A few weeks ago we decided to head to St. George to visit Barrett's grandparents. We had a great time. We basically just hung out. We did a lot of hiking at the red mountain and Luke loved it!

Grandma Wendy joined us for the long weekend down south

After hiking we headed to the tabernacle where they have lots of fun water features to play in

We did a lot of hopping from rock to rock

Tess just chilled in the stroller

"look at me mom!"

washing his belly off

The best part of the trip was hanging out with Nana and Pops. Luke and Tess absolutely adore them. In fact, Tess said her first word while we were down there. Her first word was Nana. She would say Nana then wait for her to look and do all her tricks (which consist of "so big" and clapping) and then Tess would look so proud as Nana clapped for her. We had a great time and I'm so glad that our kids are able to get to know and spend time with their great grand parents, they are amazing people and great examples.

I didn't get a picture of the kids with Nana, next time:)!

Ready For Spring!

The weather keeps teasing us so we take advantage of the good weather when we can! Can't wait until we can spend more time outside! We are ready for spring!!!!

Another Ice Fishing Tale

A couple of weeks ago Barrett and Luke went ice fishing again. They had only been there a little while when Luke came out of the shelter and told Barrett that he lost he Batman fishing pole down the hole. Barrett and everyone else just assumed that he accidentally dropped his pole in the hole. Barrett hurried and drilled a bunch of holes in a row hoping to snag Luke's pole with another fishing pole, but he had no luck. So they fished the rest of the day with Barrett's pole. Luke was so sad that he lost his "very first fishing pole and it was a Batman one" (Luke's exact words.)

4 or 5 hours later they were getting ready to pack up and Barrett's brother started reeling in his line when all of a sudden he thought he got a fish. So he reeled it in and it was a fish, but it was a fish attached to Luke's Batman fishing pole! He caught Luke's pole and sure enough there was a fish attached to it. So it wasn't Luke that dropped his pole in the hole, a fish had pulled his pole in. He was so happy to have his Batman fishing pole back and it was a total bonus to catch a fish at the same time! It was a fishing miracle!

The pole with the fish that try to steal it!

9 Months Already?!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe that Tess is already 9 months old! She hasn't had her 9 month check up yet (due to some insurance issues) so I will post her "stats" after her appointment on the 17th. This little girl has definitely changed out lives. She is such a good baby and we all love her so much. She used to be such a little mommies girl, but lately she become quite the daddies girl. Her favorite person of all is definitely Luke. She loves and adores him so much and does the same for her. They are so cute together. Lately Luke's favorite thing is to have Tessa take a bath with him and while they are in the bath Tess grabs his face and gives him kisses, so cute!

So, at nine months Tess is crawling everywhere and man is she fast! She is pretty much happy all the time. She is a great eater but much prefers table food over baby food. Her FAVORITE food are these toddler cheeto like snacks, she would eat them all day long if I let her. She does not like peas or green beans. She can even tell if I try to sneak them into other foods. She will not take a bottle for anything but loves her sippy cup. She loves to play with toys, especially if they are Luke's toys. She is such a sweet, fun, happy baby. We love you Tessa!

Her hair was starting to look quite straggly so she got the new pony on the top of her head 'do

I love how she looks at Luke and just lights up

Her favorite thing is to play in the toy room with her big brother

She pulls herself up on everything these days. She just looks so grown up!

Giving Luke a push

She is saying "da, da, da, da" at the top of her lungs. She is loud!

her latest trick "so big"

Ice Fishing

Yesterday Barrett took Luke ice fishing along with his brothers, dad and friend Cub. They headed up to Strawberry with hopes of staying warm and catching lots of fish. This turned out to be what Barrett described as "one of the best days of being a dad." Barrett and his dad had bought an ice fishing shelter in hopes of keeping Luke warm and making it enjoyable for him. They had been fishing for awhile and Luke was in the shelter with his two uncles Lincoln and Tanner. While they were in there Luke dropped his line into the hole and after a little while he said "whoa I got one, I think this is a really big one!" Well, at first Lincoln and Tanner didn't believe he had a fish on his line but he sat there and fought it and after a couple of minutes he asked Lincoln for some help. Lincoln grabbed Luke's batman fishing pole from him and realized there really was a fish on there. Lincoln helped him bring it in and it was a huge cutthroat! Luke was so excited he could hardly stand it. He was jumping up and down and couldn't contain himself. He just ran up to Barrett and gave him a huge hug and for Barrett, that moment was one of the best moments for him as a dad. So, they stayed warm and caught lots of fish!

Luke with his Grandpa and Dad, proud as ever

Luke with his uncles Tanner and Lincoln (yea not sure what that thing on Tanners head is)

The crew, minus Cub who took the picture

Christmas 2010

Setting out cookies and milk for Santa

That face says it all!

We had a great Christmas. We actually had to wake Luke up Christmas morning and we asked him if he thought Santa came. He wanted to immediately run out and see but we told him he had to wait until we could change Tessa's diaper. As Barrett was changing her diaper Luke was sniffing with his nose and said "I don't smell any coal!" All month we had been telling him if he was naughty he was going to get a big lump of coal. When he asked what that was, we explained that it was a big black stinky rock. So, he was reassured when he couldn't smell any coal!

Tessa was all tuckered out

Barrett Shoveling snow and Luke eating the snow (his favorite thing to do)

Tessa's new play pen:)

We had a great holiday and we are sad it is over, but we made lots of great memories!

Recap

We started off the holiday season by making gingerbread houses. Luke loved it, mostly because he got to eat the frosting and candy while he was doing it. I asked Luke if he ate the frosting and he said no, I asked him if he was telling the truth and he said yeah I did eat some. Yeah, I thought so!

We went and saw the Christmas lights with some friends and had a blast! We rode the train, got hot chocolate, saw the lights and tried to stay warm.

Santa came to our family Christmas Party!

All spiffed up for church

Tess in her cute dress from Grandma

(doesn't she look so big, she is growing up too fast)

Just some cute pictures of Tess