Utah Fun

 While we were in UT, we went back to BYU to visit some of our favorite spots--The Creamery, the Tanner Building, and the Bean Museum.

 We also got to meet the kids new cousin.  Bean spent a lot of time trying to make her laugh.

 And Baby AJ loved it.  We had a great visit with my brother and his wife and this sweet little girl.  (Although I still think its a little unfair that they got such an easy going baby this first go around.)

 We also spent a morning at the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum.

 These two dino loving kids were in heaven.

 And it was fun to meet up with some friends there.  My old roommate, R and her three girls braved the slushy weather to come with us.  They ended up being the only friends we got to see--its just so hard to juggle seeing family and the weather and kids who are a little tired from all the travel.  But we're glad we got to see who we did.

And finally, this shot of Bugaboo was too funny.  We had a lot of Christmases on this trip--this was round three--and for some reason, he decided that he wanted to open his presents under this bench.  There's really no explaining this kid.

Arches National Park

 Even though we had a pretty full day driving from NM  to UT, we made a short stop at Arches.

 We made it just in time to get to Delicate Arch before the sunset. 

It is such a beautiful place--we hope we can get back here with more time to hike when the kids are a little older.

Christmas Day

 Big crowd means big piles uinder the tree.

 Gratitude--the kids did such a great job picking out gifts for each other this year and both were very appreciative of the other's efforts.

 Santa was good. . .

 which left two happy kids.

And the weather was perfect!  Bean was a little dissappointed that we didn't get a white Christmas, especially when she heard that NC was getting snow today, but we were pretty happy with the 45 degrees and warm sunshine.  It's nice to get outside with the new toys.

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas full of lots of family, friends, and fun.  We've had a great day full of lots of fun surprises. I need to go back and post a few pictures from the last few days, but wanted to share our Christmas news.  Apparently no one in our family is terribly good at guessing because to our surprise, we're going to have a BOY!  We're all excited and getting used to the idea that this isn't a girl.

Merry Christmas everyone!

On the Road Again

Between Memphis and Oklahoma City:

Great weather!  Warmest day we've seen in a few weeks.  That's my idea of how to celebrate Winter Solstice.

Got to cross the Mississippi (and some of us learned how to spell it today).  That was a first for the kids and I.  Pretty exciting stuff--feels like a lifelong goal has finally been met.

Spent a couple hours counting the FedEx trucks between Memphis and Little Rock (35) and counted the UPS just for a comparison (25).

Kids have managed to only watch between 1 and 1.5 hours of movies each day--I can't believe how well they've done on this trip so far!

Got to swim at the hotel today--pretty exciting moment.  Even better than jumping on the hotel beds.  And they got to be loud for an hour.  That's probably the hardest part of going from car to hotel room 2 days in a row.

And only one day left to go!

One Day Down

We made it to Memphis today--and it wasn't near as bad of a drive as I was planning for.  We had great weather, saw some pretty sights, kids did really well, and didn't even spend the whole day watching movies.  I'm feeling hopeful for this trip, although my sinuses have been hurting all day, so we may end up making an extended stop at an Urgent Care facility before we reach our destination.

(Picture coming when I remember to bring the camera and cord into the hotel.)

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been a bit of a whirlwind the last week or two.  We've been getting ready for Christmas and our big excursion.  We've gone a bit crazy and decided to drive to New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado over the holidays, so starting tomorrow, we'll be spending 3 days straight in the car.  Sounds fun?  I'm sure you all wish you were traveling with us.

But in the past couple weeks, we've also done plenty of Christmasy type things:

Our neighbors hosted their annual neighborhood Christmas brunch which we always forward to--its so fun to get together with all the people who we don't see much of once the weather turns cold.

Watched several Christmas movies with the kids, including watching Rudolph with our neighbors.

Went to our church Christmas dinner, which had several crafts for the kids to do--they were in heaven.

Made Christmas cards with the kids for their teachers and friends one day when they'd stayed home sick.  We've been fighting our third cold since the beginning of November and I'm getting really tired of being sick.

Finished up the Christmas shopping and wrapping--its so nice to be DONE a week before Christmas!

Delivered Christmas goodies to a few families we know--it was probably the coldest night of the year, but we had fun spending a couple hours visiting with people and no ones fingers froze.

Attempted to make fudge for before mentioned deliveries.  Instead we ended up with a pan of soft chocolate that we learned makes incredibly good hot chocolate and had to substitute with plates of mostly store bought cookies.  It's the thought that counts, right?

Had the Christmas musical program at church--one of my favorite weeks of the year and the choir did a really great job this year.

Finished up the charity shopping and dropping off--I think the kid's favorite was dropping the Toys for Tots at the fire station since they got to climb on one of the firetrucks while we were there.

And mixed in with all the Christmas stuff--we had our ultrasound Monday.  The little peanut looks healthy and is measuring right on schedule (this is my first that wasn't measuring big, so I'm trying to get in the mind frame that I may actually make it until my due date this time instead of having the baby early.)  And the sex is still a mystery.  But we did have the technician check and currently have the tell-tale picture in a sealed and stapled envelope (and she even put sticky notes on each side of the picture so there's no use holding it up to the light--she has developed a whole system to keep people from cheating.)  Our current plan is to open it on Christmas, but Daddy-o still mentions that we could just lose the envelope so we'll see what happens.

The Cat in the Hat

 Bean had her first school performance tonight.  Her class did a short version of The Cat in the Hat and she got to be the cat for the second half.

It was hard to hear the kids, but she sounded like she remembered all her lines and afterwards, came running over to us declaring, "That was great!  I loved it!"  Guess she didn't get her mama's stage fright.

Christmas Card Attempts

 I have been wanting to do Christmas cards for weeks now, but I don't think we had a single picture of the 4 of us together from this last year.  And we kept planning to take a picture before this event or that, but its never happened.  Getting 4 of us dressed, in one place, and happy all at the same time has been a challenge.  So tonight, I was taking pictures of the kids in their Christmas pj's in front of the tree and decided that we should all get in pj's and do that as a pic for our card.

 We managed to get one (minus the dog--she wasn't too sure about what we were doing, but she didn't like being told where to sit), but I think these are a lot funnier.

Now if I can just get them all addressed in the next week or so!

Church Nativity Festival

 Every year, our church hosts a community nativity festival.  They have nativities from all over the world (loaned from various people) on display, as well as pictures and paintigs and wall hangings.  This year, they also had about 50 costumes to dress up in and a beautiful nativity display set up in one of the rooms.

 Bean, the wise man.

 Buggy of course wanted to be the donkey.  We realized the other day that he's forgotten how to make his realistic donkey sound that he's been doing for years.  It's a little sad, although tonight he finally got it back with some coaching.

They also had a craft room where they got to make a small manger with a swaddled baby Jesus in it and do some coloring.  The kids could have stayed in here all night.  Daddy-o and I took turns going back in to listen to the choir and look at all the nativities.

Wintery Mix

"40% chance doesn't always mean yes, but today it does!"  Bean

It was only flurries, but we got a little snow today!  Actually, later on, we had flurries, sleet, and hail that piled up on the roof and deck.  I guess that's what they call a wintery mix.

Christmas Celebrations Begin

 The season has begun!
 After such a beautiful, WARM fall, the temperatures have dropped (the low has dipped into the 20's a couple times in the last few days--which is feeling chilly to us, even if most of the country has been colder.)  Just in time for us to get bundled up for the Uptown Christmas tree lighting.

And of course we had to make a stop at our favorite bear orchestra in Founder's Hall. Daddy-o met us there after work so we could grab some pizza before heading out for the tree lighting and singing and dancing.

 

 

 

And if there was any question about how the kids liked the evening, this face says it all:

 

Winter Ball

 Bean's school had a family dance, so we got all dressed up for the party.

 As soon as we walked through the door, Bean was dancing and she didn't stop moving all night.

 This little man took a little longer to warm up.  Apparently he thought there would be games at the "ball" and was a little dissappointed when we got there, but he got over it after awhile. 

 He joined in with Bean and all the ladies despite being tired.

 There goes the train.

More classmates.  As hesitant as we've been about this school, it is fun to see Bean with her friends.

Old Posts Going Up

Just a note--I'm trying to catch up from the last couple months, so there are new posts going up all the way back to the middle of Oct.  Sorry that you'll have to hunt for them if you want to see them, but I wanted them in order of when stuff happened.  (And I wanted those of you who look at this blog through a reader to know why you weren't seeing the posts that it says are new.)

Feel free to keep reading as normal if you don't want to hunt around!  I'm hoping that I'll keep feeling better, and be able to keep up from now on.

More Vacation Fun

 Even though our Thanksgiving wasn't entirely tradtional, we couldn't skip the pie.  Actually, we had a turkey dinner, too.  We found a Habitat for Humanity fundraiser at a restuarant in Destin, FL where they served up plates of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, and cornbread stuffing (I love that in the south, that's the standard, since that's what I grew up eating, too, and I'm always dissappointed at Thanksgivings with white bread stuffing).  So we mostly just skipped the full day in the kitchen cooking all the food, but still got to eat our Thanksgiving feast.

 On Saturday, the weather had cooled down a little too much for the beach, so we headed to a miniature golf course.  I couldn't believe the kids lasted as long as they did.  Buggy lost it about 4 holes before the end, but Bean played the whole thing.

 Buggy's hockey stance.

 Bean concentrating on the hole.

 This course was very pretty and tropical feeling.

And the kids played a lot of Uno.  The adults never made it around to playing any games.  Actually, by the time we got the kids to bed each night, we were all pretty wiped out and usually started falling asleep on the couch not long after.  But we had a fun time--Daddy-o and his friend have known each other for about 15 years now and it was fun to hear the old stories and get caught up.

 And lest anyone think we had too perfect of a trip--there was plenty of this

and this as well.  Especially a couple days in when no one had gotten enough sleep and things weren't so new and exciting anymore.  But it wouldn't be a family trip without a few tantrums, right? 

And the best part--the 9.5 hour drive each way didn't kill us.  There may be hope for our crazy Christmas plans after all. . .

Beach Fun

 What is better than pictures by the Christmas tree in your swim suit?

 I am officially in love with the town of Seaside.  It's only a little over 1000 people, lots of little restaurants on the beach (including several really cute Airstream trailer stands lined up along the town square),town festivals, streets of big southern houses with huge porches.  Too bad they all cost over $1,000,000 or I'd be ready to move.

 And the gulf turned out to be great.  I'd never been before and wasn 't sure what to expect, but the beaches were gorgeous with soft, white sand.  Not as many shells as the kids like (but that means less for us to bring home.  I'm not complaining.)  And the water was still warm enough to get in, although it reminded me a lot more of San Diego than our experiences on the east coast, but that's not bad for the end of November.

The kids didn't mind at all.

 And of course they had to build a sandcastle. 

 And Buggy wanted to be turned into a T-Rex.

 And a mermaid.

 There may not have been a lot of shells, but we saw several of these blue  Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish washed up.  Little scary since that means they're in the water, too, but we just had to hope they don't come in close to the shore until they're dead.

 Part of the fun adventure--our condo was across a small lake from the beach so the first day, we took a couple canoes to get to the beach.

The kids loved it.