Festival of Trees

We met up with Amber, Jaxon, and Dylan to visit the Festival of Trees. I have never been before... and it was really neat! I had no idea there was so much there. Lots of big trees, small trees, wreaths, elaborate gingerbread structures, quilts, dancing and singing performances, and even a boutique. We got discount tickets at Zions Bank, but I didn't mind paying a fee knowing that all the proceeds go to Primary Childrens. The trees were fun and creative and beautiful. It made me a little teary sometimes to see the pictures some of the decorators included in the tree displays in memory of lost loved ones especially the babies.

The girls look less than thrilled here, but it was at the end. Violet was a little under the weather that day and quite whiny, but she still seemed to enjoy looking at the trees. They all enjoyed the teen dance performances, especially Luke! He was pretty fascinated by the movement and shiny costumes, and was clapping throughout and at the end of the performances. It was hilarious. He even made some noises that I think he thought was cheering. Excited noises at least!
Cora and Violet was most fascinated by the several pink trees and also the tree displays that included toys, trains, and books. I think the Christmas wish lists grew longer as they looked!
They both said their favorite part was this dancing and singing Santa. He was pretty entertaining.

Christmas Decorating

I'm amazed at how much of a difference one year can make! The girls are even more excited about Christmas this year than last and can understand and participate more in our celebrating. It's a lot of fun! Decorating the Christmas tree was a highly anticipated event. Cora is even wanting to make a Christmas wish list for Santa.

Christmas decorating has been a drawn out event this year, starting with hanging garland about two weeks ago to putting the finishing touches on our decorative tree tonight. And now it's finally done! It's been fun! We decorated our main tree on Tuesday night. The girls were excited to open their early Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa. Luke was mostly just excited to examine the tag and shiny box, but I'm sure he'll appreciate his pjs and ornament later.

Christmas Cuties

Thanksgiving!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend!

Thursday morning Kevin was thrilled to be able to play football with some guys from our ward. It's been years since he's been able to do this, and he was pretty happy, even with single digit temperatures and some snow.
Then we headed to Grand America for Thanksgiving dinner. It was certainly a special treat. Besides being Thanksgiving, it was Kissie and Pata's anniversary-- what a way to celebrate! I had never been inside the hotel before, it was so fun to see all the Christmas decorations-- so beautiful.
The food was amazingly delicious and a huge variety. I loved the shrimp, lobster, turkey, braised ribs, chocolate fountain, pumpkin cheesecake... well, everything! It was nice to just eat and not prepare or clean-up :). They also had ice sculptures and live music, pretty fun.
It was also so nice to not worry about what the kids were or weren't eating. Isn't this kids buffet so cute? All at their eye level so they can pick exactly what they want. I think I'll be having flashbacks every time I'm hoisting Violet up while balancing a plate and trying to dish up at future buffets. The kids buffet was full of kid favorites, plus Thanksgiving staples, and candy was spread around inbetween the serving dishes as tasty decoration.

Violet, after a chocolate dessert

She loved the caramel apples, even more after we cut it up and she could actually fit some of it in her mouth!

The kids ate until they were stuffed! Even Luke! He went to town and probably ate as much as Cora and Violet did. I couldn't keep food on his plate, he was so quick. He loved the stuffing, turkey, fruit, jello, bread, macaroni and cheese, EVERYTHING. I was amazed, he ate way more than he does at home, I guess he liked the variety!

Cora especially loved the chance to love on Bailee after they finished eating.

The whole group!

We then went back to Kissie and Pata's house to visit, play games, and swim. Friday we saw Tangled, which was a family hit, and saw the lights turn on at Temple Square. We also lucked out and saw Alex Boye preform at Deseret Book. Kevin and Dad went to the BYU football fireside (hosted by my parents' stake) and said it was great. We played games until late (a new Dominion--fun!), and stayed the night. The next day was a Tai Pan trip and a mostly exciting but ultimately disappointing football game, which Kevin attended and survived, even sitting in the middle of the U section. Lastly, we put up our Christmas tree on Sunday.

Let the Christmas season begin!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Except, Luke's bubble might say 'What will happen if I throw the remote in the bathtub?' -- that was his experiment of choice last night!)

Shutterfly Christmas/Holiday Cards

I've been procrastinating a bit, but I'm about ready to start working on my Christmas cards this year! I usually look at Shutterfly.com for ideas on my Christmas cards, even if I end up making them myself. This year, I had a promo code for 6 free cards, and made up some Christmas ones with our new family photos. They turned out so cute! I think Shutterfly has lots of great options and cute layouts. This year, Shutterfly is giving out 50 free holiday cards to bloggers. That is an awesome deal! Especially if you are planning on getting cards, why not get them free? & it's super easy - you just have to upload your own photo. I've done books and cards with Shutterfly and have been really happy with the results. Plus, once you are on their email list, they send you promo codes for free things throughout the year, I get at least 3-4 deals a year this way-- more free cards, and even free books sometimes!

This card is one of my favorites....

but I love these flat stationary cards too...
& there's tons more. Hundreds, in fact! If you go HERE you can see what other Christmas cards they have. If you're want more HOLIDAY CARDS, they have those too.

They also have lots of other cute ideas, like Christmas labels. Go HERE to check them out. Check their website out, there's tons of fun Christmas gift ideas.

If you too want to get in on Shutterfly's craze & get 50 free holiday/christmas cards go HERE to sign up!

Job Description

Little Laundry Helper Luke

Mickey's Magical Journey

Violet is totally, utterly taken by Mickey Mouse. It's pretty much the only show she ever wants to watch. She'll sing the theme song around the house too. Cora absolutely loved Disney's Princesses on Ice last year, and whenever we drive downtown, she'll ask if we can drive by the building where she saw it. So it was pretty much a given that we needed to go to this year's presentation. Kissie came with us and we had a great girls afternoon out!
Violet sat enthralled the whole time with a fairly blank look on her face. No smiles, no clapping, just concentration. She lasted the whole show, which was so nice.

The "Under the Sea" dance

Cora wished there were a few more princesses, but had a good time as well. She was less mesmerized than last year and a bit more able to participate in the show.
It was a fun show. My favorite part was the Peter Pan part, where Peter, Wendy, and Tinkerbell
flew over the ice. Oh and the huge Ursula and huge crocodile that ate Captain Hook were pretty amazing too. I think we've now established a tradition, and we'll have to go next year!

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures taken this morning at Fotofly. I don't think I'll ever go anywhere else for family photos again! I LOVE the pictures, I LOVE the studio, I LOVE the fact that we came home right after the session with full copyrights and a cd of our edited pictures for only $69!! (I had a coupon, it's normally $79, still totally worth it!). If you go, tell them I sent you-- there's a referral program too!

Luke at 10 months

Luke is 10 months old!
Luke now has 4 teeth, and 2 more top ones are about to pop through... hopefully soon! We can see them, but they still have to get through his gums. I can also feel two more bottom teeth coming in too.
Luke loves to watch out the window. This is the only one he can access by himself. There's always a lot going on outside with the new house being built across the street from us.
Luke is interested in the stairs-- aggh! He can only climb up one step... so far. I don't take him upstairs too much anymore, because I have to shut him in a room and watch to make sure the girls don't leave the door open accidentally. I've already had to make one dive and grab his foot as he was about to go down. Never again!
Luke can pull to standing now and we're back to childproofing again, we've found it a necessary preventative to limit Luke's intake of crayons and puzzle pieces. He seems delighted to be able to see more of what is going on around him.
Luke is a sleeper! He takes two naps a day, about 1-2 hours each, and then sleeps from about 7pm-6:30am, waking up to eat once (usually, hopefully, just once!) around 10:00pm.

Luke loves bathtime and his favorite bath toy is a black and white striped ring. But he also loves chewing on foam princesses.
I finally bought a baby food grinder, and Luke is eating all kinds of things now, lots of baby food fruits and veggies, but also trying whatever we're eating, just the cut up or ground version.

Luke is a super fast crawler now, that's his primary mode of transportation.
Luke enjoys reading board books, especially turning the pages. We usually read a book before bed. He also thinks it's hilarious to kick the blanket off after I've tucked him he. As soon as I start tucking the blanket into the sides of the crib, he gets a huge grin on his face and start to kick. I know he's REALLY sleepy when he doesn't even try.
Luke is clapping now, we don't see it too often, but he sometimes claps when he sees other people clapping. And he usually claps when we feed him pears. They must taste delightful to him!
Luke is still a finger sucker. If he gets bonked, he starts to quiver and his face begins to melt and the fingers zoom into him mouth.

Luke is an inquisitive, fast-moving, still cuddly baby... quickly turning into a little boy. He gives huge smiles, loves his sisters, and is interested in exploring all the world around him. He's usually very patient and an easy-going baby, even pretty flexible with his naps.
We sure love him!