Heber Getaway

We have some awesome family friends who have a house in Heber, Utah. Alan's step-dad actually built the house and Damon and Missy bought it. It is absolutely beautiful and such a fun getaway house. Damon and Missy have been so generous to let us use the house several times since we have been married. We actually went there on our first honeymoon. We were trying to plan a trip over Superbowl weekend but the house was booked so we quickly arranged to go last weekend. 

The Hubbards and Wards went with us and we had a blast!

We bundled up the first day to do some sledding. The hill in front of the house wasn't much of a sledding hill so we basically just played in the snow and pulled the kids around in the tubes. Actually, the Hubbards and Wards did this because Deacon was HYSTERICAL and wanted nothing to do with being bundled in his snow suit! I guess I can't blame him! 

{Charish, me, Cali}

Aren't these boys the cutest?

{Hubbards & Wards}

The boys did some snowshoeing or should I say hiking up the mountain?

{Alan, Clayton, Spencer}

The girls got pedicures that day while the boys watched the kiddies. I don't think I'll ever get a pedi in Heber again. It was literally the grossest experience of my life. There was just 2 men working, one of which was sick and literally had snot dripping out of his nose onto the floor while working on our feet! I'm still disgusted just thinking about it. 

That night we headed into Park City and ate at Red Rock. The Sundance Film Festival was going on so it was pretty crazy busy. 

Deacon ran around in the freezing cold while we waited for our table. 

After finally being seated, the waiter got our drinks and just so happened to drop the entire drink tray on Charish. She was covered in sticky soda! It was quite the experience. We for sure thought he would cover our tab but only offered to buy Charish dessert. Pretty lame, but it was the best dessert I've ever had. Thanks for taking one for the team Charish!

Sunday we mainly relaxed and the guys watched football. 

The girls went snowshoeing. It was my first time and it was tons of fun and quite the workout! Charish was awesome and went even though she's 20+ weeks pregnant. 

Deacon was adorable and found this photo collage and immediately pointed out his Granddaddy!

The neighbors had horses so we took the kids to feed them apples. 

It was such a fun, relaxing weekend and it was fun to see all our boys together. We did learn, however, that Deacon is entering that lovely phase of not wanting to share any of his toys. We have our work cut out for us!

College Roomies

Over Christmas I was able to get together with my college roommates...minus Emma who we greatly missed! There are 6 of us and between all of us we live in Pocatello, Arizona, St. George, Texas, and Salt Lake. So you can see it is quite difficult to coordinate schedules to get together. Plus, the holidays are always crazy in general. Luckily, it worked out and we had so much fun chatting and catching up. I love these girls so much and I am so blessed I met them at Utah State. I don't think it was a coincidence we all met and I will forever be grateful I chose to go to Utah State because of these amazing girls! I have the best memories of our college days and I laugh out loud just thinking about some of our crazy adventures. Those were definitely some good times! It is crazy to think we are all grown up with husbands, babies, houses, and real jobs...or still in school! 

Thanks for hosting us in your beautiful house Kimmy!

{Kylee, me, Kim, Skye, Natalee}

Christmas Card 2012

Christmas Day

We spent Christmas morning with Alan's family. While we waited for all the boys to wake up to open presents, Deacon had a little jam sesh with uncle Mikey. 

Back on Black Friday (or should I say Thanksgiving night) Alan and I waited in line at Toys R Us for two hours to get Deacon a little cleaning cart. I have never really braved the Black Friday madness and we really just did it to experience it once in our lifetime. I don't think I will ever do it again but it's a great memory and it was a good deal. 

I really thought Deacon would like it because he loves pushing around the attachments on our regular vacuum. He ran straight for the little cleaning cart as soon as he saw it. He loves the mop and broom but hasn't quite yet figured out the vacuum and he gets scared when we turn it on. 

Mikey got Deacon this basketball hoop and Deacon loves it! Mikey is the best uncle and seriously is one of the most giving people I know. 

One of Deacon's favorite toys was this $5 truck we got him...go figure!

Deacon got some darling new pajamas. 

I'm so glad we decided to do Christmas in Poky before we left for Utah. Deacon was so out of sorts on Christmas morning and was quite a little grump. I think he was in major sensory overload and he was running on very little sleep. 

Alan and his brother's with their Grandmother and Granddad. 

Around lunch time we headed over to Alan's aunt's house to spend some time with his Dad's family. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to put Deacon down for a nap because he had had it. 

Later that night we got together with my family for dinner, presents, and the traditional matching game. 

A couple years ago my mom started this fun tradition of a matching game with awesome prizes and gift cards. It is so much fun and gets quite competitive. This year she also did a matching game for the grandkids. We look forward to it every year!

Deacon wanted nothing to do with opening presents and instead played with this phone and climbed up and down the stairs. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the end of the night! 

We had such a fabulous Christmas! We all received some amazing gifts and most importantly loved spending time with our families!

Christmas Eve

I LOVE Christmas Eve and this year it was so much fun! We spent the morning at Alan's house for a brunch Laurie hosted for friends and family. Deacon was the center of attention and entertained the guests. He loves playing by the fire, although we have to keep a close eye on him. 

 We always spend Christmas Eve night with my family and we look forward to our fondue dinner all year. 

As we were just about to sit down to eat, Deacon tripped and started screaming. He hardly ever cries when he falls so I knew it was bad. I ran over to him and found a mouthful of blood. I freaked out because he has never had a fall this bad. He must have bit his lip when he fell. It was quite traumatizing for both him and me. Needless to say, he ended up with a fat, bloody lip!

After dinner we acted out the nativity story and opened some gifts. 

We missed my sister's family this year, but it was fun to face time them while we opened our sibling and cousin gifts. 

We ended the night with chocolate fondue...so delicious! 

Christmas Sunday

I love Christmas Sunday because it gives us a chance to really forget about gifts and shopping and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. I love listening to the Christmas program...unfortunately this year we spent most of the time wrestling Deacon during Sacrament to really take it in. Oh well...maybe next year! 

Deacon started throwing a fit before we could get a family picture so this is the best we could do! I sure love this little boy of mine!

Mock Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was all about Deacon this year. We were so excited for him to wake up and see what Santa had brought him. As soon as he saw his kitchen he ran straight for it and knew exactly what to do. He especially loved the pots and pans and the faucet. He loved putting his hands under the faucet and pretending to wash his hands. 

I was really thrilled that he loved his kitchen as much as we thought he would!

After he played with his kitchen for a bit, we took a break from presents and had german pancakes for breakfast. They don't look very pretty but they tasted good!

After breakfast, Deacon was back at it!

 Alan and I's present to each other this year was a new computer, which we had already opened but I did buy Alan a coat to match Deacon, which he had wanted for awhile!

Alan surprised me with the Taylor Swift CD and a 4-hour spa package...I can't wait!

With a little help, Deacon enjoyed helping unwrap his presents and it was so much fun to see the excitement on his face. He loved dumping out the magnetic letters for the fridge and he was going crazy with his new bells. I think my ears are still ringing!

Here he is with all his loot...little did he know he would have to leave it the very next day.

 We had the best morning spending time with each other and watching Deacon play with his new toys. I can't wait until next year when he understands everything even more. It was the the perfect day...minus the worst sore throat of my life. However, this face made it easy to forget about!

Mock Christmas Eve

Before we headed to Utah for Christmas, we decided to have a mock Christmas celebration with just our little family. As much as we love spending time with our extended families for the holidays, it is so much fun to start new traditions and make memories with our growing family. 

We started off our Christmas Eve celebration with Hawaiian Haystacks. They were delicious!

I am so blessed to have these two boys in my life!

 Deacon absolutely loved his food and was being quite the little entertainer at dinner. This kid truly is hilarious and is bursting with personality! We could not stop laughing at all the faces he was making and he was totally putting on a show for the camera!

I honestly don't think he could have opened his mouth any wider! 

And this is what he did when we asked him to show us his teeth! I'm not sure how we survived before this little sweetheart came into our lives. He is constantly making us laugh!

After dinner we bundled up and loaded into the car. We made a stop to get some hot chocolate then drove around town looking at the Christmas lights. We may have almost slid down an icy cliff but we made it home in one piece. Oh the memories!

This was the first year starting the tradition of giving Deacon an ornament on Christmas Eve. 

A monster for our little monster!

We really had the best night and made some wonderful memories. It was a night I will never forget!

Alan and I had a blast playing Santa and setting up Deacon's toys! I couldn't wait for him to see his kitchen. Christmas truly is magical with kids!