"Christmas" in Logan

We just returned from Logan where we had an early Christmas with Justin's family. We had a wonderful time with grandparents, especially at the Moulton family dinner. It was so yummy and we loved seeing all of the cousins! In one of the pictures, Nolan has just opened his white elephant gift: a Mitt Romney bobble head. He loved it!

Grandma Kathi also bundled Nolan up and took him out in the snow. He was so happy out there except when his gloves (too big) kept popping off. He kept saying, "No! No!" He leaves off the "s" but he's really saying "Snow! Snow!" It's been so fun to see his joy during this Christmas season. I don't want it to end. I guess the snow, at least, will be hanging around for a while.

Official Christmas Greetings

It seems silly to send out Christmas cards to those of you who see the blog every week so consider this your official "Merry Christmas" from us! We hope the holiday is wonderful for you. Here are the pictures I would have put in your card. Sorry you won't have anything to put on your fridge.
As you can see, Nolan didn't want anything to do with Santa. He's been saying "ho ho ho" for weeks, but the real thing was pretty scary. I guess every child needs a picture like this!
We've been filled with holiday cheer around here lately. We went to temple square to see the lights and have dinner. Nolan's favorite part was riding trax ("choo choo"). Here are the two pictures we took. Justin's halo really caught the camera's flash. It turns out there was a crane in the background with some blaring lights. I'm no photographer.
We had our ward Christmas dinner and Nolan wouldn't stay put at the table (no surprise). He ran out of the gym and around the other side of the building. When Justin found him a couple minutes later, he was standing on a chair with his hand on the fire alarm lever. We came so close to evacuating the whole building. I'm so glad Justin caught him in time because our friends were in charge of the whole event. It would have really put a damper on the party they worked hard for.
Last week, Justin was watching Nolan while I was at a yummy Enrichment dinner this past week and Nolan insisted that Dad put him in his laundry hamper. Justin said he sat in there with his blanket and puppy for at least 30 minutes. Dad lucked out!

Nolan saw Dad open the garbage can with his foot (I'm not really sure why he did that either), so now Nolan thinks that's how he should do it too. It doubles as a great hamstring stretch.
Here is Nolan's latest haircut. Whenever it's cut short he looks like such a big boy.
I'm happy to be in the second trimester. It's amazing how much better I've felt the past week. It's nice that all those Christmas goodies are actually sounding good now! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Most of you already know, but...

We had an ultrasound this morning and everything looks great. I'm nearly 12 weeks and due June 24th.

Home for the Holidays

It is wonderful to be back home after a week in Logan. We had planned all along to spend time up there for Thanksgiving, but we ended up leaving 5 days earlier to be there for Justin's grandpa's funeral. It was a hard week for everyone. It's never easy to have a death in the family and a little added family drama never helps. But the funeral turned out nice and Justin gave a wonderful family prayer before our last good-byes to Grandpa. The graveside service was especially moving because the American Legion gave him military honors including a 3 round rifle shoot and a bugle call.
Thanksgiving Day was filled with the usual delicious food and good times with family. We had dinner at Aunt Karen's and we provided the turkeys that Justin got from work (last year's and this year's). We only provided them, seeing that I don't dare cook a turkey and I'm going to avoid learning as long as possible. I'm afraid if I learn I might be expected to host. The only thing I cooked was a dish of my favorite yams!
We haven't been in the picture-taking mood lately, but we dug out the camera when we got home to take a picture of the aftermath of Nolan's first shave. He found a razor in the bathroom while we were staying in Logan and did just as he's seen Dad do, except that he was bleeding for about 30 minutes. It wasn't too bad really, but it definitely left a mark. By the look on his face you'd think he'd just done it!
Lastly, we put up Christmas decorations on Saturday. I'm looking forward to enjoying the Christmas season here at home and the actual holiday in St. George with my side of the family. I gave Nolan his own little tree to decorate. He loves the train and car ornaments that best, of course! We hope everyones holidays are off to a good start. I've already gotten new socks and that's always a good thing!
One more thing!!! We saw Twilight! I couldn't believe my watch when I realized it was two hours long. It seems like it was too short but I loved nearly every second (the meadow scene was my only complaint).