A budding photographer

Lily got her own camera for Christmas, but since it doesn't really take pictures, she still likes to use Mommy and Daddy's (with strict supervision, of course, following the demise of two, TWO, former cameras).

Lily taking a picture with her camera.


Here are some real pictures taken one day by Lily that I thought were her best:

A picture of me taken by Lily from the backseat. I tried to get her to lift the camera up, but seeing it was futile, I ducked down as far as I could to try to get in the frame.


A couple of pictures of Mandy. I think they are kind of arty. Mandy wouldn't let me save the pictures of her rear that Lily took.





A picture of Mom. "Oh, another picture? Great!"


And finally, a picture taken by me of the artist.

Snowy Day Fun

On the Saturday after Christmas, we went to the school where Matt's dad taught to go sledding. It was a bit of an impromptu activity, so we had to frantically find Lily some boots and gloves, but luckily we had her coat and Matt's sister, Jennie, had an extra snow suit, and she was good to go.

Here she is (in the middle) with her cousin Brynlee, contemplating the hill:


Getting strapped into the sled. Jennie had this awesome sled that was made for toddlers, with a seat belt and a tow rope.


Grandma, pulling Lily up in the hill in the sled. Brynnie was helping.


Daddy pulling Lily up just a little higher.


Lily headed toward the end of the run. I think there's a smile in there.


Lily at the bottom. There's definitely a smile. I can also see what appears to be a double thumbs-up, but really, they are just really big gloves (mine). I think she had her hands balled up in fists inside the gloves.


This is Grandma after she went down the hill. She said that she thought someone at the bottom was going to catch her, but she ended up hitting a bump and doing a somersault. This was the aftermath. I think she was okay after a few days.


"Wow, that was fun, but I am tired!"

The water monkey

Lily loves swimming and the water. She is crazy for it. She has taken a shower or bath almost every single day of her life, which I think helps her to love the water, and not be afraid of it. We don't really have a bathtub she can use right now to "swim" in, but she will sit in the middle of the shower floor to stop the water from going down the drain, to make a pool for her and her dolly. So, imagine her excitement when she learned that the hotel Grandpa was staying at had a real pool! See the joy for yourself:

"Yeah, the pool! I am going to get in!"


"Now I am REALLY excited!"


"Can we play with this ball?"

Lily and her aunt Mandy. ***Note the lack of smile. This is not an indication of her enjoyment level. It is merely because Mommy is taking the picture.


Post-swimming towel off.
"Yes, I am a ham. (But only when Mandy is taking the picture.)"


"Mmmm, this tastes like chlorine!"


"Aren't I cute?"

A New Camera, or Christmas Day

An explanation--for some reason, right after the New Kids concert, our camera stopped working. Maybe too much awesomeness after capturing the likes of Jon, Joey, Jordan, et all? Or, more likely, as Matt suggests, Lily once again got hold of a camera, with disastrous results. Unfortunately, I missed out on several photo ops during the Christmas season (we'll have to get pictures of the reindeer next year). Needless to say, I was very happy to receive a new camera for Christmas (thanks, Matt!). We went to Matt's mom's house on Christmas Eve, where we had a nice extended family party, which Matt missed sadly because of work, and then slept over at her house, where we had a nice leisurely Christmas morning (waking at 8:30, breakfast at 11:45, relaxed with family). Here are a few pictures from the morning:

I opened the camera very first thing Christmas morning, so this was one of the first pictures we got. Lily was excited to receive a Wonder Pets backpack, but in this photo she is still trying to wake up, and would not look at me, no matter how much I pleaded.


Lily got a camera of her own! She loves it (no it doesn't take real pictures, but she doesn't know.)


I had heard good things about this DVD helping kids learn their letters and the sounds, but boy, is it annoying. She likes it though.


Lily's grandma Judy gave Lily a doggy condo with 6 puppies in it. Lily thought that they should take a nap in the real doggy's house.


Lily and her Grandma Judy. We love being with her!


The happy family looking oh, so great, in our jammies. Lily is smiling so big because Matt is tickling her. When your kid won't smile for the camera, sometimes drastic measures are called for. It almost looks natural.


Lily drinking a juice box (bag?) on the way to Great-grandma's house to spend time with my side of the family. She had to build up some energy to survive a second round of present opening.


Unfortunately, the camera only came with a 32 MB card (are you kidding?) so this is all we had room for on the camera, but we had a great time with my dad and Nancy, Mandy and her friend, Eddie, Tommy, and my grandma Betty. They made a great meal and we had fun playing games, opening presents, and spending time together. Mandy took some pictures, though, so if I can get her to share them, I will have to post them later.

Dancing Lights

There's a guy in Murray that decorates his house and synchronizes the lights to the music. We have been twice now to see them because Lily loves it so much. She keeps talking about the dancing lights! It is fun, but be prepared to wait in line. If you are lucky, you can get a front row parking spot to see it. Click here to see his website. Merry Christmas!

Just a Little Update

Hi, all~ I have been getting requests for an update, so here it is:

First, the good news. After getting laid off in November, Matt had found another job, that actually pays better, has better hours, and better benefits. He had been thinking about switching jobs anyway, so the layoffs were just an extra push to find something better (which I can say now that he has found something else).

Lily is doing well. She is having a lot of fun with the Christmas season so far. We got out her Little People nativity that she got for Christmas last year, and she loves it. She has fun looking at Baby Jesus and his mommy and daddy. I tried to explain the whole Joseph caretaker thing, but I don't think she got the whole concept.

And the bad news. I am currently having my third miscarriage. We hadn't told many people yet that I was pregnant again, because of last time. I went in for an ultrasound on Matt's birthday, and unfortunately there was no heartbeat (again). It was extra hard because we had actually already heard the heartbeat twice on two previous ultrasounds, so we thought we were out of the woods. It should have been 10 weeks already, and were planning for a Christmas official announcement, but things probably stopped growing at 8 weeks. I think I am still in denial, and I have been keeping busy, so that helps, but I just can't believe it is happening again. Maybe we will be one of those odd Mormon families with an only child. Lily and my sister Mandy were with me at the ultrasound (Matt was at work), and when the tech told me there was no heartbeat, I started to cry. Lily put her hand on my arm and said, "I so sorry. Hurts real bad? I so sorry," and she gave me a little kiss. I looked at her and I realized that it would all be 10,000 times worse if I didn't have my little Lily. We are so grateful to have her. We are trying to stay hopeful, and hopefully will have success in the future.

Hope all is going well with your holiday preparations, and you are enjoying the Christmas spirit this season!

Happy Birthday Matt!

Tuesday was Matt's birthday. We had a nice day, with some not so nice news thrown in (more later), but it was fun to spend time together as a family and enjoy each other's company. Matt is a great dad and a great husband, and we are so happy to be together! Happy birthday honey, I love you!

Santa's Yap

Lily has been talking about Santa for a few weeks now, and she really has been wanting to sit on his lap after seeing some other kids doing so at the mall. We saw Santa at the Festival of Trees on Saturday, but the line was long and we were really tired, so we didn't wait. But, on Monday morning, I hear d on Good Things Utah that Santa was going to be at Thanksgiving Point, along with a few of his reindeer. We braved the cold and the snow to get there, and we had to wait in line for an hour, but seeing the happiness on Lily's face when she saw Santa was worth it. She didn't out and out smile, but she didn't cry either, and she couldn't stop talking about it afterwards. By the way, in case you are wondering, she told Santa that she wants candy for Christmas. Could it be any easier? Here is the picture they sent us: