*Christmas*

We were extra excited for Christmas this year. 

I think it all started when we went shopping for Kyson. 

It was so fun to get him things we knew he would love.

Not to mention, he is SUPER easy to buy for at this age.

My goal with children and Christmas is to make sure they understand the REAL meaning and that Christmas is about Christ. 

Not Santa, presents, Elf on the shelf, junk food, etc. 

Since Kyson is still too young to understand the REAL meaning, we kept it simple this year and had so much fun being Santa and watching how excited he was to open gifts.

We also decided now that we have a family, we want to wake up in our own home on Christmas.

So, we went to Rock Springs the weekend before to celebrate with my family.

We exchanged gifts then had a Brough get together.

It was exactly what I needed. 

It was so good to see everyone and to know my Dad and Grandparents were right there with us!!

Christmas in Rock Springs

Grandma LOVES chocolate!!

I've never seen someone SO excited for new garden tools!!

Christmas Day

More Christmas Fun

We also enjoyed the lights at Temple Square. 

One of my favorite traditions!!

Us and the Robertsons

We had a Wonderful Christmas and we hope everyone else did too!!!!

Halloween

We had so much fun this Halloween.
This was Kyson's first year wearing a real costume and Trick or Treating.
Neither Eric nor I are big fans of dressing up for Halloween so we need to work on that now that we have kids.
I wasn't sure what to dress Kyson up as.
I saw a really cute idea on Pinterest but I wasn't sure if it would offend some people.
But I thought it was the cutest thing.
I showed Eric and he had the same reaction. He loved it but wasn't sure about offending people.
So we decided we would do it depending on what we did for Halloween.
We ended up just going to the ward carnival/Trunk or Treat Tuesday night then Trick or Treating around the neighborhood on Halloween so we decided to do it.
And I'm so glad we did.
It was SUPER easy!
Everyone LOVED it!
And I couldn't stop laughing...he looked so dang cute!

He didn't want to keep his hat on but once he was distracted, he forgot about it.
We took him around the neighborhood.
He didn't get the whole knocking and receiving candy thing but we still had so much fun!!

Our little Bum!

Eighteen Months

It's hard to believe Kyson is 18 months old.
Although it seems like he has been a part of our lives forever, the last 18 months have flown by!
It has been SO fun watching him learn and grow.

He has such a fun little personality.
He likes to be independent.
He is a picky eater.
He is NOT a great sleeper.
He has the world's cutest laugh and smile.
He loves dancing to music.
He knows lots of words.

I took him to the park last week to try and get a few pictures.
I had a few poses in mind that I wanted to do...needless to say, most of the shots were action shots.
He is so busy and would Not sit still!!

But, they still turned out Great!!

18 month check-up:

Height: 29.5 in - 1st percentile

Weight: 23.5 lbs - 18th percentile

Head Circ: 18.5 in - 27th percentile

He's still squatty but healthy as can be!!

We Love you to the moon and beyond Kyson!!  

Pink or Blue

Boy or Girl

Ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted to have at least one boy and one girl.
Then there was a time in my life when I thought I would not be able to have children.
Then I got pregnant 2 weeks after Eric and I got married. (What a relief)

We LOVE Kyson with all our hearts.
Boys are so fun!
So full of life!
So bUsY...very busy!!

Then I got pregnant again...Quick!
Of course I kept hoping and hoping it will be a girl.
But deep down, I didn't care as long as it's healthy.

The last few ultrasounds looked like it was a girl but we couldn't seem to get that 100% shot.
Yesterday I was exactly 20 weeks.
We had an appointment and this time we got a great shot.

We are beyond Excited!!

We can't wait to meet our little Angel!

Kyson still doesn't know what's going on.

He points at my belly and says "baby" then points to his and says "baby".

Poor lil guy. 

He has NO idea what's coming but he's going to be a Wonderful Big Brother!! 

Another Year

Another year has passed without my Dad.
It never gets easier.
There's not a single day that goes by that I don't think about him.

I miss him!

I would give Anything to see his face and not just in my dreams.

Six years.
Where has the time gone?
So much has happened in that six years.
So many things he's missed, or at least it seems like he's missed.
I know he's with us each and every day and knows what's going on in our lives.
But it's just not the same.
That doesn't always take the sadness away and make it easier.

I want him here!

But...despite how much I wish I could take back time, I know i'll see him again.
And deep down, that's what truly gets me through the hard times.

I love you and miss you every single day!!

New York Trip

We had the opportunity to go to NY for a week. 

Eric's boss lives there and invited us out. 

This brought up the perfect opportunity to visit the Gardners in Connecticut too.

I had been so excited to go but had been stressing for months whether or not to take Ksyon.

I knew it would be hard traveling that far and that long with him but at the same time, we take him everywhere we go and since he's still not sleeping through the night, I think I would have worried about him and whoever he stayed with. 

So...after a lot of contemplation, we decided to take him. 

And I'm SO glad we did!!!

He was so good and so much fun to have with us.

Besides being in the city which is NOT kid/stroller friendly.

I think it was just bad being our first time there with a little one.

We'll make better choices next time.

We flew out Saturday morning at 8:30.

Stayed in Manhattan Saturday night.

We visited Ground Zero, ate good food, walked around the Rockefeller Plaza, enjoyed FAO Schwarz toy store, and walked through Central Park.

I'd have to say, Central Park was my favorite and Ground Zero was Incredible!!

Sunday afternoon we picked the Freemans up at the airport, rented a car and headed to Montauk.

Montauk is at the very tip of Long Island. They call it "The End"

Gary (Eric's boss) rented a house for all of us.

The next three days were spent relaxing, shopping, site seeing, playing at the beach and eating lots of good food.

The guys spent the three days fishing on the ocean. They caught some good sized fish along with some sharks!! 

We had such a good time and the weather was absolutely perfect. 

The Freemans flew home Thursday.

We took a ferry over to Connecticut. Another fun experience.

It was nice for Kyson to be able to run around instead of having to sit in a car seat the whole time.

We had dinner in New Haven with the Gardners Thursday night and walked around the Yale campus.

Friday we got up and walked a trail in Branford then took the kids to Pumpkintown.

What a neat place!!

Connecticut is Beautiful in the Fall!!!

Saturday we went on a hike, drove to East Rock, had lunch at Shake Shack then headed to the airport.

We are so grateful for this opportunity and had such an Amazing time with Great people!!!