Christmas!

We had a good Christmas this year. Jared spoiled me and got me everything I wanted and although the kids didn't get the one thing they asked for (presents were already bought before they made a request), they still loved what they got. Jared was pretty happy with his Christmas. Thank you for online deals so I could score him some new tools!

 Our one picture with Santa at our ward Christmas party. Aly didn't want anything to do with him, only the candy, so I had to hold her for the picture. The boys definitely know who he is though!

 Christmas morning! We told the boys they couldn't go out until everyone was awake so they hung out in our bed until Aly woke up.

 Aly wasn't too far behind the boys when she woke up. And the boys were sure excited to get her when she woke up!

 This is the 2nd year I've made the kids pajamas for Christmas (just the bottoms). The boys loved theirs so much last year I decided to keep doing it. They opened them in St. George so they could wear them home (they fall asleep on the way home so we end up putting them straight to bed). Crue and Cooper were pretty excited for theirs with the motorcycles and bikes and things on them. 

 Checking everything out!

 Santa brought Aly a new bike! Good thing because whenever there's one of those bikes at someone's house, she immediately starts riding it. Now she has her own.

Aly got this scooter from my parents on her first birthday. My mom sent us a charger and we found out the batter still worked so Jared brought it upstairs Christmas day. She loved riding it with Crue and Cooper!

Salt Lake & St. George

We finally went to visit my parents in Salt Lake since once a year isn't good enough for them. :) We don't mind being there, but we could do without the drive and all the tons of people there. Made us even more happy to be home!

 Jared put all the kids on the fridge before we left. Aly was grumpy I think so he got her to smile by putting her up there and then the boys joined her.

 Our first stop was Scheels. We brought lunch and ate it in the parking lot and then went inside. My brother came and joined us. It was a lot of fun to see him! He held Aly while I went to the bathroom and they looked at the fish and she let him hold her the rest of the time. She LOVED the airplane. She says airplane anytime she can see or hear one.

 The boys in front of the Santa Moose (and a lot of other animals that they loved looking at).

 They have these little picture spots so Crue, Cooper, Aly, and my brother Lex went and stood in one.

 They have a ferris wheel inside that is only $1 a person to ride! Aly was too little so Jared stayed with her so I could go with the boys since he took them the only other time they've been on one. It's been a while since I've been on a ferris wheel. I was fine once we were going but when it was stopping to get everyone off and the baskets would shake a little every time, it was kind of nerve wracking!

 We went to Temple Square and City Creek Center while we were there. The boys got to ride on dad and grandpa and I had Aly in the framed carrier that she LOVES (so much in fact that we put her in it at my parents' house and she got mad if anyone tried to take her out or even take the cover off).

 It was so beautiful!

 Crue and Cooper in front of the reflection pond.

We went to St. George on Christmas Eve like we do every year. These are the 2nd cousins that were there minus Aly and one other baby. Berlin, Crue, Dresdin (Berlin's brother), Kyri, Cooper, Berklee (Kyri's sister).

 Aly hung out/hid by the xylophone for a while. Not sure why but I made sure I got a picture.

And of course there's always the singing! Aunt Louise played and everyone there sings so well that it's wonderful to listen to!

funeral, snow, transmission, cute kids

Jared's grandma passed away so we went to St. George the weekend before Thanksgiving for her funeral. She was such a wonderful woman. Instead of sadness at her funeral there was so much peace and happiness for her because she finally gets to be with grandpa who passed away 12 years ago!

 Cute little Cooper in one of the chairs before the grave dedication.

 Jared got to be one of the pall bearers. They all put their flowers on her casket.

 This is the best picture I got of Crue. The little stinker wouldn't smile. Good thing he's still cute:)

 Aly and her cousin Cait, who is only 4 months older than her.

 In the willow tree in grandma great's backyard. She was less scared about being up there than her big brothers were!

 The kids playing in the snow while Jared was looking for the perfect Christmas tree. I love that Crue was feeding Aly snow.

 Aly was having a blast!

 Crue made these balls out of play doh for me. He was so proud. I love him so much!!

 First big snow of the season. We came home and Jared was shoveling at lunch so I let the kids play in it for a little bit. This was before Aly started screaming because her hands were so cold.

 My cousin's wife made Cooper this cute dinosaur hat! And of course it's on a cute little boy. :)

 You can kind of see how much snow we got. I think it was around 9 inches.

When we went to St. George for the funeral I dropped Jared off at the temple to do Baptisms with the youth from our ward. I turned around and heard a loud pop. I stopped to check all the tires thinking one had exploded. Jared heard something and saw me pull over so he called to see if everything was ok. I tried backing up a little and then started going again while I was talking to him. I realized that when I tried to backup it only revved so I pulled in a parking lot and sure enough, no reverse. And only 2 gears when driving. So for Christmas I got a new transmission in the suburban! We've been waiting for it to go out since we got it (2 years ago). The suburban has over 200k miles on it and it was the original transmission which is pretty amazing!

 We took daddy and Kyle dinner while they put the transmission on the suburban. Aly was feeding Cooper french fries. It was hilarious because you know how when people feed babies they open their mouths like they want the baby to do? Aly was doing that! It took several pictures but I finally got one with her mouth open.

We got some of our carpets cleaned one day so we hung out downstairs while it dried. It was during Aly's nap time but because the hall was one place they cleaned I couldn't put her down. I went to get the kids for lunch and she was crashed next to Crue, cuddled up to him. It was so cute. It's really cute to see these guys together. Crue and Cooper love Aly and she sure loves them!! She started saying Cooper and Grandpa the weekend before Christmas!