Christmas Traditions

We had a very Merry Christmas this year.  I love the time we are able to spend together as a family, there is truly nothing better.

We started our celebrations off on Saturday night with one of my favorite Christmas traditions with my family.  We begin the evening by going to Crown Burger.  This is a favorite of the men in the family.  As you can see Will is pretty happy about it too!

After dinner we head over to Temple Square to see the lights.  It is beautiful to see the whole block lit up.  We also made sure to take Will to see the Christus.  I love this tradition and the reminder it is of the reason for the season.  We are so grateful for the birth of our Savior and all that God has done for us.

On Christmas Eve we spent the day with my family playing in the snow and singing Christmas carols.

Afterwards, we made a Christmas treat, another of my family's traditions.  This year we made Santa Claus sugar cookies and used cotton candy for their beards.  

Christmas morning we had fun opening presents.  This was the first year that Will kind of understood what was going on.  It was so sweet to see his excitement.

Christmas afternoon was spent with Dave's family.  Will had a grand time with his cousins.  He just loves being a part of what they are doing and having other kids to play with.

My nephew got a new Nintendo so of course most of the family had to try it out.

After dinner we opened presents and had our traditional peppermint ice cream dessert.  I just love these special times together with family, that is what it is all about!

Visiting Santa

We had such an enjoyable evening at our church's Christmas party!  We love our ward so much, we are lucky to live near so many amazing people.  It was great to get together with so many of them and celebrate the birth of our Savior.  The evening began with a delicious dinner and lots of good company.  Then members of our congregation acted out the Nativity.  After that Santa came to visit.  This is the first year that we have taken Will to meet Santa.  We were not at all sure what to expect.  Would he cry?  Would he smile?  It turns out he was somewhere in between.  He just sat there looking at us like "Why am I doing this?"  He is such a friendly little guy I wasn't too surprised there were no tears.  We are so blessed to have Will in our family, he just makes the holidays that much better!

Company Christmas Party

We had a fun evening at Dave's company Christmas party.  This year it was held at the Hilton hotel.  They had a casino night where we were able to "gamble" with the company's money for charity.  Neither Dave or I gamble so we were far from stellar but we had a lot of fun any way.  More than anything, it was just nice to be out together and enjoy celebrating the Christmas season with Dave's work friends, and we got a delicious dinner, so win win!

Fun Friends

We love to go and do things with friends from our neighborhood during the week.  This week we went to The Bounce House.  We had never been and it was such a fun spot.  The room filled with balloons was one of Will's favorites.

It was adorable to watch the boys try and pop the cartoons with their feet.  They are just so cute!  I love that in our neighborhood alone, there are nine little boys within 6 months of Will's age.  He has so many great little friends.  Not only that, but their Mom's are amazing and I am so lucky I get to be friends and hang out with them while the little ones play.  We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people in our neighborhood!

As always, Will showed no fear when it came to going down the big slide.  He did it all by himself.

I'm not going to lie, the foam pit scared me a little bit and I had to keep a close eye on Will because of his adventurous spirit.  He got pretty far out and then could not get back so I had to go help him.  But he loved it.

Who needs quarters for the arcade when you can just pretend to drive?  These two could have spent all day in here.  They are such cute little friends.

Will's 2nd Birthday

Since we had so much fun last year at the aquarium for Will's birthday, we decided to go again this year.  It is funny how a year can make such a big difference.  Last year he was barely walking, this year he ran the whole time we were there.  It was so fun to watch.  His very favorite part was seeing Santa scuba diving with the sharks.  He kept yelling "Santa!" and waving at him and giving him fist bumps through the glass.  It was adorable.

He also enjoyed seeing all of the other animals, especially the ones he could touch!

Will loved the rope bridge.  He went on it three times.  The third time, my Mom took him and he just sat down half way across.  He did not want to get up and let someone else have a turn.  He was having too much fun. 

Both of Will's grandmas were able to be there.  (My Dad was sick, so unfortunately he was not able to make it.)  It was so fun for him to be able to have that special time with his grandmas.  After the aquarium, we headed back to our house for cake and ice cream.  We had a bunch more of our family meet us there to be part of the festivities.

When I was growing up, my Mom always made our birthday cakes.  She was amazing.  She would make anything we wanted and they always turned out so well.  It is a tradition that I loved growing up, and one that I wanted to continue with my kids.  So, a couple months ago I asked Will what he wanted on his cake.  I listed a bunch of things I know he likes, and of those he told me he wanted an owl.  For weeks afterwards, he would randomly look at me and say "owl cake?"  So I knew he was pretty excited about it.  So, I got to work and this was the finished product.  It is not quite as good as the cakes my Mom made, but I hope over the years I will get better at it!

Will was thrilled with his cake, and I was surprised by how well he did at blowing out the candles.  It is so enjoyable to continue these traditions with him.

After cake and ice cream, Will got to open presents.  When I began bringing them over to him, he stood up and yelled "presents!" It made us all laugh.  He tore into them right away, he knew just what to do.  He was very much spoiled by everyone and we had a wonderful time celebrating this little guy who has filled our lives with so much joy!  I am so grateful for Will's birth mother, Brooke, who gave us the blessing of being parents.  I could never celebrate one of Will's birthdays without remembering her and all she has done for us.  

Santa Parade

We got together with Dave's brother and his family and went to the Santa Parade.  We had such a good time.  It was our first time going, and we really enjoyed it!  It was perfect for little kids, not too long and they threw candy.  It was also perfect for grown men who would run into the street, grab candy for their kids, and then claim Dad tax (that would be Dave and Mike).  Surprisingly the weather was amazing for a parade.  It was not nearly as cold as we had anticipated.  After going to the parade we went out to dinner.  It was a great night together and I'm so glad Will was able to spend time with his cousin Clara.  He also spent most of the night calling for Mike.  It's funny, even though Dave and Mike are twins, Will can totally tell the difference, you can't trick him!  But he really does love his Uncle Mike!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.  We spent the holiday with my family, and it was so nice to all be together.  I think we spent most of our time together laughing, and there is nothing better then that!  I am so thankful for the family I have.  I sure got lucky.  We are truly blessed and I am so glad we could take some time to really remember what is important in life and what we are really thankful for.  While we were waiting for the feast to be finished we played games with the kids.  Then after dinner, my sister and her husband brought balloons.  We blew them up and the kids went wild!

After playing with the balloons, my Dad got out his ATV and took turns taking the grand kids on rides around the neighborhood.  I think they could have stayed on all day.

After the ATV rides, we went in for pie.  Will really enjoyed his.  I'm right there with you buddy.

Finally I just had to include this picture because every time I look at it I can't stop laughing!  His face!  Hope it gives you a laugh too!

Owl Rescue

While Dave was at work, he and his co-workers found this injured owl.  They were able to capture it, and Will and I had the unique opportunity to go with Dave to take the owl to a rehabilitation center.  We could not believe how big the owl was, it is always different when you see them up close.  He was so cute, I was so happy that we were able to get him somewhere he could be helped and taken care of.

What made the experience even more special was the fact that Will loves owls.  I'm not sure why, but he really really does.  In fact, his birthday is coming up, and I am making him an owl birthday cake, per his request.  The joy on his face when he was able to see the owl just made my heart swell.  I love the special moments we are able to have with our little guy, they make life sweet.  

Kangaroo Zoo

My Mom and I took Will and my niece, Aria, to a bounce house this week.  It was Will's first time going to a bounce house and he was in heaven.  He was so excited to be there I don't think he sat still the entire time we were there!  He loved playing with Aria and doing everything she was doing.

He had so much fun bouncing on everything, it was a joy to watch!

I was so so proud of him, he figured out how to climb up the ladder all by himself.  Even though he kept slipping down, he never gave up.  He just kept trying until he did it.  Then once he had it figured out, he did it quite a few more times.  I love his perseverance and determination.

I also love how brave he is.  He went down all of the slides by himself, even the really steep ones, and he loved every minute of it!  He amazes me.

After playing hard, my Mom bought snacks for the Grand-kids.  It was so cute to see them sitting together like big kids enjoying their snacks.  Chasing Will around and watching the complete happiness on his face made the day an amazing one for me.  It will definitely be one of those memories I look back on with fondness.

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween this year.  We decided on a Star Wars costume theme.  Will was just such a cute Ewok I couldn't resist.

Here he is all ready for his first year trick or treating.  He was so excited!  Dave and I were excited to, and I have to say, we were not disappointed.  Taking Will trick or treating was SO much fun!

It was so adorable to see him knock on doors.  He was very excited about the candy, or treats, as he called them, for the first half of trick or treating, but after that he was more interested in visiting our neighbors and trying to go in their houses ha ha ha.  He is so social it makes me laugh.  Everyone just loved seeing him and enjoyed his enthusiasm.  Dave and I had just as much fun as he did.  It helps that we love our neighborhood.  We have the best neighbors and so many good friends, so it made the night even more enjoyable.