Christmas Cookies

Another of my favorite things to do for Christmas is make cookies. Growing up, we always made sugar cookies on Christmas Eve with our dad. Mom would help too, but Dad loved doing it. And that rubbed off on me. I got the cookie decorating bug. I think it is the only visual art I like doing and am sort of good at. I love coming up with new fun ways to frost and decorate the shapes. This year I had some molasses that I needed to use from a Halloween cookie project so I decided to make gingerbread men before Christmas this year. (Don't worry, there will still be sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. I'm doing both.) So here are the efforts of my baking labors with some help from Ben on a few.

We've got Santa and a snowman here along with a snowball fight.

This tray has Derek Jeter, Santa on vacation along with his reindeer

We also have Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh, and Link

A runner, and Christmas ornaments

I was thinking of Allie while doing this one

This is a gingerbread man sporting Colson's Halloween costume.

Binky and pajamas for the baby gingerbread man

Ben made Santa on the job.

I did Santa on vacation

Allie doing a marathon this year also inspired this runner. But his number is Colson's birthday.

So there they are with a few of my favorites. I just have so much fun with these. What are some of your favorite Christmas cookies? How would you decorate these gingerbread men? Merry Christmas!

It's The Holiday Season!

Wow. I have so much I can write about. This time of year is so busy and exciting! I absolutely love it. I love all the time we get to spend with family. And this year it is super awesome because it includes a lot of "Firsts" for Colson. Okay, I know he isn't super involved in things now, but it is fun for us to have these "Firsts" with a baby. Next year he'll understand more. Colson just keeps getting cuter and cuter. He really is just the happiest kid. He loves to laugh and his laughing comes pretty easy. I guess it comes easy since his mom and dad get pretty goofy to make it happen. He is getting so big! He can roll all over the floor now and is working on sitting a little bit. He is super good at grabbing things he wants now. He loves to hold on to things. He loves to look at mirrors. And he loves to talk to us. I am absolutely loving life right now. We celebrated Colson's first Thanksgiving with my family this year. We had a little Turkey trot that morning that we pushed Colson on. Then we had great food with everyone. Two days later we celebrated my dad's birthday. So it was an awesome family filled weekend.

Happy baby

Getting so big!

Grabbing and chewing

He holds his head so well!

Visiting great-great-grandma Beryl

Cool hat 1

Cool hat 2

Sleepy boys

First Thanksgiving!

It made his mouth water

We are getting super excited for Christmas now. We play Christmas music all of the time and we have our tree up as well. I have also been working slowly but surely on a winter favorite of mine. Making paper snowflakes. When I was little, I used to think that my family helped control the weather because it wouldn't really snow until we put our snowflakes in the windows and it didn't stop snowing until we took them down. Now I know we just had them up all winter ha ha! But the child in me still loves to make them and still insists that I can bring more snow by making more snowflakes. I know, most of you must hate me now, but that's okay. It's just who I am. I love winter because of snow. I love snow. So bring it on winter. Of course we are always keeping in mind the true spirit of the season. I love singing Christmas songs about the nativity to Colson for lullabies. Both Ben and I have told him the nativity story more than once. This year, the nativity story has taken on a little new meaning and perspective for me. I have my own beautiful and special and wonderful baby boy. And I think of Mary and her sweet special baby and I feel a connection with her. We live thousands of years apart but that doesn't change the way a mother loves her child. It doesn't change that Mary must have held and cherished that precious baby boy as I do mine. It doesn't change that she spent her days raising and teaching Him, sometimes without thought of herself. That she loved every precious minute she had with Him. That it was hard and overwhelming at times, but she wouldn't trade it for anything. Because she knew that her baby was the Son of God. Just like I know my baby is a son of God. I too wouldn't trade it for anything. Mary and I; we're mothers. And that is one of the best gifts I can ever receive.

Rocking the glasses

Having fun with daddy

Tree by day

Tree by night

Hanging out in bed

Cute outfit from Allie. The front of the shirt says "I dig auntie."

Cute baby boy

Paper snowflakes

Colson with Santa

Hanging out with Josh, Jazz, and Hannah

Just playing around.

We are loving life right now. We love having Colson. We love being a family. I love this season and all the memories it brings. I am so excited to keep making more. Keep the Spirit of Christ in your homes and hearts. We will too. Merry Christmas season!

Halloween and Fall Fun

Hey all. We've been having a lot of fun lately around here. Fall in Logan is seriously one of my favorite times. I know I've already said that but there are lots of fun traditions up here and this year I've gotten the chance to share them more than ever with Ben and Colson. Last week we took Colson to the annual Pumpkin Walk up in North Logan with Stacey and her boys. It is a fun little walk where people carve and paint huge pumpkin displays that go along with a theme. This year the theme was something along the lines of "A Walk to Remember." A lot of the displays had fun things from the past. There were displays featuring everything from M*A*S*H, cabbage patch kids, to old school Pacman and Super Mario Bros. There were also some displays showing more recent things like Despicable Me and Wreck it Ralph. There was one really cute display based on the book "Are You My Mother." They also have a lot of those boards with people and their faces cut out so you can stick your own face in. Ben had a lot of fun with those. We also celebrated Halloween by going to a ward trunk-or-treat, carnival, and dinner. Ben and I went dressed in pajamas like little kids and Colson was dressed as the monster in our closet. He was super cute. A big thanks to my mom for giving him the cute outfit that served as his costume. I tried super hard to get a lot of cute good pictures of Colson, but he didn't like to cooperate so I only have a few. But they are still good. Colson mostly just likes to wear his monster hat outside, not in the house. It is funny. Anyway, here are some fun pictures of what we've been up to. Hope you all are having as much fun as we are.

At the pumpkin walk

Cute little monster hat

Playing with Mason

How can you not love this cute little guy?

Colson and daddy

I'll call this one Coda

So I guess that makes this one Boda

All playing along

Ben got really into these

Me... I'm not as good at it.

Little wild thing...

Big wild thing.

Like I said. Ben loved them.

Colson's cute Halloween costume! Little Monster

Ben went to work as a Jack-O-Lantern

Colson and Daddy at the party

Like I said, he didn't like that hat inside. But it was the end of the night and he was getting tired.

So cute!

Love this little guy!

I am absolutely loving life right now. I have the cutest and best baby boy in the world and the most wonderful husband. I am truly blessed and am grateful every day to have them in my life. I wouldn't trade them for anything. I'm getting really excited to share even more with them each and every day.