A Very Merry Christmas!

We had a fun Christmas! Last year Deakon was more interested in eating the wrapping paper. This year he loved opening gift after gift and walking around the room showing people. He was spoiled by everyone and their dog and was given a ton of fun toys and cute clothes. Our favorite gifts were Kyle's Wii and a GPS system! I am so excited about NOT getting lost in Calgary anymore. Thank you everyone for your gifts, calls, cards, and messages to us for Christmas! We hope you all had a great day!!!

Deakon playing with his new hockey net:

Every year, Kyle gets a jar of green olives in his stocking.

I gladly let Deakon have any that might be determined mine... Yummy Olives...(gag...)

For Christmas dinner, we went to Kyle's brother and sister-in-law's (Mike and Sherri) house. They have their own ice rink and huge sledding hill so after dinner we went out and watched some of the boys play hockey and Kyle, Doreen, and I went down the hill a few times.
Apparently the marshmallow man and a small elf were also sledding... isn't this picture awful? I had to throw it in for good karma- now that I made fun of myself something good will happen, right?

New Traditions?

Change is definitely not one of my favorite things. I am happy to do the same things over and over and over again. Eating the same food, watching the same shows/movies, and reading the same good books make me happy. This year has brought so much change to our little family. We have moved to a different country for goodness sake! We have had to learn to rely on each other for so much more. We have family here, but we are having to learn how to listen, help, guide, and joke more between just us. Before I think we relied a lot on close friends, family, and coworkers to tell our woes and latest dumb jokes too. For the most part, it has brought us a lot closer. Sometimes, it makes us think "who is this person that I have been married to for so long and feel like I barely know!?" I feel like the last few months have brought years of growth and change to our relationship.

So... after sharing my whole life story I will get to the point. That being: Change can be good... and bring new traditions into our lives. For example, Christmas Eve Dinner. A huge portion of steak, potatoes, caeser salad, and Martinelli's, with cherry cheesecake for dessert. Holy cow, you bet we ate that all up! Kyle and I also decided that we would start a tradition for our little family: new jammies to open up on Christmas Eve. Kyle found some perfect Detroit Red Wings hockey pj's for Deakon and I got a sexy pink flannel set. When Bret and Eva saw Deakon's, they insisted on him opening one of their gifts for him: a puppy robe! It is so freakin' cute and looked great! Enjoy the pics, it is WAY PAST time for bed so our Christmas Day post will have to wait!

Reading Grandma Edie's Christmas Eve book before bedtime:

I totally forgot to mention that Kyle got off early and got to come up before Deakon woke up from his nap. He was so excited to see his daddy! This was them right before dinner, watching "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"

Running around in Mommy's shoes:

5 Things...

I am getting so excited for Christmas. I had a slow start to my Christmas spirit, but the next few days are going to rock. I wanted to share my 5 favorite things about this fun time of year!

NUMBER ONE: EGG NOG!!!

I absolute love Egg Nog. It is a tradition in my family to always drink Egg Nog on Christmas Eve. The creamy goodness brings back childhood memories every time! You better believe that I have been drinking this nonstop the past few weeks!

Number Two: Love

Christmas time just brings an overwelming feeling of love. Everyone at the mall is just a little bit nicer... especially the guy that set aside Kyle's gift for me! :) Neighbors and friends stop by for no reason to drop off yummy goodies. It's awesome!

Number 3: Christmas Music

Number Four: Sitting around the fire on cold nights. I am so glad that we have a fireplace. It is so nice to have a place to sit whilest I indulge myself in my several gallons of Egg Nog!

Number Five: TIME OFF OF WORK!!!

Kyle gets four days off in a row and I am totally excited... even though there is a pretty good chance that he will be doing this for part of that time: It's cool, I still get a good view, plus I will have Deakon wake him up... he just can't stay mad at that kid :)

Santa Claus Is Coming....

Friday, Kyle's work had a kid's Christmas party. I thought it was such a great idea because kids always get left out of the holiday parties. They had everything set up in the show room with treats and a Santa visit to drop off toys specifically picked for each child. The best part about it for me was that we got to hang out with Kyle for an hour in the afternoon!

"Downtown" Cochrane is not very big and we always pass Kyle's work whenever we are out and about. Deakon now can point it out when we drive past. He really amazes me everyday with the things he remembers. He loves going in to Kyle's work and walks around like he owns the place.

Kyle and Deakon:

Checking out all of the buttons in the cars:
Santa came in from outside and started yelling, "Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas. Hi girls and boys, have you been good this year?" and Deakon promptly yelled back, "NO!" It was embarrasing, yet really funny. No is his favorite word. He uses it as much as possible.


Deakon and Santa:

They got Deakon a "Go, Diego, Go" lego car. Complete with Diego, his pet-cat thing, and a lion. The whole thing comes apart. Deakon loves taking it apart and putting it back together. Thank you Cochrane Dodge... ak hmm... I mean SANTA.

Totally Random Pictures

I have all of these random pictures from the last few weeks that I wanted to share. I guess we should have included this picture in the last post:

This is the view of Cochrane from the living room. Sorry about the flash, I forgot to turn it off:

Beautiful, huge (9-feet!) tree:


Deakon helping me vacuum. I never would have imagined how much LONGER it takes to vacuum once you have a little on "helping" you.

Basket Boy

Lately, whenever I leave the laundry basket out- Deakon manages to find a way into it. This is what I walked down to see about a week ago. He was focused on Curious George.

The next day I walked down to all of my clean laundry on the floor...Grandma and Papa bought Deakon a cute Santa hat... I threw this picture in just for you Meri- I hope you get it! :)


I finally got some pictures of Deakon's cute little habit of crossing his feet while he eats. It cracks us all up every time we catch him.

Self Portraits!

These are the result of being bored and having a wet bar with a full mirror... perfect for taking pictures. The last one is Deakon being a "monkey." I just had to throw it in because it is funny... mostly because I can hear his little voice saying "monk...eeeyyy" as he is swinging around.

Today Is The Day

Today is the day....

that I am starting to feel Christmasy

We are putting up the tree tonight...

And I have been adding

my favorite songs to the playlist

I wish that I could sit by the computer all day

and listen to them over and over

while drinking hot apple cider...

...hmm...

...of course Deakon has managed to

wake up early from his nap...

I love you monkey man,

but you drive me nuts somedays...

yet, this Christmas will be the best because of you-

Daddy and I can't wait to see your face!

HELP!!!

I have this huge room for Deakon.... and no ideas for decorating. It doesn't help that these butt-ugly curtains were left by the people before and I have like 4 different colors of wood. I am working with 3 dressers, a white crib, and wood trim. I NEED HELP! Kyle and I can't agree on a theme. I keep leaning towards like a rustic/cowboy look(we have those cute blocks spelling out his name, the star leaning on the one dresser, and some antique wooden picture frames), but Kyle doesn't like that idea. In his old room, we sort of had a sport thing going, but we just have no ideas. So, I am begging for any input... any ideas that you have used, or pictures or websites online. Please help me....

I'm Indeed Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving! Yippee. It has been very recently decided that we are going to have "American Thanksgiving" (weird when they say it like that) on Sunday. So, I guess all of my moping and complaining that I made in the last post and in this house has been noticed and I get yummy food in just a few more days! Sweet... my plan has worked. He he he. Ok, on to a more serious note. I just wanted to share will everyone what I really am thankful for.

1. The first item on my list is the Gospel. I am so happy to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I am grateful for the guidance and strength of knowing what I know. I am so thankful for Jesus Christ and for my Heavenly Father. Those 2 guys up there really know what they are doing! I know that they love us and want the best for us.
2. I am also really glad that I am raising my little family with the help of my awesome husband Kyle. Kyle, I am so thankful for you and I love you so much. I am so glad that we were sealed so that we can be together forever. You are my best friend and I love you so much.
3. Little Deakon boy... I am so darn grateful for you. You make me smile a million times a day. Even while being incredibly naughty. You are so carefree, simple, and loving. I love the bond that we have together even if it is made by me going on and on in your ear and you looking up at me innocently while thinking, "I wish you would stop talking so much." You have brought so much joy to my life. I never would have imagined how much love I could have for one little tiny soul. Thank you for sticking with your crazy mom and loving me.
4. Extended family... oh my, oh my. My last post was for our parents, I really love you guys a lot. But what about the rest of you. The ones we tell jokes with, complain with, play with, compete with, brag about, and think about constantly. Our brothers, sisters, neices, nephews, and cousins. We are so glad that we got put in with all of you. Thank you for letting us be in your lives.
5. Education, a roof over our head, Kyle's job, me being able to stay home, and the lowest on the list, but still glad about... TV!

I hope all of you out there are having a fantastic time with family and friends.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

THE Parentals

We have finally made it to Thanksgiving week... only to be sad about the fact that:

1- No turkey, taters, pie, and afternoon nap on Thursday

2- No 4 day weekend for Kyle

3- No incredible shopping deals worth getting up at 6 AM for all weekend

:( <---- that is me having a sad face

Until I remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving... to think about all that you have to be grateful for. There are 6 people in our lives that we are incredibly thankful for and that we always remember this holiday time of the year. Those people would be OUR PARENTS. We are so lucky to get 2 more than everyone else. I have thought about and looked back at all that our parents have done for us. They are all extremely supportive, excited, and concerned about all of the decisions we have made in our lives. They were all present in the most important days of our lives: our wedding and Deakon's birth. They have really done so much, said so much, made so many phone calls on our behalf, and made our lives so much better because they were in them. Thank you so much. We love you guys!

Steve and Marilyn

Ron and Doreen

Roger and Edie

Are you kidding me....

Blowing snow

Currently At 2:12 PM
23°F
RealFeel®
0°F

Holy crap... today is freezing! That is *F degrees people... not Celcius. (oh and *F is not meant to be vulgar- I just am too lazy to figure out how to spell it) Deakon and I are freezing our butts off. I am not too sure how I feel about the weather difference:

Wet Snow VS Dry Cold

Maybe our next move can be to Arizona. I would rather sweat it out anyday!

What the...

So like 20 minutes ago I am sitting on my bed reading a book waiting for Deakon to wake up. I hear him start stirring, but I was close to the end of the chapter so I kept on reading... from out of no where I hear him laughing... hysterically LAUGHING... as if somebody was tickling him or chasing him around or told him some funny joke. I'm thinking, "What the heck!" Is it possible that my little baby, who used to need us for every need and want, has thoughts and feelings and is a real person? It freaks me out- what happened to my little baby? And I really wonder what the heck was so funny?

The many faces of Deaky Boy!

I have been taking pictures this week and decided that instead of doing a

few posts of each day I would share the many faces of Deakon!

The faker:

Creepy happy:

Serious:

Attitude:
The Whiner:

Umm.... Flamer?:
My Deaky Boy: