Christmas #2

We had two Christmas mornings this year. We couldn't take big presents on airplanes, so Santa stopped by our home in Provo!

I sure love these faces.

Christmas and Fight Hunger Bowl

WHAT a Christmas we had!

We traveled to North Dakota on Christmas Eve to be with our Mac family. We spent the day making (and eating) food and preparing for our traditional Christmas program.

We enjoyed a delicious traditional, Bethlehem-style Christmas dinner that set the mood for the night. Each member of the family dressed up as a part of the nativity. Together, we sang, read the Bible story, listened to music, and acted.

The spirit of Christmas, the spirit of Christ and his birth and life, that is what our Christmas Eve was all about. What a beautiful way to spend Christmas Eve together.

SO ready for our travels!

 After a fantastic Christmas together, we all headed to San Francisco for the Bowl game. (Like I said,  true BYU fans!)

At the BYU game

Our little ones got SO sick in the middle of our flight to San Fran. (Sick and airplanes are the worst!) There was no turning back, so we made the best of it. They were such troopers and we all ended up having a great time.

We spent a day being tourists. We watched some street shows, ate fish at the wharf, visited the seals, ate delicious ice-cream, and played on the beach.

A 12 passenger van and the streets of San Fran are not the best match. This made for some great memories of creeping down crazy hills!

**Pictures of Sunday at the park**

Chinatown actually did feel a little like China. Souvenirs were similar and we found a Chinese restaurant where Mister talked to the owners in Mandarin. It was fun to reminisce. 

We had some time to play before our flight home. We spent some of it at a nearby park!

We felt at home on the subways!

Lessons learned: We have tough kids. Traveling with children takes a little extra muscle and effort, but is so worth it. Life is great.

Santa at Riverwoods

Riverwoods is a magical place during the Christmas season. Carraige rides, Christmas lights, outside fires, and Santa Clause make it a must-see if you're in Provo.

Before visiting Santa, we warmed up at the Provo Beach Resort. Miss A and her good friend caught a few waves while they were waiting.

It was cold and late so we quickly said hello to Santa, enjoyed cocoa with friends, and headed home to get ready for our trip to North Dakota.

A White Christmas

Provo can be a little depressing during the winter. Sometimes, the snow seems to last forever.

It can also be beautiful and oh so fun! With some winter gear and a green sled, we were set to go!

We went to a nearby park with a perfect, kid-friendly hill. The kids loved sledding with Mister. Miss A made a snow angel and Brother attempted to crawl--His marshmallow snowsuit made it more like sliding in place. :) He didn't love that so much.

We've learned to find creative places to play, too.

This corner in the BYU Bookstore is one of Miss A's favorite places. 

Horses to ride and books to read, who can blame her?

Oh, Christmas Tree

Our first purchase as a married couple (actually before we were married) was a Christmas tree. That's how much we love Christmas.

Our home is a little too cozy for a full-size Christmas tree. We couldn't go without, so Mister brought it out to the lobby and Miss A helped us decorate! Brother crawled around excitedly talking about the "balls" on the tree.

We also took a trip to Festival of Trees. The trees were beautiful and the stories even more so. It was a fun day with good friends and delicious food.

After enjoying the trees we braved a blizzard and waited it out at Chipotle.

Giving Thanks in AZ

Arizona is beautiful in the Fall, especially when you have the best family to enjoy it with.

We spent the majority of the holiday with our Tolman Grandparents and family. It was wonderful to be outside and to just be together.

We made big bubbles!

We played.

We loved. 

We cruised.

We chased dogs (until they licked us in the face, that is).

We made friends. 

We are were with cousins.

We ate.

We loved more.

We ate more!

The time went too quickly, but reminded us of all we have to be grateful for. Thanks for that, Thanksgiving!

True Blue Fans

We have taught our children well.

They've been going to BYU games since birth.
They have BYU apparel in all sizes.
They can sing the fight song in their sleep.
Cosmo is one of their best friends.

So, back in Provo, we headed to a game!

Training a Toddler

Potty training...what an exciting time in toddlerhood.

Overall, Miss A was interested and pretty easy to train. With vacations and moving we sure had our ups and downs, though.

Sometimes:

She loves her potty and you get cute pictures like this.

and other times:

She forgets to use her potty and you get to improvise like this.

Happy Halloween!

Miss A and I love dressing up. Thankfully, the men in our family appease us and play along. They are so fun! We know how to Halloween party!

Our ward Halloween party was full of dancing, delicious treats, and friends.

Miss A loved trick-or-treating. Really, really loved it. We went to a few houses in our ward's neighborhood and she didn't want the night to end. Getting to meet new people and eat candy=her dream!

The kids went to a carnival at BYU. They danced, played games, won prizes, and paraded around the Wilk. 

Halloween was good to us.

More Pumpkins

We have this Corduroy book that we've been reading almost daily lately. Corduroy goes to a Halloween party and does lots of fun things. One of those things was pumpkin painting.

Miss A and I had our own Corduroy Halloween party--painting pumpkins and all!

Jack-o-Latern-ing

It's the best to watch children experience new things! Being in China and all, we haven't done many of the holiday traditions.

So, this fall we visited animals, played with aunts and uncles, and picked out our very own pumpkins at the pumpkin patch!

These pumpkins, they were perfect for carving.

Miss A wanted a "scaaary face." 

We love our happy, chubby baby! 

Brother's little pie pumpkin was delicious!