Abby Turns One!

I can't believe that Abby is already one! Just two short days after Christmas, we get to celebrate Abby's birthday. We had a party with our families at my mom's house and had a nice time. Since she is only one, I didn't play any games or anything like that - we just opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Abby got a little overwhelmed with all the gifts, especially since Chloe was putting a new one in front of her every two seconds, but she got some really fun toys and Grandma Diane made her a stuffed giraffe from the fabric from her nursery (sooo cute).

Abby in her new chair

Abby's new favorite toy from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Barbara

Opening presents

When it was time for the cake, we stripped Abby down, put a bib on her and let her go to town. She was a little timid at first but came around in the end. She liked the frosting the most- go figure.

Her Cake

Yum Yum

Abby has been such a fun baby and has given us a run for our money. She loves to go from super happy to super grumpy in a matter of two seconds. She has gotten better at letting other people hold her, but still prefers mommy. She has also almost started walking; she can take anywhere from two to seven steps without falling (I'll get a video and post it soon). Chloe loves her so much and especially loves to make her laugh.

The Birthday Girl

Christmas

This was our first Christmas morning as a married couple at our house. Yep, in almost eight years of marriage we've never had Christmas morning at home. We were also super excited because this was the first year that Chloe really got the whole "Santa" thing and we couldn't wait to see her face Christmas morning. It was priceless! We also invited the Aaron's mom and dad over to our house that morning for presents and breakfast with us.

Chloe got everything that she asked for from Santa (a train set, a Barbie couch and the Curious George movie) and tons of other fun toys. Abby took a while to warm up to opening up the presents, but after a while she got it and started tearing into them. They both loved opening up their stockings as well - especially when they found the candy...go figure! Among other things, I surprised Aaron with a fire pit for our back porch and he surprised me a full length mirror so now I can finally see what I look like without having to stand on the bed. =)




After the presents were opened and breakfast was finished, we all got ready and went to church. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Christmas than to go to church. We had a beautiful sacrament meeting filled with hymns and scriptures about the birth of Christ and I truly felt the spirit.

Then to top off the day, we went over to the Searle's to spend time with the rest of our family. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts! Here are some pictures of the girls that I took a few weeks before Christmas as well.

Lights at Temple Square

Aaron's sister Paula and her family came into town a few days before Christmas and one thing they wanted to do was go see the lights at Temple Square. So, we all bundled up and got to see the lights. Even though it was freezing, we loved it. Temple Square has such a special feeling and it really helped bring in the Christmas season. Of course, my camera battery was dead so I only got a few shots, but oh well!

The Searles, Friedbaums, Cummings and McKinlays

Aaron and the girls (who do you think is warmer?)

The Salt Lake Temple

Aaron's Big Day

On the 20th of December, Aaron celebrated his 30th birthday! Of course, he didn't want a big party (or a little one at that). So after work, we went out to dinner with the Cummings family and then headed home. I had got some tickets to the BYU basketball game for us that night as well, but by the time he was done with work, he was feeling tired, so we ended up not going.

His parents had us over for his birthday the previous Sunday and we had cake and ice cream that night to celebrate. I got Aaron a new CB for the Jeep, but he opened it early and installed it so we could use it on our jeep ride a few days before his birthday.

Happy birthday, honey!!! I love you, even if you are an old man now. =)

Christmas Eve

Since it was our turn to spend Christmas with the Searles, we went over to my parents house for Christmas Eve. We decided it would be more fun to open our presents there so my parents could see everyone's reactions to their gifts. I got surprised this year when my mom bought me a super cute gray coat. I totally love it. Chloe got a fun stencil set that she loves and a new boy barbie with some outfits for him. Abby also got a coat and a new Little People car. Aaron got a speaker for his new CB and a movie. It was a wonderful evening and we all had nice time relaxing.

Mommy and Abby

Chloe and Grandma

Aaron

Chloe and her new boy barbie

Chloe, Kadence and Kaylee

Christmas Eve Eve

It has long since been a tradition that we spend the 23rd of December with my Dad and have our family Christmas with him on that day. We always have a great time and look forward to our favorite traditional gifts from dad: a rock, super glue, pencils and a candle. This year, he surprised us all with a cute puffy vest. Chloe loved opening all her presents and every time Dad would ask if there was anyone named Chloe there, she would giggle and get super excited (that doesn't adequately describe it, but oh well). Abby was indifferent to it all, but she did like playing with the wrapping paper.

Abby

Me, Amber and Tawna

Dad and Kelly

Aaron

Amber and Casey

Grandpa and Chloe

In Search of a Trail

A few weeks back, Aaron wanted to take the Jeep out on a trail in the mountains. He thought it would be fun to see how this new Jeep handles the snow, and also just go out on a nice drive. So, we called up the Cummings and the Searles and invited them to come along with us. After getting to our designated spot, we quickly realized the road that we wanted to go on was closed. We ended up going up another canyon and finally found some snow! It wasn't a lot, but enough for the kids to get out and play in and for Aaron to feel like he drove in snow.

Daddy and Chloe

Chloe, Ashley and Owen

Abby

The group

Visit With Santa

We took Chloe and Abby to sit on Santa's lap tonight. Chloe has been anxiously awaiting today, but when we got there, she got a little nervous. However, after we showed Santa the pictures that she had colored for him, she warmed up and decided to sit on his lap. She put in her request and Santa told her that she was the first little girl that had asked for a train set, and he would have the elves get right on making a set for her. I think over all this visit was a success.

Chloe and Santa

Chloe and Abby with Santa

Letter to Santa

Chloe wrote her very first letter to Santa this year - with a little bit of help - and it is so cute. She wrote all the things she wants all by herself and drew a picture of Santa (big belly and all). At first, she only had two things on her list, but then she told me that, "that's not a lot of toys," so we added one more to the list. I had to remind her that Mom and Dad give her presents, too. My favorite part of the letter writing experience was when she told me to remind Santa to take off his shoes when he comes into our house! What a silly cutie!

We also mailed using a special mail box that goes directly to the North Pole. Plus, if you include a stamped envelope, Santa will personally write a letter back. So within a few days, Chloe should be receiving a letter back from Santa. =)

Cousins

I realized that we had all of the kid cousins from my side of the family in town, so I grabbed them all up for a quick photo. Man, it is hard to get that many kids to look and smile at the camera all at the same time. Here is the best one! What a good lookin' bunch of kids.

Happy Thanksgiving

We got the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with both sides of our family this year, one dinner with my family on Wednesday and the another with Aaron's family on Thursday. We also had my dad and Kelly over on Friday...but since we were all sick of Turkey, we barbequed. :) It was wonderful to spend so much time with everyone and be reminded of how thankful we are to have such a wonderful family and to have a lot family live near by. This year, the top three things that I am most grateful for are:

-My beautiful girls: They light up my life and I love that they get along so well together.

-My handsome husband: He is such a strength in my life and is a wonderful father to our children.

-The Gospel: It is so nice to know who I am, why I am here and to have constant direction in my life.

My life is truly blessed and I am so thankful for that! Here are some of the pictures I took on Wednesday. I forgot to get the camera out on Thursday!

The kid's table

The Dollahites, Huntingtons and Ackermans

The Ehats and Hurds

The Huntingtons

The Allens and us

Yep, Abby totally fell asleep right during dinner.

Check out my little dancing queens. Chloe is wearing her favorite dancing outfit and dancing to her favorite song "Barbie Girl". Love these two!

She Stands!

Abby has actually been standing on her own for a week or two now, but she is really getting the hang of it now. She can stand independently for about 20-30 seconds without falling.

Abby will pull herself up to anything and everything, and from there let go and stand up. It is fun, but at the same time that means that walking is the next step, and I don't know if I'm ready for that yet!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I made the girls pumpkin-shaped (and colored) pancakes for breakfast and Chloe thought that was pretty cool. Abby, on the other hand, didn't care about the shape or color, she just wanted to eat it.
That afternoon, we headed over to Aaron's work for cubical trick-or-treating. Chloe won the cutest costume award and got a pumpkin lantern as her prize. This year, Abby was a bunny and Chloe was Rapunzel. She was just going to be a princess, but then decided she wanted to be Rapunzel. So, I got some yarn and made her a wig. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Then we went to the Cummings' house for trick-or-treating. It is always more fun to go trick or treating with other kids...and adults for that matter =). Chloe and Abby got a boat load of candy that should last us at least until next Halloween. Just seeing it all makes me sick!