Gideon's 2nd Birthday

Gideon's 2nd birthday was Jan. 28th.  We had Grandparent and aunts over for the celebration.

He is not a cake fan so we make a chocolate cookie train.

The chocolate chip ice cream was his favorite

And he couldn't get enough of opening his presents. Alayna was a big help with the opening.

Last weekend we paint magnet/chalkboards in our kitchen. The kids love drawing.

Here is a picture of me and Gideon.  Alayna made sure Daddy drew the baby.

And then we have Daddy and Alayna.

This week the kids went outside to play and they took books with them.  Just makes the school teacher in me smile.

Playdough

Alayna got playdough and tools for Christmas.

We play with it almost everyday!

New Year's Eve (a little late)

Each New Year's Eve my Mom and Dad have a party at their house where we celebrate the New Year. We set the clock forward and at 8 pm (for the kids) we count down for the New Year.

Alayna loves the confetti and balloons.  Gideon was concerned why Grandma was letting everyone make a mess in her house.

We even dress for the party,  the noise makers were brought out long before "midnight".

We even had fireworks.  It was every cold for us Arizonans:)

David loved setting up the fireworks.

Polar Express

Monday night we rode the Polar Express in Williams, AZ. We got hot chocolate and cookies.
Alayna we disappointed that we did not get off at the North Pole:( But Santa did come on the train to give us bells.
We spent the night at David's Aunt and Uncle in Williams. There was snow, but it was hard and not fun to play in.

Christmas 2010

 Alayna got an early Christmas present from her Aunt Tracy, a kitten.

Gideon loved his tricycle.

Alayna just wanted to keep opening presents

Gideon got better at opening gifts as the morning went on.

Our family the Sunday before Christmas.  Alayna has a new dress from Grandmas Dent.

We made a Graham cracker gingerbread house.  The blue lake was Alayna's idea.

The kitten made it through the Holidays, which is amazing.  Gideon will hold it upside down and pull her by the tail, and Alayna never will let the kitten down.  Our little Duchess is a perfect cat for kids. 

As for David and I we got lots of fun stuff.  I got the DSLR Camera that I have been wanting.  And David got a gun.

Temple Lights

I love to go to the Mesa, AZ temple to see the Christmas lights.

We were at my sisters house in Mesa, so they watched the kids while we went to the temple.  We forgot our temple bags and David forgot his recommend, but we did get in to do initiatory work.  It sure is hard to get to the temple.  I am so glad that we made it, the Spirit was wonderful. We then went back to get the kids and see the lights.

Cutting down the Christmas Tree

As newlyweds we started a tradition to cut down our Christmas tree. Saturday we made the trip up north, and there was snow!!!

Alayna was so happy to be able to play in the snow.  She told us before we left that there would be snow.

The kids liked eating the snow.  The weather was nice, not too cold.

Of course we made a snowman, but the snow was a little icy for rolling the snow balls.

Gideon helped cut down the tree.

Our dog, Duke, even helped pull the tree back to the truck.  Until he got stuck, so it lasted all of 3 minutes. We had a fun adventures.  It is great making memories with the kids!

Our Kids

On Wednesday we found out that our Baby is a Girl. Alayna is an April baby, so I have all the girl stuff.

Gideon love to play with this toy.  Isn't he cute in his new sweater vest?

Miss Alayna, hmm, we love our big sister! She loves PJ's.

Coming Holidays

As we were leaving Wal-Mart today the store greeter gives the kids stickers and tells us when Santa will be visiting the store.  (He looked like he might be Santa:) So when we get to the car Alayna says that when we get home she is going to her room to play and wait for Santa.  Oh, how come the nice greeter had to talk about Santa?  A little pre-schooler has little concept of time and how long she will be waiting for Santa.

I won’t deny that I am excited for the coming holidays, but I am glad that I have two months to get ready.  One of my favorite holiday traditions is mailing and receiving cards.  I have always loved receiving any type of card in the mail.  There is something special about hearing from family and friends.

I love photo cards.  Shutterfly is a great site for creating photo cards.  This past year I used Shutterfly for making Mother’s and Father’s Day cards.  Which are now taped to Grandma's walls.

Here is the link for their holiday cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/

David is already planning our Christmas family photo, wow.  This is our cards from a few years ago.

I will be using this site for creating this year’s Christmas card: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

And in a few months when the baby comes, I probably will be using this link for my baby’s birth announcement. 

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birth-announcements

And that’s my little plug for Shutterfly’s photo cards:)

Arizona State Fair

We got to go to the fair this last week. Alayna loved the fair last year and really wanted to go again.

We rode the rides.

Went to the petting Zoo.

Played in a fun toddler zone where mommy rested.

 

 

After riding the Ferris Wheel Alayna told David, "That was Awesome!" 

We had a fun time and enjoyed the fair food a little too much, David is still talking about his funnel cake.

Siblings

It is so much fun watching these two play and work together. They have their moments, but at the end of it all I think that they might just really like each other.

Grandma and Grandpa's Ward Party

On Friday night we went to my parent's ward party. We went to David's parent's party the weekend before. We like Halloween parties.

Alayna got brave at the end of the night to go down the slide.

The Nerd and her dog.

The football player and train engineer.  The football player needs a Cheerleader, but I don't know if a pregnant cheerleader would be good:)

It was a perfect Arizona night.  And the kids got just the right about of candy from the Trunk or Treat. Alayna loved being with her cousins.

Where do you like to sleep?

This is where I found Alayna sleeping the other night when I got home from a RS meeting.