It's been a fun year!

We are all so grateful for our friends and family that support us and send us so much love! May the Spirit of Christ fill your Christmas season with love. We can't wait to see you in 2010!

Isaac: our busy toddler
This year Isaac has learned a lot. He mastered stair climbing and moved quickly into walking, running, and jumping. He seems a bit behind on teeth growing, but he is sure working on it. He is very independent and knows what he wants, though he doesn't always know how to communicate it! He does say a few words... fish, brush, wash, this, shoes, (see a theme here), "I-E" for Lily, Mama, Dada, Woof Woof, uh oh, up, down, and his newest "Where's Dada?" When he isn't whining for something his sister has or getting into things he shouldn't, he is the sweetest little boy and gives tons of open mouth kisses. He also loves to tackle us and play doggies with his sister.



Lily: our crazy preschooler
I am constantly saying, "Lily is quite the character." She never seems to surprise us with the crazy things she says or does. She is very loving and friendly to everyone she meets. She is extremely bright and excels in her preschool class. She can spell most three letter words and some four letter ones. She is a big helper, when she wants to be. She took gymnastics class in the fall and is looking forward to ballet class and maybe a sport this spring. She loves to dance around and dress up in her many beautiful costumes. She is very creative and enjoys painting her many masterpieces for us.





Melonie: wife to 1, mommy to 2, friend to many
I have had a great year. I finally figured out the ins and outs of being Primary president at church and managing my always busy home. I am enjoying the time I am able to spend with friends and family, and look forward to more fun in 2010! I am grateful I have such a fun and sweet husband. He is my best friend and I love all the time we get to spend together. I'm so lucky! I was able to have eye surgery this past fall and sure love it! I enjoyed our fun family vacations this year to Utah and California and Lake Powell. I'm looking forward to the start of more adult vacations with Tommy in 2010!





Tommy: hard working and kind
Tommy finally got his CFA designation this year and we are all so proud of him. He started a new position at his company and is working hard to be successful at it. He has enjoyed his hunting trips and vacations with his family. He was proud of his sister for getting married this summer in the L.A. temple. He is a great dad and is always up for a game of doggies and kitties with the kiddos. He especially enjoyed taking Melonie to see the Killers this fall. Tommy enjoys working with the young men at our church and is a good role model for them. He enjoyed watching lots of baseball and football this year and hopes to finish first in his Fantasy Football league! He also enjoyed getting Lasik eye surgery this year.

Gingerbread house

Lily had a fun time making a gingerbread house with her Grandma Tessie and Aunt Kimberly in Utah after Thanksgiving. She was sad to leave it there, but luckily our friends gave us a homemade kit to do this week. Lily had a great time making this one all her own creation... as you can tell. I love the homemade stained glass windows! Great touch Karissa! I also love how Lily threw all the rest of the candy on the bottom "as snow" she said. Too cute.

A New House

or at least it seems like it! On Thursday we moved everything into the garage, as well as stuffing the upstairs bathrooms with a few things. Then we pulled up the carpet and padding and spent a few hours taking out all the staples in the floor. The stairs were a big pain. We were very lucky to have the help of friends. Friday morning I got to come over to our house while my sweet friend watched my kiddos and I watched them install the new carpet. It was pretty amazing how quickly it all went down. We got a nice new waterproof pad (and I was loving the red color!) and then beautiful soft brown carpet. It is liking walking on clouds at our house right now! Here are some photos. I'll take a few more "after" shots when we get everything put back in it's place. I had finally gotten the office organized and now I get to do it all over again. :D Lucky me!






Isaac and I played on the carpet for a long time before I really got to work pulling in some boxes. He was just laughing and laying on it and giggling. He was so cute and happy to just be playing with me and nothing else!

Isaac's room also got a paint job last week, thanks to my friend Karissa for motivating and helping me. I just love the white trim and the bright green. See the difference? The green matches the letters in his name perfectly!


Oh yeah, and here is Lily's reaction to the new carpet!

Snow Snow Everywhere!

And Lily pretending to be Rudolph. :D

Fun Christmas Websites

Check out these kid-friendly Christmas websites:

The Elf on the Shelf


Decorate a Gingerbread house


Dress up Doll

A good one for older kids or us adults. :D See if you can do it!
Light Up the Christmas Tree

ABC Family has some Christmas themed games as well

And of course you have to Elf YOURSELF

And, check out pandora.com for free internet radio. I put in "Josh Groban Holiday" and it made a custom music list for me to listen to with Josh Groban and similar artists.

It's Christmas Time!

I just love Christmas Time! I love spending time with family and friends and I love making and buying gifts for others. I also love the lights, warmth, and love you feel at Christmas time. This past weekend we had a fun time with friends and enjoyed a Ward Christmas Breakfast. Sunday we had a little bit of snow that melted pretty soon after it landed. Today's snow fall is sticking around for a little while so I got the kiddos all bundled up and sent them outside to play. Isaac lasted about 10 minutes before he had to come in. He had lost his glove and his hand was frozen. He didn't like it one bit when I tried to warm it up under luke warm water. Poor little guy. I'm sure Lily wasn't much help keeping him warm outside. She liked throwing snow at him from what I saw. Oh yeah, and did I tell you Isaac is going to be a pro-present unwrapper this Christmas? He has already unwrapped two presents under our little pink tree.