Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Dallin was really into the whole Santa thing and was so excited. It was so fun to see their little faces as they came down the stairs.

Trying to get a family picture, but after getting spoiled by Santa, they had a hard time concentrating!

Here is Dallin opening one of his gifts. He had so much fun! He opened all his presents and then we asked him if he got everything he wanted. He said "yes, but Santa forgot my trampoline." Brian and I told him to go looking through the house to see if Santa had left it anywhere else. He found it by the back door. Those trampolines are heavy, and Santa barely got it in the house, let alone under the tree. Dallin was super excited, now he just has to wait until it is warmer outside so that we can set it up, what torture!

This is what Tayah did all morning. She came right downstairs, found her Barbie 4-wheeler and a candy cane and just chilled out. We had to open her presents for her!

After present opening we went over to my Mom and Dad's for Christmas breakfast with the Holden family which has been our tradition since I can remember. It was so fun to visit with everyone! After breakfast we met up with Brian's family at Dell and Ruth's house. (We will join them for breakfast next year.)

The kids all got PJ's from Brian's parents and we tried to get a picture by the tree, as you can see my children didn't cooperate, again! But we had a great time being together and we were all spoiled again.

I just loved this shot of Dallin and Brian. They are so cute together!

Then we went back home for nap and in the evening headed back to my parent's house for some 31 and snacks. It was a great Holiday and we are so glad that we get to celebrate it with our families and friends! We love you all!

Christmas Eve

Every year on Christmas eve we go to my parent's house to do gifts. We draw names with my siblings and the kids draw names with their cousins. This year we also did my parent's gifts because the next day was going to be crazy!!

My cute Mom and Dad by their tree

Jax gave Tayah a Lilly doll. It counts and sings. She loves it!

Dallin got a Transformer and this awesome knight outfit. It also has a hat and a shield. He got it from Brad, and thinks it is so fun!! (Look at his face, he was trying to say cheese!)

At the end of the madness, the parents give their kids Christmas Eve PJ's and then we round up all 12 of them and try to get a decent picture. Obviously that failed! But aren't they cute?

After it is all over, it makes for a long night! But we love organized chaos. I think she is done, and this was before the PJ pictures!!

Santa Sightings...

Our kids have been super lucky this year to see Santa several times. I think Santa is sick of hearing of what Dallin wants for Christmas. But, I don't think Santa will forget his list either.

Here they are with Santa at Harmon's at the beginning of this month. Tayah was pretty scared and started crying almost right away, so this is the best shot I have without her crying!

Santa came to the Barker Christmas party too. Dallin was so excited because this time he brought him a gift. Dallin got a cool Hulk Transformer and Tayah got a little puppy that you pull around. Even though it doesn't look like it, Tayah loved Santa here.

Santa also dropped by our Judd family party to give the kids some candy canes and snap a few pictures. He was in and out, but Dallin and Tayah got to sit on his lap again. I didn't get any pictures, because again, I forgot my camera.

Then last night, we got the best surprise. Santa came by our house. He just knocked on our door! Dallin was so excited-- he couldn't believe that Santa just came to say hello. He told Dallin that he made a special trip just to tell him how good he had been, and to remind him to keep being a good boy for mom and dad. What a great surprise!

Preschool Suprise!

I know that I have been a bad blogger lately. I didn't even post on Thanksgiving, and I have about 4 Christmas parties to catch up on. Maybe someday...

Anyway, about every time I pick Dallin up from preschool, and ask him what he learned, he either says "I don't know" or "it's a secret." But I have been seeing some great improvement on his letters, numbers, and he is sort of starting to spell, which makes me happy. Then, this morning when he was in the tub, all of the sudden he started saying the Pledge. He knows it word for word and his pronunciation is pretty good too. He has been hiding it from me this whole time. Come to find out they say it everyday in school.

Now the sad part, I was so excited to have him tell it to Brian when he got home from work today and when he said it. Brian told him he did an awesome job and then turned to me and said, "Oh, I already knew that he could do that." What? Why didn't you tell me??? After all, I am the mom and am supposed to know all these important things.

One other thing about preschool. On Monday Dallin's class went on a field trip to Ogden's Christmas village. Mrs. Claus was their tour guide. They had so much fun running from house to house looking at what was inside. They ended up in Santa's castle and got to sit by the fire and talk to Mrs. Claus about what they wanted for Christmas and then get a special treat. He had a blast! I, of course forgot my camera. But it was fun to see him so excited.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Today is my Sweetie's 29th Birthday! The last in his twenties. I swear it hasn't been that long since we met and were barely legal. I guess time flies when you are in love and raising a family.

I just want him to know how much I love him and appreciate all he does for me and our kids. He is a hard worker and dedicated to the things he values. Like us, his Religion, and his job. He can always make me laugh with his cheesy jokes and I think other people find him funny too. He is a great friend and cares a lot about others and worries about their needs. He loves his kids so much and is always trying to think of fun new things he can do with Dallin and Tayah.

I hope you have a great Birthday Brian, I am so glad that we get to spend the day together. I love you and am glad that you picked me!

Pictures!

I just need to brag a little about one of my BF's Kami. She did an AMAZING job taking my family's pictures. I love them and wanted to show you all her work! There is a link on my blog list to her picture blog if you want to check out all of the other darling pictures she has taken. She really is so talented. Thanks Kami!

Besides my blogwear, here are some of my other favorites from the photo session...

I could post a lot more, but I am sure you are getting tired of looking at our faces.

It's Offical, She Walking!

I can tell that Tayah has been on the verge of walking for a while now. She has been walking along furniture for months and about a month ago started standing up in the middle of the room, and even taking a step or two. Sometimes I think it was all just to tease me, because she would sit right down again or drop to a crawl and scurry away.

On Saturday the 15th, she took several steps in a row. She walked from Brian to me, and then back and forth a few more times. We were so excited, and then yesterday, it just clicked. She started walking all on her own. We were in her room and turned around to see our little girl walking toward us down the hall. What a big girl! So at 13 months, she finally got the hang of it!

Drawer Full of Fun!

Lately Tayah's favorite thing to do is to empty out my bottom drawer while I am working in the kitchen. This has happened a lot lately, so I only keep kid acceptable toys in there. And now she thinks it is so much fun to get into the drawer and sit there. We couldn't help but snap a few shots.
Look at that mischievous little grin. She knows she cute! What a stinker.

Happy Halloween!

This year we went with a theme. Dallin went as a darling Master Yoda and Tayah was our little princess Leia. They were so cute!

On Wednesday we had a party at my Mom and Dad's house. All the little's wore their cute costumes. We had dinner and family trick-or-treating.

On Halloween we drove up to Brian's Grandparents and surprised them with a Halloween lunch. That night we went over to Brian's parents for dinner and then started our Trick-or-Treating. Dallin had a great time and Tayah rode along in the wagon. Even though it was raining a little, we still had a great night.

Cookies!!

Dallin and I spent the afternoon decorating some Halloween cookies. Really he did more eating but we had a good time together and he loved it. Whenever he gets a chance to help in the kitchen he is up for it. I love it when he is my little helper!

Here is the final product. We made ghosts, pumpkins, and cats. Dallin was sad that there were no bats or witches.

Here is one cookie that Dallin did before he sat and ate three cookies. I think that is one cute pumkin face!

Update: Just to let you all know, Tayah is doing a lot better and the rash is almost all the way gone. Thank goodness.

I don't think this is mild, do you?

I took Tayah in to get her 12 month well check and she got her vaccines, which includes the MMR. They told me that she could develop a mild rash up to 14 days later which is not contagious at all. Well it has been 10 days and she woke up this morning with a slight rash. I took her to my little sister's house and went to a baby shower. When I picked her up the rash had gotten worse and a few hours later it was even more red and scary looking. So we went to Nowcare and the Doctor said that it is a reaction to the shot. However, it is one of the strongest reactions she has ever seen. My poor girl! From what they told me at the Dr. and from what I got off google, it should go away within a few days. She has no fever and is acting pretty normal.

I left a message for her regular pediatrician and I am going to talk with him on Monday to see what he thinks. I don't remember Dallin having any reaction at all, so this is pretty major to me.

She looks sad in this last picture, but really hasn't been. I just thought I would let you all see my spotted little girl! Let me know if you have ever seen this in your kids or heard about...

Tayah's Birthday Party

The Party:

Here is the birthday girl. If you look close, you can see that Mommy and Daddy gave her earrings for her first birthday. She did so good while getting them pierced, and barely even cried! What a big girl.

We had our families over to celebrate our baby turning one. We had dinner and then we opened her presents. She got spoiled. She got several darling outfits, some books, and a few toys. We gave her this little trike, which we had to pull her off. She loves it. I love it too, because it changes to grow with her.

When it came time for her to dig into her cake, she was so cute. She was so careful and only took tiny pieces, but I am sure that she would have sat there and ate that cake for hours. She also was sharing her cake with everyone and would hold out a piece to feed you. It was so darling and sweet.

The Cake:

My Mother-in-law has an amazing talent when it comes to decorating cakes. She even did our wedding cake, which was beautiful! She went all out on her "littlest princess's" first birthday cake! Or should I say cakes...

This is the cake she made for Tayah to dig into.

This is the cake that we served to the adults at her party.

And these are the darling cupcakes that we served to all her cousins at the party. I can't believe all the work Grandma Ruth put into these. We loved them and really appreciate all her love and kindness.

Happy 1st Birthday baby girl! We love you!

Hawaii

We had the best time on our trip! We spent a week on Oahu, with Dax, Kami, Chris, and Mitzi. It was a much needed break, we spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach and just hanging out. It was great! Here are some pictures from some of our fun activities...

We went to Kualoa ranch and went on an ATV ride. It was so fun. The lady that was our guide let us go where most groups don't go. We saw some amazing views from on top of the mountain. We rode through rivers, and on some steep and rocky trails. When it was over, we were dirty and dusty, but we loved it!


The day we went up to the North Shore we took some time and went to the temple. It has amazing grounds and is so pretty. I loved it!

This is the view from on top of Diamond Head. We took a short hike up there and it was well worth it. You could see all of Waikiki and Honolulu. We stayed right off Waikiki beach, which is right behind Brian and I in the picture.

The day that the rest of the group went to Kauai, Brian and I stayed back to go snorkling at Hanama Bay. It was so fun, we saw two sea turtles and a lot of beautiful fish. We really enjoyed going there, this picture is at the same spot that we had one taken when we went there on our honeymoon.

We took a Catamaran ride for a sunset sail. But there were so many clouds that we couldn't see the sunset. But it was so fun. When we were heading out, us girls were sitting on the nets and got so wet. It was way fun.

We really had a great time and did so many other things that I didn't mention. I am so glad that we had this opportunity to go. I am sure we won't be doing it again for a few more years, so these memories are going to have to last a while! Thanks guys for a great trip we loved it!

Happy Birthday Tayah!

I can't believe that a year has gone by so fast. I can remember your birth so clearly. I spent the night in labor and you finally came at 5:32 in the morning. Our lives were changed forever with the sight of our baby girl. We love you so much and can't believe how big you are. You are growing up so fast. Happy Birthday Tayah Ruth! We love you!!