days alone with the kids. I came home to an impeccably clean house! His sacrifice was very much appreciated.

No!

Carter's in a really fun stage right now. He's finally starting to outgrow some of his "naughty" behavior that was a result of not being able to communicate very well. Now that he is talking more, or at least able to pull my hand and point to what he wants if I'm not understanding him, he resorts to biting, pinching, or pulling hair a lot less. :o) The funniest thing about him right now is that he answers "No" to most every question. Our typical conversations might look like this:

Me: Carter, would you like to go on a walk?

Carter: No

Me: Would you like to stay inside?

Carter: No

Me: Would you like to play with toys?

Carter: No!

Me: Would you like to read stories?

Carter: NO!

Me: Carter, it's time to get ready for bed.

Carter: No

Me: Let's go take a bath.

Carter: No

Me: Would you like to stay up really, really late and play?

Carter: No!

Me: Would you like to eat lots and lots of candy?

Carter: NO!

The more questions I ask, the more emphatic his "no" becomes. I can no longer joke around with asking silly questions for my entertainment, however. In an example like the 2nd one above, when I asked him if he wanted a treat instead of dinner, he said, "Otay" with a big smile on his face.

On more than one occasion, I've heard Carter talking in his crib late at night. I've put my ear to the door to listen to what he was saying to see if he was awake. Instead, he was dreaming and calling out "No" over and over in his sleep. It makes me chuckle.

Here he is at about 20 months. I took this picture this morning, so you can see that it is a balmy 78 degrees right now. I just arrived home from Utah yesterday (post to come) and got made fun of for one of my dressy outfits I brought to wear; it wasn't winter attire. With the warm winter I'm experiencing right now, I forget what appropriate winter attire includes! I tried to capture a picture where Carter was displaying his teeth. He has all his teeth except for the two next to his upper front teeth. It's so strange as most toddlers get those teeth right away!

Dressing-up

Caleb and Carter had the opportunity to dress up 4 times this Halloween. Carter loved every minute of it! He would have worn his dinosaur costume day in and day out if I would have let him.

Caleb the pilot at a church Halloween party

Love Carter's smile

Matt and I enjoyed dressing up for a friend's Halloween party this year. Caleb had the opportunity to dress up in a few different costumes (that I bought for preschool), and he loved having options.

Trick-or-treating

Caleb had so much fun. We went for awhile in my sister's neighborhood with Grandma and Grandpa. Then Caleb and Matt went longer in our neighborhood while I put Carter to bed and passed out candy. Carter held Grandma or Grandpa's hand the entire time and would have nothing to do with Mommy or Daddy!

What a fun holiday and fun time of year! Perfect weather too!