Brace Yourself....

I was DETERMINED to get caught up on my blogging from the last month tonight...so you all have 4 posts to read! Make sure not to stop reading until you get through them all...I tried to be brief and I made sure to post them in order of occurrence, so sit back, relax and ENJOY! :)

We {heart} Grandma and Grandpa H

My parents came to Utah again for a few days in mid-November. They claim it was to see all three of us...but if we are being honest with ourselves the main purpose was to get another "Jackson fix." No matter the motive, it was wonderful having them here, as always!

One of the highlights of this particular trip was Jackson's first snow/sledding experience! With just enough snow on the ground, my parents INSISTED that it was necessary that Jackson get a snowsuit. When we got home from shopping for the snowsuit, my Dad and Travis headed back to the store for the second necessary thing we had somehow managed to forget, Jackson's first sled! Of course we had to try out the new stuff....


Jackson LOVED sledding down our 3 ft hill in front of our house! Thanks Mom and Dad for the fun visit and we can't wait for you to come back again soon! :)

Thanksgiving

Travis and I had the opportunity to host Thanksgiving with his family (minus his brother Ben and his family) at our house this year. I had never cooked a turkey before and so I was nervous to be doing it for the first time on such an important day. Everything turned out great with my cooking skills, and Travis also did the honors of carving the bird for his first time (with a little bit of instruction from his Dad) and we all had our share and then some of all the traditional fixins'. We played lots of scrabble and rock band and also made time for some good ol' R & R! Here's some pics...

Shallon and Heidi (Travis' mom and sister)

Jackson also had his version of turkey and sweet potatoes!

Our little family with my masterpiece turkey

Grandpa A and Jackson

Keith (Heidi's husband), Derek (our Nephew), and Parker (Travis' youngest brother)

Guardian Angel

"Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy." ~Author Unknown

My sweet Grandma O. passed away a couple of weeks ago and Jackson and I were able to go back to Iowa for a couple of days to be there for her funeral services. I am so happy that she is no longer suffering and back with her sweetheart again! I know that she must be rejoicing to be free from the vascular dementia that she endured for far too long. I love you so much Grandma and I will miss you until we see each other again someday!

Meeting Santa

A fairly momentous event in any child's life is meeting the one and only Santa Claus...

...Jackson took a long and hard look at the jolly ol' St Nicholas...

...and decided that he wasn't quite sure what to think!

I haven't forgotten...

...that I have a blog! Although it may appear otherwise. I have the best intentions of updating this week...so hopefully I come through. In the meantime, please know that all is well in our household. Everyone is happy and healthy and REALLY busy....why isn't there more than 24 hours in a day?!