The fun must come to an end...

The rest of Christmas break, basically Saturday, was spent visiting with old friends and playing catch up on meeting their new little ones. I went to lunch with my old roommate Kasie and her husband Scott and met her adorable little boy, Payton. Kasie and Iwent to high school together but we weren't that great of friends until we roomed together as freshman at BYU. We braved the land of 30 year old men together, survived Dare Yahtzee, and had many many many freshman moments, such as collecting Toilet Paper as payment to enter our apartment (what can we say, we were cheap and didn't want to have to buy it!). She met her husband Scott in that ward and they are still happily married almost 5 years later. Crazy it has been that long! We met at Cafe Rio, which is one of our favorite places we discovered when moving to Provo. Luckily, IF has caught up with the times and has one now too!I think Hallie looks absolutely chubby in this picture, especially compared to Payton! Granted, he is about a year younger, but still....
I also got to see my cousin Anneka and my friend Haylee that day. I have been close to these girls since the 6th grade and love them to death. Haylee had her second little boy recently, Jonah, so I got to meet him. She lives in Tennessee so we don't get to see each other that often, unfortunately for me. Jonah is the cutest little guy, with tons and tons of blonde hair. So funny. Jackson is also still excited to marry Hallie, which is good news. Later that night, we played games at Anneka's house with some of my other cousins. They introduced us to this game called Clue Charades. All I have to say is HILARIOUS. I have not laughed so hard in a long time. If you want to play, let me know! Sunday, we packed up and drove home after going to church with my mom. Dave played his cello in sacrament meeting and it was lovely, so that was a real treat. We were so spoiled this Chrsitmas (by we I mean Hallie), our car was packed to the brim on the ride home. Have a look:

Hals could just peek out from her seat in the middle. Otherwise, she was totally surrounded. She also got really crabby on the drive home and was screaming like no body's business. I must be super impatient, because I could only handle so much. Finally, I let her play with the laptop, thats how desperated I was to have her calm down. She totally loved that. What a little miss attitude!

Well, now that I have Christmas wrapped up, Happy New Year!!!!

Happy Christmas!

Here is part two of the big holiday festivities. We woke up Christmas morning to Skype with Devin's parents and then had the largest feast ever for breakfast. Shortly after, we couldn't contain ourselves any longer and had to start diving into the gifts. Hals is possibly the most spoiled girl ever. She got a ridiculous amount of gifts, mostly not from us, but from others.

Despite all the fun toys and everything, her favorite gift was the new toothbrush Grandma got her. She insisted that we take it out of the package right away and then spent the morning sucking on it. Easy to please, I am fine with that.After the morning festivities, we headed to my Grandma's house for the rest of the party! Don't worry, Hals changed outfits because she wanted to wear the one Grandma got her instead of her boring old one.
I love my Grandma. She was fun as ever. This is what happened when I told her to make a funny face for the camera. Love it. Sadie opened all her presents there since Jennifer had to work earlier in the day. This toy that she got was a huge hit with all the kids. Hallie had a great time pushing her around in it. Sadie thought it was so relaxing, she put her feet up for the ride. Most awesome gift awards have to go to Cortney's ornament of the RV from Christmas Vacation (a family classic) and Carter's signed basketball by all the Jazz players. Sadie had his name, so Jennifer gave this to him because she knew he would love it. It was Chris's ball and she said that Chris would want him to have it. Carter is about the biggest Jazz fan ever, as evidenced by his outfit. A close call "best gift" would have to be the pink and blue Snuggies that Che' and Landon got. So cute. Grandma always gives us four girls the same gift and we are always so excited to see what it will be! She also gets the husbands and older boys the same thing. We had a good laugh about the pants because they were the same size for all. Neil, Cortney's husband, is just a tad bit shorter than Devin (ya know, a foot or so), so that was funny. Grandma is so thoughtful though and we love her. Of course we had to top off the night with a few rounds of games. By a few, I mean a lot. We played Spades, Rook, Ticket to Ride, and Apples to Apples. Of course I won them all. (just jokin...I'm pretty sure I didn't win a thing. Oh well, its the fun that counts!).

We had a most fantastic day. I love Christmas. It is by far my most favorite holiday of the year. I just think it is magical and I look forward to the time spent with family and the traditions. Of course, the most important thing is celebrating the Savior's birth. I am grateful for Him and for this time that we can remember Him and be more grateful for all the blessings that we have because of Him.

Eve of the Big Day

Alright folks, buckle down, I will be posting quite a few posts about Christmas I am afraid. I think at least the parents want to see our pictures? We had a fabulous break spent in Idaho. Short (4 days), but fantastically fun-filled and jam packed. So without further ado, here is our Christmas Eve summary.
We got into Idaho Falls on the 23rd really late so that we could have all day on the 24th. No need to waste time! Jennifer and I decided that it would be fun to take the girls sledding, so we busted out our warmest clothes and ran to the store to purchase some sleds before heading out. We met my cousin Anneka and her cute little family there. Despite the freezing cold, we had a great time! Hallie laughed and laughed and laughed all the way down the hill. Sadie wasn't so sure what to think, but she had fun anyway! Hals the pink Snowman and I ready to head down the nearly snowless hill!

This is my sister Jennifer and her "friend" Mike.

Devin took both girls at once. Sadie liked going with him because he would go slow for her.
Check out my gangsta hat! Devin said I was wearing it wrong. Oh well, as long as it was warm!
Ann and her cute kiddos, Addy and Hyrum, and her husband Jonny.
I made Hals make a snow angel. Doesn't she look so fat!? Ha ha ha!!!

Later that evening, we had our annual Christmas party at my Grandparents' house. We had a huge delicious meal and then did the traditional Nativity.

Love the self portraits.

Every year, my Grandpa gives the "State of the Family Address". Everyone loves this and we can't wait to hear what he has to say, let's be honest, he is a funny man. This year, he has been pretty sick and is not doing too well, but he was still able to give his speech. Yes, that is a Snuggie with a white shirt and tie sewn to it. Classic, I know. Never knew Snuggies had so many good uses!

Since the big D, we have always spent Christmas Eve with my dad. So after the party at my Grandparents' house, we headed for my dad's for even more partying. We opened our presents there. The girls got these cute matching jammies from Aunt Jen. What cutie pies!
My dad had these huge wrapped gifts for Jennifer and I and when we opened them, we were surprised to find...these huge POWER SHOVELS! Yeah, awesome right? Devin will have a good time with that baby!
To top off the night, I made my siblings pose for pictures since I don't remember the last time we had a picture of the four of us. Probably never. We lined up oldest to youngest, which sort of ended up being shortest to tallest. Poor Jen. So left to right is Jennifer, me, Michael, and Clark.

That concludes Christmas Eve. Stay tuned for further posts about Christmas!

Check, Check, Check

Two posts in a day, you all must be very lucky! (kidding, of course.)
I am going to town on my list as evidenced by the following photographs.
#51: Go to a taping of Good Things Utah. Che' and I did this a few Mondays ago and despite the mishap of being a tad bit late for taping, we had a most fabulous time. The audience was much smaller than we anticipated and everything was very low key. It was a great time. We even got a few prizes for just showing up: The Forgotten Carols DVD, candied nuts, and a berry trifle. Mmmmmm. We will definitely be doing that again.


#7: Get a picture of Hallie on Santa's lap. Accomplished, but not without a fight, as you can see! We went with the whole fam to a a Christmas play by Pickleville playhouse in Logan a few weekends ago. We had the time of our lives. Uncle Lynn won an ipod, we had a feast of a meal, we got to see our old friend, Eli (who happened to be a performing missionary in Nauvoo 4 years ago when my Grandma was on a mission there. We got really into his performances because he was just so hilarious, so we went every single night to the same play while we were there and then got a picture with him after each and every performance. Pretty sure he was quite alarmed to see us again....), and to top it all off, the roads were terrible for the drive home, so a good number of us crashed at my Aunt Linda's house. There were bodies everywhere. I got the couch and the combination of the flannel pajamas that Linda loaned me and the couch material caused me to sweat bullets all night long while everyone else woke up claiming to have frozen. Too much information. Suffice it to say, we had a great time at Pickleville. Moving on... (Thanks Che, for the pics!)
#67: Go to "Music and the Spoken Word." I got to go to this last weekend, when it was also the mini performance of the Mormon Tabernacle's Christmas Concert. It was FABULOUS. I loved it. Devin stayed home with Hallie, but I went with my mom, Dave, and Dave's son Jesse and his wife Adrienne. It's amazing how much goes into one of those productions. I am grateful though, because it helped put me right into the Christmas spirit.Also, had to throw in this picture since it goes sort of along with the theme of performances that we have been to. It's not on the list, but still a good thing. Devin and I got to go to the "Forgotten Carols" for the first time ever! It is something that I have wanted to see for years, but have never done for whatever reason. We didn't buy tickets this year either, but Che' and Landon had some and had a conflicting event that night, so we got to go instead. I can definitely see what the hype is about, now that I have been. Good thing I got the DVD from the Good Things Utah show; I have already watched it twice since then. Loved it. Of course you can't tell where we are, but just trust me, that's where we were!

That concludes this edition of "Let's See What Kim Has Crossed Off Her List." Stay tuned for future installments!

Art Time

I know that I have been posting a lot about Hallie lately, but she is so funny right now, I can't help it. Yesterday, I was wrapping the last of our Christmas gifts and I had a short little piece of wrapping paper left over. Hallie had gone into the other room and came back with the bag of markers, so I figured, why not let her color on the extra paper? Fun, right? She is barely getting the idea that pens and pencils and the like make marks, so she has kind of liked drawing or coloring here and there. However, yesterday, she had a different idea in mind: It's a good thing I stripped her naked before the art project! She refused to even consider coloring on the paper, but instead thought that her nice big, protruding belly made a much better canvas.
No harm done. Oh except that the marks didn't quite all come off in the bathtub. Oh well, though, its worth it for her little fun time!

In Which Devin Foresees the Future

This past Sunday...
Devin: I have something to tell you.
Kim: What? (anticipating a very serious something coming up)
Devin: (in quite a solemn tone) Hallie is going to be addicted to drugs when she is older.
Kim: WHAT? (Mega alarms going off in my head... Who wants to hear this about their daughter?!)
At this point, I am thinking Devin has gone crazy and is going to insist that since we just got out of church, he had a vision while there that let him know this trial we must endure in our future.

Luckily, its not that. Devin then proceeded to tell me that during Elders Quorum, Hallie kept digging through her diaper bag over and over to find a bottle of medicine that was in there and then shrieking "Ahhhhhh Ahhhhhh Ahhhhhhhh!!!!" while shoving it in Dev's face indicating that she wanted some. Poor Dev had to keep burying the medicine and then enduring the routine again as she kept diving in right after it. I am sure he got a few worried looks from the other men. Poor guy.

What can we say? Hallie definitely is a medicine junkie. She has never found a medication that she did not love. What 1 year old skips the crackers, cereal, milk, and raisins found in her diaper bag to go for the bottle of medication buried at the bottom? Hals, thats who.
Who makes Medicine Time the most serious and important part of the day? Hals.
Who can find the cough drops in mom's purse AND have it in her mouth before her parents can even blink? Miss Hallie.
Who fake coughs and then grunts toward the bottle of Tylenol sitting on the counter? You guessed it!
I find this to be extremely odd and kind of concerning because neither Devin nor I are drug takers. Really, we rarely take medication at all and when we do it is because we are practically dying. Hals hasn't even been on that many medications in her lifetime and I don't give her Tylenol very often either. We went through teething mostly without it. So, where does she get this love of all things drug? Even at her 2 month shots, I remember the nurse telling us that one of the oral vaccines is spit out almost 100% of the time by the babies. Well, not Hals. She sucked it down and wanted more.

(Not to worry, I didn't give her drugs just for the sake of the pictures, we are all sicky around here and she is on an antibiotic)
I guess as long as Devin's original statement does not come true, I shouldn't worry too much, right?

Real Classy

Merry Christmas Everyone! Do you love our family photo? We have all the important elements of a successful picture:

*the phony looking background

*Miscellaneous family members...the more the merrier

*Those that are unmarried or without a partner (not to name names, Lynn) have a tree to hold instead

*Our most beautiful outfits pulled from the back of our closets, particularly the Fourth of July shirt and the early 90's pants with the back pockets high above the actual rear end area. Not pointing anyone out here in particular...

*The essential non human member of the family, Teddy, in his own stroller

*And of course, the miscellaneous extra props dropped in front. No biggie there.

This picture was stolen straight from my sister's blog. It is just too funny not to post, so sorry if you read both of our blogs. We were staining our new kitchen cabinets this day and my uncle Lynn has this nice backdrop at his shop, so of course we had to have our picture taken in front of it. Don't worry about me yet, start worrying about me when I actually send these out for our holiday greeting cards.

P.S. I feel like I have been missing forever from the blog because our computer randomly went d.e.d. last week so we have been without. Luckily we got a new one. Merry Christmas us! Happy to be back!

P.S.S. I really do know how to spell dead. A certain family member (also un-named) has a infamous story about how he said his phone went d.e.d. one day. Too hilarious.

A Day in the Life

Oh to be little...Hallie is quite the character. So without further ado, here are step by step instructions on how to have a fabulous day when you are 13 months old:
1) Grab a little breakfast (If your parents choose to sleep through that, that's not your problem. You will make do with whatever the situation may be, but you will not be skipping breakfast.) 2) Head in for a little hair-do. Dad's idea of a do is a tad bit different than mom's, but hey, it works- kinda.

3)Ruin said hair-do. If its a pigtail, rip it out. If its a bow, take it off. If its slicked back daddy-style, simply run the hands through it until it stands up the way you like it.

4) Dig through mom's purse. Pull out every. single. thing. If mom is really lucky, a garbage is nearby and every item goes into the garbage so that mom gets to dig through to retrieve them. Make sure to pause and stare at yourself each time you come across a picture of yourself. You are cute, afterall.
5) Drag teddy around the house. Pick him up. Drop him. Pick him up. Drop him. Repeat endless times. Clearly, this is awfully entertaining.

6) Have a few meals here and there. Make a huge mess. Appear to look like a cowgirl as often as possible while doing your dining.

7) Enjoy time with your daddy. Cry when he leaves. Get really excited when he comes home and follow him around. If he is not home and you happen to see a picture of him, repeat endlessly, "daddy, daddy, daddy!"8) Really enjoy time with your mommy. Everyone knows she is more fun anyway. (Who am I kidding?) Learn the art of self-portraits. Laugh ridiculously hard when mommy does something funny, like exercise.

9) Head to bed to prepare to start it all over again tomorrow!!

We sure love this little lady. She keeps us entertained, that is for sure. This age has been a really fun phase. It is fascinating to watch her learn. She is starting to copy things that we do and say, which is really funny. She is stubborn and does what she wants, when she wants. She definitely has her whiney moments, but overall, she is a good girl and we are so happy that she is ours!

I Love to See the Temple

(Idaho Falls Temple, picture from LDS.org)

In light of the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I thought I would post about something that I am grateful for: Temples.

When I was young, the Primary song, "I Love to See the Temple" was my favorite. I loved singing the song and listening to the words. I felt like they were meant for me. As I got older, I came to love the temple and anticipate greatly the day that I would be able to receive my own temple ordinances and blessings. I view that day as one of the most sacred and important days in my life, which led up to another sacred event: the most wonderful and crowning blessing, my sealing to my sweetheart, Devin. Because of that sealing, we also have the privilege of having our beautiful daughter sealed to us as well. I am most grateful for this.

It is hard for me to express just how much the Temple means to me. I love the feeling that is felt there. Although we are not perfect, Devin and I try to attend the Temple regularly and I feel extra peace and strength that flows into my life when I go there. I can't pretend that I understand everything that is taught, but one thing I know for sure is that I know it is the Lord's house. I know that the things that are felt there and the ordinances that are performed there cannot be found elsewhere and cannot be replaced. In short, I have a testimony of the Temple and I am so grateful for this sacred place in my life.

In particularly troubling times, the temple brings added comfort and understanding. I have been thinking a lot about a recent tragedy, the death of a former bishopric member of ours in a caving accident. He leaves a pregnant wife and a 14 month old daughter. This breaks my heart for her and the family. I know that the blessings of the Temple will bring her comfort in this terrible time and that she can go forward knowing that she is sealed to her husband and will spend eternity with him, when the time comes. Having watched my sister go through the similar process of losing her husband (albeit in totally different circumstances), I know that the Temple is also paramount in her ability to move forward and find joy in life. Without those blessings, I cannot imagine the dispair that death would bring. There would seem to be little that could shake the mourning and feeling of loss. Thankfully, we have the knowlege that we will see our loved ones again in the eternities if we are faithful to our covenants.

I know these things for a surety and I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to be a partaker of the blessings of the Temple. I hope you all have had a happy and safe Thanksgiving and that you have had time to reflect upon and give Thanks for the blessings in your life!

It's All Hereditary

Hallie has definitely received some hereditary traits from my side of the family...BOB- We like to call the "belly over belt" BOB for short. This most definitely better not come from me personally, but I do have a few uncles that I can name that have/had the BOB. Perhaps this picture just makes Hallie's tummy look extra large because her sweater is three sizes too small. You pick. However, definitely time to retire the sweater.

Chatterbox- This absolutely, 100% comes from Devin. The animated talking with the hands though, well that comes from me. I use my hands to talk when I am describing something to someone on the phone. Nevermind that they can't see me... Hallie talks with her hands all the time too. It is quite comical. (sorry this video is so dark, we have terrible lighting upstairs!)

Bad Driving- Yes, she got that one too. Poor girl! I fully admit that I am a terrible driver, but as you can see, so is she!!

Digging through the Garbage- Also, unfortunately something I have been known to do. No pictures of this, it just occurred to me because it is what Hallie is doing right now. Perhaps I should keep a better eye on my child?

It is good to know that she has at least some of my traits, although as she gets older, let's hope she starts to develop the more desirable ones...

Winner Winner...

After never having won anything in my life, I am proud to announce that I got a phone call today from Home Depot announcing that I have won a fabulous prize...dun dun dun...A year's supply of laundry detergent and a 2 year supply of dishwashing soap!! Yes, it's true. Since we have been frequenting the Home Depot in the name of home repair, last time I was there, they had a washer and dryer out front that you can register to win. Of course I entered, I mean why not? Well, apparently I didn't win the washer and dryer, but I did get the above named soaps. Fantastic! I am honestly more excited about the fact that I won than the soap itself. They should be delivering my prize on Tuesday. We will see how it goes. If you don't believe me, you can join in Devin's ranks. He didn't believe me either.

Now, since I haven't posted pictures in a while. Have a look at a few of Hallie's latest happenings.

MMM MMM chocolate! We have a fan here. Don't mind the ugly cabinets in the background, they are just part of our kitchen that is going going gone. My family all came last week to help us stain our new cabinets and they should be installed in the near future. Exciting! Definitely an upgrade from those old beasts.

Hals got this cart from Che' and Landon for her birthday and then the next day got a baby stroller from her aunt Kirston and kids. She is soooo happy with both. She loves pushing them around and in particular loves putting her bear in, then taking it out, then putting it in, then taking it out. Serious entertainment I am telling you.

Hmm well it appears that that is all I have to post about right now. Don't be too jealous about our laundry soap. I may just share.