'Tis the Season

I wish I could say "oh, I totally thought of this myself." But honestly I got this whole idea from another blog. The deer I got at Joann's for only $11.99, all the Christmas stuff is on clearance. I bought the letters at Michael's.

This green tree comes from Hobby Lobby, it too was 50% off for only $8.00. I got the ornaments at Target $5.00 for the set. I had the basket, candles and filling. The little birds are candles that I got at Cost Plus World Market.

I got these cute snowmen at Home Goods for $6.00. I love them. They are made of felt and they just look perfect on my mirrors mantle.

This is Duncan's ornament from last year. It is just too cute.

Mozart . . .maybe

Duncan loves to play the piano at Nan & Papa's house. The first thing he does is go to the piano and play. He really likes anything with buttons.

Wildlife World Zoo

I took Duncan to the Wildlife World Zoo before Thanksgiving. Let me just say that I had never been here and I fell in love with it. See this kangaroo? Notice where he is in regards to the rope fence? Yes, he is on the walking path. You can get that close to them. This one was really big and I didn't want to get that close. I'm no dummy, I've seen America's Funniest Home videos of people getting beat up by a kangaroo. I love this next one, see the joey eating. It was so cute.

This cheetah was in a cage above our heads. I think that was so cool that you could walk under him.

There were birds everywhere. This macaw was so pretty! I love all his beautiful feathers. There was a beautiful feather in one of the cages and I just wish it was close enough I could have grabbed it. So pretty.

This zoo also has an aquarium full of fish, frogs, eels, penguins, and sting rays. We got to pet the sting rays, they were really cool. They were like dogs, one kept coming up and splashing to get petted. I loved this zoo, and it is really close to our house.

Missing People

This is a hard time of year when we don't have the people with us that we love. I have already cried thinking of my grandpa, who I miss even though he passed away almost 9 years ago. I think of my friends and pray for their comfort as they go through this season without their babies. It makes me sad that I have friends that have lost a baby. I miss my brothers and their families that live out of state. And then I think of my dear friend Taylia who suddenly passed away earlier this year, and leaves behind 4 beautiful children and a wonderful husband. I was going through a drawer and found some pictures from a singles ward Christmas party from forever ago, and found a picture of Taylia and Jeff. That was the first time they started talking and then they started dating and then were married. Today I was taking more Christmas decorations out and found these stories that Taylia made for me years ago. It was a 12 Days of Christmas gift, a story for 12 days up to Christmas. Even though Taylia and I didn't talk often, she was still a great friend. She always sent me a Christmas card and pictures of her family. They were in China when she passed away. I still have the cards she sent each year.

Great people come into our lives at the right time and she came into mine when I needed a great friend and example.

Candlelight - The Maccabeats - Hanukkah

If you haven't seen this yet, you have to watch it!! So awesome!

Happy Anniversary

Snoopy Mountain

Justin and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary by going away for the weekend to Sedona. It was so nice there. We stayed at the Hilton, which was really nice. We spent the day Saturday walking around and looking in shops. Justin had never been to Sedona for more than a few hours. It was fun. We ate at local resturaunts (Coffee Pot Resturaunt is a must if you ever go), walked through the shops, stopped and took in the beautiful red rocks and we even had time for a massage. We were lucky that the weather was so nice on Saturday because it turned on Sunday and it was raining and oh so cold. But I was so excited that I got to see fall colors. Oak Creek was so beautiful, except after it rained because then it looked like red, muddy water.
We so needed this trip together. We hadn't been on a trip since Duncan was born. Aunt Suzi and Aubree and Ky kept him busy with the zoo and other fun things.

Too Funny

I came across this picture and it still cracks me up. This is from our trip to Disneyland. Soooo funny!

Petting Zoo at Freeman farm

He likes animals, and he had fun running around with some this day. He was impressed with the very large cow and the sheep.

Freeman Farms Pumpkin patch

I should have started with these pictures. We went a couple of weekends ago to the pumpkin patch and picked out our three pumpkins. We had a really good time. Duncan loved walking around the pumpkins. I love the first one of him trying to pick it up. Thats his new thing now-trying to pick things up. He also discovered dirt and that his hands can get dirty.

Happy Halloween

Cutest Mickey ever!!

He discovered candy. Not a good thing, he went looking in his bag for some.

We carved three pumpkins this year. One for each of us. I did an Owl, of course, and Duncan's is the one on the ground and the other one is Justin's. I thought they turned out really cute. We had a lot of Trick or Treaters, in fact we put Duncan to bed and had to turn out the light. We had a good day. Happy Halloween everyone!

Yummy PB & Fluff

This was Duncan's first Peanut butter and fluff sandwitch and he really loved it.

I heart the Phoenix Zoo

I love Otters. We stood and watched the otters for a little bit, they were being silly.

This picture looks funny, it looks like a two headed giraff.

The Koalas are so cute too. They were sleeping when we got to see them.

During Fall break I took Duncan to the Phx Zoo. I had not been to the zoo in so long. They have done so much there. We had a great time, in fact we had so much fun we went back later that week and I got a year pass. Now we can look forward to many trips to the zoo throughout the year.

What a Ham

No story, I just love this picture.

First Hair Cut

It was long and really needed to be done.

He loves Aunt Kassi, she is so funny.

He wasn't sure about the clippers at first, but Aunt Kassi made sure he got to inspect them first.

Ta Da! What a cute little boy. So sad, he isn't a baby anymore. Excuse me while I cry a little.