You're Welcome

My mom was dying for me to take a photo of Abby with our tree and some presents. They aren't great, but she really wouldn't sit still for any more photos.

Merry Christmas!

Santa stayed up really late wrapping presents for little Abby to open in the morning. We were all set to go. I just needed Jeremy and Abby to get up.

Even the dogs got a special treat in their stockings. I was a little afraid they were going to rip the socks down during the night and eat the treats.

Here was the big moment when Abby saw what Santa brought. If you can't tell from the video, she was pretty ambivalent about the whole thing.

Here she is opening up her first gifts.

She really seemed to like this book.

She was super happy that mommy got some chocolate and spent a good part of the day trying to steal it from me.

Here she is taking her baby out for a stroller ride.

The Human Shield

This week I was able to attend the Yamato/Zama Military Branch Christmas party. The Yamato branch was in charge of the program and we handled the food. Even Santa made an appearance there. Fun was had by all.

Christy and I couldn't resist getting a snapshot with the Jolly Old Man.

I had four of my English students come and enjoy the show. They had never been to church before and learned a lot. It was so much fun to see someone experience the real meaning of Christmas for the first time.

Here is the Yamato Ward choir singing Oh Holy Night. It's one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I especially enjoyed hearing it in Japanese.

The highlight of the night is always watching the Japanese people duke it out at the buffet table. They are all order and submissiveness until they smell/see the food. I actually had to use my massive (in comparison to them) body to create a shield my students so they wouldn't be trampled.

I Won - Woo Hoo!

I got a rather unexpected phone call yesterday telling me that we've won a Christmas decorating award. The housing department would be coming later in the day to bring us a sign for our yard and our prizes. Sweet deal. However, I am certain that they had the wrong house and probably meant the prize to go to my neighbor. What do you think?

MY HOUSE:

MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE:

The Lonely Orange

We're pretty lucky to have an orange tree in our backyard, but it's totally sad that we only got one orange on it this year. Abby loves to eat oranges so she's pretty excited about it. Here she is checking it out...

Girls Gone Wild

This weekend the girls got away for a ladies-only camp out. We lived it up.

We hit the books hard.

We rocked this miniature golf course. Katie took the cake with her Tiger Woods intensity.

We think this was supposed to represent Mt. Fuji, but it looked like a tetanus trap so we Mulliganed on right by.

The hungry, hungry hippo!

Eat your heart out Jane Goodall.

This polar bear was cross eyed so we gave him glasses.

The second night included an upgrade (at least for Natalie and Katie).

The best part of the day was getting the keys to the golf cart. What were they thinking?

This is where we "roughed" it.

Driving around in the mac daddy golf cart.

We found these old creepy abandoned buildings that needed exploring.

We showed off our lean mean muscles with some chin ups. I could do them, but opted to sit in the golf cart under the blanket.

More creepy crap.

I don't believe this is the recommended dosage.

Girls Gone Wild....

I Gonna...

This is Abby's new favorite game. As you can tell, she gets so excited she can't even breathe when we play. It brings me so much joy to see her so happy.

Open Mike Night

We take requests...

Santa Stank Eye

Last week we hit up our ward Christmas brunch. It was a hoot. I especially enjoyed the kids reenacting the nativity scene. They are the cutest.

Abby is pretty obsessed with conducting the music. There was no way she wasn't going to be a part of the action.

I spy with my little eye SANTA!

If I could read Abby's mind she would say, "whatever you're panhandling is not worth it. Take your sack and shove it."

"I dare you to touch me again, chubs!"

Love For Utah

Our trip to Utah was awesome! Here are our favorite moments captured on film:

St. George: We had a fantastic time with Jeremy's Grandpa and Grandma Lyman. We loved seeing their mission photos, taking a long walk around their neighbourhood, eating Bonnie's delicious feasts and watching Abby make Play-Doh animals with her new friends.

Friends: We were thrilled to spend time with some of our favorite Utah friends. We had Thai food with Joel and Rachel...

Italian food with Biggies and Heidi (and their clan)...

A baby blessing feast with Justin and Tiffany, Tobey and Denise and assorted family and friends...

Festival of Trees: This was my first time at the festival. Primary Children's Hospital raises money every year by having people donate decorated Christmas items that they sell/auction. Usually each tree comes with a story from the family who donated it. It was very touching to see how the family honored the memory of their loved one in the way they presented their tree. For example, one baby liked barbies so they had a barbie-themed tree and presents. I would have loved to have purchased this safari tree....

Someone built this awesome playhouse to be auctioned...

This was a gingerbread castle that was for sale...

Holiday wreathes were a hot item....

Clearly, Abby loved them.

There were decorations for hearths...

This was a beautiful mother and daughter set that I loved...

The festival clan...

We couldn't think of leaving SLC without hitting up The Cheesecake Factory.

Family time :)

Denna was kind enough to get Christmas up and running at her house so Abby could enjoy it.

I'm sorry to say that I don't have any photos of our sweet Thanksgiving or the food competition with Sara and Bry. I'd love to blog adventures. Please forward some photos if you have some. Thanks :)

Eight Moments of Hilarity

I wish I had video for all nine moments, but I did the best I could. I hope you can imagine it in your mind...

Number One: Abby learning how to say frog on the plane. Let's just say it kept coming out like another four letter word, which she would not quit repeating. I had to keep making frog noises to cover up her expletives.

Number Two: Speaking of planes, here is what I woke up to on our commute to San Fran. I was wondering how he got her to be so quiet!

Number Three: Me trying to keep Abby from destroying Holly's Christmas tree. Abby almost got it half way over but I saved it with a mad dive. She did manage to get away with a few ornaments that hopefully Holly was able to find over the weekend. This sealed the deal on us NOT getting a large Christmas tree this year. Merry freaking Christmas.

Number Four: Abby preforming death-defying stunts at Sam's Club. At this point I almost walked away and pretended she was Denna's kid.

Number Five: Abby going through my grocery bags as I attempted to drive home. She not only opened the blueberry container and threw them all over the floor, but she put the plastic bag over her head and pretended she was hiding. I was all over the road trying to drive straight and rip the bag off her head.

Number Six: Abby's new WWF wrestling moves. She is all over the body slam. No one can sit on the last couch cushion without getting the 'Big Jump.' Even the dogs will settle for the safety of the floor. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get the body slam while sleeping comfortably in bed. 'Tis the season to share the smack down.

Number Seven: This afternoon Abby declared that she was coloring in her car seat. Since I knew she had no crayons I was curious how this was possible. My little 22-month-old daughter was scratching her legs, which first turned white and then pink from trauma. No one can say she's not smart and industrial! She even managed to get a whole circle done before I got her pant leg down. Let's hope her drawings aren't permanent.

Number Eight: Grandma Robertson taught her how to somersault and now she's a machine at it. If only she had better geospacial forethought.