Christmas in Utah

 

 

 

On December 23rd, we drove to Utah to spend Christmas with my family. Callie and Craig were there with their kids, and Karina and Adam and their kids, which made for 9 kids and 8 adults! It was so fun being together on Christmas morning, and letting the cousins play. They went sledding and played in the snow on Christmas Eve. We saw the movie "Frozen" which we LOVED! And then my mom and dad got very sick with the flu, and it somehow got passed to Karina and one of her kids, so the weekend was a little shaky, but we were still able to get out and meet Craig with his kids to play at an indoor trampoline place before going to see the Temple Square lights. Sunday, Nathan came down with a cold and fever, and Cliff and Tess had their baby that night so we got to skype with them! We went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving point on Monday which was lots of fun (we even ran into Julie B. Beck there and talked to her for a bit.) Then it was New Year's Eve where we took it easy and just hung out and ate some great food my mom made. The night of New Year's Day, I went to get dessert with Callie and Karina which was of course so much fun. We miss everyone! Especially when the Ashfords are all in England! So good to be together for Christmas! Next year we will all be together.

Ward Christmas dinner pictures with Santa

 

The Ward Christmas dinner was so fun this year. At the end the kids got to see Santa. Joel went up to the line with Nathan, but Julianna and Blake wanted nothing to do with him, until we noticed they were giving out presents to all the kids, and candy canes! So I finally convinced them, and Blake actually sat on his lap, and told us later that his beard looked really weird. Julianna wanted me to go with her and make sure to tell Santa she wanted a Barbie doll--she wouldn't go near him. But they each got a really cute toy to take home! And it was Nathan's first time, and he looked very confused, but not scared at all. His hair looks so red in these pictures!

Julianna turns 10!

 

We have a 10 year old now! Julianna turned the big 1-0 on December 6th. In the morning, I let her open her first present, a new school outfit. She really wanted a jean jacket and skirt, but I could only find a jacket at Target, so got her a new shirt and pants instead. Her class sang happy birthday and ate the cookies she brought in. Since it was her turn for a party this year, she decided to go to Build-a-Bear for the first time and she was allowed to invite one friend, so she chose Raegan from church, her "best friend" who is always so nice to her. Right after school we headed to the mall for our first Build-a-Bear experience. I loved how cute everything was there! Julianna chose a Rainbow Dash My Little Pony. We then came back home for pizza, cake and rootbeer floats, and presents. She got two more Rainbow Dash toys and cute books from Raegan. Then we invited Raegan to spend the night, and she seemed excited, but around 9:30 she looked sad, and told me she really wanted to go home because she hadn't seen her family since before school that day (they go to the same school). So her dad came to pick her up, and of course Julianna was really sad, but she eventually got over it. And we all cuddled as a family, watched a movie, and for the first time ever, ended up ALL falling asleep downstairs. It was pretty funny when I woke up in the middle of the night, wondering what happened! Julianna had a great birthday, and we really can't believe we have a big 10 year old!

Nathan turns 1!

 

Nathan turned 1 on December 5th! His first year went by so fast, and we are so happy to have him in our home. He is getting so expressive, and smart! He knows how to get his blanket when I ask him, he started taking lots of steps and is very close to walking all the time, he knows how to wave bye bye, he eats pretty much everything, he knows "all gone" and puts out his hands, he's starting to point things out for us, and overall he's a super happy, fun little baby. On his birthday, we had a cake from Stater Bros (free for babies' 1st) and let him play with his new present, a play table. I think the older kids play with it more than he does! We just love Nathan, and are so glad this first year is done, considering what we have been through with him and his cleft palate. We feel so blessed that he doesn't have any delays or other abnormalities, since many babies with cleft palate do. He is loved by all who meet him.

Thanksgiving at Nana's

 

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Grandma Shaw and Grandpa Tony, and Great-Nana in Santa Ana. The kids love coming here! We got there the day before Thanksgiving, and had a triple-birthday celebration since their birthdays are so close together. It was fun to see Nathan dig into a cupcake for the first time! The next day we had a relaxing Thanksgiving, first going to El Toro Memorial to visit Joel's dad and sister's gravesite, and to see the angel of hope statue. I was touched seeing all the gravemarkers of tiny children and infants, and talked to the kids about it, and how sad it would be to lose a baby brother or sister. We found many with temples engraved on them. Then we came back and had a nice dinner, and a visit with Joel's uncle Kevin and aunt Marie. And after much debate, Joel and I decided to race off to Wal-Mart to get a flat screen TV for $98! We waited for about an hour, and they ran out of stock but guaranteed the price, so a few days ago we picked it up, and we love it! The day after Thanksgiving I had a bad cold, so I stayed home while Nathan napped and Joel went with his mom and the kids to Deseret Book. It was a great visit to Nana's house!

Blake turns 7!

November 16th, we celebrated his 7th birthday. We do parties for our kids every other year, and this year was not his turn for a party. But we tried to make it special for him by cooking his favorite breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns. He then got to play Minecraft for a while, his favorite new game. We then headed to Wendy's for lunch, and then Gamestop so he could spend his birthday money from Grandma Maxwell. He chose a new game for his DS, Super Mario 64. After we got home, we had ice cream cone cakes and opened his presents from us; a beyblade stadium with a beywarrior, some new Star Wars Legos, and a Lego Ningago cards/figure set. He loved all his presents! Because it was a cooler day, we got some firewood and after eating pizza for dinner, we made a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed that. It was a great day, and I think he liked it. The next morning he asked if he could turn back time so he could have another day like his birthday. We didn't make him clean his room before he played video games, and he was super excited about that! We sure love Blake, and love his spunky personality and quick wit.

Nathan is 11 months old!

Only one more month and Nathan will be a year old! Where has the time gone? This month he has learned to clap his hands, wave to people, stand on his own, and crawl and climb at super speed. At his ENT appointment today, he passed the hearing test with flying colors, and she loved all the new sounds he is making. And the best part was seeing him weigh in at over 18 pounds!! He has gained over 2 pounds in less than 2 months. I am so happy about this. He's gone up to almost the 5th percentile, and I'm sure it will only go up from here, because he LOVES to eat. His favorite is cinnamon toast and yogurt in the morning, a PB&J sandwich and fruit at lunch, and dinner, he'll eat whatever we have, usually. We love our Nathan!