Merry Christmas!!

That went well :-)

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Catching Up

It has been a while since I last updated. Things have been crazy lately with the holidays. But the shopping is done and the gifts are wrapped and most of the parties are over so I have a few minutes.

First I'll start with Thanksgiving. We went to Prescott to celebrate it with Jeff's family. We had a yummy meal and an enjoyable time. It was also my birthday on Thanksgiving so we celebrated that too. On Thanksgiving night, Jeff left at midnight to get in line at Walmart for their black Friday sale. Oh the things my husband will do to get a deal, especially considering it was around 34 degrees. He was first in line and got some awesome deals. He was quite proud of himself.

When we got home from Prescott we decided to put up the Christmas decorations. The kids were so excited to help.

We are quickly outgrowing our house so this year we didn't have anywhere to put our gigantic tree. So we bought this tall, skinny tree. It hardly takes up any room and is pretty cute. Hopefully someday we will buy a bigger house so we can use our big tree again.

Leah loves the tree. We had to bolt it to the wall to keep her from pulling it over.

We have it decorated now too. I just haven't taken a picture yet.

Outside putting up the lights.

We also saw Santa Clause and played in fake snow at the Borgata in Scottsdale and we went Christmas Caroling at a nursing home with all of my extended family. My mom has the pictures of these events on her camera so hopefully I will get them and post them soon.

This week we are hoping to see Santa Clause at the mall and go to the Temple lights. I love this time of year. There are so many fun things to do.

First Steps

She's only 7 months old!!

Family Pictures

Every fall we take a family picture. This year we decided to be brave and attempt it ourselves. And amazingly, it turned out to be one of my favorites. Both kids behaved so well and we didn't even have any meltdowns!!

We also did the kids individual pictures. Leah loves the camera. That's why she has so many pictures. Brycen runs the other way when he sees a camera.

I also thought it would be fun to post all of our previous family pictures.

2004

2005

2006

2007

Halloween

The Pumpkins

An Elephant & A Peanut

The Candy!!

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Kristi. I'm so boring that I had to have Jeff help me come up with 7 interesting things. That's why it's taken me awhile to get this up. So here are 7 random and/or weird facts about me.

1. I absolutely despise talking on the phone. I avoid it at all costs. We have caller ID and I closely screen my calls so I don't have to talk on it more than necessary. Even worse is actually having to make a call. I would much rather email or text. I think it's hereditary because several other family members have "phone phobia" also.

2. I am extremely frugal (so is Jeff so we make a good match). I rarely pay full price for anything. I clip coupons, watch sales and buy clearance. If I'm making an expensive purchase I research it to death to make sure I'm getting the best deal possible. I feel guilty if I have to pay full price. It's actually really fun and rewarding when I go to the grocery store and buy $100 worth of groceries and only pay $25.

3. I love photography, especially taking pictures of my kids. My dream job was to be a photographer at Walmart when I was little. I'm hoping to be able to take a photography class once I no longer have a nursing baby that will let me leave the house for more than an hour or two.

4. I am a safety freak when it comes to my kids. Being a nurse, I always have the worst case scenario in my head and have seen so many things happen to others that could have been prevented, so I do my best to protect my kids. I am especially anal about car safety. I am very particular about how my kids' car seats are installed and used and my family thinks I'm crazy for it (I say the one who does the research makes the rules). I have done countless hours of research on child passenger safety and I have even thought about becoming a child passenger safety technician. "I'd rather be safe than sorry" is my motto.

5. I don't like to drive. I never have and don't think I ever will. I had never even driven on the freeway until I started nursing school and had to to get to school and different hospitals. I think it stems back to me being crazy about car safety.

6. My nickname is Pokey. My brothers gave me this name when we were younger after my mom ordered a huge box of imitation M&M's, called Pokies, from the Relief Society and I ate the whole box by myself before my mom could use them for baking cookies. Yummy!

7. I love candy. I crave it all the time especially when I am pregnant. When I go grocery shopping I have to purposely avoid the candy aisle or I would buy everything in sight. But even though I eat a lot of candy I'm lucky and have healthy teeth. Halloween is a very bad time of year for me. : )

I'm going to have to break the rules and not tag anyone back because I don't really have anyone to tag. Yeah, I'm lame. : )

Disneyland!!

We just got back from a fun filled week at Disneyland. We had a blast. Brycen loved it and is already asking to go back. His new favorite word is "Disneyland". Jeff (who hadn't been to Disneyland since he was 9 years old) had so much fun he is already planning a trip back next year.

Brycen and Camron so excited to go into Disneyland.

Riding Dumbo

Leah was so exhausted she fell asleep sitting up.

Soaked after riding the river rapids ride at California Adventure

Family picture in front of the waterfall

Brycen watching the parade.

Ready for another fun day.

In Toon Town

Brycen, Jeff & Grandpa riding the lady bugs in A Bug's Land.

By some cute Halloween decorations.

The only character picture we got. The lines were so long to take a picture it was crazy.

Taking a break. Brycen is sleeping in the stroller.

Showing off their souvenirs. Brycen got a Buzz Lightyear "helicopter" and Leah a Piglet.

Exhausted on the long drive home.

Photo Shoot

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday. She has been asking for an updated picture of the kids so I decided to be brave and attempt a photo shoot with both kids. I haven't done one recently because Brycen can't sit still for 2 seconds and I usually end up drenched in sweat and grumpy so it's not a very fun experience. This photo shoot was no different but we did end up with one half way decent picture (out of about 30). Brycen looks kind of goofy but my Mom loves it so I guess that's what counts.

Here are a couple outtakes that I thought were funny. Brycen is such a silly boy. It is definitely an adventure when doing a photo shoot with him. : )

(They are unedited so excuse the backgrounds.)

Solid Food

Leah is 5 1/2 months old now so we decided to give her a little taste of solid food. She has always been a voracious eater so it was no suprise that she loved it!! I couldn't get the spoon to her mouth fast enough and she kept trying to feed herself. It was so cute.

Trying to feed herself.

Licking every last bit off the bib.

Trying to drink out of a sippy cup.

Brycen wanted to wear a bib too. He even took a bite of her rice cereal. Yuck!

Bath Time

All clean!