Merry Christmas!

Making Sugar Cookies with Nanny and Ashlynn
Playing with one of his new toys at Great Grandma Adams
Merry Christmas from naked Spencer!!!
Spencer sizing up Rudolph
Our Christmas Elf!


We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas like we did. We were able to go up north to be with my family and it was fun! We also got to see Mark's brothers and sisters that live up north as well. It was nice to see everyone and show Spencer off. He did great the whole trip. We were spoiled once again by my parents. Mark got a really nice coat, Spencer got lots of diapers and toys, and I got some nice sweaters and nice books. Mark and I splurged and got a stand mixer from Kohls for $70, plus we are sending in a $30 mail in rebate. We made sugar cookies, did lots of visiting and overall had a great time. May everyone have a wonderful New Year!

This is another tag I saw on Sam's blog that looked like fun.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper! I enjoy wrapping gifts and love to put a few under the tree early.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial trees- less mess and it looks good year after year.
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the day after Thanksgiving at my mom's house. At our house we put it up before we go north for Thanksgiving. That way when we get back our house is already ready for Christmas.
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years
5. Do you like eggnog? No
6. Favorite gift received as a child? A beautiful green velvet dress
7. Hardest person to buy for? Whoevers name I drew that year
8. Easiest person to buy for? Dad- Sportsman Warehouse Gift Cards
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a porcelian figure of Mary and Joseph with the Donkey, a wood one I bought on sale after Christmas last year, and a pyramid from Germany (traditional German Christmas piece) from our trip to Germany. This is a picture of it. The hot air from the candles burning rises between the wooden slats and causes it to turn. On the bottom is Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus with the wise men going around. The second level is the shepards and the third level is the angels. When all of the lights are off the shadows on the ceiling look like the star.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail - It's so much more fun getting Christmas cards in the mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A coat with a grey snakeskin pattern on the outside. I exchanged it for something else so it really wasn't that bad.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? The Little Brown Burrow. It is the story of the donkey.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I start getting ideas for people. Usually after Christmas sells the year before.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My Mon's Sugar Cookies:)
16. Lights on the tree? Solid white only!!!
17. Favorite Christmas Song? This year: Oh Come All Ye Faithful, it puts Spencer to sleep.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? travel to my parents.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Stars
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? A little of both. We open at Grandma Adams Christmas Eve and then at my parents Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Dirty snow and slow at work
23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? I like all of my ornaments from growing up.
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Ham
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Nothing but quality time with my family.

Four Squared Tag

My friend Sam tagged me with this one (sorry it took so long Sam! I love ya!) You find the fourth folder and the fourth picture in the folder. I have two places I keep pictures so I did both.
This first one is a picture from the 4 of July in my Mom's backyard. The grandkids loved the little pool!
This is a picture of my nephew Carter on Easter of 2007. Isn't he cute?!

San Diego

Our first family vacation with Spencer was a blast. We left last Thursday after work to go to San Diego. We broke up the trip by stopping in Primm, Nevada for the night (Primm is on the border of Nevada and California).Friday morning we drove to Escondido, where our condo is located. It was the Welk Resort and it was very beautiful there. Friday afternoon we went on a walk around the resort with a fussy Spencer. He finally fell asleep for a nap back at the condo. It was a nice little space for us. Out the kitchen door we had a beautiful view of the mountain and part of the golf course. The nicest thing about the condo was being able to cook instead of eat out. We took groceries from home so we really didn't spend money on food while we were down there. Friday night we had spaghetti (it was actually angel hair pasta but same thing).We went to do a little shopping for a couple things we forgot to pack and called it a night. Spencer slept through the night which was wonderful. Saturday morning we spent laying around and playing with Spencer. We packed a lunch and took off for the San Diego Zoo. It was a great day (lower 70's) and we had a lot of fun. We saw turtles, lizards, pandas, lions, tigers, bears, koalas (who had just had babies), flamingos, alligators, hippos, giraffes, elephants, lots of monkeys and birds, wallabies, pigs, and much more. Our favorite was the 100 year old turtles. They were a lot bigger than we thought they would be.Spencer did really good until it was time for his afternoon nap. But by then we were about ready to go so we went back to the condo. Mark went swimming while Spencer and I hung out watching movies and getting some good floor time in. Spencer slept through the night again getting our hopes up that a pattern is starting. Sunday morning we headed into town to go to church. We forgot to grab our map of the city so we passed the exit by about five miles. We turned around and found the church at 9:15. We walked in and found a Spanish speaking ward in the chapel. Mark asked a few people in the hall when the next English speaking ward would be. The Spanish ward had started at 8 and the English ward would start at 10.Now, normally I would have freaked out about being late and coming to a Spanish ward but I had just read Elder Worthlin's last talk on laughing about life (we will miss Elder Worthlin but know he is in a better place). So, we decided to make it a good memory. The testimony meeting was one of the best we have been to in a long time. We went back to the condo and hung out around the resort the rest of the day. While on vacation we got some great pictures of Spencer. This is one of my favorites. Sunday afternoon we went swimming as a family.We had the pools pretty much to ourselves and Mark really enjoyed the 140 foot slide. He was going down it just as much as the little kids were. We met a really nice family from Rhode Island that has three boys. It was fun for me to think about how Spencer will grow up to be like them. Spencer had another good night so we were ready to have a great day at Sea World. The weather was a little overcast but it never rained and the park was pretty empty so we could really enjoy it. At the park we saw of course Shamu (the whale), dolphins, sea lions, otters, octupus, star fish, Nemo (clown fish), Dorie (Nemo's friend), sharks, sting rays, polar bears, bulga whales (white whales), clidesdales, penguins, and much more. The flamingos were all born and raised at Sea World and go for a daily walk around the park. Mark really liked the polar bears because he had never seen one before. After seeing all of the shows we took a short drive to go see the ocean. It was a little cold so Spencer and I stayed in the car. On our way back to the resort we stopped at the temple.They had a very simple nativity out on the lawn but it was very beautiful. The temple is literally a stone's throw away from the freeway. I loved to think of the thousands of people who drive past it. The rest of the trip we stayed at the resort. Mark took a free golf class and then did 18 holes of golfing. I enjoyed one more trip to the hot tub. Spencer enjoyed his first shower while on the trip (Sorry, no pictures). Our drive back on Wednesday went very well. It took about 6 1/2 hours to get home. We really enjoyed our time together and hope to make another trip next year.Since coming home we have been working hard to catch up at work. We are getting excited for Christmas in two weeks. Until next time...

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We left Cedar Wednesday afternoon to go to Salt Lake. It rained half the way but it wasn't too bad because Spencer slept the whole way. We went straight to Nanny and Papa's house where we got to play with Ashlynn and Carter as well. It was one big sleep over party! This is a picture of Nanny, Ashlynn and I playing with Spencer.
Wednesday night Papa and Ashlynn cooked pies for Thanksgiving. They did a wonderful job! Spencer slept in his car seat instead of the pack and play but other than that he did good that first night.
Thursday morning we went up to Roy to see Mark's half sisters, their children and grandchildren. It was so awesome to see all of the because we don't see them very often. We went through some old family pictures which was a lot of fun. Thursday afternoon we went to Great Grandma Adams (that is Spencer's Great Grandma, Carrie's Grandma) for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was so yummy! Spencer was a little fussy because he didn't take a good nap but it was great fun. This is a picture of Spencer, Ashlynn, Matt and Carter (all of my Mom's grandkids).
Friday Mark went shooting with Papa, Aunt Steph, and Steph's friend Nate. Mark hurt his thumb but he is recovering well. Spencer and I stayed with Nanny at home to put up the Christmas tree. Friday night Mark and I went to my brother Tim's new house in Lehi. We also had Mark's brother Tom and his family come over so we could all hang out. We watched the Jazz game (we crushed them) and had lots of fun!
Saturday morning we went to the cemetary to decorate my brother Matt's grave. Spencer and I sat in the because it was too cold. When I turned the heater on a pressure valve (or something) let off some steam and really scared me and Mark. The car has been fine since then and our little boy is safe. This is the crew that helped decorate. I can hardly believe how big the tree is (it used to only be about 8 feet tall).
After the cemetary we all went to Hires for some way good grub. Saturday night my mom and I went shopping for a couple of hours while Mark and Papa took care of Spencer. Spencer took a nap and my parents loved watching him sleep for a few minutes.

We were able to relax a lot this weekend which is what we needed most. This is us hanging out one morning in bed. We had so much fun with all of our family.
Here are some fun pictures from last week as well. Can you believe how big Spencer is getting?!

This is just a fun picture of Spencer learning to love football, just like his daddy.