Christmas!!!

This year was so much fun because Kaley is old enough to understand and get excited for Christmas.  It was so cute to see the excitement and anticipation.  She set out cookies for Santa and since we didn't have any carrots we set out lettuce for the reindeer.  She colored a picture for Santa and across the top she wrote her letter.  :-)  Christmas morning came and she was so excited when she saw that Santa and the Reindeer had eaten the treats and took her letter.  She got what she wanted (a toy kitchen) and loved opening presents.  Celebrating Christmas through the eyes of a child makes it so special!  

We do what many people do on Christmas Eve...

We open pajamas!

This is Kaley on Christmas day playing dress-up with the gifts from Grammy.

Tyler learned how to sit up on Christmas day!  Merry Christmas to Mom!!! :-)

Cookies for Santa!

So this year I decided it would be fun to have Kaley make some cookies for Santa now that she is old enough to help.  Since she is allergic to eggs, making cookies doesn't really happen that often, but I found a recipe for "Melt in Your Mouth Butter Cookies"(with no eggs) and they turned out to be quite good.  I wasn't sure if she would like making cookies or that she would stay with it the whole time, but it turned out that she LOVED it!!! Much more than I thought she would and she was so excited the whole time!  Every couple of minutes she would go over to the oven and ask if they were done.  This is something that we may have to start doing every year.  

This is the best part!!!  YUM!

She loved frosting the cookies and she was actually pretty good at it for being two years old.

Having fun!

This was the finished product.  (I helped frost some too.)

And of course you've got to see how they turned out!  :-)

Milestone

Tyler started solids today.  It was a huge success!  He loved the cereal.  He is a good eater which is very nice.

"Timber!!!"

Tyler likes to lay by the tree.  He likes looking at the lights and likes to try to reach the ornaments.  Well, while I was in the kitchen I guess he had scooted himself over (which I didn't know he could do) just enough to barely reach the bottom row of lights and pulled.  When I looked up, I saw this...

Yikes!!!  He had pulled hard enough to make it lean like this.  To this day, I still have no idea how he was strong enough to do that or how it tipped.  Luckily, it didn't fall completely over.  :-P 

We couldn't get it to stand straight in the stand after that so we had to anchor it to the wall.  :-)

 

Charlie Brown

We found this picture the other day and showed it to Kaley.  We asked her who it was and she said: 

"That's Kaley!" 

"That's right." We said

Then there was a short pause and she looked again and said: 

"It's Charlie Brown!!!"

It was so cute and so funny!  

Kaley is growing up so fast.  It is definitely bitter sweet.  It's fun to see her grow and change, but at the same time it seems like it is going so fast and I sometimes I wish I could slow down time and hold on to her like this forever.  She is at such a cute age (2 1/2).  She has this cute little voice and is always saying the funniest thing.  She definitely has her moments, but she is also the sweetest little girl.  Most mornings when she gets up she says: "Oh Mommy, I love you!" And she gives me a hug while saying it.  She will say she loves us throughout the day.  She loves to be held and to cuddle.  She loves to dance and to sing songs and has started playing the piano and is so proud of herself.  We love her so much and are so grateful to have her!  

Movie Night!

We went and bought the movie "The Polar Express" tonight.  We thought that Kaley would like it and she did!!!  She LOVED it!!!  That was the only thing she wanted to watch for the next several days.  It was cute to see her with her popcorn and drink watching the movie.  Life's simple pleasures.  :-)

Temple Square

This is our visit to Temple Square to see the lights.  It was COLD, but we had fun.  We went with my sister-in-law and her husband (Kim and Bryan).  Kaley loved seeing all the lights and the temple.  Everything was so beautiful!

    

This nativity was right in the middle of the Reflecting Pond.  I had never see that before and I thought it was gorgeous!

Kaley looking at the lights with Kim.

Kaley with Kim and Bryan.

Love Them!

These pictures don't do these lights justice.  They were very bright and there were so many!

Richard took this picture of the temple and I thought it turned out really cool.  This temple is so beautiful!

A Day With Grandparents

My dad came up from Las Vegas this weekend and we had a lot of fun.  We went up to Alpine where my grandparents (my dad's parents) live and Tyler got to swing for the first time!  As you can see, he loved it!!!  Later that day, we went out to eat at a Chinese buffet (yum yum) and then we went to Cabela's.  This was our first time at Cabela's and it was pretty neat.  They have a small aquarium with fish which Kaley loved and they have a little museum of animals that you can look at.  It was a fun day and it was good to see Grandpa Healey.

Grandpa Healey and Kaley.  She still loves swinging!  What kid doesn't.  

My grandparents have this huge tree in their yard which is great for climbing and sitting on.  :-)

We had a little issue with the sun which Tyler didn't like, but here we are anyway.  :-)

Kaley

Kaley came walking in from the other room and I looked at her feet and this is what I saw...

The funny part was that she thought it was completely normal and didn't really think anything of it until we started laughing. She is so cute and I love all the funny little things that she does.

Then...

later that night she went into the bathroom and decided that she wanted to be just like daddy. She took his razor and shaved her lip like she has watched him do many times. She even completed the process by nicking herself a little (just like daddy-- sometimes). :-)

Tyler at Four Months Old

His smile melts my heart!

Peek-a-Boo.

I absolutely LOVE his cheeks!

He is such a happy boy!

Happy Halloween!!!

I LOVE Halloween and we had a great time this year!

We went to my mom's trunk-or-treat a few days before Halloween. There was dinner and a magician that performed and of course the trunk-or-treating.

I am not the most crafty person, but I have to brag a little about Kaley's costume. The tutu and the matching hat were easy and fun to make and I think they turned out really cute. :-)

Posing for the camera before Trick-Or-Treating.


We took Kaley to the mall to trick-or-treat again this year. It was VERY crowded which made it a little stressful and not very much fun so we went home and took her around the neighborhood which she loved! She didn't want to stop!

She's trying to be a good sport.

Tyler was just enjoying the ride.

Kaley found this and put it on before she went to bed. It was pretty funny.

Burger anyone?

Carving Pumpkins!

Carving Pumpkins was fun this year. It was a little challenging with two tired little kids so we did it over two nights. Kaley really liked coloring on her pumpkin and also liked using the pumpkin carving knife. :-)

Hard at work with her pumpkin. She loves to color. She is quite the little artist.

"Yes!!!"

We were a little nervous about her using the pumpkin carving knife, but it wasn't too sharp and she didn't lose any fingers. :-)

This was the end of day one. Tyler had had enough of pumpkin carving for one night.

(Richard brought this hat down from upstairs and stuck it on his head. It was pretty cute.)

The next day was more successful and the kids weren't quite as tired.

The pumpkins turned out great!

(From left to right: Mom's, Kaley's, Dad's, Tyler's)