Our Baby is 2!

Today, our baby girl turns 2 years old. Where did the time go? Well are there are a few things I would rather not repeat, but all in all the past two years with Sydney Marie have been fantastic. She truly brings a smile to us all. She is lovable, sweet, determined and at times a bit fiesty. But when trying to keep up with two older brothers you have to make your self known. She is a girly girl never without her bracelet (thanks to Donise!) and loves to play football with her brothers. She is currently obsessed with Little Mermaid and we watch it at least once a day and is often found singing like Ariel. We are having a Little Mermaid party on Saturday with Grandpa and Grandma Wood and cousins. Should be good fun. We have been singing Happy Brithday to her all day and after each verse she louldly adds cha cha cha... Her vocabulary is slowly expanding and she loves to sing. After pouring over the pictures of the last couple of years I know I have been truly blessed to have such a wonderful, healthy family and look forward to watching all my babies grow.

Changes

So yesterday I bid farewell to another part of my Arizona life. My tags expired on the van so it was time to get Idaho plates and an Idaho Driver's License. I don't quite know why but I was a little sad to see my cactus plate go and my cracked license with the horrible picture be retired. Guess it makes living her seem more permanent as it should be since we bought a house last week! We are so excited and can't wait to move in. We close mid Feb. It is in SW Meridian - just a couple of miles from where we currently live. It is a house we fell in love with in Sept and through a series of events (it sold to someone else, then they backed out) we were able to get it for a good price. It is so much nicer being the buyer! Here are a few pics. There will be a guest room so visitors are welcome.

On a another note we went to Riverdance last night. LOVED it. It is our third time seeing it and it gets better every time. So if it is coming to a venue near you - Go! and yes Cris truly enjoyed it.

Happy New Year

Well tomorrow it is back to reality as school resumes and Dad is off to Idaho Falls - hopefully feeling better and with good weather. Yes, the Richardson's greeted the New Year taking turns with the Stomach Flu. All I can say is YUCK! Every other day for the past week one of us had been stricken with the bug. Needless to say there was lots of laundry, Sprite and Pepto. Hopefully, we are on the mend.

We are looking forward to the new year and what it has in store. I can't wait to find out where we will live permanently. The suspense is driving me nuts and I am learning patience. I did get a calling at church last week - teaching the 7 year old primary class. They are a good group of kids and rather smart!

Here are some photos and highlights from the Holidays! We had a wonderful time and were certainly blessed. It was wonderful to spend time with family. But as much as I loved having a semi white Christmas - I miss the warm Arizona weather, family and friends.

We headed to Burley after Christmas to meet up with the extended family. It had been a long time since some of us 'Wood' cousins had been together. It was great seeing everyone and catching up on life.

Cris refers to the week after Christmas as "Jen week." As our anniversary is the 27th and my bday is the 29th! So for our family it is one festive week! Grandpa and Grandma kept the kids so we could go to dinner and shopping on our anniv. It is my favorite type of date. Aunt Fonda and Keri came from SLC to hang out and go skiing. We went with them and took advantage of the fresh snow and sledded down the hill. The kids loved it. Syd only enjoyed the first 15 min. We headed home to Boise to catch the BYU vs BSU Bball game. It was a great game and were only mildly disappointed in BYU's loss since we are now BSU fans. Jen week came to an end with a late dinner at Red Robin - the Richardson Birthday restaurant. All in all it was fantastic.

We didn't have a White Christmas morning but we did have a White Christmas Eve Morning. It was beautiful and then it melted away which was okay since many would be traveling. Grandma and Grandpa Wood bought Grandpa Johnson and we hosted Christmas Eve dinner. Very tasty. Darin, Nat, Rick and Arlene joined us too! I think Alex secretly has a crush on Nat. Sorry Darin! We had a fun night laughing at uncle Rick's jokes and playing Uno.

Christmas Day was mellow day - just the way we like it. We didn't even get up til 8:00 am. The kids loved their gifts. Syd is the new chef in the house with her pink retro kitchen. I am not sure who likes it more me or her! The boys had a football Christmas scoring not one, not two, but three jerseys. They were in heaven. Thank goodness Santa brought football shoulder pads. Alex had been stuffing his socks and underwear under his sleeve for protection. Grandma and Grandpa had fun watching the kids and Santa seemed to have visited them as well. It was a great relaxing day.

Yeah, I know the holidays are over but these were too cute to not post. Alex knew this was the real Santa as Santa's beard and hair were real. It was fun to see the magic of Christmas in the kids eyes! Syd looked ever so cute in her Christmas dress. She loved carrying around her purse and showing off her sparkly shoes.