the Day of!

Grey is getting so manly and grumpy.

(Oh, and ignore the piles of laundry in the background...I'm just keeping it real, yo!)

There was alot of crafting and playing and it was a great day!



Twas the Night Before Christmas...

On the 24th it has become tradition to track Santa on the NORAD site. You can learn a bit about how the different areas celebrate Christmas and watch Santa slowly get closer to your location. Very Cool.

It was also my 33rd birthday. Chad made a really excellent cake. New recipie...it was great! (And pretty, too!)



the Lights Before Christmas

We went down to Ogden on the evening of the 23rd to see the lights in Ogden. It was cold but FUN!

They had wrapped every tree and set out little houses with displays in the windows.



the Visit

We had alot of fun with our company this week. Mom and Dad, Pop Pop, and Christina came. We bowled, ate dinner out, Chad and his dad saw the lights at Temple Square, and we played games! We won't even talk about the shopping. Thanks, guys, for coming. You made Grey's Birthday special and we really enjoyed it! Here are just a few random shots. Mom taught Erin how to braid...on Christina.

Then she made her own Santa hat...complete with 'fluffy' ball on top!



Grey's Birthday!

Grey has had a birthday!

We were running around alot so he opened some presents that morning and some that night and we ended up cutting the cake the next day. We went shopping with Pop Pop and bowling and out for dinner. Whew!

That's right...a Dr. Who shirt!

He opened one of his 2 books and Lance said, "He got a BOOK for his Birthday!?" and Chad said, "Yeah, he's kinda dorky...like his Mom."

What a cute 12 year old!



Happy Birthday Baby!

Cub Scout Outting

While mom and dad were here we had an outting with the cub scouts. Treats were made for the temple workers and delivered by the boys. We saw the temple from the back side and the parking structure being built. It was a fun and educational trip.

We learned about the architectural plans, the temple Historian, and the themed carvings in temple. The Brigham City Temple theme is peach blossoms! They can be seen all around the outside. The boys enjoyed handing out treats and asking question. 

See the blossoms?

Then we walked across the street and toured the Tabernacle!

Mom even got to play the organ! It sounded very impressive!

All of the wood (which is soft woods like pine) was hand painted to look like more expensive hard wood. Some of the workers painted their names as knots in the wood. Willie is the name of the 87 year old man who guided our tour. He helped reno the Tabernacle 50 years ago.

Each child got to say their name in the microphone from the pulpit so they can now say, "I spoke at the Tabernacle!"



Overall a very good field trip!

Baking with Grandma

My mom and dad came to stay for a week right before Christmas. Mom, Erin, and her friend H. decided to make sugar cookies!!

Yummy!!

After clean up! (I love the boots.)

Here we have a miscellaneous collection of things we've done over the past few weeks.

  Above is the putting up of the Christmas tree. We try to wait til after Lance's birthday to 'begin' celebrating Christmas. Below is the HUGE pile of wood. For the first time we ordered a cord of wood so we could have a fire through most of the winter. Nice...

Chad let me open my birthday present early! It was a new lens for my camera! I took the photo below of Chad with the new lens on it. It takes fantastic people pics (although the one below is too dark). I can't wait to fiddle with it. Maybe Erin will pose for me.