Our Trip to Utah

We were lucky enough to be able to go to Utah for Christmas this year. My mom had a little party with all my sisters and I and our families the day after we arrived. We also had family pictures taken, but I haven't received them yet. I'll post some when I get them.

Here are Jessica, Mark, Frank and my dad anxiously awaiting the re-enactment of the Nativity.

The whole crew...Addie and Ladd decided not to particpate and my brother-in-law Doug begged to be Joseph, so the numbers worked out perfectly.

Then we sang some carols.

After a few days with my parents we drove down to Spanish Fork to see Dave's parents. Grandma and Grandpa took Addie to Build-A-Bear!

She had a blast playing in the snow. Thank goodness for older cousins who had warm snow clothes for her to borrow.

Who needs a hill when Grandpa will push us down the driveway?

Christmas Morning

All of Dave's siblings were somewhere else this year, so it was just us with his parents and Mimi. It was quiet, but really nice. Addison was spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa.

Dave and I are her parents, so she will have to learn to save and budget money. You can never learn too early. She got her first piggy bank.

Four Generations

Later Christmas Day we drove to my sister Rachel's house in Heber for some snowmobiling. It turned out to be a really stormy day and super cold, so no one wanted to even go outside. We ended up staying in and eating soup. The guys played Dance Dance Revolution and I'm proud to report that Dave's clogging lessons at Rick's College paid off. He had the high score. We also played Celestial Mates with all the couples, which was more fun than I expected. I'm so glad I got to see my family a little bit more before we had to go home. I apparently am too relaxed and busy talking when with my family because I took almost no pictures with them.

Addison playing the Wii (but not really). She had so much fun with Savannah. She kept talking about her for at least a week after we got back.

Grandma and Grandpa reading to Addie our last night in Utah.

So that was our trip. I threw in this last picture because I've been pretty impressed with how good Addison has been at playing by herself since we've been back. Maybe she's finally learning to play on her own a bit. I found her like this a few days ago. I think she was telling her animals stories, probably about our trip.

December at a Glance

Christmas has come and gone and there is a ton of stuff (mostly pictures) I never blogged about. It's been a bit of a crazy month and after today, it's over.

Fun with Friends

Loving the New Christmas Tree (thanks Mom and Dad)

Ward Christmas Party:

Dave dancing while wearing a sombrero with the rest of the bishopric.

Who is this guy??

I guess I can tolerate this, as long as there's candy involved.

Addie's Christmas Dress

Mom wanted a picture without the beloved blanket...





She finally got over it.

Roomies!!

Dave and I had our old roommates (who are now married) come for a visit. We were lucky enough that Eric had a 2 week conference here in town or I don't know if we would ever have gotten them here. Last time they came it was July...enough said. We had such a good time with them.

We took a day trip to the Grand Canyon, which turned out to be a really long day with lots of driving, but it was fun. Though I've seen it many times, it never ceases to amaze me. On the way we played name that tune/artist while the kids screamed in the back seat. Good times!

When we arrived we had a little picnic lunch and then went to the Grand Canyon Village to see some views.

This is our friends on the shuttle bus to the trailhead. Matthew was a little cold.

Good thing we have strong husbands to carry the kids! The kids did great on the hike.

We hiked down about 1.5 miles then stopped for a break before heading back up. Where is our child you ask when this photo was being taken?

Playing in the dirt of course. She couldn't be bothered with a good photo opportunity.

The next day was spent at the park and then in playing pinochle. Dave and I learned how to play this game when we went to Oregon with Eric and Jen last March. Jen and I were wary to play again because it wasn't a fun experience (we always play boys vs. girls in any game we play). But we decided our luck had to turn eventually. Just for the record, we won 2 games out of 3 this time! We are the champs. (And I have it recorded so there will be no mistake about it next time we get together.)

Eric had to leave for his conference the next day, but Jen stayed for another couple of days which we spent shopping and just spending time together. I love this girl, and her little boy. He couldn't get enough of this giant teddy bear. It was adorable.

Thanks so much for coming to visit! We had a great time. And thanks, Dave, for putting up with the girl time. We had a lot of catching up to do.

Trunk-or-Treat

Addison was Pocahontas for Halloween this year. We started the tradition a few years ago to have Navajo Tacos and carmel apples on Halloween. This year our ward Trunk-or-Treat was on Halloween night so it was a bit of a rush to do both, but we still had a good time.
Getting Addie to pose for a picture was a little rough, so this is what I got. The second two were done by a couple in our ward who had set up a photo booth at the Trunk-or-Treat. Addison thought the pumpkins were her friends to take home.

Strong as Popeye

Addison will now eat fresh spinach. I've been waiting for her to be able to chew lettuce or spinach because that is frequently the main vegetable in our dinners. As long as I put dressing on it, Addison now likes spinach.

It may not look like she's enjoying it, but she did ask for more.

Our State Fair

Last weekend we went to the state fair with some friends. Addison had a blast.

Concert Performance

Addison loves music and loves to sing. We gave her a little Elmo sing along toy for her birthday a few months ago which plays 10 different songs, but this one is apparently her favorite. I couldn't decide which video was better, so I decided to put them both on here for your enjoyment. She is so much fun! Sorry about the lighting on this first video. It makes it so hard to see her face, but you can imagine from her movements how much fun she's having.

First Haircut

I'm not sure what got into me yesterday morning but I decided that I should trim Addison's hair. I didn't have Dave around to make sure that she sat still, but luckily Addison loves watching TV and sits really still when she does (this is how I get her to sit still to do her hair almost everyday). Her hair was so long, but it wasn't very even. I think if a professional looked at it she might find that it's still not even, but it looks better now, don't you think?

BEFORE AFTER

Magic Mountain

This last weekend Dave's mom agreed to come watch Addison so Dave and I could get away by ourselves. We met our old neighbors, Ginger and Gregg in Los Angeles for a little fun. We also decided to count this as our anniversary celebration. Our anniversary was at the end of August and we were so busy so we decided to celebrate with this little trip.
We left on Thursday evening and drove to our hotel outside LA. On Friday morning we drove to Oxnard and spent the rest of the morning at the beach (way too cold to wear swim suits, let alone to get in) and visiting with Ginger and Gregg. Then we went to the taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We had a lot of fun seeing all that goes into taping the show. On Saturday we went to Magic Mountain, the main reason for the trip. I had been sick with a cold for about a week by this time but as long as I kept taking Advil, I did just fine. I'm afraid Lagoon in Utah just isn't going to cut it anymore when it comes to thrill rides. Magic Mountain has some pretty amazing ones.
Do we look exhausted in this picture? We should. It was a really long day at the park, but we had a ton of fun. (This is Dave) For those who may have noticed the item around my waist, It is not a fanny pack! It is what I affectionately call a "man bag". Enabling me to carry all of the essential items without losing any of my masculinity.

Thanks Gregg and Ginger for inviting us on your trip! We had so much fun and really miss our old neighbors. When are you moving back?
Also thanks to Dave's mom (or Dra, as Addison calls her) for taking such good care of Addison. She had so much fun playing with her grandma. I think she might prefer her to me, now.

The Summons

I received a jury summons in the mail ab0ut a month ago. This is the third time since we've moved here that I've been summoned, but I've always called the night before I was to appear and my groups wasn't required to come. So this time when I called I was disappointed to hear that I actually had to go downtown to the courthouse. I was sitting in the huge waiting room with a few hundred other people, watching a video about the process when they paused the video to call 65 people out of the room as possible jurors for a trial. Lucky me was number 20. I was hoping that meant I would be quickly disqualified as a juror and sent home...but it wasn't to be. After several hours of questioning, I was chosen as juror #4 for a criminal trial. Unfortunately I had a full week of appointments and other plans so I spent my nights making phone calls trying to find babysitters and cancelling appointments. After a very hectic and exhausting couple of days, the trial has ended. Not only did I get to see first-hand how juries are chosen and a criminal trial works, but I also learned how truly fortunate I am. Both the defendant and the victim had really sad stories to tell. It was really hard to decide the fate of the defendant. It was a good learning experience, but I'm glad that I can't be chosen again for at least 2 years.

Kure Beach

We just returned from a family vacation to Kure Beach, NC. Dave's family used to take yearly trips to Santa Cruz, CA until about a year before we got married. We've been trying to re-start the beach tradition for several years and were finally successful. We decided to go to NC because the water is so much warmer and we could afford a lot nicer/bigger house there. There were 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and it was right on the beach, with it's own private entrance to the beach.
When we arrived in NC on Saturday, we went straight to Dave's uncle Bruce's house in Kinston for the wedding reception of his cousin, Tyler, to Lauren. It was a beautiful wedding and we were so happy we were able to be there. Then the rest of the week was spent relaxing on the beach, catching waves, playing games, etc. We also went to an aquarium one day, which Addison absolutely loved. She kept running from one window to another saying "More fish, more fish". It was a blast!
Addison had the best time up until she got a fever the last two days and ended up sick in bed for the end of the trip. She woke up every hour the last two nights and barely napped. Needless to say, the flight home was exhausting and our bed felt like heaven that first night home.
There were too many great pictures so I decided to make a slide show. I can't get the slideshow to show on my blog so try going to this website: http://www.slide.com/r/0dbLG3H76D_XcUFIEruaiInq3LhPOBG9?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original