Thursday, January 30, 2014

Christmas

This Christmas we were with the Rebers.  It was a fun Christmas and our first one with Miss Evelyn.  My parents headed to Mexico so before they left we celebrated Christmas with them.  My parents took us out to eat.  It was an amazing dinner despite the fact that Josh and Skyler were eating Evelyn's puffs.    Those snacks are loved by kids big and small.  

Evelyn enjoying a fire. 

Opening her first present from Uncle Skyler.  Doesnt it look idealic with the fireplace behind her.  


A BYU cheer outfit.  I cant wait for her to fit into it.  Nice face Sky.


A gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  

The little mermaid and a puppy.  My Mom and Dad gave me a puppy when I was a baby and I loved it!  I would carry it around everywhere I went, so it was only fitting that Evelyn have a puppy too.  My mom looked so long to find the right one, and Evelyn loves it. 
We had to get Sky a Buc-ee's shirt.  
The book we made on Evelyn's first year.
My favorites 

Christmas Eve we went to the Rich's house.  We had a fun time eating, playing the bells and attempting charades :)  

Playing the bells!

I grew up with the tradition of getting pj's on Christmas Eve.  I wanted to keep that tradition!  My mom made Evie the cutest pair of pajamas.  


She is one happy lady!


She loved her baby!



Evelyn wanted nothing to do with the wrapping paper.  She was truly interested and excited about her presents.  I loved watching her eyes light up with each gift.  




Finally my own tv remote.  Maybe she will leave ours alone :)

Opening gifts with Grandpa!
After the gifts were opened and a delicious french toast breakfast was had we took a great trip into Zion.  It was a wonderful and relaxing day.  Cant wait for next year!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Salt Lake City

Josh had an interview at the U so Evelyn and I thought we would go with him.  It would give us an opportunity to see some great friends and my Grandma Sally and Aunt Melinda.  We stayed with Rick and Cindy Adams who were so sweet and gracious to let us invade their house.  They took us to dinner at Pizza Lemon, which is now my new favorite pizza place.  It was AMAZING.  If you live in the Sandy area you need to go.  While Josh interviewed I went to see my Grandma.  I had never been to her new place and was excited to see how she was transitioning to living there.  She was doing great.  I met a lot of her friends and was told over and over how lucky I was that I was Sally's Granddaughter.  It was fun to see her and for Evelyn to see her as well.  After the interview we went to check out the new city center and to see the decorations at Temple Square.  Im always amazed at how beautiful it is.  

Could you just die over how cute my 2 loves are!


Welcome to Vernal

Since Josh had an interview at the U we decided to make a quick trip to Vernal.  We had not been there for far too long and missed the family.  It is always so much fun and we always feel extremely welcome by the Merrells.  We stayed with Josh's Aunt Lynnette and Uncle Jerry.  They were so sweet to us and especially Evelyn.  She had a great time playing and cuddling with Lynnette.  One night we were playing cards with Kyle and Amber Evelyn started crying.  Normally we just let her cry it out and she falls back to sleep within a few minutes, but it was too much for Lynnette.  She rushed up there and scooped her up.  Evelyn was one lucky lady.  While we were there we had a great time bowling at the Allred family reunion and making 40 pounds of mashed potatoes for the ward christmas party.  It was even fun to shoot my first gun.  I was so scared but Kyle did a great job helping me with each shot.  I even shot a clay pigeon on my first time.  On top of all that Josh got to go Pheasant hunting with Kyle and Amber.  They were able to shoot and bring it home.  Jerry then cooked it up into a delicious meal.  All in all it was a great weekend full of family...just how I like it.
















Monday, January 27, 2014

Evie-isms


She has grown so much in the last 3 months.  My computer has been on the frits so I have not been able to document it like I would like. 

1) She has 5 teeth (3 on top and 2 on bottom)!  They are all crooked!  Thank goodness Uncle Derek is an orthodontist. She tends to grind them, which makes me twinge.  Teething has not been bad at all.
2) She is a crawling machine.  I think she is going for the worlds fastest crawler.  She can be from one end of the room to the other in seconds. 
3) She can walk around furniture.  I’m ready and not ready to have her walking.  She is growing too fast.
4) She waves hi and goodbye.
5) She loves Tinkerbell and Mickey Mouse Club House.  When the theme song comes on she gets excited, claps and dances. 
6) She loves to play with her toys.  She loves toys!  We went to the toy section of Wal Mart with my niece and we had to leave because Evie wanted all the toys. 
7) She loves books.  She will turn pages, point and talk at the pictures. 
8)  She is back to sleeping through the night!
9) She loves looking at pictures of cats.  I think she loves it after living with a cat for 3 months.
10) She loves to play with other kids.  She is great at sharing.  I don’t know how she learned it, but I’m happy she likes to share her things.
11) I have yet to find a food she doesn’t like. 
12) She is quickly growing out of her carseat so we are in the market for a new one!  Suggestions are welcome.
13) She had to learn that we don’t play with blinds and trash cans.  Poor girl has never been so sad.  It only took about a day but she doesn’t play with them anymore, at least while we are looking.
14) She is still not attached to one particular toy or blanket.
15) She loves to have her teeth brushed.  After I brush her teeth she plays with the toothbrush while we read a book.
16) She has learned the bedtime routine and gets a little whiney as it grows closer.
17) She loves to play with her bath tub toys.  She doesn’t mind having water dumped on her head.   She loves to play/eat with the bubbles.
18) She has started to dance to music.   I love watching her bob her head and shake her cute little body.
19) She will mimic the sounds you make.  Josh hissed at her one dinner and she hissed right back!
20) She poops in her sleep.  Diaper rash and I are constantly at war URG!
21) She knows the word no.  If you tell her she stops what she is doing, and looks right at you.
22) She clicks her tongue!
24) She is very active at church.  I have a hard time letting her just roam the halls, so we go through all sorts of activities in our chair keeping her entertained.
25) We tried the swings…she was not a fan.
26) She is a mommas girl still.  Where I am she wants to be. 
27) She is a great traveler and enjoys being in her carseat, for the most part.
28) She smiles at the camera.  Mostly because she has had one in her face from day 1.
29) I always get bad looks from moms because Evelyn wont keep her socks on.  As soon as they go on she pulls them off and plays with them.  She likes to have one in each hand.  She holds tight to them and takes them wherever she goes.
30) She looks at me and smiles when she pulls her bow off…little stink.
31) She loves goldfish and not cheerios.
32) If she doesn't want something she will push it away.
33) She is not a cuddler.  She wants to be independent :)
34) When we Skype with family all she does is laugh.  I don't know what is so funny but it sure is cute.
35) She loves to be outside.  We try to go on a hike 3 or 4 times a week.  We cant wait for spring so we can go to the park.

Gosh we love this girl!

Olsen Lighting Ceremony

No Black Friday would be complete without the Olsen lighting ceremony.  Dan Olsen starts in October and puts thousands of lights all over his house.  Each year they put together a great program then they flip the switch :)  It is amazing and such a fun tradition.  Im glad we got to see it with Evie this year!