Family Photos

We had a guy in our ward (Zack Cameron) take some family photos of us the first Saturday in December. I went through them quickly and picked out a few for our Christmas card early in December, but I didn't really have time to take a good look at all of them until today. I love how they turned out and couldn't resist sharing a few of my favorites.

These first 3 are the ones I used for our card.







Another pretty good group shot. We had to settle for everyone looking at the camera. Smiles are harder to come by.



A fun candid moment.



He took some individual ones of us while he was at it.



This piece of wood doubled as a sword for Corbyn and a princess wand for Peyton.



I love, love, love these ones of Rog and his kids. Best dad ever!





Of course the real star of the show was our little Peyton girl.







I sure love this little family of ours!

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

We've had a busy month celebrating and enjoying the Christmas season. Corbyn has been eating it all up and loving every minute of it.

*Putting up the lights.



*Picking out our tree for FHE. Santa and Mrs. Claus just so happened to be there.



*Decorating the tree.







*Eating tortilla snowflakes at play group.



*Shopping for gifts for dad at the BYU Bookstore (Cosmo's house as Corbyn likes to call it) and then spreading holiday cheer at the BYU duck pond on a warm-before-the-storm day.



*Attending Rog's work Christmas party. Grandma Lori and Papa George watched Corbyn and Peyton for us. Grandma came prepared with a new Play-Doh set - lucky kid!



*Attending our ward Christmas party. Corbyn didn't want anything to do with Santa although he loves seeing Santa from a distance and talking about him.



*Seeing the lights on Temple Square and City Creek.



*Making peppermint rice krispie treats for FHE.



*Driving through the Spanish Fork Festival of Lights.



*Sending out Christmas cards.



*Passing out neighbor gifts - Garlic Bread Seasoning.



We really have been "simply having a wonderful Christmas time!"

3 Exciting Things

1. Rog was accepted to the University of Utah's MBA/MHA program with a significant scholarship. While the thought of him attending the U makes both of us shutter, we feel like this is the right program to take him where he wants to go. And the scholarship doesn't hurt either.



2. Bill and Mariah welcomed little Charlotte Teresa to their family today. It was a long, challenging journey for them to get her here. We couldn't be happier for them!



3. After a few weeks of many late nights, a dirty house, and a very neglected blog, I am finally ready for Christmas. The presents have been purchased, the homemade gifts have been made, and most amazingly, the stockings are ready to be filled. (I really didn't think that last one was going to happen.) I am so ready to relax and enjoy Christmas. (And hopefully catch up on missed sleep - I'm really tired!)

Thanksgiving Dinner

I saw a commercial that said Thanksgiving dinner is the most anticipated meal of the year. I couldn't agree more. And as such, I want to remember what I served my first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner.

Appetizers

Knorr Spinach Dip
Cheeseball (made by Diana)



Main Meal

Turkey and Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
World's Best Dinner Rolls with Cinnamon Butter
Stuffing (made by my Grandma Ford)
Cranberry Sauce
Yam and Apple Casserole (made by my mom)



Cranberry Punch
(I had to get this recipe from Roger's cousin, Kathy. It is crazy good and I can't imagine Thanksgiving dinner without it!)

4 cups cranberry juice
4 cups pineapple juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp almond extract
2 quarts ginger ale

Mix all but ginger ale together. Add ginger ale when ready to serve. Use frozen cranberries instead of ice to keep it cold.

Dessert

Blueberry Pie (made by Mariah)
Pecan Pie Bites (made by Mariah)
Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes
Pumpkin Pie (from Costco)
Double Cream Blueberry Pie (from Marie Callender's)

I think it was a successful first attempt at the most anticipated meal of the year!

Too Fast

These kids of mine are growing up too fast!

About a week before Thanksgiving, Corbyn figured out how to get in/out of Peyton's crib. It didn't take him long at all to figure out that he could also get in/out of his own crib.



He could get out safely, so we weren't in a huge hurry to make his crib a big boy bed. When we took the side off, Corbyn thought it made a pretty nifty ladder.



Most nights he is so exhausted from not taking a nap during the day, he crashes the instant we put him to bed. If he does take a nap (happens about once a week), he might get out of bed once or twice, but usually he does great. I'm so glad we didn't force him out of his crib when Peyton was born! The transition from crib to bed has gone so smoothly - I know it's because we did it on his timing and not ours.



I was worried that he would fall out of bed, so I put our pack 'n play matrress next to his bed to soften the fall if he did. If he has fallen out, he hasn't made a big deal out of it. One night when I checked on him, I found him like this. Too cute!



The same day we took the side off Corbyn's crib, we got out the dreaded baby gate for Peyton. It seems like it took Corbyn a long time to figure out how to crawl and when he did he didn't have particularly good form for quite some time. Not Peyton, she just knew how to do it. At 6 1/2 months, she was already crawling like a pro.

(Excuse the naked little stripper boy in this video. Rest assured, you can't see anything or I wouldn't be posting it!)



She likes crawling, but her favorite thing ever is pulling herself up to standing.



She loves crawling over to the tub and watching Corbyn take his bath after I've wrestled her diaper on her.



Actually she just loves watching him do whatever it is he's doing and standing up makes that so much easier for her!



We're betting she'll also be walking before Corbyn did and he was an early walker at 11 months. Only time will tell, but she's definitely headed in that direction.

So would someone tell these kids to stop growing up so fast! Please!

7 Months

PJ at 7 months:

*Crawls like a pro.
*Pulls herself up to standing on anything and everything.
*Loves puffs and any table food we dare to give her. Tolerates baby food.
*Is transitioning to only 2 naps a day.
*Hates being put in her car seat - especially if we're doing errands and she is being taken out and put back in over and over again.
*Doesn't like to sit still to have her diaper changed or be dressed. The wrestling match diaper changes have begun! Oh joy!
*Babbles mamama and dadadada.
*Hates to have her nose wiped.
*Loves sucking on toothbrushes - especially Corbyn's because his have the good tasting toothpaste on them.
*Loves to suck on paper if she can get her hands on it. When I'm grocery shopping she is constantly trying to steal my list from me.
*Doesn't like when I walk out of her sight.
*Puts up with a lot of rough loving from her brother.







Oh Peyton, we love you and your little crawling self.