Christmas 2008

We had a great year in 2008 and we're excited to welcome 2009! Hope this new year is filled with more great memories. Here are some photos of our fabulous Christmas.

Lots of Snow!


Lots of Rockin'!

Lots of Polar express train! (Cooper playing chicken, he only lost once ;)

Mountain River Ranch was a grand ol' time; the kiddos and I all bundled up.

p.s. I'm a little out of the loop and just barely started a facebook account. I'm trying to figure it out, so wish me luck. I'm going to try to not neglect my blog, and neglecting my children for more computer stuff is not an option :)

November update here at last

Last months happenings...good times.

Holy War 2008! Jake scored us 4 tickets, parking and hospitality tent accomodations through Geico. We geared up for the game Jake, Dad, Nick and I and headed into the enemies territory. Nick and Jake were the brave soldiers obviously and I was proud of them for not hiding their true colors like I did. Nick wore a bright blue throw back Steve Young jersey and Jake wore a little less subtle BYU t-shirt. Dad and I on the other hand, though true blue fans dressed in our neutral attire. Dad wore an Ohio State hat and I wore a black jacket, hoping to avoid confrontation...a lot of good that did. The moment we set foot in the battleground of Salt Lake City, the heckling began. It was an interesting experience (thanks to Jake and Nick) to be standing almost all alone in a sea of red. We were yelled at and mocked as we made our way to our seats, hoping for a good game (key word hoping) just innocent fans wanting to watch a football game, but what took place next was quite disturbing. Grown men were yelling hatefully at each BYU fan that passed, insulting more than just the team they were rooting for. We were seated in a sea of red clad die hard U fans, who groaned as we took our seats. Shortly after the guy behind us began to cuss and as Ralphie off the Christmas Story would say, In the heat of battle he wove a tapestry of obscenity, that as far as I know is still hanging in space over the Great Salt Lake. He cussed repeatedly and loudly in our ears until we could take it no longer. We decided we'd rather watch the game on grandpa's new 47" TV in peace with fellow cougar fans than suffer in the war zone. We have now decided to never attend a game at Rice Eccles again, and I'm still trying to figure out why they call it the holy war, because there was definately nothing holy about it!

We had Thanksgiving in Rexburg with mom, dad, Ty, Nick and Grandpa and Grandma Pete. We had a grand time and mom made a delicious feast as usual. I couldn't be more grateful to be with the ones I love and am so thankful for on Thanksgiving. Only thing missing was the Deans but can't wait to see them for Christmas!

During our visit we went to the Grand Teton mall to see this Santa, but as you can see it's definitely one of his helpers, because this obviously sn't him. Cooper unlike his mother at his age was eager to talk to Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas.

At the end of our visit we were able to get together with a few friends at the Palmer's house. Jake, Paul, and Evan childhood and college buddies have remained in touch with their first Bishop on campus. The visits to the Palmer's just get bigger and crazier, but only two ornaments were broken at this reunion :} It is always great to see the Palmer family, they are such an awesome and, welcoming family!

INTERNET

We finally got internet! We have been in the process of changing internet providers for two weeks and we are finally in business. I never realized before how much I used the internet, or relied on it, but now I appreciate it even more, especially since we are getting it for free...yipee. I'll post some updates in the near future, perhaps when the babe is napping.

All we do is party!

We have had a lot of fun the last couple of weeks! Here is a quick run through of what we've been up to. We are finally getting the last of the boxes unpacked and are really enjoying our new home. Cooper and Keifer had a joint birthday celebration. We went to the pumpkin patch/corn maze/tractor rides place, had cake and opened presents. Cooper loved the Spiderman hat and gloves the Chibante's gave him. He wouldn't take them off and even went to bed with the gloves on that night.On Cooper's birthday we were excited to have our first visitor come to stay with us...Grandma! She arrived just in time for the treasure hunt. I dressed Cooper up in his pirate costume and sent him on a treasure hunt to find his birthday "loot". He had a fun time finding each clue with the help of uncle Tyler, and especially playing with his treasures.

Halloween was "sweet" as ever! We went shopping during the day with grandma and then went with the cousins to a trunk or treat, followed by trick or treating through the neighborhood. The weather was great, the kids had a great time and got loads of candy. I quickly filtered out the "not worth the calories" candy and Cooper has been really good about sharing

and not going overboard or wanting candy all day. He had a blast as Buzz Lightyear with his light up wings and Conner made a short appearance as his sidekick Woody.

So we have basically been busy partying, and I can't complain about that. Bonus: Here is what I've learned the past couple of weeks: Wear tennis shoes to a corn maze and don't bring a stroller through it (one bumpy ride). Visits from grandma are the best. My baby is quickly becoming such a big boy and is the best big brother, and we love him lots. Halloween is still almost as fun as when I was a kid, I just don't have to do all the work to get the candy.

We've moved

We are officially into our new home! Thank goodness for movers, (except when they break bookcases and cribs). I am still trying to get over the amount of paper they used to pack us. Let's just say we were swimmin' in it. Just about everything was wrapped in paper, even the birthday candles, but luckily almost everything was in good condition. We still have boxes to unpack, things to organize, and rooms to be put together, but we are enjoying our new home very much. Later I will post an update and maybe if we're lucky some pictures once we are a little more settled.

He's my comic relief and he doesn't even know it!

Yes, my son makes me laugh and amazes me each day with the things he says and does. Here are a few recent examples:

**We are in Walmart and Coops and his cousin are in the cart. We decide to check out the Halloween costumes. I spot the presidential nominee masks and start thinking it would be funny to dress the two of them up as McCain and Obama in little suits and masks for Halloween...okay maybe not that funny. But, I was looking at them when Coop says, "It's John McCain and Barack Obama." I paused for a second, looked at him, then said, "yep you're right." Either the news is on a lot at our house, or he really enjoyed the campaign speeches.

**This morning I woke up with some very crazy hair. Rough night...yes. He sees it then says, "You have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on your head." Sad thing is, I did kind of look like Mickey. **Also, grounds for congratulations is he picked out his first outfit all on his own. He said it was what he wanted to wear, and I said it was fine as long as he knew he would have to change if we went anywhere. He ended up going to the grocery store with Jake in the below pictured "perfectly plaid" outfit.

I LOVE YOU BUD!!!!

Out with the old in with the new

Am I on a roll or what? I'm going to get two posts in today. So, another reason why things have been crazy is because we are in the process of selling our house. Two weeks ago we put our home on the market and within a week and a half we had an offer on it...CRAZY. I hoped and prayed we could sell it quickly, but wasn't expecting to sell it that quick. I showed the house about five times; each time I had to make sure it was spotless (not so easy with a baby and a toddler running around.) One morning a realtor called me while he was outside my house to see if he could show it right then; thank goodness the house was still clean from the night before. So, our work paid off, and even better, we found a new house that we really liked and put an offer on it and just found out they excepted our offer. YIPEE! We will probably be moving sometime in October and boy am I glad someone will be doing it for us. We are excited to be starting a new adventure and continue to be so blessed and we are incredibly thankful.