Playing in the snow waiting for Peyton to come...

Neisha got induced today (Tyler's sister) to have her baby girl, Peyton. We watched Rulon the happy big brother while they were in labor and delivery. Emma was so happy to have him over. She loves her cousin. We went outside and went sledding. Emma's official first time. She loved it! Even though she doesn't look it in the video. She had a great time. She would go down the hill and when she hit the bottom she would say "ah ohhh". :)
Peyton Michelle Winter was born that afternoon. 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. (I hope that is right) She is beautiful! I wish I had a picture, but I will get one soon. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We spoiled Emma with lots of toys for Christmas because she was totally board of the baby toys she had and it has been well worth it. She plays now! :) YEA!!! We have had a lot of fun with all the new things to do. She loved opening presents and then wanting to "op" the toys after the wrapping. She was going after our presents to open them too. It was so fun. And with all the snow from the night before it was a beautiful Christmas Day!
We had a long Christmas Day visiting family and friends. But it is so nice to do it. There is a magic about Christmas and I love it.
Merry Christmas!


(editor's note: I love back blogging! :)

Christmas Eve

Tyler came home from work today at Noon, which made everything feel so special, especially since it was snowing too!! Thank goodness we have the truck and some four wheel drive. The drive to Layton for the Groves family dinner was crazy! But I was so touched by all the people who were stopping and helping others who were stuck. What a great time of year! Dinner was wonderful and Emma and Rulon enjoyed opening presents. Especially their aquariums they got from Great Grandma and Grandpa Dube! Emma got a fish one and Rulon got an animal one. They loved them! They would both lie on the floor and watch both of their aquariums go. So cute!
We then went home and watched Daddy shovel the driveway. It was so beautiful! Emma opened her Christmas Eve book and Christmas PJ's and we read together and put Emma to bed...then Mom and Dad wrapped presents. We hadn't wrapped ONE thing, so it was a long night. Tyler put in Hunt for the Red October, Yes, a very good Christmas Movie. :) And we wrapped and wrapped. Well, I wrapped and wrapped. Tyler fell asleep. :) I love Christmas Eve!
Merry Christmas!

Emma's Christmas Dress

Isn't she just sooo adorable! I wanted to get her a real princess pretty dress. So I found a great sale and splurged! I have no regrets. She loves it too. I think she can tell it is pretty. I love my little girl.

Santa Hats

I had to post cute Emma and Rulon in their Santa hats. Rulon LOVES his and wears it all the time, Emma didn't want to wear hers until Rulon was wearing his...I know, I know, you are not surprised...me either! Merry Christmas!!

Emma's Balloon

Emma got this balloon at Rob Maughans Graduation Party, and she hasn't let it out of her sight since. She even wanted it while she took her nap - can we say baby hazard? :) I said no and she cried. She kept it with her always, and amazingly enough it held its float for at least 3 days! The funny thing is, she would only hold it by the very end of the string. James tried to get her to hold it up closer to the balloon and she would freak out and grab it by the very end. So funny. I can't help but wonder why I just spent all that money on toys for Christmas presents when a balloon would have made her more than happy! :) Ah, the irony...

While we are on the subject...

Just to come full circle with Emma's creativity - that's what i like to call it. She has found another fun place to play. The dryer. She loves to come downstairs with me and "help" me do the laundry. That is all that is really downstairs, but it is something new and she loves to help. So I say "Do you want to come downstairs with me?" And she says "Yah,sure,downstairs" and down we go. About a month ago she climbed into the dryer while I was pulling out the wet clothes from the washing machine. AHHH! I was so surprised. I pulled her out and showed her that the clothes go into the dryer, not Emma. Two weeks ago, Tyler and I couldn't find Emma we called for her and could hear her, but we couldn't find her. We finally tracked down her voice to the basement and then to the dryer! Nice! She loves it in there! These pictures were taken last week when we were doing laundry together and she hopped into it. I ran to get the camera. I have to document all the crazy things she does, so she can know why she never had any siblings! :)

Pretty!!

While I was in the shower today, I could hear Emma saying "Pretty! Pretty!" as she came into the bathroom, I peaked out of the shower to see what was so pretty, and I saw it. Yes, she had brown eye shadow all over her face and tummy. I have to giver her some credit, she actually made it to her eye too. She learns well from watching mommy! I had thrown that makeup away, and she had found it in the garbage and had gone to town. It got better when I got out of the shower and found it all over the carpet too! :) I had to take pictures, and I had to laugh too. Oh, the joys!
In the pictures she is saying "Pretty!". I actually think she looks like she has a black eye. :)

Free Time...

This is what Tyler is enjoying now that he has all this free time....naps. :)

Christmas Concert

Last night to celebrate Tyler being done with this semester we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert in Salt Lake City at the Conference Center! Tyler's mom got extra tickets and we were so grateful! My mom was even able to come and it was such an enjoyable night. The guest singers this year were The King Singers! It was sooooooo good! The choir sounded great, the bells were wonderful, and the King Singers were great too. It was a wonderful way to get into the Christmas Spirit. When it is broadcast on PBS TV next year, you must see it! That conference center can really pack them in, and there wasn't an empty seat that I could see! It was such an enjoyable night. All the lights on Temple Square and surrounding areas, are so beautiful. It is like you have been transported into another world. Alissa watched Emma for us and mom bought us Lion House pie afterward and it was wonderful! Did I say that already? I will say it again, yes, it was wonderful! Can you tell I don't get out much! :) It was sooo cold and a little snowy. And because of the new complex they are building downtown, all the mall parking options are gone. So we had to park a ways away from the conference center. It wasn't horrible, but with the wind, snow and cold, it was a tad nippy! My mom was so smart to buy us pie and wait a while, because traffic was so busy. We would have just been sitting in our car for an hour, instead of enjoying yummy pie.
Merry Christmas!!!

Tyler the Great!

Today Tyler took his last final for this semester!
He came home with a great big smile on his face! He is so glad to be done.
He took 18 credit hours this semester and worked full time too. Not to mention being a father, husband, the activities chairman in our ward (our Christmas Party was last week -it was crazy!) and also teaching Elders Quorum, he has been super busy and it seems like between the two of us we have something going on almost every night of the week!
This semester Tyler was getting up at 3AM every morning (and sometimes earlier if he needed to make up hours) to go to work till 7:30am when he would leave to go to school till 11 or 12 and then back to work until around 4PM. Then he would come home and do homework and anything else we had to do. We really tried to get him in bed by 9PM (but that didn't always happen) and then start all over the next day. I seriously don't know how he did it. But he did, and he did it well! He did really well in all his classes and we are onto our LAST semester! I am so proud of him!
I love Tyler and all that he does for our family. He works so hard and makes sure all the little things get taken care of that have to do be done, and supports me in all I need to do also. Of course, I have a "honey do" list that is starting to grow now that he is going to have time to get some of those things done that we have been saying "when the semester is over..." First on the list is my leaky kitchen faucet! :) I LOVE YOU TYLER!!!

Emma's new Accessory!

Emma has found a new favorite accessory! Her pink gloves! (Thanks Aunt Neisha!)
I pulled them out when it snowed and she loves to wear them - always.
It is so cute. Here are some pictures of her with them on, right out of the laundry.
She also loves to hide in the laundry as I am trying to fold it. It makes everything twice as hard and takes twice as long, but she is so cute, so I can't complain too much! :)

Santa's Reindeer!

On Saturday we went to the mall and saw Santa's Reindeer!
I felt sorry for those little guys, but they were so cute and Emma loved it. She was a little unsure at first, but eventually would go and see them at the fence without me right by her. Now she even says "deer!". We ran into some friends there and they said "How often do you get to see a real reindeer?" And my funny husband said "Only on Christmas Eve!" True, True. It was fun, 'Cause really, how often do you get to see Reindeer?
It had snowed all morning so it really felt like Christmas!