Christmas 2012

Christmas was fabulous! We all got some great gifts and were so happy to be surrounded by family. 

Here is Spencer's BIG smile after seeing some of the things Santa got him. 

The HUGE gift Santa gave Spencer was a PS3!!!! He was very happy about this gift, and played a lot while we were there. 

Preston with all of his toys he got. 

Some Avengers masks he got, to use while Tyler and him run around the house using their Laser guns they got, or the Nerf guns Spencer got. 

Domino Rally!!!! There was only 2 things Spencer wanted for Christmas, and this was one of them. 

Preston so happy about Christmas!

For this family we all pick names for siblings and all the cousins pick names. Spencer had his cousin R, and we got him a bunch of food that he can use in his new kitchen he got!! He loved it. 

Gingerbread Houses

While on vacation in Utah to the Grandparents house we made some gingerbread houses, well the kids did, because by the time we got there and went to the store we couldn't find any more gingerbread kits!!!! I totally dropped the ball on ordering those beforehand. Anyway, Spencer loves doing this, mostly just so he can eat the candy and frosting. 

Spencer having the frosting come out at the wrong end.

Since it was coming out, why not eat it. Perhaps he did this on purpose.

He had just gotten his house all built and standing and then it fell down. 

 Got it figured out and here is his "I-really-don't-want-to-smile-for-this-picture-but-I-will" face. 

While the kids were putting together their houses the dads all played a board game together. This is a favorite thing for us all to do while together, we are just a little bit competitive. 

Rolling over

Preston has started to learn how to roll over! It was fun to just wait and watch him try to figure this skill out. After he figured it out he would get himself into some tight spaces, which he would sit there and looked worried about and then cry and then see we were smiling and see that it was okay. He's such a happy and cute boy.

He got worried after a little while being stuck in his play mat, and then we came to his rescue. 

New Camera

Tyler got me this fancy new camera for my birthday and I LOVE IT!!! My other camera was awesome, but it has definitely seen better days. I have had the other one for 5 years, and it has travelled with me to many countries and been out on too many safaris and dust to make marvelous pictures anymore. So...here are some shots I got of the boys with my new fancy camera that I love! 

Okay this one was not with the new fancy camera, it was done with the phone camera, but I had to get that he was rolling around and got all mixed up with his clothes. It was funny.

This one was also with the phone camera, but look how cute! Also, look how patchy his hair is! I love babies and their patchy hair, but it seems to all be growing back....red!!!

Friends are apart of the holidays

One of the best things of the holidays is being able to see friends, and sometimes it's unexpected! I was thrilled to find out one of my college roommates would be in town with her girlfriends and would be down by our place!!! We figured out a place to meet up and just chat for a little bit. It was so wonderful to see her and try to catch up so quickly in the short time we had. I'm sure we could have talked all afternoon and night! 

Thanks for meeting up with me K!!!! 

Another friend of ours came into town to visit, and so she stopped by our place to see us! It was so fun to see her and exchange our Christmas gifts with each other. She is amazing and I love it whenever we can see her. Thanks Miss A for coming by and seeing us!!! 

Now I know this is a post about friends, but I need to show you more pictures of Preston. Here he is trying to do something with his lips, I think he was trying to do raspberries, but not quite getting it. 

Oh look, I see we have another Gilmore Girls fan in our home!!! YAY!!!

Preston in December kept trying this maneuver out. He tried so hard to turn over, but just couldn't quite get it...until Miss A came over!!! It's true, I guess he was just saving it for her, because she came over and he kept trying and he ROLLED OVER!!!! YAY!!!!!

Oh so sad, but still so cute.

Big brother's love!!!! Preston still lights up whenever he sees Spencer. It's like he saves all his energy all day so when Spencer is home he's ready to always play with him, it's darling. 

Scout our Elf

This year we had the Elf on a Shelf visit our house! Spencer was thrilled that he came and in the way he did. Our Elf actually dropped in and crash landed into our Christmas tree with a parachute!

Then came the process of trying to figure out a name for our Elf. It was quite the long process, because we had no idea what name would be best! Spencer at the last second came up with the best name, Scout, because he is an elf scout for Santa. 

So, here are some fun places Scout hid around our house every day to spy on what we all were doing, and seeing if we were doing what was good or bad.

The shower caddy.

 Spencer's stocking.

 Spencer thought this was great that Scout was playing Jenga with some of Spencer's stuffed animals. 

 Hanging around in the kitchen.

 Watching Elf...Buddy is probably a friend of his.

Resting on one of our African paintings.

Uh-oh, we caught him sneaking some marshmallows!!!

Hanging out in Spencer's backpack.

Hiding behind some candles.

Just hangin' around. 

We loved having Scout around in our house, and he even followed us to Grandpa and Grandma's house until Christmas Day to make sure Spencer was being good!!! Hopefully we'll see him again this Christmas. 

New Year

The new year is upon us, and already the first month has almost passed without me doing one blog post. Sorry about that. We had lots of fun with Tyler's family over Christmas, and then we came home and were all sick. An awful cough that would not go away. Poor Preston had it for three weeks. He didn't eat or sleep well, so that made me worry a lot, so I didn't sleep well and didn't get better. But alas, we have all survived and are well enough now that I really should be catching up with the blog posts.

The first one for this year is always our goal one. We have changed up our goals this year because we wanted it to be more focused and we are having this year be Our Family Year!!! Thirteen is our favorite number, so 2013 seemed ideal to do some grand things with our little family and accomplish some goals together. 

I'm writing these out because I want to be accountable for it all. I know I most likely will not get every one of these done, but I'm pushing to get most of them done. 

First Tyler's goals:

1. Be most in tuned with the Spirit.

2. Be healthier

3. Learn more

Now for each of his he has multiple things to do, but I thought I would just give the overview of it all. 

My goals:

1. catch up on blog; blog more about the city

2. cross stitch

3. Get going on Preston's baby book (a digital one); and also catch up on 5 years of Spencer's

4. Finish up the African coffee table book of all of my favorite photos I took while living there

5. Do a family book for each year Tyler and I have been married (digital)

6. READ (at least 24 books). For January I have already finished Pride & Prejudice and am now halfway through The Perks of Being a Wallflower

7. Finish writing/editing my novel

8. Lose weight/eat healthier--which I REALLY am trying to do after having Preston

9. Relax and stay calm

10. Save money (we have lots of trips this year, plus a move we'll be doing)

11. Catch up on the Christmas scrapbook (not digital)

12. Read our church magazine the Ensign each month

13. Do special things for Tyler throughout the year

14. Try out a new blog idea....this one would take LOADS of time, so I'm still trying to figure out if I'll do it or not. 

Spencer's: 

1. I will play longer with Carson (our next door neighbor)

2. Play with my Christmas presents

3. Help my Dad juice (which he did while Tyler juiced at the beginning of January)

4. Help Preston walk and crawl

5. Write in my journal 

6. Exercise 50 pushups, 50 sit-ups, 50 seconds for wall sits

7. Read more

8. Learn more

9. Spend more time with my family

10. Finish my comic

11. Help Mom clean

12. Think of something cool. 

Preston's: (I'm pretty sure he'll do all of his)

1. Learn how to eat (which he is eating carrots like a champ!)

2. Learn how to crawl

3. Learn how to talk

4. Learn how to walk

5. Sleep more (maybe that is just Dad and Mom's goal for him)

Our Family Goals:

1. Read the whole Book of Mormon together this year. (which we are doing pretty good with!)

2. Serve others more; we are planning three service projects this year to help others

3. Be together and have more fun together. We try to have more movie nights together, more trips together that we all enjoy too. 

So that's it! Think we can do it?? I'm pretty sure we can. I'm excited about our goals, and I'm excited that I have things that I REALLY want to get done this year on my list, which makes me think I will be able to get them all done. Next up I should be able to catch up with all that has happened since mid-December. Hope you all have your goals in order, because then you will definitely grow more throughout the year if you are striving to do something better, bigger, or more positive with your life. Good luck!