Snow Snow Snow

It poured on us Christmas night. We got about 1 1/2 feet of snow, and we are expected to get another foot on Sunday night. Here is Shea trying to find an owl. That what she told me at least.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was pretty small this year, but one of the best. Wayne and I were talking about what traditions we wanted to start. The only new one was on Christmas Day, we have Duck. I had never had duck before, and it was delicious. I am pretty lucky that my husband likes to cook, and is actually pretty good at it.

I also think he would make a perfect Santa Claus.

The first thing Shea saw Christmas morning was CANDY! And she didn't stop eating it all day. She was so excited about chocolate that she wouldn't look in the rest of her stocking until she finished eating it.

Present time.

Her favorite toy was a guitar. She really wants to be a rock star. I'm not kidding!

Wayne taking a try at it.

Shea with her many toys. There wasn't a lot, but to her it was. I am so glad she had a great Christmas. She played with everyone of her toys throughout the day. She would ask Wayne to open a toy, she would play with it for 20 minutes, then bring another one to open.

Thanks MOM!

Christmas Eve

This post is going to be short and sweet, with pictures. Here is a rare picture of Shea still. I was pretty bored one night and decided to take Christmas pictures. I didn't even notice she was posing, it just happened.

Christmas Eve dinner. She calls the goblets "special cups" and loves to give cheers.

It's tradition to open one present up on Christmas Eve and it being Pajama's. Here is Shea opening her first present.

Shea modeling in her new PJ's.

Family picuter in our PJ's.

New Baby!

My oldest sister Mandie had her first baby on Wednesday! She had a rough childbirth, or at least worse than I can remember, so well done! We can't wait to meet little Makaya Lindsey. Congratulations Mandie and Jonathan on your new baby girl.

Kids Christmas Party

On Sunday, we headed over to the Four Seasons for the Children's Christmas Party at Wayne's work. Every year we have a blast! The only down side to the party was the fact my camera's battery was dead. It is the rechargeable kind, so it really sucked. I was able to get a few pictures, and I have posted all the picture I took. As you can tell, Shea is still in her terrible 2 stage! My camera wasn't fast enough, but she was folding her arms.

She was able to sit on Santa's lap, unwillingly! Every year she is the only kid that cries on Santa's lap. Santa was prepared with a gift!

Shea picking out a book,

Then reading it. (This was the quietest she was.)

You can't tell, but she was in a big bouncing toy. She had a blast.

Shea getting ready to fish.

After she caught her toy, she was so curious, she ran around back and found the lady! The rest of the day, instead of fishing she just went back there and got a toy from the lady. ha ha.

Christmas Decorations

This year, I left Wayne in charge of decorations. I had to go down to Utah for a couple days, so Wayne was left with the dirty work. He is pretty proud of himself, and I am too. He did an excellent job.

Before Shea and I left to Utah to return the rental car, we were able to cut down our Christmas Tree. It was a lot of fun, and a smart idea to go Tree Hunting before. It was quick and painless with a 2 year old. Our first choice was already gone (what are the odds) so we cut our 2ND choice down.
After cutting it down, Shea asked if we could cut another one down. She was having way to much fun out there. We also saw bunny tracks which she thought were pretty neat. Wayne told her that he would take her bunny hunting when she is older. Lately, Shea has been scared of Hunters so that didn't turn out well. ha ha.

We left the tree home with Wayne so that he could decorate it. Haven't seen it yet, but Wayne is pretty proud of himself. ha ha! When we got to Utah we decided to go and see the Christmas Lights on Temple Square. That was a blast. I thought it was going to be freezing, but it wasn't bad. It was a good night to go.

Today, we were able to visit my best friend Shalyse and her cute family. Well, everyone except for her husband Mike, who was off making money!!! She is so adorable and has the family to match. This is her little boy Westin. Such a good baby. She is extremely lucky.

Her little girl Ryann and Shea are already the best of friends. They play so well together. I was pretty nervous because Shea isn't around kids very often. Mostly adults, but they played like they have known each other for years. So adorable.

These are their funny faces.

Having a ball dancing!

Eating bananas in Ryann's bed. What sneaks!

I am so glad we were able to see the Bennions. We love them so much. Shalyse - please thank Ry Ry for wearing Shea out for me. She is sleeping like a baby! My car is all fixed thanks to my dad and his buddy. They had to replace the transmission. AHHH! I had to promise them not to hit anything else. Also, Wayne's department at work has a running bet on what I will break next. NOT FUNNY GUYS! My car is running great and it is back to Idaho tomorrow. I was glad we got to see my family once more before Christmas. We are having Christmas in Idaho this year and we will miss them. Also, I forgot to mention that we have our first nephew. Wayne's sister Cyndi had her first baby boy on Tuesday. We are so glad everything went okay, and can't wait to see our NEPHEW! We love you guys.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We had a spectacular Thanksgiving dinner thanks to my wonderful mom! This holiday was extra special because we also celebrated our 4Th wedding anniversary. Yep, its been 4 years! Time has flown by. We celebrated by driving down to Utah. My gift to Wayne was a surprise. I DROVE! Wayne's gift to me was getting off early from work, so that we could make it to Utah in time for dinner. To be honest, this anniversary snuck up on us both. We were caught of guard, and totally unprepared! ha ha. But each gift was great! ha ha. The past 3 years we have had a huge snow storm on our anniversary. Not this year! Instead of snow we got car problems! Of course. I need to point out that this was totally my fault. About a week ago I hit a rock in my car. It made a lot of noise under my car, but the check engine light didn't come on and my car wasn't acting funny. I just brushed it off, and of course didn't tell Wayne. Well, it came back to haunt me on Thanksgiving Day. We made it to Utah fine, but with no Reverse! Turns out I banged in the transmission pan, which shattered the transmission filter and broke an engine bracket. My dad and Wayne worked on it all day Friday. They replaced everything but it still didn't have reverse. I guess when the transmission filter shattered the little pieces went into the transmission and burnt up the Reverse! Not good! We had to get a rental car for the week until my car is fixed. So this week, it is back to Utah. Shea is loving it. She loves going to grandma's house and playing with Teby! Us girls went shopping on Black Friday, but not until noon. So we missed everything. We still had fun though. All and all, it was a great Thanksgiving holiday. I am so grateful for my family and everything they do for me. I am grateful for my baby girl Shea. Even though she isn't a baby anymore, she is a big girl. I am ready to announce that she is Potty Trained! YEAH! She hasn't worn diapers in about 2 months, and I would say she is about 98% there. I am grateful for my husband, and all the changes he has made in his life. I am also grateful for Heavenly Father, and all the blessings he has given us. Through all the hard times, it is nice to know that he is there going through them with us. With every trial comes a blessing, and I can see that now.