We've been busy

Last weekend Nate made these awesome shelves to organize all the junk in our basement. Those of you who have seen our basement know that there is no shortage of space, but it is always nice to have it organized. Nate got a new saw for Christmas and was anxious to put it to use. I love how much he loves to do projects and how handy he is around the house!


Clara has been busy discovering make-up. This was while I was in the shower last week. The funny part is that I NEVER wear lipstick. I only own lipstick because it comes in the sample kits from Clinique. But somehow she knew right where to put the lipstick (well kinda, most of it was on her cheek), maybe from watching me put on chapstick? One thing is for sure, she is a girl through and through!

Christmas update

We had a great Christmas in California. As always it was great to see family and relax. Here's a couple of pictures from that and other adventures we've had along the way.

First a tribute to "the tree." This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but I guarantee it is the most monstrous tree you have ever seen unless you've been to Rockefeller Center. I'm serious, it was that big. It took a small army to get it in the house.

Here's Clara on the big day with some of her loot.

She loves to cuddle her kitty.

Grandpa made her this sweet rocking horse which she instantly loved. It was shipped to our house and reassembled this weekend.

We took advantage of a free day at the zoo a couple of weeks ago. Last time we went to the zoo her favorite animals were the ducks! Luckily this time she recognized a few more. unfortunately we didn't take too many pictures, but here she is admiring the fishies.

Our neighbor gave us this play house a while back. We just pulled it up from the basement this week and she loves it. She puts her baby in the bed to go "nigh-nigh" then lays down on the ground next to her. We figure as far as she knows that is what the big people do while the baby is sleeping, they sleep too! :-) Well, actually most of the time she is right!



She has a new obsession with apples. Maybe I should peel them for her next time...

She is getting more and more steady on her feet every day. She can walk, but most of the time she chooses not to.

Here she is showing off her kitty and her new outfit Uncle Alex picked out for her. It's still a little big, but awfully cute!

She put the baby in like that all on her own. I think she thinks it's a shopping cart.

And her new obsession at the grocery store is the mechanical horse. Luckily it only costs a penny, except for when I don't have any pennies! Luckily her own horse is now assembled and ready to ride so hopefully next time at the store we can skip this little treat.

Well you survived the update. You must be family either that or you really like us or are incredibly bored. Whichever it is, congrats!

Holiday firsts

She had her first candy cane and met Santa. One went better than the other. See for yourself.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Nate along with his dad and brother climbed to the top of a mountain, cut down this tree, and hauled it home it a very manly fashion. It's a great looking tree, don't you think?

Nate took me down town for my birthday to a nice dinner and the Nutcracker Ballet. It was a fantastic night!

We were lucky enough to catch part of the parade of lights while we were downtown.

Just a little pre-church pose

Don't those pig tails just kill you?!


And come to find out, she loves curry! Well these days she loves anything we serve to her on her own plate with her own fork. Who knows how much actually gets in her mouth, but she's happy, so mom and dad are happy!

Holidays=family, fun, and food!

This is the look she got on her face every time we told her Nana, Papa, Tanner, and Kyle were coming.

And this is what her hair looks like after being in pigtails all day!

I made this at a R.S. craft night...well, learned how to make it. It didn't actually get finished or even started that night. But I did finish it the next week and was excited to use it for Thanksgiving.

With everyone here, we definitely did some bowling.

And we had a "Lethal Luau" murder mystery party. Everyone dressed for the part.



It was great fun! (I'm bummed I didn't take more pictures throughout the week. Thanks for coming guys. It was loads of fun! You were the perfect house guests. Come back anytime!)

Of course there was plenty of yummy food on the big day.

But the desserts were the highlight for me!

And for your extra viewing pleasure, this was after she rediscovered blueberries this morning.

All grown up with her first "real" ponytail.

And this is her "surprised" face that we see several times a day. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it!

Cute girl=cute pictures

First off, we were excited to get to see these guys for a little while a couple of weeks ago. It was great to finally meet McKenna. Her brother and his family are in our ward. We miss seeing all the cousins at cousins dinners in Provo so it was great that they made the trip to Colorado.

This little one is very active these days. She always wants to be right where the action is and has quite the personality. (Notice the one shoe on, one shoe off, and no pants. Not my idea.)

Note to self, make sure the stove is all the way off before putting down the oven mitts. Enough said.

Winter has arrived and she looks pretty pleased about it. Of course the things she gets from her dad would have to be her love of cold weather and her dislike of sleep... She is a daddy's girl through and through.

She is as busy as can be and I just love it! She doesn't walk yet so she can't get into too much trouble. I am just loving this stage!

Happy Halloween!!!

We've had a fun week leading up to Halloween. We made these cookies and they were cute and delicious! I got the recipe from Mel's kitchen cafe and it is a keeper!


We made these yummy caramel apples. I gave lots away, but I think I should have kept more for myself!

These are our friends who won the costume contest at the ward party. Aren't their costumes awesome?!

And here's our costumes. A little background info: a few weeks ago I was checking out at the grocery store when the guy who was bagging my groceries pointed to Clara and said "she looks just like that girl from that one Christmas movie. You know, the Grinch!" I immediately knew what our costumes had to be this year. So here you have it, the Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, and the dog Max with a branch on its head.

Happy Halloween!