Christmas Day football

It was a beautiful sunny day so we went to the park and played some football.

Chris stretching because he knows it's going to be an intense game

Breezy setting up for the spectators and me carbo-loading

Moriah and Carter are getting warmed up

The teams were Breezy, Chan, Chris, Lorein, Carter and then Driel, Evan, Moriah, Grandpa, Justin, and Grandma and Fiona joined later when Fiona woke up from her nap.

Moriah really wanted to be on the cool team, but Breezy sent her packing

Chandler was trying to explain a complicated play to me here but I don't think I was getting it. (Notice Moriah is trying to be on our team again)

So Breezy sent her packing again.

During halftime (Moriah had an accident and needed a change of clothes so it turned into an extensive bathroom break - I'm not looking forward to potty training) there was a helicopter show.

Fiona with her game face on

Christmas morning

Carter was most excited about the food and candy in his stocking.

Carter eating candy with Justin

Moriah was really good at helping people open their presents. She was very cute and so excited about everything. (Carter still eating)

Carter joined Fiona on the counter for some good eats

It was a great Christmas morning and I know it will only get more and more exciting as Carter gets a little bit older.

Christmas Eve

I looked back and I have no pictures from Thanksgiving - not a single one. We had a great time with Chris' family. It was an especially good Thanksgiving for me since last time we had Thanksgiving with Chris' family I was pregnant and didn't know it yet. I thought the morning sickness was food poisoning and I was sure I was going to die. Alas, I survived but I sure was thankful not to be pregnant this Thanksgiving.

So moving onto Christmas Eve!

We spent Christmas with my family in Las Vegas. Every year on Christmas Eve we dress up and act out the nativity.

Breezy was the angel as well as the accompanist and Justin was the narrator

I was a wiseman and Moriah joined the ranks when she discovered we got to wear jewelry - notice all her bracelets.

Moriah bringing the gold to the baby Jesus

Chandler was a shepherd with my mom

Evan and Driel were Joseph and Mary

Carter was in charge of the manger

After the program it was time to open Christmas PJ's. My mom and I made them with some assistance from Breezy and donation of supplies from Justin. They turned out really cute, but you won't get to see pictures until the Christmas morning post.

Dance Dance Evolution

Carter's dancing skills have started to evolve.

He started out with this:



And now he's at this:

Bring on the sun

Growing up in Vegas we didn't get much rain, so when we did I can honestly say I liked it. Obviously it doesn't rain much in Southern California either...until this week. It rained from Sunday night through Friday. Cabin fever was setting in hard for Carter and I, so we all rejoiced when the sun was shining today. It wasn't quite back up to the 78 degrees it was before the rain set in, but hey we'll take what we can get:-)

We would usually get some 30-minute intervals where it was only drizzling/sprinkling and then I would race to get outside and let Carter splash around in the puddles. We also still took walks in the stroller and always came back drenched (well I did - I managed to keep Carter relatively dry). He even fell asleep on one of the walks; it was worth the extra laundry.

Here's a view of the rain from our balcony window

One of the intervals

Gotta check the mail

I must have told him it was time to go inside

Carter is positive they put this fire hydrant there to be his personal jungle gym.

So happy to be outside!

To celebrate the sunshine today, we went to the park and Carter also got to do some putting practice with dad after he came home from work (I know, it's Saturday!).

Best day of his life

I'm pretty sure if Carter could recall his whole life (and put it into words) and you asked him what the best day has been so far he would say this day...the day he got a cozy coupe. Not only does he love the cozy coupe, but he loves putting things together so the whole process was heaven for him. We decided to give him an early Christmas present after we went to the mall and he played in one of the shopping carts with the car attached for hours.

Were we pushing the cart? Nope, it was parked at the station where you have to rent one. That didn't stop Carter though, and since we were sitting ducks we ended up getting into a long conversation with a proselyting born again. The topic of Joseph Smith of course came up and eventually his martyrdom. This was the account that she learned in "religion class at school": Joseph Smith was in jail and somehow a riot broke out and Joseph and Hyrum both started shooting and so the guards said what the heck, if they're shooting at us we'll shoot at them. Ha. I think my jaw dropped to the floor. I mean, I know there are a lot of misconceptions and ignorance about our religion, but wow. Chris responded that he had honestly never heard that version and of course told her the accurate version and she responded "Well, I've never heard your version." You mean the truth?? Obviously.

So we bought a Cozy Coupe! We bought it early in hopes that it would help distract Carter while I packed - it did.

St. George or bust

Right before Chris started his new job we went on a vacation rendezvous with our fabulous friends Richard, Betsey, and Nora. Richard's parents have an amazing retirement home in St. George and they were kind enough to let us stay there. There were windows everywhere with great views. As you can see below our camera didn't really know how to cope with all the windows and I of course am not skilled enough to know how I could have fixed it. The kids still look cute though. Nora and Carter became fast friends. They played in the fountains together, toured the tabernacle, ate at Cafe Rio and ate lots and lots of apples.

I don't know what Richard said to get this reaction out of them...

After St. George, Carter and I stayed with my parents for a few extra days while Chris went back home to start work. We had lots of fun in Vegas with my mom and dad, but because I'm lame I don't have any pictures so you'll just have to take my word for it.