We're Here!

Hi everyone! We have arrived safely in Texas, after a 2 day drive totalling 24 hours of drive time! The kids were amazing. No potty accidents or tantrums! We got to Fox's parents house at around midnight on Sunday. Cash and Cosette were so happy to be out of the car that they were doing cartwheels and backflips. Okay, they were running (or crawling) around in circles! Thank you to everyone who helped us get here successfully (you know who you are!). We appreciate it so much.

I have to say, I am so glad we are in Texas right now. When we left Logan, it was 13 degrees. It is over 50 degrees here! Just taking the kids outside without coats and hats and gloves is so awesome. Please pray that the weather in Utah is good when we had back this weekend.

We love you and will update some more when we get back. Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Fox!

Dear Fox,
Your birthday came recently. (I won't name when or how old you are, since you are concerned about privacy). This was a very memorable birthday. It all started when we dragged the kids out in the snow to drive to Sam's Club to pick up their huge cheesecake you have been wanting. Turns out, they no longer stock those cheesecakes. No biggie, I decided to make you one.
You went out to lunch with your friends. Turns out, your car wouldn't start afterwards. Your afternoon of hanging out with your friends and family turned into an afternoon of trying to fix your car.
When you came home, you were presented with a giant homemade cheesecake and got so excited. Turns out, the cheesecake was beautiful on the outside but totally gooey on the inside. (Curse you, wonky oven!) No biggie, you had ice cream instead.
Later on, you helped bathe the kids and had so much fun. After the bath, when Coco was taken out, turns out she was pushing out a "biggie" at that moment, which somehow got flung about the bathroom when we tried to have her sit on the toilet to finish. No biggie, you cleaned it up.
You ended the day smiling and having an excellent day after all. Wow. You really are growing up. Here's to a memorable year!

We love you!!

Thanksgiving

Blogger is finally letting me upload pictures! I've been trying for weeks! We had a great Thanksgiving at Charlie's. His house is so fun! Fox had a blast helping Charlie build the floor on his house addition. Cash and Cosette were in complete heaven with all the animals. The food was excellent. Good times!
Looking at the pictures, I just realized I got more pictures of animals than people--oops!
Matthew showing Cosette his bunny. Coco screamed with glee!

Matthew's other bunny playing dead...pretty funny!

Cash on a haystack!

The men at work:


Okay, I need to just keep a big post-it on my camera that says: Take pictures of family! Next time!

The Traditional Cream Puff

(Thanks for being the photographer, Auntie David!)

1 Year Old!

Happy Birthday, Cosette! Look at how much you've grown!

1 month old:

2 months old:

3 months:

4 months:

5 months:

6 months:

7 months:

8 months:

9 months:

10 months:

11 months:

12 months old!


This past year has really flown by, as we have gotten to know, raise, and relish our baby Coco!

Halloween Pics

Okay, very few and very late pictures of last week! We had a really busy Halloween but forgot to drag our behemoth camera to the festivities. We trick-or-treated at the mall, then went to lunch, and then trick-or-treated in the downtown shops and to some ward members' homes. Then, we trekked back home to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters, of which there were only 7. Oh well. Fox was sweet and bought chocolates packaged with the Twilight characters for the many tween girls in our complex. We love those girls, and they were so ecstatic to get candy with Edward!!!! and Jacob!!! They have assured me that they won't be eating them. Ever.
Okay, some pics:
Cosette in a little Halloween bib (thanks, Laris!), waiting for our traditional Halloween breakfast of mini Snickers:

(kidding on the Snickers)

The kiddos forced to stay still for two seconds:


Staying and playing with Mom in the car while the boys knock doors:


Cosette's costume was a bit big, but it was free. She loved it, and it kept her warm. We had a fun, busy day!

11 Months Old!

Cosette is 11 months old now! I say this every month, but I can't believe how quickly time is flying by with her. She is such a sweetheart but also mischievous. Meaning that when she comes to crawl into your lap, you never know if it's for a snuggle or a poke in the eye!
Here are some recent pics:

Unlike her brother, when Coco is quiet in another room, she isn't usually destroying something. She's reading. I caught her in the act!


I have been trying to get a good tooth shot. Cosette's front teeth came in this past month, and they are so cute!


A rare, being-still moment:


Playing with the big toys!


I can not even believe she will be 1 next month!

Squash!

Kelsy and I went to Macey's the other night and were so excited to find a huge bin of different kinds of squash! You know you are Joan's daughter if you get super excited about seasonal produce!

I have never tried any of these varieties. Here's a closeup:


From right to left:
White Swan Acorn Squash, Carnival, Uchiki Kuri, Gold Acorn, Delicata, Gold Nugget

I love root vegetables and usually roast a big pan of them a few times a month. Has anyone tried any of these? Any good recipes?

His Father's Son

Cash is definitely a daddy's boy. Aside from the obvious love of Batman, Cash kept this costume on all day Friday and handed me an imaginary "remote control" so that I could play the Batman video game with Cash as the star!
Our local zoo had "Boo at the Zoo" this weekend, which is a little carnival of booths and prizes for kids. Here is Cash checking stuff out:
The bean-bag toss. Gotta get in close!

Batman can fly!

Batman and Two-face. Cash kept saying, "Let's go, Toothpaste!" Heehee.


We had a fun time, but it was so cold! I think I might retire Batman and make Cash a Santa costume instead. It's all about wearing warm sweatpants!

10 Months Old!

Cosette is 10 months old now! This month has been a big one for her.
In September, she:
--learned how to sleep through the night! She is now sleeping about 11 hours straight through!
--got her bottom teeth and yesterday cut her two top teeth. She is like her mama and is already grinding her teeth, though. Not a pleasant sound.
--stood on her own a few times.
--moved into Cash's room--so far, so good!
--learned to sign "all done" when she eats.

Coco is a funny little thing. She completely skipped the baby food stage and went straight to eating little chunks. She loves spaghetti! She also loves screaming at the top of her lungs when she is excited or bored and squirreling away any random bit of food or trash she may find on the floor. She doesn't swallow it--just tucks it in her cheek!

It has been so fun watching her grow and explore!

Logan Love (?)

Maybe it is the warm weather here, but Fox and I have really been enjoying Logan lately. On Saturday, Kelsy watched the kids while we took a date "downtown". We explored the little hole-in-the-wall (almost literal) shops we found--a new comic book shop, a shop devoted entirely to spinning and wool yarn, a tiny dojo. We then ate dinner at the Bluebird Cafe, which has an ice cream counter/soda fountain. We had so much fun just exploring all of the old buildings down town.
Here are some other things we love about Logan:

1.) The Gardener's Market: Logan's Farmer's Marker runs from May to October, and we try to go every Saturday. It is always so fun, and you never know what you'll find. Last week, we got free zucchini and yellow (on-the-inside) watermelon.

2.) Willow Park Zoo: We visit this little park/zoo every week. There are monkeys, bobcats, elk, bald eagles, and even an albino porcupine. We always have so much fun there.

3.) The libraries! North Logan library has a huge children's book selection and a fun story time. The downtown Logan library has a huge selection of kids' cds. We go to the libraries a couple of times a week.

Hmmmm....okay, my list is not so long. I am just trying to stay positive, since the cooler weather is almost here. Logan has snow 5 months out of the year. We live in a very small apartment on the third floor. Come winter, Cosette will be walking, which means I will have 2 toddlers. The zoo and farmer's market are closed for the winter, which leaves, um, the libraries. Here's hoping we can find something else in this city to entertain us when the snow comes!

The County Fair!

Yesterday, we drove up (or down?) to Tremonton to see cousin Michael in the local parade and visit the Box Elder County Fair. It was really fun. Tremonton has a great fair, and the cousins always have several sheep and bunnies featured there.
Kelsy and Coco check out the parade:

We just caught a glimpse of Michael and his trumpet as he marched on by:

Sheep wear leotards now--it's the fashion!

Michael and Matthew:

The Smiths' sheep--represent!

The fam waiting for the Merry Go Round!

9 Months Old!

(Okay, this picture is from a few weeks ago. Isn't there a saying about how rarely you take pictures of your second child compared to how many you have of your first?)

Cosette is now 9 months old! I can't believe how quickly her first year is flying by. She is crawling all over the place (and moves like lightning to get to the cat food bowl!) and pulling up to standing as much as she can. She loves stuffed animals, sweet potatoes, and any form of paper. She's also a big fan of shiny objects and her big brother. Her latest development: She cut her first tooth this week! It has been giving her a lot of grief, so we hope the rest of her teeth pop up soon!

P.S. Bonus points to whoever can guess where this picture was taken!

Home at last!

Cash, Cosette, and I spent the last two weeks in California. What a busy time! I attended a Hypnobabies Instructor Training for 4 days while Christine, Tommy, and Larissa watched the kids. After that, I took the kids to Vegas to visit friends and then back to Tommy's for birthdays and the beach.
I am so grateful to have such loving and generous family who are so supportive of me. Thank you so much!

Here are a few pics from Ru's camera when we went up to Vegas (sorry so tiny!):
Ruthy has a neat function on her camera that lets her select which colors to highlight--here's some pink:

My oldest and dearest friends! Here we are at Jamie's son Trajan's 1st birthday party. Jamie, Shannon, and I have been friends since Kindergarten...and Ru joined us in the fourth grade. I love my girls!

Curious Cash peeking from a playground tunnel:


More pictures to come!

A Visit from Uncle Beer!

We have had kind of a slow, sad summer, so we were so glad to have the excitement of a visit from Uncle Beer and kids this week! Okay, Uncle Beer is actually Uncle Richard, Fox's oldest brother. For some reason, Cash decided to call him Uncle Beer most of the time.
He and his kids were headed our way to go camping and stopped by for a visit on Monday. The next day, we headed over to Hyrum State Park, a cool campground about 8 miles from us, to hang out for a while.
Fox schools Violet on checkers:

Richard is a firefighter, so he brought along some gear. Cash was so thrilled to wear an actual firefighter coat!

Sweet 7 year-old Violet. She wanted to hold Cosette almost the entire time, and Cosette loved her! She is such a cutie! Behind her is her crazy, fabulous, wonderful brother William (5 years old).

All the kids hanging out. Amanda is 11 and the oldest. Josh is 9.

The Ellis brothers: promoting mischief!


It has been 2 years since Cash and I have seen Richard and his kids, so it was so fun!

Okay, and of course, a Cosette shot:


She's crawling and pulling up now. Watch out!!