Holiday recap

We had a really good Christmas and New Years this year. We had a Christmas party with my family the Sunday before Christmas because my two married siblings were going to be with their in-laws for Christmas. We do a Secret Santa each year where you draw someone's name (not you or your significant other) and then get them a present and during the party we try to guess who everyone has. We had a big yummy dinner and then went to open presents. Jared had my sister Kelci and I had my brother Lex. We weren't sure what to get either of them but they were both excited with what they got. Jared got Kelci a collage of picture frames and I got Lex a skookie (Camp Chef). He said he had been looking at them before so it was a good thing I got him one. I got the brownie one of course because his wife, Shanna, LOVES brownies. My sister had Jared and she got him a cargo net cover for the truck (definitely a big help when we're going camping). Shanna had me and she got me the newest Josh Turner cd that I wanted and some Reeses (my favorite candy).
On Christmas Eve Jared worked half a day and then we went to St. George. We ran a couple of errands and then went to Jared's parent's house for a little while. It started snowing while we were there! It was pretty cool. It wasn't sticking to much though. Then we all went to Jared's aunt and uncle's house for their annual Christmas Eve party. I look forward to the homemade clam chowder there every year! And of course all the other amazing food everyone brings. We had fun visiting and eating. Crue was trying to climb on a little chair they had there (Jared's aunt made a little table and chairs in a wood working class I think that she keeps out for grandkids) and ending up falling and hitting his chin on the chair as he went down and then hit the back of his head on the tile. Jared had started heading for him right before he fell. He had a mouth full of blood and he scraped his chin a little. The poor kid. He ended up being ok but just wanted to be held for a little while. After that it was difficult to hold him - he just wanted to go play! On the way home we hit some bad weather. Luckily Jared is amazing and got us home safely (he's had to do that a few times - fog, snow, rain, etc.)
The next morning we got up and made pumpkin pancakes with hot cider syrup. My family that was in town came over (mom, dad, Loni, Kyle, and Kelci). After breakfast we opened presents. Crue was going towards the kitchen where my mom was and tripped on a toy. He fell and hit his face on the tile and once again, had a mouth full of blood. That kid! He seems to do something to his mouth every time he falls. Twice he's bruised his gums before his top front two teeth came in. Welcome to the life of little boys I guess:) After a while my family went home to take naps and we hung out for a while and then went over there later that day. I ended up getting sick and that wasn't much fun but oh well. At least it wasn't all day.
For New Years Jared's best friend's older brother and his wife (I watch their little girl) invited us to their annual party. We went last year (it was my first time but Jared had been before) and it was really fun. My mom said she'd watch Crue for us (Thank you thank you!) which worked good for her because no one else was home so she had some company. We had a fun time eating good food (I love the homemade cheese balls!) and playing games. Then of course some sparkly drinks at midnight. Then most of us stayed and talked for a while. By the time we got home and went to bed it was almost 3 am. It was tons of fun though. I was glad we didn't have to worry about Crue waking us up a few hours later. We slept until just after 10 am and it felt good! My mom had fun with Crue. He slept pretty good until around 8 or so and then she went and got him and put him in her bed and they fell asleep for a couple more hours.
We had a great time with all our family and friends. I love all the get togethers during the holidays. It is such a wonderful time of year. And of course, the best part is feeling the Spirit the entire time. Too bad it doesn't last all year long!

More Christmas

Crue opening his present from the cute neighbor kids (thanks Jessica!). I just wish we had been home when they brought it by. He loved the McQueen car and the play rug.

Who doesn't love socks for Christmas? :) We were a little short on funds this year so Jared got coveralls because his are too small (which he had no idea he was getting) and socks for work, that he knew about.

Jared opening his coveralls. He loves getting dressed up for occassions like this. j/k :) Jared did really good for me this year. I got a new watch, a John Grisham book I wanted, a Christmas cd, and a food chopper I'd been wanting. Thank you for a fun Christmas!!

Christmas

I figured now that we're almost halfway through January I had probably better get some Christmas pictures on here. And of course since Crue is our only child, and my parent's only grandchild, most of the pictures are of him. The funny thing is that my brother was the one with our camera, not me and Jared.

Crue's only present from mom and dad this year - Mack (from "Cars") with a car hauling trailer that comes with the three cars that make him fall asleep on the road in the movie when he loses Lightning.

Kyle decided to take pictures from the floor.

Crue was hilarious to watch when he'd open presents. He would tear little pieces off (the one he's holding is about the biggest they over got) and then look for either the garbage bag or someone to hand it to. Since he was the only kid we didn't worry about him taking a while to open each present.

Concentrating on opening the present. He was so cute. He loved everything he got! (How could you not when you're spoiled with toys?)

Lots of snow

I looked out our family room window and saw this snow/ice hanging off the deck. It was pretty cool because it was barely attached but still hanging on.

It was snowing pretty hard. I tried to take a picture but it didn't work as well as I had hoped.

Random

Just a couple of pictures. Crue sees my clothes hanging on the drying rack and likes to pick up anything on the floor (that's where I put things that need to be washed that I don't have a basket for) and hang it up to dry. What a cute boy!

Here's all the snow on our deck. It's about a foot deep. Notice how the snow on the chair is as high as the chair arms!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We were really excited about our tree this year. After last year, it wasn't too hard to get a decent tree (last year we had a Charlie Brown tree - it was really sad). This one was really full especially in the bottom. I was able to use more decorations than usual and more lights.

Crue was such a big helper:) He kept trying to climb on the step ladder so after a while of trying and being pulled off, he decided to just hang out underneath it.

Yummy snow! Last year Crue was too little for the snow so this was his first time out playing in it. He had a lot of fun. Too bad we don't have any good pants for him to wear so he can play more in the snow.

Tyson let Crue help him clear the snow by our house. He just hung out and had fun.

Then it was Jared's turn to help:) They actually rode over to a friend's parent's house to clear around their house for them.

We've gotten about a foot of snow between a few storms lately. It's been pretty fun. Jared doesn't like it as much but I love it. I'm hoping it sticks around (or that it snows more) for Christmas!

"Little" Family Picture

This is a picture my cousin took of my entire family. We've grown quite a bit! Kylie, you did an amazing job! It's awesome!

Ites!!

This is the last post for today. It's pretty cute though so I wanted to tell about it. Crue talks a lot but the only words he actually says are "mom" and "mama" (I think sometimes mama means Grandma). The rest is baby talk. Lex put our lights up for me one Saturday since Jared has work all the time except at night when it's freezing cold. I showed Crue the lights and he loved them. I didn't turn them on each night until after we got back from Arizona. He goes crazy when he sees lights! He started saying "ites!" for all the lights. One day I turned them on as someone was leaving our house (we have a switch inside for all the Christmas lights which is really nice so we don't have to go outside to plug/unplug them every time) and when I closed the door he started screaming. I showed him the lights through the front window and he was happy again. It's so cute to hear "ites! ites!" all the time. He says it over and over and points at all the lights. I can't wait to get our Christmas tree so he can have lights in the house to look at!

Cutest little boy

My cousin, Kylie, took family pictures while we were in AZ (both of our little family and my entire family). She's still working on the pictures but she had posted this one of Crue that she got done. I think it's such a cute picture of Crue. He didn't have a nap that day until later so by the time we were starting to get family pictures (the Little family) he was screaming and not wanting to be there. Good thing Kylie is amazing at Photoshop! I'll post a few pictures when we get them of the families.

Amazing Jakes

My cousin gave us coupons so a bunch of us went to a place called Amazing Jakes. They have a salad and pizza buffet with a bunch of rooms that you can eat in. We sat in one that was pretty nice - where adults would eat. They also had a movie room that had three different movies going. I can't remember the other rooms. Then at the other end and through the rest of the building was a mini amusement park. It was really cool. They had bumper cars, arcade games, mini golf, bowling, go carts, and just a bunch of stuff and rides mostly for kids but some for older kids. We had a lot of fun.

Jared and Kyle racing.

This is just a little bit bigger than the one he got for his birthday (he can only fit in the bed in that one).

Riding with Aunt Kelci on the train. Cousins Heidi and Solomon behind them.

I took Crue for a ride on the carousel. He was all excited about the horses before we got on and when I first put him on but then he wanted down right before it started. For at least half the ride he just snuggled into me. He sat up and watched (he liked the mirrors in the middle) for the end.

Crue is ready to drive. He was shifting and everything! Too bad he couldn't reach the gas with his little legs:)

More Thanksgiving

Taking a break from all fun and enjoying the campfire. Aren't we so cute? :)

Jared took Crue for a ride on the golf cart. He crashed hard (Crue - not Jared:)) so Jared brought him back and he just slept the rest of the time.

Sitting with Aunt Loni by the campfire eating yummy dessert.

Thanksgiving

This year we went to the desert in Arizona for Thanksgiving. My mom's family goes every year and we used to go all the time when we lived closer. They take horses and they used to have 3 wheelers when I was younger but those have been replaced by two off-roading golf carts my uncle brings. They have a feast and then you just snack all day long. They have a fire in the evening and everyone just hangs out and has a good time. Last time Jared and I went a lot of my cousins weren't there. This time there was more of them so he finally got to meet them. We were really lucky this year too because a mile away there was a downpour and thunder and lightening but we didn't get anything except a few sprinkles until we were packing up and leaving.

Lex, Shanna, Desiree, Royal, Kelci and Heidi having hot chocolate around the campfire.

Crue had been playing on a trailer with a couple of other kids. I think one of them was Wyatt and they were pretty cute together but of course by the time I got over there, Wyatt was done and I missed getting a picture of them together.

Riding a horse with Aunt Desiree.

Having fun in the sand.

Crue with Aunt Loni, Heidi, and Walker on an off-roading golf cart.

I can't say I'm anxious to do the long drive again, especially with a 14 month old. But it was sure fun (except for Friday - Jared and I got sick and were quarantined in our room all day).

First Kiss!

Crue got his first kiss the other night and with an older woman! We were hanging out with some friends of ours and one of them has a little girl that is about two I think. We got them to kiss and then I pulled out the camera to try to have them do it again. They did but when the camera wasn't fast enough and they were already pulling away. They had so much fun playing together the entire night. It was cute.

Happy Birthday Des!

I just wanted to tell Desiree happy birthday today! She is a great person. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Like Father Like Son

My sister had a bridal shower for her friend at my house the other day. We gave Crue an oreo which he loved of course. When he was done I had to laugh because it was all around his mouth and looked like Jared's goatee!

Crue likes to go in the living room and get into things he's not supposed to. He's been going in there all morning and one of the times I went in thinking he was getting into stuff again and he was sitting in this little chair just swinging his leg!

For Halloween I made a cookie costume for Crue.

I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I had to dye the onesie and everything because I couldn't find one the right color. Only dark brown and we didn't want a burnt cookie!

Jared likes to stick Crue in the washer and dryer while he's putting his workboots on after lunch.

Crue has dropped his binkie in the toy bucket a couple of times and he gets stuck trying to get it out. It's pretty funny!

Crue turned one!

Having fun on his new tricycle

He wasn't shy about digging into his cake!

I love his face on this one - oohhh! big truck!

Don't forget the pizza before the cake.

I figured I'd post some pictures of Crue's birthday even though it was a month ago. We had a lot of family and friends come and he got a lot of fun things.

Crue is walking!

Here is a video of Crue walking when we went to dinner the other night for Lex's birthday. It's from my phone so it might not be the best video.