Oh How Blessed We Are

We've had a wonderful holiday season, and I am left feeling an extreme sense of gratitude for our family and for all of our blessings.

We are grateful for snow (finally) and that we had a white Christmas! Aria finally got to use her snowman kit that we got from Dr. W.

I appreciate that our HOA has a Santa that actually has a real beard. They also let you take your own pictures, and it's all free (well....not really since I pay my fees...). Here are the Santa pics I promised:

She loves Santa! She asked for a snow globe and a microscope. 

Santa even offered to hold Locke for a picture. He really was a great Santa.

Locke LOVED waiting in line, can you tell? I like how this pic is mid-drool.

We always spend Christmas Eve at Ryan's parents' house. The grandkids have so much fun together, and my favorite holiday tradition is singing Christmas carols together as a family. 

 I was in charge of decorating cookies with the kids so they'd have some to leave out for Santa. I think Rose did more eating, and Katie did the decorating.

 Ryan and the boy.

 Taylor and Amanda!! We were all so glad to have them up for the holiday. 

 It was present time, so smiling for the camera wasn't really Ari's focus...

 Yay for dress up stuff at Grandmas!

 Amanda was a good sport and let Ari get her all dolled up. 

I think Ari may have a future in cosmetology. 

 Ari likes to dance while we sing carols. She was pretty much the director, and told us what songs to sing (for the most part).

Nick and Oakley spent Christmas Eve night at our place so they could be there to see what Santa brought on Christmas morning. Nick and Ari have such a special relationship- it was so much fun seeing them together. Ari was so excited to see what Santa brought. We'd considered putting coal in Nick's stocking with a note that he needed to eat more vegetables or something that Ari needed to work on, but we didn't get around to finding coal, and I was worried that she would be really upset that he didn't get anything. She can be pretty tenderhearted that way.

She didn't wait for us to get the camera, so sorry for the blurry cell phone pic.

Santa brought some toys for Locke, too. 

Ari made us that awesome ornament you see behind her at preschool.

Ari got a Snow White dress and immediately tried to put it on... packaging at all. Needless to say her head got stuck.

She loves Oakley, too. He helped her open presents. 

Uncle Nick got her an octopus puppet. It's so awesome! Ryan was "getting" her with it.

Miss Wendy got her a stuffed bear. I think she likes it...

Snuggles with Nick. :)

We also got family pictures taken:

 I love this cute family of mine!

 My favorite. How I got two such awesome kiddos, I don't know. We're sure lucky!

 I love this spunky girl! 

 And this little guy! Oh the drool! I love his snuggles and his giggles.

The Holidays to this Point

Oh my goodness! It's been a while since I blogged! We've been busy busy with family stuff, work stuff, and getting ready for the holidays.  This blog will pretty much be a photo dump, so here ya go!

Not that we've had much of it, but Ari is very excited when it does snow. She can't wait until there's enough to make a snowman, especially since we got a snowman kit from my work as part of our Christmas present.

Ari is a very good big sister, and is still asking to hold Locke all the time. When she gets sick, we make her keep her distance, which makes her super sad. I'm glad she loves him so much. 

I learned how to French Braid (sorta)

Locke has started eating some solids. The boy likes to eat. No wonder he's already pushing 19 pounds!

Ari wrote her name all by herself a couple of weeks ago!! The "R" could use a little work, but I was so proud of her!

Aria got to ride the train and play in the little dinosaur park at the mall with cousin N while Aunt Melissa was having her baby. This was a special treat for Ari because I never let her play in the little park (or any play place, for that matter) because they are just giant petri dishes.

Ryan got out his big telescope and we got to observe the moon.

We went to the Festival of Trees with Katie, Braedon, and Rose. Parking was INSANE, but it was pretty fun. Seeing the trees done in honor of sick kids hits a little closer to home now after our time at Primays earlier in the year. As awful as that was, it could have been so much worse. I'm so thankful for my healthy kiddos!!

Ari has a new best friend- it's Buddy the yorkie puppy! Buddy is our trainor's dog at the gym, and Ari gets SO excited when he's there. She even drew him (and Hill) a picture this week.

We went to see the lights at temple square last weekend. It's the first time that we've been since we've been married! Ryan and I both feel like there aren't as many trees with lights on them as there were when we were kids. Maybe it's just not as impressive because we're older and bigger now? Either way, it was fun to take the kids. 

 This is one of my favorite pictures, ever. :)

 Our flashes went off at the same time...

Ari and I (and Locke, who slept in his car seat the whole time), went to Draper Park last week to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. We ended up staying later than we'd planned, and got to see the "Tree of Life." They've always had this tree decorated, and I'd never even thought of the tree of life until they posted an article about it this year. 

 Beautiful sunset!

 Clearly I struggle with selfies.

We did get to go see Santa, but those pics are on the other camera. I will load them when I do the Christmas post. We saw the Santa at the mall, too, but didn't get a picture. Ari asked him for a microscope and he looked at me and said, "Does she mean a microphone?" Um. No. My 3 year old wants a microscope. She has also asked for a snowman snow globe that sings jingle bells. Silly girl.

We are excited to spend time with family and have some time off in the next couple of weeks. Happy Holidays!