Saying Goodbye

January started out on a bit of a sad note for us. Ross's younger brother, Kyle has decided to go back to school at LSU. So the night before they left, we went to his Mom's house for a farewell dinner.

It has been so fun for us to have Kyle, Amy and Jackson so close! Ross and Kyle have been able to do so much together. We've also done a lot of fun things as couples. Amy and I get along together really well and have been able to bond as we have gone through our pregnancies and had babies so close together. And it has been so fun to see Leah and Jackson grow and interact together.

It was really sad to see them go, but we are glad that their little family gets to go on to such a fun new adventure together. We miss you guys!!!

Of course we had to get some pictures before they left. Here's the mommies and the babies...and the daddies and the babies...
Such cute little babies. Look, they're holding hands!
And here's the babies and the Grandma...
It took them about a week to drive all the way to Baton Rouge Louisiana. But we hear they had a pretty good trip. Ross's mom went with them to help out. And Jackson did pretty good for being in the car so much each day. They traveled through five states, visited five national parks, and got to stop and visit with their sister, Kaye, and her family along the way. All of their stuff arrived ok also and they were able to get it all moved in. We hope they have a lot of fun in Louisiana! And good luck with school, Kyle! Come back and visit soon.

Christmas Break

This Christmas break was the best one that I've had in a long time! I didn't have to work. Ross didn't have to work. And we were able to spend a lot of time sleeping in and spending time together and with family and friends.

The first surprise of the break came on Tuesday the 21st of December when I woke up around 9:30 am surprised to see Ross standing in our bedroom. There had been a snow storm that hit the area pretty hard and the district had decided to cancel school for the day, so Ross got to start his Christmas break a day early.

The next big surprise came a couple days later when an old friend of mine, Mandy, showed up unexpectedly at our house. Mandy and I know each other from our CEU days. She and Lesley played basketball together for CEU, plus Mandy and I were in the same student ward (she was also my very first visiting teaching companion). Anyway, we had lost touch for the past few years and were able to connect again recently via email. She was in town for the Christmas break and decided to make a visit. I'm so glad she did! On the Monday after Christmas Mandy, Lesley and I were able to meet up and go to lunch together. It was so fun to get together again like old times! Here is a picture of us at he Thai restaurant that we ended up eating at.

During the week after Christmas we decided to go spend a couple days at my parents house. It snowed most of the time we were there so we didn't end up doing as much as we thought we would, but it was still fun.

On Thursday, Ross met up with his brothers for a "guy's day" since Kyle would be moving to Louisiana soon. They ate lunch at Tucano's and then when to see "True Grit" - a lunch full of meats and a remake of a John Wayne movie, what can be more manly than that?

One of the nights we were at my parents' house my brother took his wife out for her birthday, so my parents kept their kids overnight. So Leah got to have a slumber party with her cousins. Here she is with the other two babies that were born in 2010.The four kids just before bed time (actually this was probably taken well past bed time).

We also got to visit with the Turner's one evening during the break. We really enjoyed being able to spend some time with them. Being back in their home during the holidays felt just like old times.

Here are a couple of pictures we got of Hannah and Leah together while we were there. A couple of cuties.

It was so fun to have Lesley, Brian and Hannah back in town for the holidays. We didn't get to see them as much as I would have liked to, but we were still able to treasure the time we did have together. Hannah really liked Leah, whenever she saw her she would point to her and say, "Baby, Baby." Hopefully next time they are together Leah will be better at playing with her.

For New Year's Eve we were supposed to have dinner with Lesley's siblings, but the snow storms made the roads too dangerous to travel to her sister's house. So we missed out on spending time with them. We did go to Ross's mom's house to spend New Year's Eve with her, Kyle, Amy and Jackson. We ate pizza, played some games and went to bed right after midnight. The next day, more family members arrived so we could have the Leslie's traditional New Year's grilled salmon dinner (and steak for those of us who don't eat fish).

On the Monday after New Year's we went to say goodbye to Lesley, Brian and Hannah since they would be flying back to San Jose the next day. It was sad to have them leave again, but so nice to have them here for a little while. Here's some pictures we took that night...

But like all good things, this Christmas break went way too fast and now we are adjusting back to real life in 2011. I hope this year is as good for our family as 2010 was!

Christmas Day

I think we had a pretty successful 1st Christmas for our little Leah. It was so fun buying stuff for a little baby this year. She is still too little to really understand what's going on, but it was fun for Ross and I to help her open presents. She wasn't really into opening the gifts. We tried to show her how to rip and tear the paper, but she mostly wanted to just eat it. She was good at playing with things after they were opened though.Before going to bed on Christmas Eve we read "The Animals' Christmas Eve" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." A sister in our ward had shared her tradition of getting a family Christmas book to read together each year. We decided we would start that too. We ended up with two books this year, but that's OK! We also read the account of Christ's birth in "The Book of Mormon."

We have been fortunate to be able to enjoy Christmas morning at our own house each year since we've been married. This is something we really enjoy - being able to relax and enjoy the morning in our own home doing things at our own pace, plus we don't have to haul presents all over. After a yummy Christmas breakfast and a nap for me and Leah, we did go up to my parents' house in the afternoon so that we could enjoy some of the day with them too. Here's Daddy and Baby with their presents...

Overall we had a pretty simple Christmas, but that kept it from being too stressful. I like it that way. Here we are after opening our presents...

As you can see, Leah got a high chair and an Exersaucer for Christmas. I think these gifts have been for Ross and I as much as they were for her. Having a high chair has made feeding her and dinnertime for us SO much easier! And the Exersauser has been WONDERFUL! She loves to play in it and it helps keep her entertained while we try to get stuff done. Both have been great investments already.

Look at this huge smile! This gift was definitely a winner!!!

We actually put this Exersaucer together on the 23rd of December because we knew we would be gone most of the day on the 24th and we didn't want to be up all night putting it together for Christmas. So we let her try it out after we got it together. Here is a great video of her reaction that night...

Leah at 7 Months

On Christmas Day our little Leah turned 7 months old. She seems to be getting more and more personality every day!

Here's what she's up to:

- eats rice cereal and baby food for dinner and loves it!

- a pretty steady sitter

- rolls all the way over (but still just in one direction)

- grabs everything she can get her hands on

- loves playing in her new Exersaucer (jumper)
- smiles a lot

- her hair is long enough now that it likes to get fuzzy and stand straight up all the time

Here's a few more pictures of our little cutie!

Family Christmas Parties

We had a few more family Christmas parties in December. First was the Tucker Christmas party with my Grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids. It's always crazy when we all get together but I think a pretty good time was had by all. My family was in charge this year and we decided to bring back our Nativity tradition with the great-grandkids. I thought they did pretty good for their first time. Afterwards we opened some presents from Grandma and then played some "Minute To Win It" games. I was organizing the games and running the timer so I didn't get any pictures with our camera, darn it. But if I had there would have been some good pictures of some crazy antics. We ended the night playing a blindfolded tag game. That was pretty crazy too!

The Sunday before Christmas we had a family party at my parents' house with my siblings. We had a great dinner (as usual) and then exchanged gifts. My parents always put together a special gift for each of us to open. This year they gave each of us (including the babies) a copy of "The Book of Mormon" with their testimony in it. They also gave us bookmarks that looked like round-trip train tickets back to our Heavenly Father that reminded us to "Believe" (kind of like in "The Polar Express" but this was to believe in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ). They also gave each of us bells like the one in "The Polar Express" to remind us to believe in our Heavenly Father. Leah loves her bell and shakes it all over when we let her play with it. I'm surprised she hasn't whacked herself in the head with it yet! Lyndsee was able to get each of the kids a pair of sunglasses. Here is Leah sporting hers...

We tried to get all of the kids to wear theirs together for a picture. With the little babies constantly trying to take theirs off, this is the best we could do. But Kaylynn's smile is so cute here that it makes up for her taking off her glasses just before the picture was taken!

On Christmas Eve we went to Ross's mom's house for a Leslie family party with his siblings. After a yummy Italian themed dinner, we did the Nativity and then exchanged gifts. Tamaran's family even joined us on the computer via Skype for the gift exchange. It was fun to be able to see and talk with them.

The battery on our camera died during our reenactment of the Nativity, so here are the pictures I was able to get...

Mary, Joseph and a very handsome Innkeeper...

The Shepherds, including a cute little pink lamb...

The Angel announcing the birth...

And a very cute and happy Baby Jesus...

I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the Wise Men in their pimpin' costumes! There's nothing quite like seeing Kyle and Don sporting their pink and purple robes!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our favorite little elf!!!

My Birthday

Saturday was my birthday and it was a great day. I got to spend it with two of my favorite people...my wonderful husband and my beautiful daughter! We went to see "Tangled" (Loved it!), went out to eat and saw the "Festival of Lights" in Spanish Fork. One of the best parts of the day was went Ross took care of Leah so I could have a baby-free nap! I also got lots of phone calls, texts, emails, cards and Facebook posts all wishing me a happy birthday. Thanks everyone!Isn't she so cute!

Here I am with a couple of my gifts...

For the rest of this post I took an idea I got from my sister-in-law. Since I just turned 33, I decided to post 33 random things about me. If you want to know a little more about me, read on...

1. I am the oldest of 5 children.
2. I am the favorite grandchild (don't believe me? just ask my grandparents!).
3. I'm also the favorite child (you could ask my parents, but they'll deny it because they don't want the others to feel bad).
4. My favorite color is green.
5. I love caramel. Caramel popcorn is a particular weakness of mine.
6. I like to eat vegetables raw - not cooked.
7. I do NOT eat seafood at all! (YUCK)
8. My last name is my best friend's first name (just spelled different).
9. Ross and I were set up on our first date by our bishop's wife and the 1st counselor's wife as part of our single ward's dating class.
10. I played volleyball in high school, on a club team and for the College of Eastern Utah (CEU).
11. I took dance lessons from the time I was 3 until I was 18.
12. I was in the Acting Company in junior high (though now I wonder WHY?-I hate acting).
13. I have read all the Harry Potter books at least once and have seen all but the latest movie.
14. I have not read any of the Eclipse books. I have not seen any of the movies either. And I have absolutely no desire to!
15. I love to put together puzzles.
16. I have spent about half of my life living in blue houses.
17. I do not like running.
18. I love to travel - especially if it involves an airplane.
19. Summer is my favorite season. I love it when it gets hot!
20. My childhood nick names were Cyssi and Doodles.
21. I love to watch "The Amazing Race."
22. I love to play games.
23. I have a bachelors degree from BYU.
24. I like to watch "Wizards of Waverly Place."
25. I like to watch shows on TLC especially "19 Kids and Counting."
26. Worms freak me out!
27. In junior high I took French classes. I learned Spanish in high school, sign language at CEU and Thai at BYU. Sadly, I'm not fluent in any of them.
28. I have been using the same radio alarm clock since elementary school.
29. My favorite ride at Disneyland is Splash Mountain.
30. I would rather die of heat than freeze to death.
31. I am a night person. I don't do mornings!
32. I'm missing a permanent tooth (a genetic abnormality).
33. I lived with my grandparents during my senior year of high school.