Santa 2009

So I have a thing that I hate fake looking Santa's. The great mall of Idaho Falls always have the worst looking Santa's each year. Well we were there shopping and I saw the best looking Santa with a REAL beard. I was soo excited because I had planned a trip to Salt lake to see a good santa and I thought now I can stay here and see this one. So we went and found out what hours the "good" santa would be working so that we could come back and take the kids. So a couple of weeks go by and I got up and got the kids dressed in their Christmas outfits and drove all the way to Idaho Falls during the hours the "good" santa told us that he worked. Geoffery met us there during his lunch break. I was already tired from just trying to get out of the house with two kids. So we get over to the Santa and low and behold the ugly fake santa is the one working, not the "good" real looking santa. I was sooo disappointed, but too tired to really care at this point. So here are our pictures with the really fake ugly beard Santa:)

On another note, neither of my kids were afraid of him. Grant ran straight up to him by himself and jumped on his lap. He continued to tell him exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Which by the way, was a train and train tracks. He was very specific. He really wanted train tracks. Which cracks me up! He was soo much fun this year and really was understanding the whole Christmas experience! I LOVE seeing the Holidays through his eyes. It really makes things so much more magical. We also tried to make it about Jesus's Birthday so that he can start to understand the true meaning of Christmas!

Lots of posts...

I have finally posted because I figured out that problem I was having with uploading my pictures, thanks Kenzie! Anyway, look down because I have posted a LOT! I needed to catch up.

Calling ALL dancers...

So I HATE working out in any form. In fact I haven't done any kind of workout since high school (meaning that was cheerleading and gymnastics) until... ZUMBA! I absolutely LOVE it! I love to dance and just have fun and that's what zumba is all about. The young womens president in my ward introduced it to me and kept telling me about it and since I'm nursing and can't diet, I really wanted to start some kind of exercising to loose this baby weight. I went kindof not expecting anything and now I'm totally converted. I'm totally sore and exhausted, but it is so fun and I think I'll actually stick with it. If you have it taught anywhere near where you live, you have to give it a try. It's taught differently by different instructors, so it might be totally different from what I do, but I think it's similar in the sense of you are dancing for an hour straight. Also supposedly you burn 750 calories everytime you do it.

Also ever since I've been a mom, I felt like I didn't have a "thing." Geoffery always had golf and I was always so jealous of him that he enjoyed something. Well now zumba is my "thing" that I can enjoy and go to each week where no one knows me as a "mom." Anyway, you have to try it if you like dancing and your looking for a "thing."

Maddie bow baddie...

Our little Madelyn is growing up WAY too fast. She has been soo fun lately rolling, cooing, talking, laughing, and just being too CUTE! We took her to her four month appointment and she weighs a whooping 11lbs, 4 ozs and is 23 inches long. So she's tiny, but STRONG! She's in the 7th percentile for weight and the 20th for height. The doctor keeps assuring me that its just genetics and not that she's not growing or anything. He says that she is on her own growth rate. I guess I worry because Grant was 3lbs bigger than her at the same age! But he's a boy and she's a girl:) So I guess its good. This time around I definitely feel like I have a newborn for a much longer time than I did with Grant. She's just content to hang out anywhere and watch what everyones doing. She doesn't care to roll over too much (even though she can) or hang out on her stomach. I guess I'm supposed to start rice cereal soon, but to be honest she's so small that I would feel silly putting her in a high chair. But we'll start that sometime this month. She is so fun to be around and will go to anyone. She sleeps through the night and takes two to three naps a day! She really likes to sleep, so much so I worry about her and wake her up if she sleeps too long. She is soo much fun to be around and we just LOVE her to death! Oh by the way, nursing is going great! Although she refuses to take a bottle after she turned 3 months, so I guess we will just take her with us wherever we go!

Thanksgiving Dinner

So this year I've done something I've always wanted to do... I hosted Thanksgiving dinner. I called my mom up (who has Thanksgiving down to a science) and said okay send me all your recipes and your timeline of when and how to do everything. And she did and it turned out to be a success. It also helps that Carolyn (Geoffery's mom) made the turkey and the desserts so I didn't have to worry about that. I was most proud (and nervous) of making homemade rolls, but they turned out great. Here are some shots of the meal and table.

Sarah's Wedding...

We went to Salt Lake for Sarah (Geoffery's sisters) wedding. It was soo fun to hang out on Temple square all day. It was freezing that day so we were all dying to get inside. I ended up being the photographer so this makes my third wedding I've done. I can tell a big difference in how much I learn each time from the first one and then this time. I still have TON to learn. But here are some of my favorite shots and of our little family. I got the kids some outfits so that we all matched. And yes this is the best family shot of us all because every time I asked Grant to smile he would smile like that and I just gave up trying to make him smile without the eye shut as well. Gotta love 2 year olds:) The colors of the wedding were black and red. Anyway let me know which ones you like the best.

Halloween Pictures FINALLY!!!

So I finally figured out how to upload my pictures thanks to Kenzie! So here are my LONG awaited (just kidding) Halloween pictures that I took of the kids. Grant was a dragon and Madelyn a Caterpillar. They were both sooo cute in their costumes. We went to our neighborhood trunk or treat and then went to a couple of houses. Grace and Ella came along with us (Grant's cousins) so he had an absolute blast hanging out with them. Afterwards we watched the Great Pumpkin with Charlie Brown and the kids sat and ate their candy and then would jump up and run to the door when we had treak or treaters. I have to say it was one of my favorite Halloweens that I can remember. Having kids old enough to get into holidays makes everything sooo magical! Christmas here we come!:)