More Holiday Fun

The week between Christmas and New Years we spent just hanging out. Emma had had a sleepover at Hailey and Caden's house the first week we were there but they came over to play lots that week. They had lots of fun in the snow...




Emma and Levi spent lots of time snuggling with Daddy...

We went to visit Grandpa Pete and Grandma Norma...(they have lots of fun noisy toys!)





Other things we did on our vacation included me going to the dentist twice!...I went and got a pedicure with my mom and Maryn...My mom and I went to visit Cecile and got our hair done...I went to dinner with Brandy and Toria...and to lunch with my friends Heidi, Erin, Sandy and Misty. It is always fun to see friends that I haven't seen in a while and to catch up on their lives. Most of these guys I have been friends with since elementary school! I forgot my camera both times so sorry no pictures.
I took Levi for his 9 month appointment while we were there as well. He is 25 lbs 5 oz which puts him in the 97th percentile. He is also in the 97th percentile for height and head size. He still has no desire to crawl but looks like he will be walking very soon. I'm not too sure that I am ready for that! That kid is a handful now without being mobile!

We also went and played games at Debbie and Layne's house a couple times and had a blast! I got to meet Maryn's boyfriend, Jared, and I think he is pretty wonderful. We played just dance on the wii which is always hilarious...


Ashley got kinect for the xbox and we played that a little too. I am so amazed at technology. The wii amazes me with how much it can do. But with kinect there are no remotes or anything...blows my mind! Ashley and I went to lunch and did a little shopping one day and also went to a movie one night before I left. She is on the top of my favorite people list! I sure do miss her!

Ivan had to go to the doctor and found out he has bronchitis and a sinus infection on Thursday. He still has a horrible cough but we are hoping he feels better soon. Levi has a bad cough now as well. No fun.
After we went to the doctor we headed to the cemetary. It was Joey's birthday. It seems so crazy that he has been gone for 3 years already. I miss him so much and think of him everyday. I know he is thinking of us too. There was so much snow at the cemetary we had to dig to find the headstone. It is always so peaceful there though.
Ivan and I were also able to attend the temple on New Years Eve before we headed up to Corinne. We planned to attend the 10am session but had to wait for an hour and 20 minutes for the 11am session. The last session for the day...and year...was supposed to be 10am. There were so many people there they ended up adding several more sessions. There were people lined clear up and down the stairs and into the lobby. One of the temple workers said that she had been there 10 years and had never seen anything like it. It was a special experience. I am so happy that we were able to spend the holidays with family and friends. We are so blessed.

Christmas Day!

We had such a great Christmas. We made sure to talk to Emma about Jesus and the reason why we celebrate Christmas. She was excited to celebrate His birth. We are so grateful for the gift of our Savior and the time that we get to reflect on his birth and life and try to have a little more charity. While we were still in North Dakota making preparations for Christmas I decided to take Emma to WalMart and pick a name off the tree. She picked the name of a little girl who was 5 years old. She decided we needed to buy for a little boy Levi's age as well. We had such a good time, just the two of us, trying to pick things this little girl and boy would like to open on Christmas. Emma was really concerned about what color was the little girl's favorite. I explained that we didn't know that but she would probably like whatever Emma liked. We picked some clothes and pajamas and then hit the toy department. I was so proud of Emma. She picked out all these things for these two little kids and never once asked for anything for herself. She was so excited to go drop the things we had bought off at the courtesy desk. I am grateful for the opportunity to help others. I know that I have so much to be thankful for and so much more than I can give.
I was VERY surprised Christmas morning by a gift under the tree for me! Ivan and I had bought a new tv for our frontroom for our gift to eachother and later decided to exchange gifts Christmas morning but put a $50 limit on it. So I was really surprised and confused when I walked down stairs and saw a guitar with a bow on it under the tree! I have told Ivan each holiday and anniversary since we were married 8 years ago that I would really like a guitar to learn to play. He told me he figured if he made me wait long enough I wouldn't expect it. He was sure right! He even had it shipped to my cousin Trevor's house so that I wouldn't guess what it was. Matt's family had our name for Christmas and got us a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble so we went and bought me a couple guitar books. I am excited to learn...now if I can only find the time! Here is a pretty sweet picture of me...(One of Matt's boys picked out the glasses for Emma for Christmas...they were a hit!)

Ivan asked Matt what kind of guitar to buy me and he was a great help. That man sure can play!

I got Ivan a shirt and a few jackets and the kids each picked out a tie for him. I also bought him Jesus the Christ on CD that he can listen to while driving to work and back. We were completely spoiled by both of our parents as usual. The kids were ridiculously spoiled and had a wonderful time opening presents. My parents always make a HUGE breakfast on Christmas morning and everyone comes over including Grandma and Grandpa Workman. I love all the excitement as the kids show eachother what they got from Santa. Hailey is sure growing up. She is one smart cookie! She is the youngest in her second grade class and is reading 185 words a minute at 100% accuracy. She asked Santa for a microscope for Christmas. She spent the whole day collecting different things to look at under it. Caden got a glow station and Emma asked Ivan Christmas night why Santa hadn't brought her one. We told her that she hadn't asked for one. Maybe for her birthday. :) Matt's kids all got spongebob snuggies with their names across the chest. They all came over wearing them and kept them on most of the time they were there! I love Christmas.



Emma got the doll she wanted and some great dress ups from Santa. Grandma and Grandpa Barlow also got her 6 pair of princess dress up shoes that went great with the dresses from Santa. Levi was way more interested in opening presents than I thought he would be. He really likes to eat paper! He had fun playing with all his toys and is always happy when Emma is happy and excited.
Here is Abby and Miss Emma playing dress up. Later Emma was singing a song about people coming over to play with her dress ups and she really hates when that happens. She really did try to share though. ;)



Grandma and the two little guys...

Christmas Eve

Ivan flew in on Christmas Eve. We were so happy that he made it! He
wasn't feeling well and had taken nyquil the night before and didn't quite make it for his flight. Pretty sad since we live literally 3 minutes from the airport. :) He was able to get on another flight and my dad picked him up from the airport and made it to our family party just in time. We have a Christmas Eve party every year at my Aunt Alene's house. All of our aunts and uncles and cousins are there as well as Grandma and Grandpa Workman. We have a big family and it is so fun to get to see everyone at least once a year. Santa comes and the kids get so excited. We also have lots of good food of course!



Levi is a major Daddy's boy and was really missing Ike. He totally lit up when his daddy walked into the room. Levi was kind of a stinker for the first few days of our trip. He didn't want anyone but me to hold him and would scream if I left the room. I really hate that! He did much better towards the end of our trip though. He decided he liked Grandma, which made her happy, and really liked to play with Grandpa.
Emma wouldn't tell me what she was going to ask Santa for. She had said that she wanted a baby alive baby all gone and that was what "santa" had planned on. The day before however she had told Aunt Jamie that she wanted more carebears because she only had one. When she got up on his lap I was relieved when all she asked for was a doll. Levi also liked sitting on Santa's lap. He just wanted to eat the spinner toy that Santa had and really loved the candy cane he gave him.


Here is a picture of Katrina. Emma loves to play with her and talks about her all the time. She has super short hair now since her big brother decided to try out his hair cutting skills.

We were so excited that Callie and Bobbie were able to come to the party! They drove out from Colorado to pick up Darcy and Abby and left right after the party to drive back. We sure miss Callie!


When we got home from the party we stuck with tradition and opened one present each...pajamas of course! Levi was past ready to bed and wasn't very cooperative. Emma was excited to open a present though and loved her new jammies, robe and slippers. Aunt Jacky gave Emma some "reindeer food" that she was supposed to throw outside for Santa's reindeer to help them find her house. She was way excited about that.

Lots of fun...

My favorite thing to do while visiting family is to visit with my family. I know...call me crazy! I love when we all just get together and do nothing but enjoy eachothers company. The kids have a blast with eachother and are enough to keep anyone entertained. Levi and Brayden are 3 months apart even though it looks more like a year! Levi is in the 97th percentile and Brayden is under 10%. We laid them down by eachother and Levi was so excited. He put his arm around Brayden's head and just wanted to hug him. Brayden hasn't returned the love so far but I'm sure he will with time.


Abby loves to give Levi hugs and kisses also...and Levi isn't too sure about her yet. Abby is the cutest thing ever. She loves to be the center of attention and loves to hug and kiss everyone! She really liked to follow Emma around the whole time we were there and to do what Emma was doing. Emma wasn't very excited about sharing her toys...especially the new ones she got for Christmas.

Hot Chocolate

The first day we were in Utah Trisha brought the kids over to play with Emma. They wanted to go outside and play in the snow. When they came in they were soaking wet! It had been raining...hard. They waited for Grandma to get home from work and she made them all hot cocoa. What a good Grandma! Josh and Trisha also got my mom an electric blanket for her bday which worked perfectly for warming up the frozen kids.

Grandma Cocoa's Birthday

My moms birthday was the Wednesday after we got to Utah. We had a pizza party and watched Despicable Me. It was so fun! Emma and I thought Grandma would like that movie for her birthday...but we weren't the only ones. Josh and Trisha and the kids also got that movie for her so Emma and I got to keep ours. :) I also got my mom a willowtree angel that she had mentioned that she liked so we were covered. My dad made some fabulous mint brownies...I told him the next day that we needed to share them or he was going to come home and find me on the couch in a sugar coma. Yes they were THAT good! It was so good just to be there with famliy. I was amazed at how much all the kids had grown. I thought I would also include this picture of Maryn. She had a HUGE lump on her lip and a coldsore. She had smacked herself in the face playing just dance on the wii. We called it "wii trauma." It hurt for her to smile and she kept covering her mouth. She even wore a mask when we went to see baby Kasen...I think mostly so she wouldn't scare him! haha

Best welcome gift EVER!

My cousin Nikki had her first baby the day we got to Utah. I was so happy that I got to be there to see him. He is a beautiful baby and is so good. Emma was really excited to go and meet him too! Since I don't have any sisters and I am so close to Nikki and Ashley I decided I would call Kasen my "nephin"...a combination of nephew and cousin. I like it. :) They put him in this cute stocking at the hospital...



This was my first time driving to Utah with the kids alone. I decided to leave Sunday night. I drove to Billings and we stayed the night there. The roads were pretty snowy that night and I was grateful that BOTH my kids fell asleep at 7pm. That never happens and it made driving much more enjoyable. We slept in the next morning and then drove the rest of the way. The kids were so good! Emma is always an angel in the car and Levi was better than I expected. I came up with a fun idea for Emma on the drive down. I got a bunch of different bags and put a prize in each bag. Every hour or two I would hand her another bag and she could open it and discover the prize inside. Some bags had a snack others had a toy or stickers. When I pulled into Butch and Marjie's house I noticed what she had done with the stickers. Her entire door AND window were covered. At least she kept busy! We visited with Grandma and Grandpa Mills for a while and they shared dinner with us and then we headed to Pleasant Grove.

Merry Christmas!

Looks like I better get started on my Christmas posts. Here is our 2010 Christmas card.

It turned out pretty cute...I just wish we would have gotten a new family picture taken before I made it. We had planned to do family pics Thanksgiving weekend and ended up being snowed into North Dakota. It is FREEZING cold outside now so I think we will wait 'til spring. I will have my cousin Ashley take our pics for us. She does a great job and just got a new camera for Christmas that I am very jealous of!