wednesday christmas

{December 21}
Christmas came early at the Gma&Gpa Denter house.
We went over at 7 in the morning to join in the fun.

Donovan wasn't quite ready to wake up
and made a bunch of funny faces.
So cute.

Van got a fun Spanish/English game
and a kiddo toilet seat.

And a horse.
Just in case you didn't know horses say, 'Moo.'
We're still working on it.

Donovan loves playing with his cousins.

It was a fun morning and I'm glad
we participated in the festivities.
I'm not sure getting up early will be a part of our
future Christmases, even though nap-time
that Wednesday was a cakewalk.

raking leaves

{December 20}
I don't really know how we all ended up outside.
I think it was after we had walked the dogs
and Van simply didn't want to go inside.

Randy got up in the tree and shook it for all he was worth.

We were teaching Van about wind.
And so when Randy would shake, V would blow air out of his mouth
thinking that there was a super windy gust or something.
Hilarious.

Climbing.

Dirt should have been this kid's middle name.
Or at least one of them ;)

I think working in the yard with my family is so rewarding.
It feels good to be outside
and to be moving our wonderfully healthy bodies.

Derek hid in the leaves and popped out
and scared Van.

We loved being in St. George for our Christmas break.
The family.
SUNSHINE.
The fun times.
SUNSHINE.
The food.
Oh, and did I mention the sunshine?

ice fishing

{December 19}

I never knows what goes on during the elusive ice fish
and I sorta like it that way.
I think it's good quality time for Chuck&Randy.
They always come back having loved their adventure together.
And I love that.

christmas parties

We had a lot of fun fabulous parties that we attended this year.
The first of the December season was our annual
Gallegos Family Christmas Party.
I love my family.

I'm such a bum and these are the only pictures I ended up snapping.
It was fun to see my cousins and Aunts and family.

We had heard about the Festival of Trees
on USU campus and had to check it out.
We rode the bus from our house to campus.

Unfortunately it wasn't what I was used to.
A bunch of fake trees with zero of them lit up.

While we were up on campus we decided to check out
the Gingerbread Village.
It also wasn't up to par
but still fun to get out of the house.

I had three work Christmas parties.
For the IHC BHU we ate some yummy food
and I was in charge of helping with
organizing some minute-to-win-it-games.

We had a Logan City Police Department party.
Santa came!
He even brought Donovan a stuffed teddy bear.

And then I had my Dispatch party.
We wore ugly sweaters and my lovely co-worker
Sandy even dressed up as an elf.
She lost a bet :)

We had Texas Roadhouse cater at our
Ward Christmas Party.
Randy worked really hard on putting together this puzzle.

At the end of the night they had a raffle and Randy
won one of the Christmas puzzles!
He was so excited!

The cultural hall was beautifully decorated
and we had some great entertainment.

One of the parties that I was most looking forward to
was a craft Christmas Party.
{Thanks} to my Mom
for helping me make these sewing pin cushions.
I had such a great time chatting with
women. adult. ladies.
I forget how much I need a social outlet and
this was such a blessing for me.

I kept joking with Randy that I've forgotten
how to have an adult conversation that isn't centered
on babies or children or pregnancy.
Well, it's kinda not a joke.

But practice makes perfect and I enjoyed
all of these parties and social activities so much this year.
Generally we're travelling or working or busy
and can't always attend-but I made it a special
priority to take a little time-out for party time!

playing with henry

The boys have been practicing sharing.
That include my lap.
It gets tough with an expanding belly
and two wiggly little guys.

This day they keep bringing me book after book.

They take turns sharing
and not sharing.
It's a work in progress.

Any suggestions on how to teach kids to share?

All I can think of it the Modern Family blip
where the one guy needs to teach his daughter how to share
and he smacks someone's hand and says, 'Mine.'

They are both getting so much better!
I'm crossing my fingers it will continue that way.

green canyon

We love going on walks up green canyon
but it's tough when it's only 18 degrees out.
So we bundle up and keep moving.

Belly photo. Prana.

I carried Donovan up and then he walked back.
It's too tough for him to climb up the hills.

Family.

Peek-a-boo.

The snow was fuzzy-like.
Such a interesting texture.

Big boys walking together.

twilight

{November 18-19}
I have a new nephew!
Zachary needed a little extra tanning
so he got a few days of the lights.
I was so glad I got to see him during our short visit to St. George.

Donovan likes hats.
But we weren't sure how he'd like the tiara.
Loved it.

Randy laughed and said the only hat that Van
is allowed to wear is his hunting killing fishing camo hat.

Random balloon picture from Harmons.
Donovan is obsessed with balloons.

Loving the tiara.
Grandma&Grandpa Owen.

So the real reason we bought tiaras
is because my Mom and sisters-in-law were headed
to see the NEW Twilight movie.
We wanted to be silly.
We got the tiara's at the dollar store and
added a little tulle and it was magic!

I love my Mom.
Thanks for being my Twi-date.

People in the theater asked us to
stop and take pictures with them.
It was a lot of fun!
We were debating on what we could take
for next year's movie?
A baby?
I guess I'll have another one of those by then!

blast from the past: thursday nights

{November 10}
We used to play every Thursday night with the Sheya family.
They've grown {+ Perrin} and so have we {+ Donovan +baby boy}.

Our friend Henry is too cute.

I tried to make Stew. Too bad it wasn't very stewy.

Henry and Donovan were getting ready for bed
so we dunked them in the bath together.

I enjoy hanging out on Thursday nights.
It's probably our favorite night of the week.

adventures of mr. donovan

Breakfast is always an adventure.

Donovan likes to hide some of Prana's food
and he'll wait to see if he can find it.
When Prana eats the food in his water bowl
his nose makes bubbles while he breathes.
Hilarious.

My little guy has been super cuddly
especially since I quit nursing {end of Nov}
Love. it.

When Grandma Owen was visiting she helped
Donovan with his cape.

He loved to run around our house and watch it fly.

Every morning Donovan asks for Mommy.
Then Daddy.
Then Candy.
When Randy has gone to school we talk about school for a minute.
He gets so excited when Randy comes home.
Van will drag his backpack around for a while.

Donovan LOVES to brush his teeth.
Really he just gets it wet and sucks the water off of his toothbrush.
I'm just grateful I don't have to pin him down like some of my friends.

Love him.