Christmas

Michael and I had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was our second time celebrating Christmas away from home. I admit I got a little homesick, I missed my parents, siblings, the beautiful mountains and snow. I think a lot of people get homesick around Christmas time.
Here are the highlights of our Christmas celebration.
Christmas Eve:
I still needed to finish sewing a few presents on Christmas eve. So I spent the morning and early afternoon sewing while Michael made delicious Christmas treats and took care of Lily.



In the evening Michael, Lily and I made a gingerbread house. I had attempted to make one earlier in the week but I couldn't get the walls to stay up.:( I'm blaming it on the frosting. Anyways, I found a gingerbread house kit at HEB and bought it because Christmas just isn't complete without a gingerbread house. Lily enjoyed eating the candy off of the gingerbread house. She was really really really excited about the candy!









Then we read the Christmas story from the bible and sang carols. After that we let Lily open one present, her Christmas pj's. I made pajamas for me and Michael too.






After we put Lily to bed I got the brilliant idea of setting up our blow up bed downstairs. It ended up not being a very good idea. We put too much air into it so it was really uncomfortable. After we got the bed set up Michael and I read the "Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and then we watched shows on hulu until we feel asleep.
Right as I was falling asleep I got a call from my sister Erin and she told me that my niece Bronwen had been flown to the children's hospital in Sacramento because they just found out that she has diabetes. She is only 5 years old! Then at about 6 in the morning my dad called to let me know that he had just talked with Ariel and that Bronwen would be okay.(Those of you that know Ariel should check her fb page for more information.)
So after a very eventful night we were ready to open presents. We made the mistake of leaving Lily alone with the presents for a few minutes. By the time we got there she had already opened 4 presents! She really enjoys unwrapping presents:) Lily got the Lion King, Bambi, a baby doll that came with a crib, Dora toys, stickers, books etc. She loved all of her presents.
















Michael, got a Brazilian cd and book, pj's, blanket, Dominion etc.



Michael got me the Our Best Bites cook book and the book war and peace. I'm really excited to read it! I also got some dvd's, box of chocolates, and etc. As a family we got the Harry Potter collection! We also got tickets to Les Mis! We are both really excited to go see it in May.



After we opened our presents we got ready for church and talked with my parents on skype. I really enjoyed going to church on Christmas. It really helped me remember the true meaning of Christmas. Lily cried and called out her friends names as we were leaving church. She was really disappointed that she didn't get to go to nursery. After church we visited with Michael's family. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner. Michael made a delicious ham and I made a delicious salad.
Post Christmas
On Monday we went down to San Antonio to see the lights on the river walk. It was so beautiful. We met up with our friends Ashley and Spencer while we were there. They are moving away to Louisiana. We are really sad that they are moving away because they have been such great friends. But we are also excited for them and the new chapter in life that they will be starting. We will miss you Ashley and Spencer.
All in all we had a wonderful Christmas. It was so fun having Michael home for a few days and being able to spend time together as a family. We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas too!

Fall Madness

I can't believe that it is almost Thanksgiving! These past few months have gone by so quickly. Michael, Lily and I are doing great. Michael is working on a new project at work. He likes this project more because he get's to work with his original group more than he was on his last project. Lily is growing up so quickly. I can't believe that she is going to be 2 in a few weeks! She loves to talk to people on the phone. In fact not a day goes by that she doesn't ask to speak to someone on the phone. She also loves to run, which I'm hoping will last forever! I am doing great too. I finally got over being sick...be careful when using antibiotics sometimes they can make you sick! Anyways I'm all better now and I am now watching my friend's kids 2-3 times a week. It's a lot of work but it's also fun having them here and I am learning so much!!!
Here are some highlights from the past month:

Michael and I competed on a relay team for our ward triathlon. Michael had originally planned on doing the whole thing by himself. However, he ended up having a busy month and wasn't able to train as much as he wanted. So we did a relay team instead. Michael biked, our friend Spencer swam and I ran. We were awarded the "I'm too lazy to do the whole thing so I get my other lazy friends to help me" award :)

We went to six flags the next weekend. It was a lot of fun except for the losing my phone part :( Michael was brave and went on all the roller coaster rides with me. There was a ride that Michael wasn't allowed to go on because he was too tall :)

We partied hard all Halloween weekend! To start things off we went to our wards Trunk or Treat. Lots of fun. The next day we invited some friends over for a Fall Fest.



It was so awesome. I think the best part was the feats of strength. We had a 3 legged race contest, stick pull, tug-a-war, sawing contest (Which Michael won!) Then on Halloween we took Lily trick or treating.



She had a lot of fun and has gained a love for candy.

Michael's mom surprised us with a visit. It was so fun having her here! She got here Halloween evening and stayed for a week.



I'm so grateful she came to visit. I was really sick by this time and had just found out that I had c-diff. The doctor had given me some medicine but it took about a week for it to really kick in and cure me. So it was nice having my mother in-law visit. She helped take care of Lily and made us some really yummy chicken noddle soup. Thanks mom. We love you so much! We showed her around Austin and went to Black's Barbeque too. Lily loved the ribs!



Then a few days later Michael's Dad, Robyn, Bryn and John and their little girl Maddy came to visit.



We had a lot of fun. By this time I was feeling a lot better and was able to do more things with the family. We went to the Alamo, the river walk, the round rock, the LBJ library and enjoyed yummy Texas BBQ!









And that is the end of the past months adventures!

Counting

Lily is getting so big. It's hard to believe that she was once a little tiny baby. She learns so much everyday. Recently she has learned how to count to ten. Here's a movie of her counting.

Enchanted Rock and Fredericksburg

Michael and I decided that this year for Labor day we would go on a trip instead of just relaxing at home. It was so much fun. We were only gone for a day but it was nice getting out of the house and seeing more of Texas. On Monday morning we woke up, packed up the car and headed to enchanted rock.

Enchanted Rock is a big rock that sticks out of the ground. It's pretty cool looking. Anyways it's about a half a mile up to the top. So it's not very long but it is really steep. Plus you're hiking up a rock so there's really not a trail and there nothing to hold onto. The weather was perfect for the hike. It was warm but there was a breeze that kept you cooled off. Lily had a blast. She insisted on hiking the entire way up by herself! Occasionally she would hold Michael's hand but for the most part she just walked by herself. She is such a determined little girl. On the really hard parts she would repeat to herself over and over again "do it, do it, do it" It was really cute.

Once we got to the top we rested and enjoyed the view. It was a really beautiful view. We carried Lily most of the way down because it was so steep and we didn't want her to fall.

After our hike we decided to go tour Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is a German town in the middle of Texas. We had lunch there, we are disappointed to admit that we ate at a BBQ place instead of a German restaurant, I don't know what we were thinking. After lunch we went to the pioneer museum. It was really neat and Lily loved running in and out of all the pioneer homes. We had to keep an eye on her because she kept wanting to touch and play with all the old artifacts. It was amazing looking at the pioneer homes. They were so small and simple. Houses today are so huge! Why do we need so much space now? After the pioneer museum we visited the replica of the oldest church in town. The original was torn down because they started having cattle drives down main street and the cows were running into the church. I thought that was pretty funny and very Texan. Anyways they built the replica in the 1930's so it's pretty old too. After that we decided to go home because we were all really tired. It was such a nice trip though and I'm really grateful that we were able to go.

The Big Blue Ball

A big blue ball has decided to take up residence in our backyard. A few weeks ago Lily and I found the ball in our backyard. I have no idea where it came from. Lily was super excited to find it there and immediately started playing with it. I let her play with it for awhile because I didn't have the heart to take it away from her and I figured no one would mind if she played with it. However, later in the day when Lily was taking a nap I went outside and threw the ball into the neighbors yard. The next day the ball was back in our yard. So I decided to throw into another neighbors backyard. The next day the ball was in our yard again. Then I decided to ask another neighbor if it was his ball. He said no and that he didn't know who it belonged to. I tried again to throw it into the other neighbors yards but the ball always ends up back in our yard. So I guess we get to keep it now which makes Lily very happy.

Utah Trip Part 1

Michael and I had a great time in Utah. I went out a week before Michael and spent time with my family. It was a ton of fun but all my pictures are on the camera and I get figure out how to get them from my camera to the computer. So I'll post about the first week later.

Michael arrived on July 1...just in time to celebrate Independence day! The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. I love the parade, fireworks etc. Anyways, Michael decided to run the 5k this year. It was his first time ever racing a 5k. He did awesome. Lily participated in the fun run. She came in 3rd for her age group and my sister Mary ran the 10k, she won her age group. (I will post pictures of this joyous event later). After the races we went and watched the parade. I have to admit I was a little disappointed. They didn't have as many horses this year.:-( Oh well it was still fun. We ended the day by going to the fair and then watching a few fireworks at my sisters house. Lily was terrified of the fireworks.

On July 9th we went up to Herriman to spend time with Michael's family and to celebrate Jon's birthday. It was a lot of fun. We took family pictures and then went swimming at the rec center. The pool there was so cool. Michael and I had a blast jumping off the high dive and going down the water slide. Lily enjoyed playing in the kiddy pool with her cousins.

Here are some pictures from our trip. I will post more about the first week and my birthday when I get the camera thing figured out.:-)

Here are some pictures from out trip