Tag Archives: holidays

Halloween 2012

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What a great Halloween it was. We took Carson for his first time trick-or-treating, and he definitely liked it. (We went to a ward trunk-or-treat party, too, but we didn’t stay for the trunk-or-treating part, and and we didn’t have any good pictures to post.)

Trick-or-treating in our neighborhood the night of Halloween was a lot of fun, though. Carson dressed up as a monkey and Josh and I were zookeepers (though I don’t think anyone could really tell – oh, well. People could tell at the trunk-or-treat and that was fun). Josh carried him most of the time, and Carson held onto his candy bucket but became increasingly interested in the brightly-colored wrapped things people kept dropping in his bucket. All he wanted to do was pull all the candy out and hold it in his hands, ha. I don’t think he even knew really that you eat candy and it tastes good. He just like the bright wrappers.

After a round around the block we headed home and Carson got to dump out his bucket and hold all of his candy to his heart’s content. He loved picking it up, inspecting it, showing it to Mom and Dad, and finding a new piece to hold. And then we let him try a Milky Way and things just kept getting better. Now that he knows that all of that stuff in his bucket is actually edible and yummy, we’ve got to keep it hidden. ;) He caught me sneaking a piece from his bucket hidden in the pantry the other day and was a little hurt, I think. I admit I felt pretty guilty…but I did share. Does that make it okay?

Hope you had a happy Halloween, Carson! Here are some pictures of costumes and Carson enjoying his candy afterwards. He must have been kind of tired that night or something because he had this kind of blank glazed expression on his face the whole time, but we know he had a great time.

Easter 2012

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Easter was really wonderful this year. We tried to keep the holiday really focused on the Savior, and we felt really enriched as a result. On Saturday we ate a Jerusalem-themed dinner to remind us of the Savior and the type of food he would have eaten (fish, flatbread, lentil soup, nuts, grapes). And we also had short devotionals throughout the week, during which we watched some of the new Bible videos the Church has created.

Today we had Sam, Caleb, Audrey, and Brenn over for a magnificent Easter dinner. It was so good to see you guys! Thanks for coming and spending time with us. We even hid Easter eggs for the sibs (I think they mostly enjoyed it, even though we hid like 40 eggs but only 4 had candy in them, haha). After dinner we ate ice cream and cookies on the porch (beautiful weather today!) and even took some family photos.

Also, on Saturday we gave Carson his Easter basket, which he enjoyed for a few minutes before going off to explore the house like he usually does. ;) But he did really like it, and it was a lot of fun to watch his excitement. All in all, a wonderful, spiritual Easter, and we hope you were all able to remember all the Savior has done for us and the wonderful blessing of his Atonement and Resurrection.

Valentine’s Day Date

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This year we kept with our new Valentine’s Day tradition of making a fancy meal and eating it together on a picnic in the back of the car. If you’re observant and noticed that we skipped a year, it’s because last year I was pregnant and dealing with morning sickness and some huge work project deadlines, so sadly neither Josh nor I can quite remember what we did for Valentine’s Day. Not cook a fancy dinner and take it on a picnic, we know that much.

Anyway, this year we were better. We really liked the French-themed meal we made two years ago, so we decided to do it again with some new recipes: gratin des aubergines, des haricots provençales, and tapénade on a baguette. Yum yum! Our favorite was the gratin des aubergines (an eggplant gratin dish). With sparkling cider and chocolate covered strawberries to top it off, the meal was delicious!

Audrey and Brenn came over and babysat Carson in the basement while Josh and I cooked, and then we were able to leave to a scenic overlook and eat our picnic in the car. The weather was even so nice that we left the back open. We loved getting to spend so much time together, just us, doing something fun. It was a wonderful, fun, tasty Valentine’s Day date. :)

Christmas break

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Christmas break was in Texas this year and was a blast. We loved seeing the Ellsworths and enjoying time off from school. The weather was really nice, too. A little rainy at first, but later sunny and so warm and nice (except for those few eerie foggy nights).

Anyway, let’s start with pictures!

First of all, isn’t he just the cutest baby ever?

 We sure think so.

Carson did awesome on the plane ride home from Houston, but he didn’t do so hot getting out there. We don’t blame him: it was a long day of travel with a five-hour layover in Denver (turns out we’ll do about anything for the cheapest fares). It was a long day for Carson and all of us, but we all survived. Here’s Carson on the first leg of the journey.

Carson also got his first haircut over the break. Nothing major, he just had some long stringy pieces that I trimmed. I’ve never cut anyone’s hair in my life, but I don’t think I messed up.

I got a haircut, too, from my sister Brenn. Well really, like 4 haircuts. She would cut it, and we’d both say, “Let’s go a little shorter.” Then she’d cut it again the next day or so. It was fun, and now I’m a whole new me! I’m liking the short hair.

We really liked seeing family over the break. Carson gave us lots of good laughs, especially for grandma, who just can’t wait until he can talk and play.

Carson also met his great grandma, my mom’s mom. We went to visit her at her new house in Houston.

There Carson also met Aunt Melissa, our number one blog fan. :) Thanks for always being the first to comment, Melissa! Melissa’s five-year-old son Byron got some great laughs out of Carson, too. Also, Byron is a Star Wars fan, and we are Byron fans. Yeah, Byron, Star Wars rocks!

Below: Mom and Jennie at Grandma’s house (and a great photobomb by Brenn).

And finally, we had one awesome sushi night, our last night in Texas. It’s kind of become a tradition when we all go home to make homemade sushi. This sushi night was probably the best of them all. I mean, look at all this deliciousness. We went all out. One of the best parts is how everyone gets to name the sushi roll they make. (My favorite name was Brenn’s Rick Asltey roll…get it? Rickroll!) We even had homemade fortune cookies by Jennie. (Yes, I fully realize that sushi is Japanese and fortune cookies are…well, American wanna-be Chinese, but, hey. Perhaps our sushi nights aren’t the most authentic, but they sure are tasty.)

It was a great, wonderful break. Very relaxing. And Christmas morning with Carson was probably the best of all. Even though he’s too young to do much besides grab for the pretty wrapping paper, having a kid on Christmas changes everything and makes it so much more special and fun.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s too!