Life Science Museum

I took Allary to the Life Science museum last week. I like it because it's free and Allary loves to go see the animals.

She is growling like a tiger.

That is one big bear. I thought he looked pretty fearsome, and Allary said she thought he was singing a song. Which, if you look at his pose that way, it's actually quite amusing.

Well, I haven't made much headway on the packing and cleaning. Allary loves having all the big boxes around to play with. I packed up some of her toys the other day (toys she NEVER plays with anymore) to take to DI and she got so upset. I didn't tell her I was giving them away, I instead tried to explain to her that we will have to pack up all of her toys to take with us to the new house. This just doesn't make any sense to her and so she has been SUPER protective of her toys the past few days. She won't let me touch anything and she makes sure to tell me what belongs to her. I have tried to involve her in the packing to help her make the adjustment, but she doesn't understand. Although, I did open up a box in her room the other day to find her baby doll, some diapers, and her gold sparkly shoes. She's all set! :)

We're Moving!

We are moving on January 15th! We have the opportunity to house-sit for Trisha's in-laws while they serve a mission. I don't like to give locations on the blog for safety reasons, but we are moving about 45 minutes north of where we are now. It is a nice house with lots and lots of space and a great big backyard that Allary is going to love when the weather turns nice again. Our only rent is being paid in services and maintenance on the house so we will be saving a good deal of money, hopefully to be put towards well, debt of course, and maybe even a house of our own. As much as I hate change, I think this is going to be a really good thing for us.

More Christmas Day Photos

Allary with Boppa and Boppa.

Hugs for Paige.

Reading with Jenna.

Fun with Grandpa.

Christmas Songs Revised

Allary was getting really good at singing some of the Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Rudolph. I noticed yesterday and today that she has started adapting them to her own liking. Today, I heard new renditions of these songs, such as... "Watch Out! No Crying! Cinderella's coming to town." And tonight as she was taking a bath, I heard from the other room, "Fun to ride horsey in the snow, HEY! Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell's away!"

(Allary got theseTinkerbell dress-ups from Grandma and Grandpa S.)

Christmas Photos!

...and lots of them.
After the party with my side of the family, we left the next morning for a party with Jason's side of the family and to spend the remainder of the weekend with them.

Allary reading a story with Great Grandma.
Jason's grandparents always give out ornaments as gifts at the family party. Allary got a Disney ornament this year.
We returned home Sunday evening and went over to Trisha's house to visit with Mom and Dad.
We spent most of Monday and all of Tuesday there. Trisha planned a nice little program with performances by the kids, the nativity video, and goodies for the night of Christmas Eve. Kevin and his family came over also.

Christmas Morning...
We had to wake Allary up to see what Santa brought so that we could go over to Trisha's house, go figure. She came down the stairs, stopped and stared and just said matter-of-factly, "Santa brought a kitchen." Not the ecstatic-bounding-down-the-stairs-with-joy reaction I was looking for, but she does love her new kitchen.
Check out her facial expression in this one..
And again in this one...
Then it was over to Trisha's house to see what else Santa had brought and to open up all our presents.

Allary got Daddy some cool new jammies.

Beauty and the Beast (from Mom and Dad.)


She is totally into Dora right now.

Cinderella!


Cute clothes from Grandma and Grandpa S.


Little People house from Grandma and Grandpa M.

What a haul!

We had a wonderful holiday. Thank you everyone for your fun and generous gifts.

Family Christmas Party

We had the Christmas party for my side of the family on the 21st. Trisha was in charge and did a great job. We had a really great time and I have always loved our family tradition of getting together before the holiday, telling the nativity story, singing carols, opening presents, and eating lots of goodies.
This is Allary dressed up as an angel for the nativity. She really does look angelic in this photo. (Don't be fooled)



The nativity. There were a few rogue angels right up front.

3 Little Angels. (Don't worry Mom, I will post more copies for you to steal off the family blog)

Allary and Paige. Best friends.

This is Cami, Diana, Niki, and me. We have all grown up together and whenever I think of a family reunion, I think of playing at the Circle K Ranch with these three girls. I love this picture, except I am disgusted with my horrible posture. I want to yell at myself, "stand up straight!" Ugh.


All the girls.
And no family Christmas party would be complete without a visit from this guy. Allary did pretty well. I think mostly she puts up with him because she has figured out he always brings something good.

Well, I have to take full advantage of Allary's "quiet time" at the moment, and get my housework done. I will post my Christmas Eve and Christmas morning pictures the next chance I get.

Temple Lights

Monday night, we drove up to see the lights at the temple. It was freezing, but absolutely beautiful.