Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday JJ

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas. Don't you feel like this year came and went- and especially Christmas. We have been really busy. Last Saturday Ryan and Jessica Pratt arrived from North Carolina. It's been really fun to have them around, JJ is getting reacquainted with his Aunt and Uncle. And they got to meet Eva for the first time.

Christmas Eve we open a present, which happens to always be pjs, but this year Spencer got a special surprise... Footsie Pajamas. Wow, was he excited, his face lit up with excitement, it was like he was 5 years old again.

Christmas Day JJ opened his present from Santa and got his prizes out of his stocking and that was that. For hours he played with Zurg, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody from Toy Story. He wants to take them everywhere, he even took Buzz Lightyear to bed last night.

We were able to spend time with both of our families on Christmas, that was nice.

JJ turned 3 years old yesterday. Happy Birthday! We took JJ and his cousin Lily to Jungle Jim's, he had a lot of fun. JJ couldn't quite figure out the bumper cars, but he had made friends with some older kids. He was riding in the car with this older girl. Spencer commented that the cougars are already after him. We're in trouble. :)

We also went to the annual Christmas Party with Grandpa John's family. It's always nice to see everyone- even if it's once a year.

Eva started eating cereal this week, until she got sick... again. She got her second ear infection. Which I'm still loosing sleep over.

We all had fun in the snow on Saturday. JJ helped Dad shovel, then they made snowmen and snowmonsters together.

Another cute pic.

trees!!!

Ok so I didn't even take a picture of our Christmas tree. But here is a picture of our Festival of Trees- tree. It sold for $800.- yeah, and every penny goes to primary children's hospital. We have only had to go to Primary's once- thank goodness. JJ had a serious reaction to ammoxicilin. He had a condition called Erythema multiforme. This happened a year ago June, but I just got thinking about it. Thank goodness for Primary Childrens. The pediatricians weren't really sure what he had, but the doctor at Primary's was so smart, helpful, reassuring, ect. Looking at these pictures still makes me cry.

On a lighter note, we got our tree up on saturday. When we got out the decorations I found our Santa hat and reindeer antlers. JJ loves hats so he's all about the santa hat. I just love this picture. :)

It's the holiday season.

The holiday season started with a bang this week. Wednesday we celebrated Grandma Pratt's birthday. We went to dinner and took a ride on the Polar Express. JJ had so much fun. Today he asked if we were going to go on the Polar Express soon. I just told him, but we just went. It was fun to watch him- he's really excited about Santa Clause this year, and he got to meet him aboard the Polar Express. Eva cried almost the entire time we were on the train, so Spencer and I took turns dealing with her.

Thursday we enjoyed two Thanksgiving Dinners. We went to my Mom's in the afternoon. My sister Didi announced she is pregnant, congrats! After we went to the Glen and Maryann's. It was nice to see all of Shauna's family- we don't get together all that often.

Friday I did do a little shopping- crazy, I know!!! I didn't wake up early though, and it only took me an hour.

Monday is Decorating Day for the Festival of Trees- I think this will be the sixth year my family has participated in the festival. If you've never been you should go, you can check out the website for info: http://www.festivaloftreesutah.com/

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12-0 Baby!!!

Last night was the Big Game, the Holy War. Well the Utes prevailed. And now we're headed to a BCS bowl game. Yeah!!! We had a fun time watching the game at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We love watching the game with the Truman's- that has become a tradition of sorts. Tim is neither a BYU or Utah fan, so this year he showed up wearing red, but underneath he wore his BYU wins t-shirt. HA!

This week was really nice for November. We tried to take advantage of that. These are a few pictures taken at the park. I love the way the playground is a light source for taking pictures- they are so bright and cheery. Thursday we went to the Zoo. When we left for the Zoo there wasn't a lick of wind, but at the Zoo there were 50 mph winds. Apparently they was canyon winds from Emigration and Parleys Canyons.

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Finally- a moment to myself...

yes, it is after 11:00 and the kids are finally asleep. Eva has not been sleeping very well, so I'm going to make this brief, or else I won't get any sleep. Lately, JJ has been into fishing. He makes the couch into a fishing boat, he'll get anything in sight and put it on his "boat". He also pretends to reel things in with his hanger (or fishing pole). JJ will play fishing for hours. And when he's not fishing he goes "campinger". He found a corner in our front room, fills it with pillows and all sorts of crazy objects and pretends to go to sleep- fake snore and all. Then he insists that you go campinger with him. It's fun for a little kid, but when you are about the size of the corner he's put you in, you loose the appeal. I love his imagination, so I roll with it as best I can. :) Well time for bed!!!

Go Utes!

Last week was very busy for me. I've been playing church volleyball, and our regional tournament was tuesday thru thursday. I'm sad to say that we lost, but we had so much fun. Spencer was kind enough to watch the kids every night. Thursday the Utes played TCU, and he took the kids out to Grandma and Grandpas house to watch the game. I got them dressed up in red, so those are the pictures for this week. Saturday we had Thanksgiving with the Pratt Fam. YUM! Thanks for all the hard work Shauna. The best part is we still have 3 more Thanksgiving dinners to come!

They all fall down!!!

We don't have a single tree in our backyard, however you wouldn't know that by the amount of leaves we get in our backyard. I hate cleaning up the leaves. But every fall I have to remind myself what a blessing they are. Our backyard is pleasant, even on the hottest days of summer, because of the abundance of shade. Not to mention what the trees do for the environment. This year was exciting because JJ enjoyed helping rake the leaves. It was fun to see him play in the leaves, despite the mess it made.

For Halloween we went trick or treating with cousin Lily. The kids had so much fun, I think the best part for them was yelling Trick or Treat.

Today we went to my families annual Halloween Party, which was also our monthly birthday party. October is especially heavy with birthdays, there are seven birthdays in October. So Happy Birthday to Jamie, Didi, Italia, Taylor, Emily, Mason, and Jon. For our October party we always dress up and the kids get to go trick or treating around Grandma's house. It's become a favorite family tradition. The kids got to wear their costumes early, JJ is a cowboy and Eva is an Indian.

JJ likes to share his toys with Eva- I was excited that I actually caught a picture of it.

This week Eva got her first ear infection, and as Spencer would say she "found her thumb", yep she's been sucking her thumb. I'm not at all surprised, she comes from a line of thumb suckers. Daddy was a thumb sucker, Mommy was a thumb sucker, and Brother is a thumb sucker. We started talking to JJ about not sucking his thumb, I guess we're laying the ground work for operation no more thumb. JJ has done so well with potty training, he hasn't had an accident in two weeks!!!

Evenful...

This week was very eventful, some things more exciting than others. Monday night we carved a pumpkin, that was fun, but Spencer ended up doing it all by himself. JJ doesn't really like to get messy, so he wouldn't help remove the insides of the pumpkin, he only wanted to help cut it. Tuesday I had a dental procedure done called an apicoectomy. What is an apicoectomy?
In this procedure, the endodontist opens the gum tissue near the tooth to see the underlying bone and to remove any inflamed or infected tissue. The very end of the root is also removed. I was out all day- thanks to Shauna for being with the kids! Part of my lip and chin are still numb- I'm not sure that is normal. Wednesday I went to my Mom's house, she's been helping me can food the last few years, she taught me how to can pears- yummy! Thursday the kids and I went to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. That was so much fun and the weather was perfect. Friday we went to the Fire Station, that was fun- the fire fighters got a call just as our tour was ending, so we got to see them in action- pretty cool. This morning we went up to Snowbird and road the Tram, that was fun, but what I really enjoyed was seeing the fall leaves- so beautiful!!! I thought about a book JJ has called Frederick and how these mice store up food for winter. One of the mice stores up memories and he helped the other mice get through the cold, tough winter by describing to the others what he had seen and felt in the fall. So as we were driving down the canyon I took a picture to remind me.

First Snow, First Giggles!!!

This morning we woke up to the first snow of winter. Of course it was a lot less than fore casted. JJ had fun playing in it, but he was disappointed that it melted. I like the snow, I just don't like the 20 degree days, followed by inversion- not looking forward to that. When it snows I can't help but think that Christmas is upon us, and JJ's birthday. JJ will be turning 3 this years, my how time flies. Eva is getting so big. She started giggling this week. It is the cutest thing, I just laugh and laugh and she'll smile and eventually let out a giggle. I think my kiddos are so cute!!! Just look at those beautiful blue eyes. :)

Your Blogs

I'm pretty new to the blogging world. So if you visit my blog will you leave a comment so I can add you to my list of family and friends. Or if there is a better way of doing it-let me know. It's fun to see what you all are up to!!!



Lately I try and let JJ pick out his shirt, so I can coordinate the pants, that way he gets a choice without looking ridiculous. Well sometimes he insists on picking out the whole outfit. The results can be pretty funny. :)

3 months old

Eva is now three months old. We like to track the kids growth on the wall, Eva got her first mark today. Eva is taller than JJ was at three months, and the sad thing is that he was taller than she was at birth. Unfortunately we found out with JJ that he wasn't getting enough milk from me, his growth basically came to a screeching hault, and since it's been an uphill battle to keep him fed. I've been thinking that the second child is a benefactor that way, because there is not as much to learn. There is definitely more to learn, but it's more about how to juggle the two kids. I can't help but think of my Mom, and how she practically raised six kids on her own. The idea boggles my mind, Spencer and I feel like we struggle with the two. So here's to you Mom, I appreciate what you've done over the years, more and more everyday!!!

Busy Busy Busy

This week was crazy busy. But we did have the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, so that was nice. I am glad that, for now, the craziness is over. JJ loves to read, and this week his favorite book is Are You My Mother? One day he asked where's the daddy. I think it's petty cool that he thinks about these things. JJ never ceases to amaze me. JJ is really good at recognizing letters, he loves to color, as he colors he will say a G mom, or whatever letter he happens to draw (on accident). I think it's way cute, and I'm so proud of him. I can't forget little Eva, she's so cute and smiley. I love having a baby girl!!!

Another week gone by

My how time flies!!! This week the kids and I went to the zoo, it was another beautiful day. Friday night Spencer and I went to the movies. We went and saw the Dark Knight, wow, another good Batman movie. I really like the latest actor that plays batman, and boy, the Joker was so creepy. It's time to start thinking about Halloween costumes, which prompted me to get out the matching Halloween jammies I bought last year. I couldn't help but take a picture of the cuties. This afternoon we went to a family reunion for Spencer's Mom's family. It's fun to see everyone now and then. The scary thing is that I'm starting to feel old. Spencer's cousin Tyler will be turning 21 soon, which isn't that big of a deal, unless you consider that I've known Tyler since he was 11 years old. I have a nephew that is 17 years old, he thinks I'm ancient. It's totally crazy that I'm already feeling this way, and I haven't reached my 30s yet. I guess that's something to look forward to. :)

Useful Info

If you haven't heard, the geniuses at google have another amazing service. Forget 411 if you need info just call 800goog411, it's a free service (your are charged for the air time), and it will connect you. This morning I wanted to schedule to have pictures taken of Eva in her blessing dress, so I called goog and had them connect me to Kiddie Kandids. When I couldn't get into the studio at a particular time I told them I would try another one. The offered to give me the number, but I said that's ok. I'm thinking why do I need to find a piece of paper and a pen to write down a number when goog will connect me. I love this service- I use it at least once a week, and I just want to spread the word.
By the way if you'd like to check out the Kiddie Kandids go to:
http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/viewshare.asp?c=501156995UK2UG37H

Ahh Fall!!!

The weather has been delightful this week. We have taken advantage of the cooler weather, the kids and I went on a walk everyday. One day we went to Bywater Park. JJ wanted to play baseball, but we didn't have the equipment, will that stop him? NO! I was the pitcher and JJ was the batter, and when he hit the imaginary ball we both ran all the bases. I love to see JJ's imagination in action. Eva loves to be outside too, if she's a little fussy, taking her outside can be like pushing a reset button. Friday night all of us went to the State Fair. It was nice to have some family time, Spencer was really busy this week and didn't have a lot of time at home. Tuesday he went to Chicago and was back at 10:00 pm on Wednesday- how about a quick trip! Well it's late, so I'll leave it at that. Have a great week!

Fun Times

I've kind of made Sundays my day to post a blog. It's been good for me, because I get my photos downloaded weekly, but more importantly I reflect on events of the week. We had a lot of fun this week. We went to the Children's Museum, Park City, and we went to the IMAX 3D Space Station. We also had fun watching the Utes win another game, Go UTES!!! JJ has been doing well with potty training, he's even been telling us that he needs to us the potty, there have been accidents, but that is to be expected. Little Eva is not so little, she had her two month check up this week, and she's in the 75th percentile in weight and height. She now weighs 12 pounds 4 ounces. Eva's a good little girl, except she's a night owl, she usually doesn't go to bed until midnight- it's killing me. The picture I posted is of Spencer and JJ on the Alpine Slide, the weather was beautiful, we couldn't have picked a better day to go to Park City.

Moose on the Loose

Hi All! Happy Labor Day weekend. We kicked off the weekend by heading up to Silver Lake at Brighton. There was a baby and momma moose; it's always fun to see animals in their environment, well as long as your not getting attacked by a bear, Right? Saturday night we went to the second annual Harvest Music Festival at our neighbors house, there was amazing talent there, Thanks Josh, we love the Harvest Fest. Tonight we got together with my family, we watched a movie on the wall of my brothers basement. The best part was seeing all the cousins together, they had so much fun!