Some videos

Ian playing with his toys the day after Christmas (the cute shirt Aunt C. gave him).
Ian and I sledding down a different hill

Ian pushed his lawn mower around my parents house all day long on Christmas. He loves it!!!

Here Comes Santa Claus!!!

Christmas Eve morning Ben made breakfast for Ian and I and we spent the morning getting presents wrapped and doing our finishing touches on things. Around 1 we went to Ben's parents house for the family party. It was a Mexican theme. After lunch we had a program with the kids singing and dancing and the reading of the Christmas story from Luke, complete with a live nativity, courtesy of the grandkids, and singing Christmas hymns. After the program we exchanged presents and then starting with Ian, all the kids got a chance to hit the pinata. Then we had hot

fudge sundaes. It was a fun time. Sharon also made matching PJ's for all the grandkids!! Cute as can be!!

That night we went over to my parents house and had our traditional Danish Dumplings and soup. It is meat with potatoes, carrots, celery, beef broth, and yummy dumplings. We have always had this meal on Christmas eve. It's basically the only time we have it during the whole year, so I always look forward to it. After dinner we watched Christmas movies and tried to get Ian to go to sleep. He of course was wired and looking forward to seeing Santa!! We took him for a drive and he finally fell asleep. We took him back to my parents and he fell asleep and slept until morning. He did great!!

A Wonderful Christmas Day!!!

Christmas morning was wonderful. We got up and Ian was very excited because infront of the tree was a big christams train going in circles. He was a little scared but had a huge smile on his face. Other highlight presents were his own beanie sized Dirt Devil broom, a lawn mower that blows bubbles, Thomas the Tank engine shoes, a rocking chair that he loves to climb and stand on, an activity table a snow globe and James from Thomas. He wasn't very interested in unwrapping, but once the presents were opened he loved them!!! It was a great time. After presents we had a fabulous breakfast made by dad. I squeezed a ton of oranges for

juice. After breakfast Chris and Dannie called and Ian fell asleep and we all took a little nap. Then it was time to play in the snow.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day brought tons of snow!!! We couldn't resist buying Ian a tube and snow suit. We used the tube more than Ian did. The couple times we took him down the hill he cried a little, not sure of what we were doing. When we went down the hill by ourselves, Ian thought it was hillarious, espescially when I kept falling down trying to go up the hill. It was so much fun. I haven't been sledding for years!! We haven't had enough snow to be able to for a very long time. It was a great activity on Christmas day.

Ben and I sledding down the hill

Ian and I going down the hill on Christmas

That night we opened stockings and had peppermint marshmello pie. It is so yummy. My grandma used to make it when my dad was growing up and he has made it since I was little. Late that night we packed everything up and headed home. The wind picked up and snow was whipping around everywhere. It was crazy. Luckily we bought the Escape in the summer, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to make it up our driveway when we got home. It was so deep!! It was crazy. It was a wonderful Christmas and great to be with our families and to be warm and safe.

Playing in the snow

Last year we had massive amounts of snow and I couldn't resist taking Ian outside, especially since his cousins were going outside to play in the snow. So, I put Ians huge snow suit on and we went out for a little bit. He didn't cry so, I assumed he liked it!!

Yesterday and today we got a lot of snow. Its the first real snow fall since Ian's birthday in October. So, we went over to grandma and grandpa's house, had dinner, and bundled Ian up in snow clothes (his coat was from Jolene last Christmas) and let him frolick in the snow. He loved it!!!

He walked out on the deck and started heading away. He was running, crawling, eating snow, climbing the stairs and having a good 'ole time. It was so cute

Thanksgiving

This year was my parents year to have Thanksgiving with them. It was weird not having Chris and Dannie with us. We had a great meal with the usual Thanksgiving fixings. Turkey, potatoes, gravy, beans, sweet potatoes, salad, rolls, etc. It was very good. Ian enjoyed actually being able to eat dinner this year. Last year all he got was mommy's milk!! (That satisfied him greatly, last year!)

Aunt Carolyn was able to come down and spend the day with us. That night we had pie and broke out the cocomotion and had Stephens Caramel hot chocolate. We went outside with Ian and watched as grandpa turned the Christmas lights on. Ian loved it, especially the train. He loves trains. It was a great day.

I am so greatful for my little family, Ian is such a sweet baby and has a lot of love. Ben is a great husband and does a lot for us. He can fix just about anything, and if he can't-we have great dad's that can. Our mothers are great and I am so greatful that they babysit Ian so I don't have to put him in day care. All our siblings and friends are great too. I am greatful for our cars, our warm house, jobs(especially at this time), food on the table, clothes, coats, shoes, Thomas the Tank Engine, and of course the Savior and his church. I am so greatful that we are an eternal family and for the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness. We have been very blessed.

My Birthday!

I'm a little late on this one, oh well! A few weeks ago we celebrated my 24th birthday on the 23rd of November. Man, I am getting old!! I can't believe how fast the last few years have gone. Time just seems to be flying. For my birthday my parents took us and Aunt C. to Timbermine for a delicious steak dinner. Ian loved sitting in the mine car! Afterwards we came back to our house and opened presents and had ice cream and cake that mom and dad made and was decorated like a Christmas tree. It was way cute.

The next day (Sunday) was my acutal birthday and we went to Ben's mom's house and she made ham, potatoes etc. It was yummy and very nice.

Farewell Uncle Bill

Last Sunday a wonderful thing happened to our sweet, funny and beloved, Uncle Bill. After much pain and suffering, Uncle Bill passed away peacefully and was rejoined with his sweet wife, Aunt Verlene.

Today was Uncle Bill's funeral. It was a very nice service and was a great tribute to him and his life. Many people came to pay their respects. Uncle Bill was the fire chief of Sandy City for 32 years. Uncle Bill's body was taken to the cemetery on a fire truck. It was so neat to see the Sandy City Fire Department dressed in their best uniforms and with the leaders carrying shiny axes. The fire truck was draped with a black sash in the front and back of the engine.

At the cemetery, Bill Jr. gave the dedicatory prayer and the military honor guard did the flag ceremony (a flag was draped on the casket) and gave it to Uncle Bill's only daughter, Debbie. After that the military gave the gun salute and Uncle Bill's grandson, Tommy, played "Taps." The fire department gave one last call over their walkie talkies saying, "Last call for William Earl "Bill" Clough, retired Fire Chief of Sandy City." It was very moving and neat to see the fire department and military honors for this great man.

Uncle Bill was a great man and loved by many. He will be greatly missed, but we all know he is with his sweetheart again and that gives us great joy. He always was making me laugh and was so fun to be around. He even got me a job at Aspen Ridge, the first time he was there. He told me I could live with him and Aunt Verlene. Uncle Bill always looked out for everybody and wanted us all to be happy.

I love you Uncle Bill and look forward to when we will meet again.

Naps and unpacking

I thought these pictures of Ian were so cute, I had to share them. The first two were from tonight. Ian was in the high chair having chicken ravioli and liking it very much. I gave him a bite and then I took one. I went to give him another bite and when I looked, his little head was turned to the side and his eyes were closed. The little sweetie was so tuckered out, he fell right asleep during dinner! This is about the 5th time this has happened. So, I got him out and we took a nap together.

The next couple are of Ian helping up to unpack after our trip. He is such a good little helper!!

Trick or Treat!!!

Ian's first Halloween 2007

Last year was Ian's first Halloween. He wore a little onesie with winnie the pooh on it. He slept most of the time. This year he picked out his costume. He was Tigger. We held up winnie the pooh, tigger and a monkey and he grabbed tigger. We put the costume on and he loved it. He walked all over Babies R Us. It was adorable. This year we went to Grandma Greenhalgh's house and went trick or treating with grandma, Uncle Jon, and cousins Taylor and Kori. We went all around the neighborhood and got tons of candy. Then we went to my parents house and went to a few houses with Grandpa Johnsen while grandma stayed home to pass out candy. It was actually fairly descent weather and the rain held off unitl we were almost done. It was a fun night and fun to celebrate Ian's "first", second Halloween.