Prayer, Singing and Reading

Andrew is getting to be SUCH a BIG boy! December 27th, he said his first PRAYER! All this time praying with him and asking him to say it, him saying no time and time again and running around like a crazy maniac while either Jake or I pray out loud... has finally paid off. Jake started saying the prayer Sunday night Andrew shouts out 'I want to say it by myself!' All this time not even wanting to copy what we say then he so perfectly speaks....
'Dear Heavenly Father,
Thankful for this day
Thankful for church
Thankful for Grandma
Thankful for Grandpa
Thankful for Mom
Thankful for Dad
Thankful for Grant
Bless us to be happy and safe
In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.'

Without ANY help! Can I ask for anything more? That was a tender moment and I can not express how happy I was. Now he does it frequently and loves it! :)

He has also suddenly taken an interest in singing. Seems like I have tried to have him sing songs with me over and over, but no such luck. He just wasn't into it until 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town' came around. Now he knows jingle bells, twinkle twinkle little star, and a few other classical songs he likes to sing 'la la la' to. A song from the movie 'UP' is his favorite. He always asks me to sing it and he sings and dances along. I love it.

(Music at the bottom needs to be paused.)


We bought the 'Your Baby Can Read' program quite a while ago. He wasn't ever too into the dvds. A few months ago I started working with him and the word cards and pictures and he is really getting into it. Now he will sit and watch the dvds for a little bit whenever I'm showing them to Grant. He knows at least 20 words now and is still picking them up so quickly. I know if I keep it up he will keep going and be AMAZING. He is amazing! We sure love him!

'Merry Christmas ya old building and loan'

I love Christmas time! This year was no exception. Although, I am making it a goal of mine to get cards sent and Christmas shopping out of the way by the end of November from now on. That way December will be slightly more easy going, less stressful, and our family will be able to focus more on the true meaning of the season. I love that there is a whole month - or two - depending on who you are, dedicated to the celebration of our Saviors birth. (For me, Christmas begins as soon as Halloween is over.) Now that I'm all 'grown up' the excitement of Christmas is still there, but has changed quite a bit. Every year I feel increasingly appreciative of all that I have because of our Brother, Jesus Christ. With each additional family member, new friends, new trials & experiences, and also the trials & experiences shared with me by family and friends that have touched me in some way, there are more reasons to rejoice in His life. He is truly the center of everything.

In addition to my newer grown up excitments of the Christmas season, I still enjoy the Christmas trees, lights, decorations, music, and the anticipation of santa clause - especially now, with my almost three year old. It was so fun for Andrew this year. He got into decorating the tree with me. He really had fun putting the red bulbs wherever he wanted - mostly in the same spot, although after he found my candy canes, he delighted in just watching me place ornaments while he devoured his popcorn and candycane. I decided maybe it would be a better idea to leave the candy off the tree this year, knowing it would be an unneccesary struggle waiting to happen several times a day.

One of his favorite things to do all month long was take a ride and look at all the Christmas lights. He never failed to yell out in excitment about every single house with lights on it. Our ward had santa come to our Christmas party this year. Andrew was happy about it, but I think he was more excited about the fact that he asked Santa for a candy cane and got just that.
I wish these jammies fit Grant all year round. He looks so adorable in them.

Christmas morning was a blast. The kiddos loved unrapping the presents from Santa, but mostly it was Andrew unwraping everyone elses presents and his own. Grant just enjoyed playing with the new unwraped toys. P.S. It is very disappointing that I don't have stockings for anyone yet, although we still had stocking stuffers for the kids. I want cute, inexpensive -not cheep- stockings, each with the individuals name on it, but I also want to be able to get matching stockings for future children. Anyone have any good ideas? Should I just make them myself? Enough jibber jabber.... here are some Christmas day photos....

Christmas morning aftermath.

We did it!!!!

I have finally jumped on the running bandwagon. For some reason almost every single member of my family is into running - long distance running. Jared just started up this year, too. Eric doesn't run but he bikes all over the place just for fun. Crazy family! I had to give in to loose my post baby bump. It went away so easily after Andrew, but it just wasn't the same this time. I had to work for it. I have to say, it was REALLY HARD! Thank goodness Alisa was here in town to push me. She's a great coach! Many other people helped too, by example. I know so many people who have trained for and run 1/2 and full marathons this year. I was amazed at all of them and thought it was surely IMPOSSIBLE for me! I was wrong. I had so much fun. My sisters were there to do it with me. They are both faster than me of course, so they left me in the dust. :) I am so glad that Angela was there! We ran it together. We kept the same pace, so it was fun to have someone to talk to the WHOLE way! That was a blessing for me because I have never run more than five miles by myself - I was getting really nervous that I might not finish without someone to push me.

Me and my sistas before the run!!!Angela and I right before the race.The first mile...Somewhere in the middle.... (thumbs up, I'm still feelin' it!)

Mom and Dad were there to cheer us on and take pictures. It was nice to have a cheering commitee! Dad took several pictures, but for some reason I made the same DORKY pose in every one, so I will spare you.

The rush of adrenaline at the end was AMAZING!! I loved it! I will definitly be doing this again...... several times! Who knows, maybe I'll push for the whole marathon one of these years! AWESOME!!

swimming...

Just wanted to share a few pics from back in November. We went swimming at a hotel for Gracie's 5th birthday. The kids of course had a lot of fun. Andrew, however, is petrified of having his head anywhere near the water (makes for interesting bath time - trying to wash his hair and face is quite a pain). Daddy tried to teach him how to float on his back and he had a tantrum everytime. He wanted to stay in the hot tub most of the time beacause there was a bench he could wade around on while the water only came to his chest. Grant was a different story. He loved swimming with dad. He looks a little tired and waterlogged in his pics but he was happy to be in the water. Fun times!

This is my favorite!

Grant - 1 year...

Happy Birthday GRANT!!

December 17th was Grant's first birthday. We had a little party for him. Grandma & Grandpa Terry, Grandma Sandy, Jared, Eric & Tania, and Alisa came. We were slightly worried about having Strep throat so some of the cousins and aunts & uncles couldn't make it so as not to risk passing it on. :(

Grant didn't know what to think about the candle and all of us singing happy birthday to him, but it sure didn't stop him from devouring his cupcake with delight. He even tried to eat the cupcake paper and clearly he was satisfied when he finished his birthday treat.

He wasn't too into ripping the paper so Andrew got impatient and helped him. Nice big brother.

Grant is just a little too short for this toy, but he loves it anyway. And anything that Grant loves, Andrew has to love it too... naturally.

All in all it was a fun day. I can't believe my baby is growing so FAST! He's a good boy and we love having him in our family! (Even Andrew likes him on occation! :))