Christmas Part One

Christmas this year was very unusual, good, but unusual.  My youngest sister got married December 28th in St. George, Utah so we decided to spend Christmas in Utah as well.  Because we were not going to be here Christmas day to spend it with Juan's family like we normally do, we went down to his mom's house on the 15th and had an early Christmas with them.  We all had a great time.  We had lunch.  We read the Christmas story and then presents were passed out.

 My nephews got to open their present from their grandma first.  Their dad had told me that they had talked about being grateful for whatever they get on the drive down.  That was put to the test when they each opened their very own...bag of chips.  They were so disappointed, but tried to hide it.  Here is the awesome picture right after they opened their present.

They then proceeded to watch everyone else open their gifts, which were significantly better than a bag of chips.

We kept telling them throughout that they should OPEN their chips and eat them, but they were not interested.  Finally, after about the 20th time of suggesting they open their chips, Ruben decided it might be a good idea and Elijah followed...

It was a very good trick.  Their grandma had opened the bags just a tiny bit, put the money in and then glued them back together so they didn't look tampered with at all.  The boys ended up being very happy with their gifts.  Everyone else had a good time opening their gifts too.

So, what do you do out in the country after all the gifts are handed out and the weather is great?  You shoot bb guns, of course.

Or you can play Pegs and Jokers.

Juan made dinner for us and watched the baby. (He is such a multitasker.)

Later that evening, the kids made "gingerbread" houses.  The last pictures are of Jovi's house.  Corbin's house fell apart before it was finished, but it was still enjoyed.

 

By the end of the day, we were all tired, but happy.  It was a great first Christmas celebration.

Enchanted Faries

Before Nate was born, Juan saw an ad for a photography studio that took fairy pictures of children.  I went to the studio's website and thought the photographer's work was beautiful.  We knew Jovi would love the experience and thought about having her picture taken for her birthday. I showed my mom and she wanted an appointment for both kids.  We made an appointment right after my due date with the idea that my mom would take the kids.  Nate came early and was about two and a half weeks old so I decided to go too and bring him.  It was a great experience, the photographer was wonderful with the kids and Jovi could have a future in photo modeling.  Unfortunately, due to several issues it took a long time to get our photos back BUT as an apology the studio gave us the digital rights to all our retouched photos.  They are totally forgiven.  We will likely be back for more photos in a few years and I highly recommend the studio for any fairy photos you might want taken of your children.

I love all the pictures, but the picture of all three of them is my favorite.  We have a beautiful print of it hanging over our fireplace.  These pictures were totally worth waiting for.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend started on Wednesday with my dad's birthday and my sister and her fiance flying in from Utah.  It was the first time they got to meet Nate.

 

Laura got my dad the best birthday present, a pair of tiger slippers. This is what he did with him...

On Thursday, we spent Thanksgiving with Juan's family at his mom's house.  We had a great time with a nice traditional turkey dinner.  The kids spent most of the time picking pecans from the lawn and since the weather was so nice we spent a lot of time outside too.  We all had fun cracking the pecans the kids had picked up.  Did you know that some pecans are yellow?  They taste just like the regular pecans.  Corbin is showing off a yellow pecan in one of the pictures.

The rest of the weekend was spent with family, shopping and relaxing.  The kids loved having their aunt Emma and soon to be uncle Evan around to play with.

 

 

I taught Jovi how to finger weave over the weekend too.  She made headbands for herself and her doll, several doll scarves and some wrist warmers.

Here is everyone looking serious to match Nate.  It's amazing how "serious" looks so different on different people.

Halloween

The kids had fun this year.  Jovi wanted to be a vampire, goth style.  I made her a cape and we put together the rest of her outfit from her regular wardrobe.  She had some vampire teeth, but in her words, "They freaked me out." when she looked at herself in the mirror, so she didn't wear them.  Corbin wanted to be a ninja,but settled for being a pirate when I ran out of time to make the ninja costume that I planned.  Nate got to be Super Baby, even his blanket matches.  It was a night full of Trick or Treating and candy eating, lots of fun was had. 

Nate's Visitors

Nate had lots of visitors in his first month.  He was very happy to have them since it meant more people around to hold him, which is of course what should be happening 24/7 according to him.

His grandma came and visited him.

His Aunt Paloma came and visited him.

His Aunt Laura came and visited him.

His Aunt Sandra came and visited him.

His cousin Karla came and visited him.

His Aunt Viriginia came and visited him.

His cousin Monica came and visited him.

Group shot of that visit :).

His uncle Ruben and Aunt Tisha came and visited him.

His sister wants to visit with him every day.  It is literally the first thing she asks every morning when I come down the stairs, "Can I hold Nate?"

His brother loves to visit with him too and Nate (usually) loves it.  Corbin can really hold his attention.

Nate loves visiting with his dad.  He is apparently very comfortable to sleep on.  Juan's chest is one of Nates very favorite places to fall asleep.

Three more visitors that I don't have pictures of, (soon to be fixed) were his Aunt Eden, his Grandpa John and his Grandma Sharon.  His Grandma has been so helpful watching him whenever I have appointments and occasionally when I need a nap.  I am so appreciative of all she does for us.  Nate loves being held by her and thinks she's great.