It Was A Long December...

First, on December 14th Spencer turned the big 3-0! For him it was no big deal.

Just three days later on December 17th we celebrated Makenzi turning 8. How in the world do I have an eight year old??? She wanted to do the Build-A-Bear thing so she got to go crazy. She got the dog with the baby dog with the shoes with the roller skates with the, well it just goes on and on!(Notice she thinks that she is big stuff wearing heels!)

For Christmas we went up to my parent's house. We were going to drive because flying stand-by during the holiday season is a total nightmare. Well we found a Honda Pilot for sale up in Utah so we thought that we would try and fly up there and then drive the Pilot back. We had to leave a day early and let me tell you, I was not ready to leave. I realized the Monday before Christmas that if we didn't leave that day then we probably wouldn't be making it up there by flying. We would be squishing into the family sedan. So within a few hours of checking the flight load status on Monday I was doing laundry like a mad woman and packing suitcases like it was the end of the world. Luckily, I do have some fast packing experience so we made it to the airport with the help of my friend Camille because not all of the luggage will fit in the family sedan. Ha Ha, let me tell you it was a sight to see! Well, we make the flight and we actually get on the airplane! Sigh of relief because it was close. So we get up to Utah and we go and look at the Pilot that we actually had put money down on. We get to the people's house and they let us take it for a test drive and all. Then...the guy tells us that they aren't sure that they want to sell it. What??? You have $500 of ours. To make this long story short he ends up giving us back our money and they keep the Pilot. Hence the previous post.
Despite the vehicle issue we had a great Christmas. It is great being home with family. I love that my parents and brother and sister are there to wake up with us on Christmas morning.

Spencer and I thought that it was funny to see my sister and her husband enthrawled with Gavin. They were both taking pictures of him at the same time!

My parents live on a lake so the kids had a great time skating and sledding and playing on the ice!

We haven't been to see the lights at temple square for years so we went and did that on New Year's Eve. My brother was a great sport and squeezed into the truck with us!

Eli playing the angel Moroni.


On January 2nd my little girl was babtized! I helped her change into her special baptism jumpsuit then she wanted to see how warm the water was. I just happened to have my camera ready. I thought that she would bend down and touch the water with her hand but instead I got this neat picture like she is entering the water.

We are so proud of her for making the decision to be baptized. For months we have been talking about what it means to be baptized and why we need to get baptized. It was her decision to be baptized and to do it in Utah with the support of family. That was her favorite part of the day was seeing all of her extended family.