Sunday, January 25, 2009

Funny Little Girl

Here are some fun pictures of us last week.

We had pancakes for breakfast one morning and the syrup made Lainy's hands really sticky. She thought it was awesome. This is her putting her sticky fingers on her face to see if they'd stick there. Sure enough! We had to pry her sticky fingers off her face!

Lainy has recently become very interested in clothes. The problem is she doesn't always have best taste... Here is an outfit she chose the other day. I was laughing at her all morning!And a picture of her dressed nicely. (Notice the cute hair. I was pretty proud of myself!)

Lainy's best play-mate: Daddy! Could they look any more alike in this picture?!

Lainy is so much fun! She cracks me up! It's so fun to be her mom. I love my life!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Andrea Bocelli and Elmo

Sometimes I think Sesame Street is more for parents than for the kids. Though Lainy enjoyed this, Brad and I thought it was, well, hilarious. Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Chocolate Fix

I was folding laundry this afternoon when Lainy walked into the room holding this. . .

Yes, that's right, a king size Hershey's bar with two big bites missing.

Do I know where she got it? No. Do I know how she managed to unwrap it and break it into pieces? No. Do I know she enjoyed it? Well, just look at her face.

I guess she just needed a chocolate fix. She really is my daughter.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Home for the Holidays

We returned yesterday from our three-week holiday break in Rexburg. What a wonderful holiday season we had!

Here is our recap.

We spent the first part of our break largely with Brad's family. Bryant (Brad's younger brother) married Rachel (my next-door-neighbor) on December 19th. All things associated with the wedding kept us pretty busy for a few days.
Besides the cold and windy weather, it was a beautiful day. They were sealed by Rachel's grandfather in the Rexburg Temple. It was such a beautiful sealing. Bryant and Rachel were both glowing.

It was an especially fun wedding for me because I know both families so well. Their reception was held in the same place ours was almost three years ago, and it was attended by largely the same people. Brad and I had a little bit of fun remembering our special day as we celebrated with Bryant and Rachel on theirs. Congratulations you two! We're so happy for you!

On a side note, Lainy absolutely loved her red velvet reception dress. She pranced around all night showing people her pretty dress, and pointing out her bows. It was adorable!
After the wedding was over, we had fun relaxing and recovering with Brad's family. Brad and I always love being around Dallin and Leslie. We look up to them so much. And their kids are so much fun. Sarah Jane is so grown up, and David is as cute as ever.

Christmas Eve we headed up to Island Park to spend Christmas in a cabin with my family. It was the perfect getaway. The cabin was secluded and cozy. Outside was a winter wonderland.

We all enjoyed watching Kayt (my niece) and Lainy play together. They were so cute! They danced, played tag, and got into mischief together. I think it was good for Lainy to be around a nice little girl - she's had too many run-ins with mean ones.
Lainy woke up early on Christmas morning. I think she knew it was a special day. Luckily, Santa found us at the cabin. He sent me on a treasure hunt which led me to a new, awesome diaper bag. He sent Brad on a treasure hunt to find this: Here is what Santa left Lainy: (the rocking chair was actually made by Brad's Grandpa Boyer. I wonder how Santa got a hold of it...)

We were all so spoiled!
In the afternoon our cell phone rang and guess who was on the other end... That's right, my sister Hayley who is on a mission in St. Louis. It was so good to talk to her! She's doing so well! It's a little hard to believe she'll be coming home in April!
All in all, it was a special and relaxing Christmas.
Outside our cabin snow fell steadily, but gently all Christmas day. Here is a picture of our cars when we thought they were getting buried. And here is a picture of them later that night.
By the day after Christmas we were completely snowed in. We're talking between four and five feet of snow. But who cared? Not us! We had fun cross-country skiing, jumping off the roof into snow drifts, shaking snow off the trees, launching one another into the deep, fluffy snow, and relaxing in the hot tub. Lainy had fun riding in her new sled with her Daddy.
We were a little disappointed when the plow came to dig us out because it meant our magical Christmas was over.

The rest of our holiday break was spent dividing our time between our two families. We love them so much. Sometimes it's a little hard to keep things equal with both families in the same town, but we did our best. We had fun with them anyway!

Highlights with the Hansens: playing games with Richelle and Bryce over Skype, laughing at all the brothers when they get together, watching movies on the new couch downstairs, New Years Eve, lunch at Applebees, and Brad going to play games with the Boyers in Firth (Sadly, Lainy and I were too sick to go.)

Highlights with the Smiths: playing games, watching Lainy get braver and braver with my parents two big chocolate labs, Nazareth Night at the cabin, talking with Hayley, church meetings with all three girls dressed alike, dinner at Da Pineapple Grill, playing Smashbrothers on the Wii, and visiting both sets of my grandparents.
I'll say it again because I really mean it, we are so blessed to have such wonderful families. It was a joy to be around them. We love you all!
Happy holidays everyone! We hope you all had a magical Christmas spent with loved ones, and that your New Year is wonderful!