Here goes nothing, Part IV

Well, now that 3+ months have gone by since my last effort of catching this blog up, I figured that it was high time to update again....we have been busy of course, and are only about to get busier as the next few weeks/months approach. Those who know us well, know that we are now expecting baby #2, moving in 2 weeks back to SLC...and with that all the joy that relocating brings, and of course trying to keep up with an adventurous and busy 3 year old little boy! :) Yes, all this at the same time of trying to each keep up with our full time work responsibilities, needless to say, we sleep well at night (or we try anyway)! So without further ado, here is what October-December of 2012 was like for our little family.

 October

Family of 3 after the Cache Classic Duathlon (mine and Travis' first run/bike race together, and he placed 5th overall!)

Gma A, Jackson, Gpa A at the pumpkin patch

Trav, Jackson, and I at the 2012 Halloween party- a monster truck and his pit crew "big mama and big papa"

Jackson with all his cousins in their Halloween costumes:  Jackson (monster truck), Kenzie (ghost), Derek (Thomas the train), Lucy (bunny), Kyla (princess)

Kyla, Jackson, and Kenzie at the Payson Fall Festival

Finger painting his pumpkin decoration for our door

First snow fall of the season called for a play date with friends

2012 Pumpkin carving time...

Finished product!..is it just me or do their faces look similar? :)

Halloween 2012 Jackson the monster truck...costume made with love by Trav and I

 Jackson had told us that he wanted to be a blue monster truck for Halloween, and so of course we had to make it happen!  It pays to have a dad that works as a graphic designer at times like this!  We had so much fun making this costume for our little man and he was so proud to sport it around on Halloween night.  We had great temperatures for trick-or-treating and lots of people complimented Jackson on his get-up

We did family photos in October so of course we wanted to snag a few extra of our handsome little man! As always, Travis did a fabulous job!

November

Looking back, November was the month that I seemed to be getting in touch with my crafty Martha Stewart/ Betty Crocker side!

I successfully made a Lemon Meringue Pie from scratch for Thanksgiving...

...I made a beautiful wreath (if I do say so myself) to add to my Christmas Decor...

...and another Christmas craft to add to my collection as well!

Trav and Jackson having a ball at the Jump Zone while I worked day after Thanksgiving

Decorating the Christmas tree.  That branch ended up with (at least) 4 decorations on it :)

Jackson helping his Dad put Christmas lights on the house

Travis' favorite restaurant of all time, of course this is where I took him for his birthday dinner!  Afterwards we spent the night in downtown SLC at a movie and walking around City Creek Center the next morning.  It's always nice to have some time as just the two of us!

 December

We had an eventful December, just like the other months of the year full of parties, family, and friends.  We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives, and would be lost without them!  Here are the highlights:

Jackson coloring with all his daycare buddies...our sitter texted me this picture one morning, she is really the best!

Jackson's 2012 visit to Santa Claus

 As we were waiting in line for our turn, Jackson told us "I need to get out of here!"  He wasn't super excited to sit on Santa's lap this year, but after some coaxing he did pay the jolly ol' St Nick a visit just long enough to make sure he knew that he was hoping for a basketball hoop and basketball this year

I woke up to flowers (orchid, my fave), Starbucks, a homemade card, and my favorite breakfast the morning of my birthday!  My boys spoiled me, I sure am lucky to call them mine!

Decorating sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve

Mixing up the Reindeer food we sprinkled in front of our house

Daddy reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" before Jackson went to sleep Christmas Eve (notice the cool PJ's the Elves dropped off for Jackson on Christmas Eve morning)

Christmas Morning, Santa Claus did not disappoint!

 Jackson was up before the sun on Christmas morning, just as we hoped that he would be.  He was so fun to watch open all his gifts this year, he couldn't decide if it would be better to open the next gift, or play with the one that he had just opened!

Our family of 3 at Gma A's house Christmas day

Jackson, Kyla, and Derek waiting for the green light to open presents

 My family came to Utah this year to celebrate a belated Christmas and New Year's together.  We had everyone staying at our place with us, so it was a FULL house, and tons of fun!  My brother and his wife live in South Carolina so we hadn't seen them since they got married in April.  It was so nice to have everyone together again and we made lots of new memories!

Uncle Matt, Aunt Jana, and Jackson

Gpa H, Jackson, and Gma H (Jackson wasn't spoiled at all this year!)

Travis, Sarah, Jana, and Matt ice skating one afternoon while Jackson was napping.  I'm pretty sure everyone was super impressed by my ice skating skills! ;)

Angie's Kitchen Sink

The Kitchen Sink eating crew

 Ever since my Dad learned that the Kitchen Sink at Angie's (a local restaurant here in Cache Valley) existed, he has wanted to try it out.  Basically the Kitchen Sink is a TON  of soft serve vanilla ice cream, 4 whole bananas, and loads of toppings.  We figured we would be able to down that thing, no problem, with all of us....and we were right.  It was GONE in under 15 minutes!

Family of 3 at Hogle Zoo's "Zoo Lights" 2012

"Whoa! That's a big giraffe!"  I just love this picture of Jackson at Zoo lights!

Hoping for a strike!  Jackson's first bowling experience NYE 2012

Family Pics taken by who else, my talented husband!  Do we look cold?  It was only 14* when we were taking these things!

 Phew, that is our 2012 in a large, picture filled nutshell.  Now onto 2013!!