Late. . . as usual

I've decided to stop pretending that I am a good blogger.  No more apologies every time I post for my lack of blogging.  Just expect this:  I will go in spurts-- sometimes blogging multiple times in one week and often going several weeks with out an update.  When I finally do update I will likely do marathon blog posts including several unrelated pictures and comments about what we've been up to.  whew!  Now with that said, Here's what we've been up to:

Look how big Trent is getting!  He is 6 months now and 18lbs! (that's 60th percentile for those who care about that kind of thing-- He's 2 lbs smaller than Grant and Sierra at this age!).  He is DROOLING excessively!  No teeth yet though.  He can sit by himself,  rolls ALL OVER!!  He is tries to crawl, but always ends up stuck in a corner.  He likes to babble, dadadadada.  And has the best belly laughs around.

 He prefers to feed himself-- meal time is quite messy.  I've tried giving him is own spoon while I feed him with another-- he just grabs the one I have and tries to stick both in his mouth.

In January, we went sledding a couple times.  The snow in our front yard (that we've had since November) finally all melted last week.  We're running around in short sleeves now-- a heat wave at 41 degrees today!!

Dallin has been going to basketball camp while Sierra goes to dance class (no pictures of Sierra's Dance class-- Sorry!).  Scott and Dallin practice down at the school playground on Saturday.

We went to visit Grandma Sue and Papa Mike in St. George in January.  We were excited to spend some time with Grandma D who was also visiting! 

Grant "helping" Grandma D with her puzzle.

I thought this was cute.  Dallin and Grandma have the same expression on their face as they are looking for a puzzle piece.

Grant convinced Grandma D to play Cootie with them.  Apparently she was the only one concerned about the instructions and rules of the game.

The kids are already asking to go back to visit Grandma Sue again.  We are glad that she is closer now!

On my mind. . .

 Here is a picture of my little cutie pies before church the Sunday before Christmas:

 And here's what Sunday morning looks like in our home:

Look at all those freshly pressed white shirts in various sizes! This image makes me smile.

I love my boys! 

 

Christmas Time!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  Here are some highlights for your viewing pleasure :)

Here's the Gingerbread house we made (assembled and decorated, that is,  thanks to Costco)

 

Dallin tried to stay up Christmas Eve.  He came downstairs a couple times to check Santa's location on the computer.  He made it until 10:30 and I found him asleep sitting up in bed.  Despite going to bed so late, he was still the first one up!

 

Sierra got lots of art supplies.  She started coloring right away!

Grant got tools!  Scott made him a little wooden tool box to keep them in-- just like real tools.

Trent was very excited to open his stocking!

Both Dallin and Sierra made special gifts for Scott and I.  They were so proud of their crafty presents.

Eight Years. . .

and we're back where it all began.

Happy Anniversary!

Dates with Daddy

Scott took Sierra on a daddy-daughter date to see the Nutcracker on Saturday.  She was in heaven!  An afternoon of Ballerinas and Daddy. . . two of her favorite things. It was her (and his too!) first ballet.  

 

Scott has been trying to take each of the kids out regularly on little "dates".  He and Grant went to a BYU Basketball game at the Marriott Center

 

And he and Dallin froze their buns off at a BYU football game last month!

I'm just waiting for him to work up the courage to take Trent on a date! :)

He's such a good Dad!

Leaving

Grant has always had a special relationship with his Grandma Sue.  We moved to Texas when he was a baby, and he got to see her often.  

He has gone through some Grandma withdrawal since we moved to Utah.  None more evident than last Wednesday when he walked downstairs,  bags packed, and informed me that he was going back to Texas to see his Grandma Sue.  I told him that Texas is really far away and that it would take a VERY long time to get there.  "I know." he responded.  "I'll sleep in New Mexico, Albequrque."  Well, I guess he has it all figured out then, huh?   

Luckily, Grandma has just moved A LOT closer!  And boy is Grant (and the other kid too) excited that we get to go visit her and Papa in St. George in a week or two.

Thanksgiving (in a nutshell)

 I promised a Thanksgiving post before Christmas, and I realized that time is catching up with me again, so I better post SOMETHING.  We were very lucky this year to be able to spend Thanksgiving with so much family!  We celebrated Thanksgiving twice-- on Wednesday with the Rice side of the family and on Thursday with the Garbett side.

Sierra got sick Tuesday evening, so I stayed home with Sierra and Trent while Scott, Dallin and Grant had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving dinner prepared by these two lovely ladies:

While dinner was cooking, the cousins had a Turkey Bowl. . .

Which somehow turned into a game of baseball (2 guesses on who encouraged the change of sports)

Scott carved the turkey. . .

And everyone enjoyed yummy food

 

 

That is, everyone except a little boy exhausted from a long day of playing with cousins. . .

On Thursday, Sierra was feeling better so, we headed up to Layton for Thanksgiving.  We were SO excited to see everyone (including some cousins never met before!)

Pre-mealtime Turkey Bowl with the cousins:

And this is what Sierra did while the boys were playing football (She is VERY excited for her little cousin Keira to get bigger, so she won't be the ONLY girl around!)

Thanks Holly and Jon for hosting!

 

With 11 cousins under the age of seven there was A LOT of energy in that house.  To calm the kids down a bit, someone put in a movie. . . almost immediately this is what happened:

 

Thanksgiving was a GREAT start to the holiday season!  Now, the excitement for Christmas is building!

I promise it won't take a month to put up Christmas pictures!

 

Catching Up

Hi there!  Remember us. . .

We've been slackers at blogging -- no excuses.  Here's what we've been up to lately:

Grant came downstairs yesterday dressed like this:

"Look, Mom!  My shirt is not on backwards!" (Good job!  I didn't even mention that his shorts were though.)

Through my years as a mother I've become a supporter of a child's expression through clothes.

Remember this picture?:

  There was one big problem however.  This is the view from our front door yesterday:

I checked weather.com before school and when I saw that it was -5 and feels like -20 I decided to drive Dallin to school rather than send him to the bus stop.  That afternoon I ran outside with my camera to capture an image of my kids heading home from school:

Poor freezing babies!  Sierra took it upon herself to get an after-school snack on the way from the bus:

But inside, I had hot chocolate and warm cinnamon toast waiting for my frozen children.

After homework was done, I bundled them all up to go play in the snow.

 

(Grant WOULD NOT keep his hat on!  Look at his pink cheeks and ears!!)

My little snow angel!

Hooray for SNOW!

STAY WARM!!!!!

Thanksgiving pictures will be posted soon --hopefully before Christmas :)

stay tuned!