Christmas 2011

What made Christmas so special this year:

1. This was Simon's first year in any kind of Christmas program. He was a shepherd in our church nativity program. Along with the other Sunbeams, he caused havoc during the entire performance, but the best part was when everyone left the stage... except Simon. He walked to the edge and smiled at everyone. Jacob and I were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe, and finally one of the helper moms had to carry him off stage.

2. Tim's family came for Christmas. Tim, Stephanie, Whitney and Brian were able to come for 4 days which was great fun. Simon got along great with his cousins and they were so good with Lucy. We had a great time.

3. Jacob's parents and my parents were able to join us for Christmas. How many couples get to have both their parents come to their house for Christmas? Not many! This was our third year in a row hosting both parents and we LOVE it.

4. We had our first fire in our new house (in the fireplace). It was so cozy reading the Christmas story from the Bible and singing Christmas carols with our family around our fire.

5. Simon got the Buzz Lightyear of his dreams. That Santa is a great guy!

6. Christmas was on Sunday which meant we were able to go to church and focus on the true meaning of Christmas: our Savior, Jesus Christ. (I did wear real shoes to church).

7. Lucy was a bit more coherent this year (since last Christmas she was only 1 month old) and was able to really enjoy presents, though she still needed a lot of help opening them.

8. Our neighborhood foxes came to visit. We are blessed to live across from a large empty field that is home to a family of foxes. The foxes came out every morning (and sometimes afternoon) of the Christmas weekend.

We are so grateful for family who traveled to be with us and for the birth of our Savior. What a wonderful Christmas!!

Toy Story on Ice

What's better that watching Toy Story 3? In my opinion; anything. In Simon's opinion; watching Toy Story 3 on Ice!!
Yesterday we went to Toy Story 3 on Ice with Rachael (my sister) and her family. From the souvenirs to the Ice Skating toys, it may have been the best day of Simon's life.

Simon's favorite part: Buzz Lightyear of course (notice above he wore his Buzz Lightyear costume). Thankfully, he didn't notice Buzz was actually a small Chinese woman.

Lucy seemed content, until she saw this and started clapping wildly. I guess Barbie will be a big part of our lives in a couple years.

We all had a great time. Thanks Piviks; for joining us for this memorable occasion.

Happy Birthday, Simon

This week, Simon turned 4. I can't believe how fast the last 4 years have gone. 


On Simon's birthday, we had a family party at home with just the four of us. Because he was going to have a Buzz Lightyear cake the next day, Simon got to pick a different treat for the family party. He chose... owl cookies. A bit random, but we made it happen.

Simon got a Toy Story tent for his birthday and was thrilled. Lucy thought it was great fun too. 

Saturday we had a party for Simon at the awesome swimming pool here in Arvada. All the Sunbeams came and everyone had a great time.

Simon went to bed that night sleeping with 3 Buzz Lighyears, one Woody, one Bullseye, and a Buzz Lightyear gun. I think Simon's birthday was a success.

Thanksgiving 2011

This Thanksgiving, we were so blessed to see all our family on the Heyborne side. With my brother's schedule, it's rare we get to see him on holidays. Since we wouldn't get to see him this Thanksgiving, he made a trip to Denver the week before Thanksgiving. We are so grateful he took his weekend off to come visit us.

On Thanksgiving weekend, we went to Cheyenne to see my sister and parents. We are grateful we were able to spend the entire weekend. 

My mom, Jacob and I were even crazy enough to go to Target at midnight. We were able to get Simon's Toy Story tent for his birthday for $10, so it was worth it. Santa did a bit of shopping that night too.


Friday night, we had a birthday party for Simon and Jane since their birthdays are so close. The cousins get along so well. 

We are so grateful we live close enough to get to see the Heyborne side more often that we  did before. 

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

My little baby girl is one. I can't believe it. Maybe it went by so fast because this has been a crazy year for our family, but all week, I've been checking the calendar, sure she couldn't be one!!!

We kept her birthday pretty low-key, but she had a lot of fun.

Growing up, my mom would hang a "Happy Birthday" sign up for each of us kids on the morning of our birthdays (Yes; I have an awesome mom). The ones from my childhood were always homemade, but we let the dollar store provide ours.

Having a family party in Arvada is quite different from having one in Utah, but we were grateful Uncle Dave and Aunt Shauna came to spend the evening with us. Lucy was thrilled with all her gifts and ended the night with beef stew and ladybug cake. It's such a thrill to have a child eat what I make.

Happy birthday, baby Lucy! We love you so much!!!

One year ago...

One year ago today, I was outside with Simon. I was mad because I was still pregnant, so I was raking the millions of leaves in our backyard, attempting to put myself into labor.

As Simon and I were working, Jacob came outside (he was home bound also waiting for me to go into labor), looked at me and said, "I just got offered a job in Denver." We just looked at each other for a few seconds. Since a year after we were married, our goal was to end up in Denver. We both immediately listed all the reasons we shouldn't do it. I was (HOPEFULLY!) going to have a baby any second, Jacob would have to leave us almost immediately, we had to sell our house, etc.
After a few days, a lot of advice and many sincere prayers, we decided we needed to accept the job and move to Denver. Little did we know, this would be the beginning of a very hard (but good) year.
Jacob moved just over a month later when Lucy was only 3 weeks old. This left me and the kids behind to sale our house, which took an additional five months.
Moving was extremely hard. We had a lot of great friends and family in Utah, I loved the area, and I felt very settled. But those five months apart taught me something very important. Nothing is better than having my family together.

We moved to a place where we hardly knew anyone, didn't know the area and didn't yet have a home. Even with all that, life immediately improved because we were together as a family once again.

Being separated from Jacob for five months was hard on us and hard on the kids. We are so grateful to all be together, no matter where.

We are still adjusting to life here in Denver, but we are very happy and know we made the right choice for our family. I love my family so much. I am so blessed to be surrounded my my favorite people every single day.

Halloween

List of Events:

• Friday - Ward Party including Trunk-or-Treat. Lucy was mad because it was cold but was calmed by a Crunch bar.
• Saturday - Trick-or-Treating at the Zoo. Both kids made off with a ton of candy. All the animals were hiding inside, except the buffalo, who were somewhat boring and stinky. A great time was still had by all. We ended the day with "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
• Sunday - Watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and carved our pumpkin. Simon wouldn't touch the goo for the forth year in a row and Lucy couldn't stay away from it.
• Monday - Watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" three times. Our first trick-or Treating experience in Colorado was a great success. We have great neighbors who give handfuls of mini candy bars. Thankfully, Lucy had her own basket which I'm sure she will share with Mom and Dad. We ended the night with our traditional fondue and Disney's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." All went to bed full of candy.

Bowling and the Circus

Last week, we went bowling with our friends, the Martinezes. This was Simon's first time bowling and he thought it was great fun, though his score was below 40. I proudly broke 80, and Jacob and Lucy watched from the sidelines.

This weekend, we went to the Ringling Brothers' circus. Both the kids loved this. The Ringling Brothers' circus is the only circus I remembered from my childhood, so I was very excited. Lucy clapped through the entire thing and Simon actually sat still for the entire 2 hours! After we left, Simon told us his favorite part was when the clowns plugged in a giant plug. This happened in the first 30 seconds of the circus, so I guess we didn't need to stay for the whole thing. I even enjoyed it though there were a plethora of clowns. 
We're grateful the circus handed out free clown noses, sparing us from purchasing a $50 stuffed elephant. The cheapest souvenir was a $10 snow cone in a creepy clown cup.