Christmas 2008
We have had a wonderful month visiting our family and friends in Utah. We are so thankful for all of our blessings.

Our holidays this year were spent together as a family

We enjoyed the beautiful lights on Temple Square as we were running to our car after an evening with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We were trying to beat the traffic, downtown was a nightmare.

We enjoyed the snow.

Jim enjoyed driving his old truck.

Making carmel apples at my cousin Pam's house is a tradition. We girls all had a great time. I always make a few extra we can eat.

We all came at different times so this is who was there when we were leaving.

Cousins played together.

Jim got to play with his favorite niece.

Jim was able to go snowshoeing. He went alone which I strongly discourage him from doing. He covered over 10 miles that day. I am glad he was able to go to his "happy place"

I love that he took a bunch of beautiful pictures. This is one of my favorites.

This is not one of my favorites. What the ??? Do you think bear spray would keep this animal away? Good thing he didn't have to find out. He said it was most likely a cougar. I guess they don't like tall things with large packs on.

Elise enjoyed her 1st Christmas

She also enjoyed just hanging out.

It snowed some more.

Does it get any cuter?

We hung out with our wonderful friends at the happiest place in American Fork....JCW's.

Last but not least my baby who is not so much a baby anymore turned 9 months.

Back to the real world we go. Jim has already returned back to Texas and started school. Elise and I will be joining him at the end of the week.

Home Sweet Home

We are home. We are happy. Life is great.

And by home I mean we are in Utah.

Everything's Bigger in Texas

They aren't kidding.
This huge grasshopper was on our screen the other day. It was 3 inches long and the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. My hand is there as a reference. Don't worry it was outside on the screen and my hand was safely inside on the glass.
The sky here is HUGE and the sunsets are gorgeous.

The biggest thing in Texas...my HEART. It loves this girl so much.
Notice the nice red mark on her cheek. It was our first big owie. She was kneeling and took a dive onto her toy box. I am afraid this won't be the last of her owies. The same day she hit her head on the entertainment center. Poor girl.

Our computer got a virus. It has been getting fixed all week. I have felt somewhat out of it not having a computer. The other day I called Jim at school and asked him if he would check my email for me. He opened my email and said I think you should go to the library and read your email there are way too many. I had forgotten how nice it is to just check my email throughout the day. Although I must admit it was nice not having that distraction during the day. I like to look up a lot of things on the Internet. Especially living in a new city I will pass by a store or a restaurant and if I haven't heard of it before I will go home and google it. That is how I have found some of the "gems" here in Lubbock.
We leave to go home for the holidays in less than a week. I am so excited to hang out with my husband without school or work for 3 weeks. Also, I am going to get to meet my nephew Riley for the first time. My brother Brad and his wife are coming in from
San Juan Island, Washington. It will be the first time my whole family has been together since their wedding 3 years ago. I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends!!

A Typical Day
Elise loves to play with her toys.

She love to play with Bentley. He is a 2 year old we have watched a couple of times a week while his parents are at work & school. It is fun to see her play with other kids.

She loves to play around our files and computer desk. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment and so our computer desk is in the living room. Whenever she can she crawls over to it and plays with anything she can get her hands on.

Nap time is the beset!! I love that she fell asleep looking out of her crib.

Playing--she's 8 months old, that's what she does.

Going on walks and to the park. We try and go on a family walk a couple of times a week. Elise loves to be outside. Since our weather here is still really nice we are able to go out almost everyday. I am so grateful for where we live. We are in a great neighborhood that is so quiet and close to so much. The park is just around the corner. This girl loves to swing at the park.

A Little Late But Worth the Wait

Here are Baby Elise's 7 and 8 month old pictures. I can't believe how much she has grown compared to last month. She is just the cutest dang thing and we love her so much.

8 Tag

My friend Devri tagged me.....

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH
The Amazing Race
The Office
Survivor
The Hills
Ellen
Dr. 90210
Real Housewives of the OC
The Biggest Loser

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
JCW's
Taco Amigo
Pizzeria Seven Twelve
Bailey's Sandwich Shop
Texas Roadhouse
Whataburger
Macaroni Grill
Bombay House

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

Listened to Jim speak in church
Taught the 6 year olds in primary
Called to teach the Marriage and Family Relations class
Cooked a pizza
Watched some football
Gave Elise a bath
Ate Muddy Buddies
Watched The Amazing Race

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO

Spending Thanksgiving with our friends in Texas
Jim being done with this semester
Going home to Utah for 1 month
Meeting my nephew Riley for the first time
Seeing Timpanogos and all its beauty
Running with my Dad while I am home
Shopping with my sister while I am home
Spending 3 weeks of no school or work with Jim and Elise

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST

Live closer to family
Go on another cruise to Alaska, this time with Jim
My daughter to grow up a strong and confidant woman
A house
Range Rover-black and pimped out
Be a better person
Rachel Zoe as my personal stylist
Jim to be done with school

People I am tagging
If you read this consider yourself tagged

8 Months old

It is hard to believe that Elise is now 8 months old. She is getting to be such a big girl. She makes us smile everyday. We feel so thankful to be parents to this sweet girl.
Here are some of the things she is doing right now:

• Has her first tooth
• Starting to crawl
• Sits up on her own
• Pulls herself up so she is standing while holding on to something
• She likes her rice cereal and sweet potatoes but doesn't like her multi-vitamins (yuck, I don't blame her)

We are having fun watching her grow and learn. We are so excited to be going to Utah for the holidays and spending time with family and friends.
Here are some videos of Elise playing in her crib. ENJOY!!!

Baby Girl's First Haircut
The Baby girl's hair was just getting a little long on top. It would flop over into her eyes and I couldn't get it to stay out. Tasha was getting her hair cut so we took Elise along. Our friend Devron cut her hair and did a great job. Elise did great and was pretty good while Dev cut it. Having her sit on Tashas lap was a good idea since she could still see me. I love the zebra print smock. I must admit I was a little afraid of what Jim would say since I didn't tell him I was doing it. He loves it!

Team Jesse
I am so sad right now. If you haven't heard DeAnna broke up with Jesse. You can read all about it on their website. The link is under friends on the sidebar. I think he is such a great guy, any girl would be lucky to be with him. I think DeAnna is still in love with Graham!!

Our Trip To Utah
What we did:

We went to Park City

Saw the beautiful mountains we miss so much, especially Timpanogos

Enjoyed the fall weather outside

Slept in everyday!

Played football with Cade and Jake

Got ready for the "big game" which wasn't so big after all

Went rollerskating at Classic Skating for girls night

Went for a beautiful walk up Provo Canyon

Enjoyed Bridal Veil Falls. It was Elise's first time to the falls

Went to Gardner Village (twice)

Hung out with family
Got haircuts. That's right Elise got her first haircut. I will post more about that later. Thanks to Roni for my great cut and color and to Devron for cutting Elise's hair. We love our new do's.

Halloween 1976
Yvonne

Halloween 2008

Elise

My mom made this turtle costume for me in 1976. When I went home to visit we pulled it out and put it on Elise. It has held up pretty well considering it is 32 years old. I know I wasn't the only one to wear it either. I think all of my brothers were put in it at one time or another.

Natasha and Yvonne Halloween 1976
-she's still a little devil-