Zach, Nikky, & Declan

Just a reminder...

2012-04-10T17:38:00.000-05:00

We had to switch blog addresses awhile ago so if you want to read updates about our family go to znoswald.blogspot.com. I've actually been updating it lately (still working on getting caught up though!) Make sure to change our blog address on your saved addresses also so you can see when we update it.

Thanks!

Nikky

New BLOG

2011-08-29T18:03:00.000-05:00

The REAL reason I haven't posted on this blog in a long time is because we don't have any more memory to post pictures SO, I finally got around to creating a new family blog for us! Here's the new link! I'm still in the process of updating but there is a graduation post on there now. We won't be using this blog anymore so please make note! Thanks!

http://znoswald.blogspot.com/

2011-08-08T17:33:00.000-05:00

We are still alive! I just don't even know where to start with blog updates so I just keep putting it off. We moved to Walla Walla, WA a month ago and so far we absolutely love it here! Zach has been super busy with his residency and Declan and I are busy going to parks everyday. :) Hopefully I'll get more motivated to update this on a regular basis again!

Most awesome giveaway ever!

2011-06-17T20:30:00.001-05:00

A trip for 2 to Paris for a week! How amazing would that be?! Check it out...

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris/

Easter and Ann's birthday

2011-05-04T17:27:00.001-05:00

We had a pretty relaxing Easter even though I had to teach Young Women's and Zach ended up taking Declan home from church early. Our ward meets at 1 so it's hard for Declan since it's right during his nap. He had a cold and hadn't slept well the night before so we didn't think it would be good for him (and our sanity) to miss a nap also! Here are some pics from Easter.

Declan with all his Easter gifts - tell me how a one and half year old knows that there is supposed to be candy in those plastic eggs?!

Hilary and Hailey came over for dinner. Hilary just got back from Disneyland so she gave Declan a ball from there. Hailey just got back from Hawaii and she got Declan that cute Hawaiian outfit. I've never seen him so excited about clothing before! He just kept saying, "WOW!"

Family picture - like our decorative boxes? ha ha

This kid LOVES peeps!

Last weekend we went to Idaho to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. I have the best mother-in-law, seriously, she is great. Ya know how a lot of people say their mothers-in-law meddle too much in their life or don't think they are good enough for their kid? I've never felt any of that from Ann. She is also always willing to help. I definitely got lucky when it came to my in-laws!

The apron I made for her birthday.

She was a just a little surprised to see an I-pad when she opened her gift from Lyndon!

This is what Declan does when we visit Grandma and Grandpa Oswald. (sorry for the weird picture,it keeps cutting it in half whenever I upload it.) Yep, he gambles. He knows how to put the quarters in, pull the lever, and push all the buttons. He knows how to work it better than I do! Whenever he wins he lets out this happy shriek and claps his hands and when he loses he throws his hands in the air and says, "AWWW." It is hilarious to watch! We're great parents aren't we?

Spinach anyone?

2011-04-21T20:54:00.000-05:00

One of the only ways we can get this kid to eat vegetables is to make him a spinach smoothie. We load up a smoothie full of spinach, carrots, and lots of fruit! Luckily, he loves them and so do we! Like his spinach stache?

Mom's birthday

2011-04-14T16:08:00.000-05:00

A couple weekends ago Zach flew to Memphis to take Part 3 national optometry boards and I decided I didn't want to be a single mom while he was gone so I drove up to Idaho for the weekend. Plus, it was my mom's birthday so Declan and I got to celebrate it with my parents! My parents actually drove to Utah the day before Zach left so that my mom could get her haircut so my mom's birthday was spent mostly in the car driving back to Idaho. I think she still had fun though. I have an amazing mom. She is and has always been there for me. Even during my awful teenage years she loved me. ha ha! That is saying a lot since I wasn't the most obedient child.

This is Declan telling us how old he is! ONE!

I made my mom this apron for her birthday. It's my first big project with my sewing machine. Yes, I just said that an apron is a big project. I'm still a beginner. :) It's reversible and I am very pleased with how it turned out! So was my mom.

This is the apron my brother gave my mom for her birthday. Yep, you would think after all these years we would coordinate gifts better but nope. I'm just glad they are both different colors, style, and really cute!

My mom with all the birthday loot.

My parents surprised Declan with a set of golf clubs when we got to their house. He LOVES them! I'm sure this is just the first of many sets he will have. He had so much fun hitting the ball, or more whacking the ball around the yard. He has played with them everyday since getting them.

We stayed with Zach's family on Friday night. Declan had a lot of fun jumping on the tramp with Aunt Sara. He loves going in their backyard where the dogs are kept. Good thing he has a nice grandma and grandpa to take him back there because I am too scared of their bear of a dog, Mac. Hilary and Hailey came up also but of course the only pictures I got were of Declan on the tramp. We had lots of fun playing games on Saturday while listening to Conference of course. :)

Sunday was spent at my parent's house just listening to Conference and keeping the little man entertained. I drove back to Utah on Monday to greet my sleeping husband. I don't have much patience when he's not around so I was glad to have him back! Of course, Declan was very excited to be back with his dad. When I put him to bed that night I asked him if he was excited to sleep in his own bed and he said, "YEAH!" ha ha. We love to visit family but it always means a lack of sleep!

a little late, but better than never

2011-04-05T17:04:00.001-05:00

Back in January we got together for dinner with some of my cousins. The best part about it was my cousin, Kristin, was in Utah for a few days and it was the first time I have seen her in 5 years! It's crazy how you go from seeing your cousins every summer for a few weeks to every few years! Anyway, we had a great time. My cousin Ty married the sweetest girl who happens to be an excellent cook. Sarah made an awesome tortilla soup which I still crave! It was so much fun to get together with them and talk and tell stories. Thank you Kristin for sending me the pictures!

The cousins -me, Jill, Kristin, Ty

Ty and Sarah with their kids

The newlyweds- Garyn and Jill with Kristin

Every summer when I was growing up (starting at the age of 5) my grandma would fly us all out to see her in California and we would spend a week or two together. All our families are spread out so it was a great way for us to get to know our cousins. Really, I have some awesome memories with these guys. Like the time Ty and Brandon chased me down my grandma's street because I lost control on my rollerblades. In the end, I crashed right before Ty was about to catch me. Or the time Emily decided to "fly" down my grandma's stairs in her backyard. That didn't end well. All the creature walks, Disneyland trips, beach visits, sunburns, grandma making us eat weird food...oh the memories. I'm so glad my Grandma thought it was important for us to get together every year! We need a cousins reunion with everyone!

home

2011-03-26T17:14:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we went home for my dad's birthday, Paige's 1st birthday, and Zach's cousin's wedding reception. It was definitely a fun and busy weekend. For my dad's birthday him and Zach played 3 rounds of Tiger Woods' golf. ha ha. We also opened presents, played, ate good food, and watched a movie after Declan went to sleep. It was a lot of fun. My dad is an amazing man. He is always so supportive of our decisions and willing to help. He's a great grandpa too!

The above picture is what my mom gave my dad for his birthday. It's all the medals he received while in the Army. There will be an American flag above them, they're just waiting for it to arrive.

I don't have any pictures of Paige's birthday party because I took pictures on Cole and Randi's camera for them. (hint, hint Randi... :) Her party was a lot of fun and we had great food. Paige loved her cupcake and opening presents. These pictures are of Paige and Declan the next day after church.

Here are a few more pictures that we took after church, before we drove home. Declan had the cutest grin for these!

swimming!

2011-03-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

Declan and I are taking a parent tot swimming class at the rec center here. It has been interesting...ha ha. Declan LOVES the bath and he LOVES to run around in water but he's not a huge fan of me trying to get him to do kicks, strokes, and blow bubbles in the deep water. He's had four classes so far and the last time we went was the first time he didn't whine or cry when I held him on his stomach. So, I guess we're making some improvement! It has been fun though and makes the days go by faster but I'm glad we only have 2 classes left. These pictures were taken by Whitney yesterday after class was over. The boys love going down the slide!

surprise!

2011-03-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

In just a few short months,

our little family of 3 will be...

MOVING!

How many of you thought I was going to say "a family of 4?"

Ha! No way!

We'll be moving to Walla Walla, WA the end of June. Zach was matched for a residency at the VA hospital there and we are excited to have another adventure! The residency will start July 1st and end June 30, 2012.

My Rock

2011-03-10T15:09:00.001-06:00

I don't write about Zach too much on here, especially after Declan was born so I thought I would do a post all about my favorite man. Be warned, this will be a bunch of random thoughts and even more random pictures.

This is the first picture I showed to my mom of Zach...thank you BYU-I stalker net. :)

The next two pictures are the first pictures that I ever took of him. I think we had been dating a couple weeks and we went to Mesa Falls since he had never been! Can you believe that? The kid grew up in Idaho his whole life and had never seen Mesa Falls. On our way to the Falls a rock or something (not sure what it was because we never found it) flew through Zach's windshield on the highway. Luckily it came right down the middle and didn't hit either of us but wow it damaged his windshield pretty bad! On the way home Zach hinted to me that he wanted to meet my parents. I decided it would only be fair since I had already met his parents...very briefly.

My dad took us fishing while we were dating and I think Zach was a little nervous since he had only been fly fishing a few times. Little did he know then that my dad can see every fish in the water and he isn't afraid to yell, "SET!" Anyone who has been fishing with my dad understands what I am talking about exactly. :)

One month after we started dating Zach celebrated his 22nd birthday. My parents and I took him out to lunch at Gringos. Of course we had to embarrass him. Oh, I forgot to mention that the first time Zach had dinner with my parents the night ended with Zach driving my dad to the E.R! My dad gets kidney stones often and we finished dinner and he went upstairs for a minute, came back down and said, "Zach can you drive me to the hospital?" Zach's face was priceless, he had no idea what was going on until I said, "Oh dad are you serious?! Again?"

One of the funnest dates we went on while dating was 4-wheeling and then off roading in his Jeep in the Idaho Falls foothills. Unfortunately, we popped a tire. Zach just happens to be wearing his younger brother's clothes in this picture because his clothes got really muddy from 4-wheeling earlier.

I love this picture of him. I'm not sure why - maybe because he's wearing some great "just got my eyes dilated shades." Don't worry, he wasn't driving when I took this.

The summer we started dating Zach worked at the Idaho Falls temple on the grounds crew during the day. Yes, our first date ended with him taking me to the temple to show me what he did at work. The Idaho Falls temple ground is the first place we held hands, where he first gave me a rose, and he proposed in the Presidential Gardens. Zach was able to clean Moroni while working there. How sweet is that?

This picture was taken long before I knew him...okay, not really but before we dated. Zach definitely has a silly side to him that he doesn't let too many people see but this picture captures it perfectly.

We went to Park City to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. On the way there or back (I can't remember which) we stopped in Provo to meet our first niece, Bella. This is the first time Zach held her.

Our first Valentine's Day was a few days before we got married and we were both working crazy schedules. I worked 7-4 and then went to night school and Zach went to school during the day and worked from 4-9. We got to spend our lunch breaks together but we only had an hour so Zach surprised me with a hot and ready pizza and root beer at our soon to be apt. (He lived in it for a few weeks before we got married.) Later that night he surprised me again with dessert and a rose. The next Valentine's day almost one year after we were married we still had crazy schedules, actually, even crazier and I decided to do the same thing. Tradition ever since!

This is one of the first pictures we have of Zach holding Declan. This is by far my favorite picture of them. Zach is a wonderful father. He always spends time with Declan and is way more patient than I am. Zach is always trying to teach him new things. It's really cute how much Declan loves him. Every morning when I get him up he goes searching for Zach and says "dadadaddaada" over and over again and throws his hands up in the air when he can't find him. He's always sad when Zach isn't there when he wakes up. The mornings Zach is home he rushes into get Declan and Declan always squeals with delight!

I love this man! Even when he looks a little scary. Halloween 2006...witch doctor. Yes, that is his real hair spray painted red. He scared quite a few kids that day.

Zach is the best man I know. He is always willing to help me and others. He is so patient, kind, and loving. One of the first things I noticed about him was how honest he is. He has always treated me with respect. Zach makes me want to be a better person. He is always challenging me to make changes in my life and attitude for the better. He can always make me laugh no matter how mad or sad I am. He is my rock and I'm so glad he chose me.

18 months

2011-02-23T16:45:00.002-06:00

I can't believe Declan is already 18 months! We took him to his check up a couple weeks ago and his stats are:
   weight 26.1 lbs - 50%
   height 33.75" - 90%
   head cir. 19.25" - 75%

Luckily, he didn't have to get any shots at his appt. but unfortunately the Dr. found that he had an ear infection. I guess that's why he had been waking up at 5 AM screaming the week before. I just figured he was teething again! He's doing much better now and sleeping from 9-9 again. Thank goodness!

I think he's starting the terrible two's already. I really hope so anyway, because if it gets worse I don't know how much I can handle! He can throw a mean temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way. Anyone see the Glee episode "Sue Sylvester Shuffle?" He acts just like Sue Sylvester! He goes to time out on his own when he hits...obviously he spends quite a bit of time there. I know it's just a stage but it's embarrassing when your kid hits another innocent kid that you don't even know!

On the other hand, he can be the most loving and fun little guy ever. He loves to give hugs and kisses and is always laughing. His favorite word is ball. He says it constantly! Anytime he sees something round he says, "Ball, bball, bbballl, BALL!" It's really cute. He was starting to say some other words like eyes, ice, and dog but when he learned the word ball it's all he really says now. He begs me to go outside everyday, even if it's freezing cold! He just loves running around out there. Luckily we have lots of grass and a play area around our complex so we can get out.

The other day I went into his room to get him up from his nap and I found him like this...silly boy.

My parents bought Declan this ball with a string on it the last time we were visiting Idaho and while I was doing dishes a few weeks ago he came running into the kitchen and started pulling at my leg. He grabbed my hand and brought me into the living room to show me what he did with the ball. At first he was mad because he didn't know how to get it down but when I started clapping he realized it was a good thing and decided to show me how he did it.

He has been having a lot of fun playing in this box also. I was surprised when he climbed in because usually he just pushes boxes around. Lately, it's been his "ball pit box." Forgive his shirtless-ness. He just got done eating lunch and since he refuses to wear a bib anymore I have to take his shirt off for him to eat!

He likes when I take pictures of him and then show him the picture. He is such a little cheeser.

He wanted to take a picture of me...wonder where he gets his cheesy face from. ha ha

Yesterday he decided it would be a good idea to sit on my sweater drying rack. He wasn't very amused when he realized he was stuck!

Declan LOVES to take baths! It works out well to give him one in the morning while I get ready. He likes to fill his cups up with water and dump them on himself.

This is him telling me what a cow says. MOO!

This is him telling me what a lion says. RRRAAA!

We love this little guy so much!

6 years

2011-02-21T15:59:00.000-06:00

Zach and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary on February 19th. Zach's parents came to our place and stayed with Declan while we went to Salt Lake for a couple nights. It was so nice to getaway - I had completely forgotten what it was like to do whatever you want when you want and not have any responsibilities. We went shopping, ate out a lot, got massages, and went to a movie. Even though we had a lot of fun we missed Declan. Although, I don't think he missed us very much! He seemed to love spending time with Zach's parents and sisters. It's nice to know we can leave him and he won't freak out!

6 years ago....

Now...

Superbowl party

2011-02-15T15:09:00.000-06:00

We got together with our friends, the Landry's and Guy to watch the Superbowl. Zach, Tex, and Guy were roommates at BYU-I and it's always fun to hear the same stories of "back in the day" when they get together. Declan loved being able to play with Luke all night and he didn't even cry when he saw Guy this time! I can't remember if I blogged about the first time Declan met Guy but he had a fever and Guy scared him and Declan seriously cried for an hour and a half straight. This time Guy made sure not to make any loud noises and Declan loved him!

Luke and Declan hanging out in Luke's crib.

The above picture is my favorite. Good job editing Whitney! :)

like father like son

2011-02-07T15:01:00.000-06:00

I took these pictures of Zach and Declan a couple weeks ago. The older Declan gets the more he looks like Zach. He has some definite features from me but overall he is a mini Zach.

Last week Zach was supposed to be getting Declan ready for bed but all the sudden he ran out of his room to show me how he was all ready to go outside! Zach couldn't resist and took him out even though it was 9 PM and freezing!

Last Christmas post!

2011-01-30T13:07:00.000-06:00

New Years Eve started off by opening Brody and Sara's wedding presents before they left for Disneyland. Declan and Paige were great helpers!!

Don't worry, he's just having Paige taste a candle. Oh boy.

Later that day Randi was taking some pictures of Declan and Paige and Declan started making his cheesy grin face every time Randi would say, "1, 2, 3."

Declan thinks it's fun to pretend that I'm a horse. It's not so fun for me, but he laughs and laughs and laughs.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Oswald's house later that night and Declan decided to pose for Aunt Randi again. He likes the camera in his face!

On New Year's Day Declan and I took a trip to Rexburg and we were able to see one of my best friend's from high school, Tiffany. It was great to see her and her kids! The last time we saw each other her boy Austin was 9 months old and I was pregnant with Declan. Now Austin is a toddler and she has a baby girl! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Emma because by the time we took pictures she was taking a nap. We even got to go shop for a little bit and had lunch together without the kids. It was great!

We came back to Utah on January 2nd. Here are some last pictures of Declan and Paige. I know you all wanted to see more right?!

Finally! I'm done!

The Wedding!

2011-01-27T21:19:00.001-06:00

Sara, Zach's youngest sister, married Brody on December 30, 2010 in the Idaho Falls temple. They've been dating for a few years so we've been around Brody quite a bit and we're glad he is an official member of the family now! The day they got married was SO cold! Zach's poor family has had all winter weddings. What is wrong with us?! Luckily, they only made the family stay and take a few pictures and then we got to leave them in the freezing cold to take more pictures! :)

Anyway, the night before the wedding Declan had a sleep over with my parents. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the day and help and not worry about where Declan was running off to! Plus, it was great to get a good nights sleep for the first time in a couple months (his molars had been coming in and they were killer!) Thanks again mom and dad. We picked him up after the luncheon and headed straight for the reception.

They had an awesome nacho bar for their luncheon and their reception was at the Historic Shelton in Ririe, Idaho. Declan had a lot of fun at the reception since there were a few staircases to climb, lots of people to entertain him, rooms to explore, and an unlimited supply of cookies! Sara was a gorgeous bride and they are such a good looking couple. Now, for a million pictures....

I made her a bouquet out of silk flowers to use outside the temple.

Brody with his brother, Racey, Zach, and Coleman

Sara and Brody with their best friends, Doug and Tenille

Granma and Grandpa Oswald

Declan would not leave Grandma Oswald alone at the reception.

Cousins, Lindee and Brennan

a much better 4 generation picture! :)

ha ha - Declan with Aunt Sara

Declan loves his Uncle Brody!

Showing everyone where his bellybutton is.

I love you Hailey! :)

Randi, Cole, Paige

Randi is a brave woman to hold Paige and Declan at the same time!

Hailey and Hilary

Ann, Zach, Hailey

Her cake was amazing!

I love you Hilary! :)

The day before the wedding was spent making these cookies and almonds.

Declan with our saving grace, Kelly (Zach's cousin). Best babysitter ever.

Hilary and Hailey singing before the ring ceremony.

Ring ceremony

I am so sad that I didn't get a picture of Sara on the ground after cutting the cake. I was laughing too hard I guess.

We found cookies with one bite out of them all over the reception center. Same culprit every time.

Another one

2011-01-26T15:38:00.000-06:00

These pictures are from our last two days with Mike and Tara. Declan loved spending time with his cousins, Bella and Gavin. Poor Gavin was sick pretty much the whole trip. Mike, Tara, Zach, and I stayed up and played games the night before they left. It was so nice to be able to spend time with Mike and Tara and the kids. We wish we could live closer to them and see them more often!

Christmas Day!

2011-01-25T21:50:00.000-06:00

I am determined to have all my Christmas posts done by the end of January! I think all the adults were awake before the kids Christmas morning so we all got ready and then when the kids finally woke up we had breakfast and opened presents. I hope you are ready for a ton of pictures!

Declan had to lie down for a bit after opening all his presents! It wore him out!

After we finished opening presents at my parent's house we headed down to Idaho Falls for the traditional Christmas Day brunch. More pictures...

We let Declan take a nap and we were able to play some games with Zach's family. Then we drove back to Rexburg for my family's Christmas dinner. Sorry, no pictures of that. Here is one last one though of Bella showing Zach one of her new Christmas toys. Bella loves her Uncle Zach, it's so cute!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-24T20:55:00.000-06:00

Zach's family has a traditional Christmas Eve dinner every year with Ann's family. Here are a bunch of pictures from Christmas Eve.

Sara, Hailey, Hilary, and me...where's Randi?

Oh! There she is!

Coleman

Cute Paige in Brody's luggage

This is a common site at the Oswald house, Declan begging to go downstairs.

Declan with Grandma Pilkington

Hailey and Ann

Uncle Joe, Aunt Sue, and Devon

I'm glad Paige laughs when Declan grabs her cheek!

We draw names between Zach's siblings and since we were all together Christmas Eve we opened presents between the siblings.

"Give me back that filet o'fish, give me that fish!" ha ha ha ha ha!

The cute grandkids

Coleman, Randi, Sara, Brody, Hilary, me, Hailey, Zach, Declan, Lyndon, Ann, and Paige

After the dinner we always go over to Grandma and Grandpa Oswald's house to spend time with Lyndon's side of the family. Here's a great picture of the newest member of the family, Brody. :)

Sara is not embarrassed at all by this...

4 generation picture, Declan was ticked because we took him away from the basketball hoop.

flashlights, a snowman, and a tea party

2011-01-13T15:15:00.000-06:00

One of the nights we stayed with my family my mom gave all the kids flashlights and they went searching for a "treasure" in the dark basement. I think Declan was more excited about the flashlights than anything else!

The treasures were these Sing a ma jigs!

We decided to build a snowman one day in my parent's front yard. My mom even came out to help! I don't remember the last time I saw my mom play in the snow...so I took advantage and through a few snow balls at her! What a mean daughter...don't worry, she got me back. Declan doesn't like walking in snow when his feet sink so he doesn't look very happy in any of these pictures!

Then we decided to go sledding across the street. Even though it wasn't a huge hill, it was so much fun!

Another day while we were at my parent's house, Mike and Tara went to Idaho Falls and the boys were down for their naps so my mom, Bella, and I had a tea party. Princess Bella even gave my mom and I Princess names - Princess Grandma and Princess Aunt Nikky! ha ha. We got to drink chocolate milk, strawberries with whip cream, Danish cookies, and caramel covered marshmallows. It was delicious!

Bella waiting patiently for the tea party to start.

One more cute picture of all the grandkids. Zach was pushing Bella around in the laundry basket and the boys decided they wanted in on the fun!

a break from Christmas posts

2011-01-12T16:36:00.000-06:00

I have about 5 more Christmas posts to do but I wanted to take a break from those for a minute. Last Saturday we were at the Landry's house and Whitney got some funny pictures of Declan and Luke hugging each other...

Well the hugging turned into dancing and then pulling each other and they both ended up falling on the hard tile in the kitchen. Declan's head hit the tile really hard and as soon as I picked him up the left side of his head was swollen and blue already. He cried for a minute and then went back to playing. We tried to ice it but he of course wouldn't let us keep the ice on his head for longer than 5 seconds. A little later that night Whitney got out the camera again and he decided to do his "cheesy grin" for her. (Jana, this little face totally reminds me of what Addie would do!)

Can you see his bruise? Poor kid, good thing the swelling went down pretty fast and it actually doesn't look too bad now. Just a green circle on his head!

Christmas Vacation #2

2011-01-10T12:09:00.001-06:00

Right after my family's party in Utah we drove up to Idaho Falls and stayed with Zach's family for a few days. We got to spend time with both sets of Zach's grandparents. Here are some cute pictures of Declan with Zach's Grandma and Grandpa Pilkington. He wouldn't stop giving them loves. It was really cute.

In between giving Grandma and Grandpa hugs and kisses he was running around with his aunts and riding on Zach's back.

This is our super cute niece, Paige. Paige loves having Declan around and this trip Declan actually loved having Paige around. Even as I am posting this he keeps pointing to her picture and saying, "Paaage!!"

One of the coolest things we got to do on our trip home was attend the temple with ALL of Zach's siblings. Hilary, Hailey, Sara, and Brody all went through the temple for the first time on December 21st. Both sets of grandparent's were there also and a couple of Zach's aunts. It was really neat. Since all three girls were going through at the same time I was able to be Hailey's escort, Aunt Jen was Hilary's, and Sara had her mom. Also, the day before they were supposed to go through Brody found out his brother wouldn't be able to come to be his escort so Zach was Brody's escort. It was a really neat experience.

The newlyweds...although, at this time they were still just the cute engaged couple.

Our last long Christmas break.

2011-01-09T22:17:00.000-06:00

I think that one of the main perks about going to school for so long is we get to have LONG Christmas breaks! Unfortunately this is Zach's last year in school so this was our last long break...it's okay, I think I'd rather have a steady income anyway. :) We started off our vacation by attending my family's Christmas party in Utah. It was fun to be able to go since we haven't been in a couple years. We went a little early to the party because my mom wanted my cousin to take some family pictures of us since we get together basically once a year.

Yes, this is Declan eating snow...don't worry though, we told him not to eat yellow snow. I guess now we need to teach him his colors.

Mike, Tara, Gavin and Bella

Pictures with kids are great, aren't they?!

The great grandkids acted out the Nativity and when they were done and changing out of their costumes Declan decided he wanted to try some of the clothes on. My mom brought him back into the gym dressed like this...cute huh?

He likes to growl. :)

Don't worry I'll be posting more pictures of our Christmas vacation but I decided to break up the trip a bit into a few posts. So to you avid readers (all 4 of you...), there will be more.