A Great Way to End 2009!!

I can't believe another year has come to an end. I can't believe it is almost 2010!! Ten years ago I was down at Dixie College and loving every minute of it. Ten years ago Luke was in the Marines working in Japan. Ten years ago people were worrying about the Y2K bug.

2009 has been a great year. In fact, every year just gets better and better. The best part of 2009 has been watching Claire grow up. At this time last year, Claire was crawling all over the place and occasionally taking a few steps. Now she is running all over the place, climbing up everything she can, and she is full of attitude. She knows just what she wants and nothing will get in her way. We love her so much. Earlier this year we started the adoption process again and we are hoping that our little family will grow a little bit bigger in 2010.



Yesterday I knew we had a long day ahead of us. In an attempt to wear Claire out and get her to take an earlier nap, we went outside to shovel snow. I knew that the second I started shoveling the snow, she would want to help. We were only outside for about 30 minutes...but it worked. An hour later she was sound asleep. Three hours before her normal nap time.

Then later that day we got together with my mom and step-dad and all of my step-brothers and sisters and went ice-skating. We had so much fun!!


Then we were off to meet Claire's birthmom at Temple Square. I love being on Temple Square at Christmas Time. And it was really nice spending time with Melody. Of course, most of the time was spent watching Luke chase Claire around outside. But that was to be expected since Claire hates riding in a stroller and doesn't like being held.

Just a little Christmas update

We can we say....Christmas was great. We loved spending time with our family, eating good food, and especially watching Claire experience it all.

We made sugar cookies to deliver to our neighbors and friends....and to some random guy that thought we were crazy. I guess I should have looked up an address instead of just guessing which house. He didn't even act appreciative either.


Look at this happy, yet tired girl. We could of slept in Christmas morning but I was so excited for Claire to open her gifts that I woke her and Luke up early.


Luke was excited to try out the new lens that he gave me for my camera.


All of us together in our new Christmas pj's. Last year I made our Christmas pj's but this year I took the lazy way out and bought them.


Claire was so excited for Santa to come to the Christmas party and she loved watching all the cousins come up when their names were called to see what Santa had for them. Then Santa pulled a goody bag out of his bag and said "Is there a little girl here named Claire?", and Claire instantly screamed out "NOOOO" and hid her face from Santa. So Funny!!!


The wagon that Luke gave Claire for Christmas was a big hit.


We hope you all had a great Christmas

Feelin' Crafty

The past couple of months I have really been in a crafting mood so tonight I decided to post a few of the projects that I thought turned out alright. Too bad I'm not a perfectionist and they would have turned out better. Oh well....I am who I am!!!

I made this diaper cake for my cousin's baby shower. It was so much fun to make.


I bought this hat a few weeks ago and today decided to make a few fabric flowers so it wouldn't be so boring. Total cost for fabric... 20 cents plus enough left over to make several more flowers.

This idea I stole of off someone else's blog. I made it to go in Claire's "We hope one day we will make it all the way through sacrament meeting" quiet bag. Last week we ALMOST made it all the way through church and maybe with the addition of Mr. Potato Head, we will be able to do it this sunday.

Winter Coat

Last year my step-mom made Claire and Rilynn each a coat and matching hat and they turned out so cute. So earlier this year I asked her if she would make Claire another coat. All I can say is that Claire looks adorable in it...and we get so many compliments everytime Claire wears it to church. Thanks so much Holly.

The Best Time of the Year

I absolutely love Christmas and spending it with Luke and Claire makes it even more special. So here are some of the reasons why this is the best time of the year...especially this year.
1. Everytime Claire stands under the mistletoe, she will blow Luke or I a kiss.
2. Claire talks non-stop about Santa and gets so excited when she sees his picture...but totally freaks out if a "real" santa gets too close to her.
3. Seeing the lights on Temple Square.
4. Decorating the house to make it look all festive.
5. People are alot nicer this time of year...for the most part anyway.
6. Making Sugar Cookies!!! We love sugar cookies!
7. I love singing the Christmas hymns in church even though I can't sing.
8. We have fun doing Sub for Santa.
9. Luke normally takes me out on a really nice date right before Christmas and I am really looking forward to it this year.
10. Family parties
11. Celebrating the birth of Jesus. We are really trying to teach Claire the real meaning of Christmas and the importance of helping others that are in need.



Today we got together with my brothers and sisters and made gingerbread houses. My mom spent days baking the houses for us to come decorate so we have her to thank for doing all the hard work. This is the first time that all the grandkids have been together at the same time so we had to take a picture.

Our cute little gingerbread house....or as Luke calls it, our "dream home". Apparently we have different dreams :) Ours is the middle one.

Luke came home early from work one day just as Claire and I were getting ready to put up the lights. Isn't he HOT!!

And of course, Claire has to help. She is the biggest helper no matter what I am doing...and then once she goes down for a nap I clean up the mess she created while "helping" me. I don't dare discourage her from helping because in a couple of years she actually will be a big help.

Our First Encounter with Santa this Year!!

So all day long I kept talking to Claire about Santa and was trying to get her excited to see him since our ward party was later that night and Santa usually stops by for a visit. Plus, I really wanted a pic of Claire with Santa but there is no way I am waiting in line for an hour and paying $20 at the mall....call me cheap if you want. The party was fun, the food was yummy, the entertainment was great, and Claire instantly freaked out when Luke placed her on Santa's lap. Maybe Santa will stop by our family Christmas party and things will go better. If not, there is always next year...Right??