Blast from the Past

So, I came across some old pictures of Joe and his brothers recently and it confirmed what people have been telling me for 2 years now: Nate looks a lot like his Dad.

What do you think?

(Joe's #4, by the way--I'm guessing you can spot him)

I think they have the same smiles. Especially when you see pictures like this:

Joe isn't even in this one but I just thought it was adorable:

Cute, right?

Christmas and Beyond

Now for the standard Christmas catch-up (accompanied by an also standard paltry amount of pictures, because that's our style)...

We made our Christmas sugar cookies like we do. This boy managed to get himself completely covered in flour and cookie dough:
We got to spend an afternoon with Jessica, one of my best-est friends, and her husband Sean and cute baby Sienna:
The big day came. We celebrated Christmas Eve with a nice dinner and some wassail. We let the kids open their new pajamas, then read the Christmas story, watched the Joy to the World movie I love, sang carols together and got them to bed. Joe and I worked hard at putting a big surprise together. We may or may not have gotten quite angry at each other in the process but hey--it was Christmas and all was forgiven quickly.

The morning came and kids checked out their surprises:

We gave the kids a clue to their surprise. Here's the video:



It was quite cold that morning and the kids thought it was great that there was frost.

I finally got to put Nate in his suit. I figured Christmas day was a good occasion. I got this adorable 3-piece suit as a hand-me-down from a friend in Sacramento and have been wanting to dress him in it. But, I needed a tie that would match (at least kind of) and some shoelaces for one of the shoes that match the suit (we got them at DI or someplace and one was missing). I never managed to find shoelaces but luckily the shoe stayed on alright through Sacrament meeting. I searched high and low for little boy ties on Dec. 23rd, even venturing to the mall with 3 kids, and finally found something. That is how bad I wanted him to wear this suit.

When Sunday morning came he refused to wear the vest but still managed to look so cute:

I'm mad I didn't get any pictures after his shoes were on and his hair was combed.

He was so happy to match Daddy:

After church, we hurried to get ready to head to my parents' for a delicious prime rib Christmas dinner. We stayed (half) the night there and then set off bright and early to head for Utah.

We had another fun, whirlwind trip first to Logan (with a day in the Salt Lake area) and then to Twin Falls, ID, and then home. We were sad we didn't get to see everyone we'd hoped to see but I guess we never do. I was still wonderful spending time with family--Joe's family and also my brother and his family.

The few pictures I got were of Nate and his cousin Jace. They were so funny together. We tried to get them to hug but they just scooted closer together.

Jace kind of leaned, like so:

The only other time the camera appeared was in the middle of Nevada on the way home when we took a break from the car:

Joe and the girls loved exploring. Nate was happy just throwing dirt and rocks.
We made it home in one piece and have been attempting to get back into the routine of life, including some new goals we've set.

The kids have loved the trampoline. I got these pictures one afternoon:

This one is funny with the girls fighting over jumping time and Nate in the foreground worriedly sucking his thumb:

They still love each other:

We own a net but haven't been able to find a time in daylight hours to put it up yet. It will happen soon. Nate has already fallen off!

Happy 2012!

Santa

We had our annual visit from Santa at my Mom and Dad's house again. Elizabeth had to give her very first oral presentation the last day of school about a family tradition and this was the one she picked. I think the presentation went well, from what I heard. She showed pictures of herself with Santa throughout the years starting off with the one shown here when I was pregnant with her.

Anyway, we had another fun night. Here are most of the grandkids, waiting for their turn:

Here's my mom and dad (and Santa) with 11 of their 16 grandchildren:

Elizabeth managed to get up for her turn pretty quickly, despite the fact that she learned the truth this year from another girl in her class. It was fun to see her still excited to sit on his lap.

She asked Santa for a scooter

Natalie asked Santa for a gumball machine

She usually asks for things she didn't get for her birthday--the gumball machine couldn't be avoided, I guess. :)

Nate wasn't too thrilled about Santa at first but he did get close with Joe holding him...

...sucking his thumb of course

But then when prodded to say what he wanted, he busts out with "I want candy!" and made everyone laugh:

Later on, he warmed right up and didn't mind chatting with Santa for a little while:

Daddy and boy

Poor Joe needs some new glasses that aren't crooked. It drives him crazy when he sees these pictures.

The family:

Not a single one with my eyes completely open. I am terrible.

Family Pictures

My awesome friend Janelle offered to take some family pictures for us a couple weeks ago. I LOVE how they turned out! Here is her facebook page. I would definitely recommend her if you are in the area.

Now it's down to the difficult decision of which pictures to put up. There are too many good ones. So, here's a whole bunch....

This boy was sure posing:

Apparently some members of my family who shall not be named thought this next picture was a birth announcement. I'm trying really hard not to be offended. :) Just kidding--I see it. But no, it is NOT an announcement!

There she is rubbing his head again...

Thanks so much, Janelle!!