On Christmas Eve we had the annual party at Grandma and Grandpa Menlove's. The kids played a white elephant game and then everyone opened gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. Then we went to my family's house and hung out.. We really need to start some new Christmas Eve traditions because it was pretty boring! My dad read a pretty cute Christmas book. It was called something about the red rider? Anyway, on Christmas we woke up early and opened presents. The main gifts were a big dump truck for Owen, a doll and lots of clothes for Nora, a camping chair and binoculars for Clark, and a massage pillow for me (Clark's way of getting out of giving me massages. Ha!) and a big car raceway thing for "the family" (aka for Owen), plus lots of other little things. We met at my aunt Loris for breakfast where Brenna won a hundred bucks (it should've been us!!) and then we spent the rest of the day at my family's house, eating, watching movies and building a snowman. We had the whitest Christmas! I am not the biggest fan of snow, but that day it was wonderful! Next year, I swear I'm going to have allll shopping and wrapping done at least a week before Christmas so I can avoid any nervous breakdowns. Sorry, Clark! But all in all, it was a pretty incredible Christmas. I have the best family. I am so blessed with this wonderful life I have.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Christmas 2014
Christmas this year was so so fun! Every holiday is more fun with kids, but especially Christmas. It's so fun to watch them get so excited leading up to Christmas Day and then watching them open presents and love everything (well not everything. Owen didn't even finish unwrapping the clothes ones. As soon as he'd see what it was he'd start looking for the next present to open.) Nora obviously had no idea what was going on but Owen is at such a fun age. He would shake with excitement every time we'd bring up Santa. And then on Christmas morning he was so excited when he saw that Santa had come. I wish I would have videoed him waking up. It was the cutest thing ever.
Holiday Festivities
I'll just let these pictures speak for themselves, but we had such a fun holiday season seeing lights, Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and going to parties!
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Best of 2014
>>> Clark and I celebrated our 4th anniversary
>>> We found out our little baby was a boy (or so we thought)
>>> Clark turned the big 2-5!
>>> We spent Presidents Day shooting guns and four wheeling
>>> We went and saw the Ice Castles
>>> We spent lots of time outside after being couped up all winter
>>> Owen turned TWO!
>>> We got a shock when we found out the baby in my tummy was a girl, not a boy.
>>> We took a trip to St. George to see Rissy dance and to get some sun.
>>> Owen got a big boy bed.
>>> I made a quilt for our baby girl
>>> We celebrated a wonderful Easter
>>> We went on a couple last adventures as a family of three
>>> My belly continued to grow bigger, and bigger.
>>> Had a great Mothers Day
>>> Met my family up the canyon at their campsite for some canoeing.
>>> Welcomed sweet Nora into our family
>>> Travis got married!
>>> Owen completed his first year of swimming lessons
>>> We went on a couple camping trips with our newborn
>>> Went to the aquarium.
>>> Got a visit from the Drishinskis
>>> Spent a lot of time at home, learning how to take care of two kids
>>> Clark blessed Nora
>>> Owen and Clark went on their first over night Father and Sons camp out
>>> Celebrated Paysons Onion Days
>>> Owen went bowling.
>>> Enjoyed some fall festivities
>>> Had a fun Halloween
>>> Started major renovations on our new home
>>> Had fun during the first snow of the season.
>>> Found a tree during the annual Christmas Tree Hunt.
>>> Travelled to Montana to say goodbye to Grandpa Jim.
>>> Celebrated Christmas as a family of four
>>> Went on lots of Christmas outings to see temple square, Festival of Lights, and Salem pond.
>>> Met Santa Claus.
Whew! What I year!! I feel like I just barely wrote this post for last year! That was a year ago! (Well over a year, because I've been a slacker..) But looking at where my life was a year ago, I can't believe how much has changed! Obviously, we added a baby to the mix, so that's bound to change things up a bit! We all love Nora so much. Mine and Clark's relationship has grown stronger than I thought possible. Owen is turning into a full fledged kid. We are building our house! Looking at my life, I can't help but feel so blessed! I am living my dream. Right here and now.
I've been thinking a lot about New Years Resolutions. I don't usually get in to it. Like, I think of a few things I should work on but I never really decide on specific things or write them down and I usually forget about them the next day. This year I have thought of 5 things that I really want to work on. I'm going to work really hard to make these happen!
1. Get in shape. I don't want to go crazy over working out or eating healthy. I really don't think my body is all that out of shape but I do want to work out more than I have been, which is not at all. I want to feel good about my body and I want to be in shape by the time I get pregnant again. I want to get a gym membership. But also Nora has been sleeping really awful at night so I don't know if I can talk my self into that quite yet...
2. Be patient with the kids and Clark. I have the worst patience ever. But I want to learn to keep my cool and not freak out so much.
3. Save money. Self explanatory. I need to be better at staying in the budget and not spending money on stupid stuff.
4. Read the Book of Mormon. I'm so embarrassed to say that I have never read The Book of Mormon on my own from front to back. So I'm going to do it.
5. Family Home Evening. We've never done family home evening. Besides saying "it's Monday night, so let's go get some ice cream!" So we are going to start.
This is going to be the best year yet!
Owen Lately
I wanted to do a little update on Owen pants. You know, since I have so many posts to catch up on like Christmas and New Years... So here is what Owen has been up to:
:: He is so smart. He knows all his ABCs and all the words to SO many songs (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald, The Farmer in the Dell, Row Your Boat, You Are My Sunshine... And that's just to name a few!)
:: And he can pick out a few of the letters from the alphabet (like O, H, W, L...)
:: He is completely obsessed with tractors and knows all the different names (has for a while... Like over a year probably) I never thought I would know the difference between a front end loader, back hoe, skid loader, dump truck and fork lift. Or what the heck an excavator even is.
:: He continues to be the pickiest eater ever. I get so bored of going through the 4 things he will eat for every single meal. peanut butter sandwich, mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, toast, peanut butter sandwich, mac n cheese, nuggets, toast, repeat...
:: He has been interested in our "other names" lately. Every once in a while he'll get caught calling me Ally. The other day he asked if he could paint a picture for Wade (Grandpa). And he keeps asking us what everyone's other name is.
:: He is losing his baby fat (which makes me so sad!) It makes him look like a big kid!
:: He walks down, and sometimes up, the stairs like a big kid. None of this crawling down backwards business anymore!
:: He loves nursery and story time at the library. He's even starting to venture off from my side and sit with the other kids.
:: Owen is seriously such an easy going kid (well, usually. We all have our moments) we get comments everywhere we go about how well behaved he is.
:: He loves his routine. He asks me what we will be doing in the morning ("what we doing today, momma?") and then he'll repeat it all day long "breakfast, play with toys, library, nap, then go to Grandmas.."
:: Loves cleaning! Give him a wet rag and he can be entertained for hours!
Well there you have it! Owen is a real, bonafide kid lately and it blows my mind!
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