Merry Christmas

Our apologies for not getting Christmas cards out this year. As you can see, we made one. We just didn't get around to mailing it out. Just know that we love you all. Hopefully next year we'll be less lazy. We hope you have a very merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with loved ones and thinking of the birth of our Savior.

What a day

Today Sam and I took a stroll over to the lake. I thought it would be fun for him to feed the ducks by himself. (Usually I just feed them while Sam watches from the stroller.) This time, I took him out of the stroller, gave him pieces of bread, and he threw them to the ducks. The ducks were SO aggressive! I think it was because it has rained the last few days and they didn't get fed. So they were totally close and in your face. Sam was LOVING it! He would throw the piece, laugh, clap his hands, and squeal. So cute!

...Until he made the mistake of pointing at one of the ducks. The duck thought it was rude of Sam to point, so SNAP! it bit him on the finger. I let out this wild banshee scream, totally without even thinking (just my motherly instinct, I suppose), and although it lasted like a nanosecond, I was still really embarrassed afterwards. Kind of a spaz. Anyway, at that point, Sam cried for a few minutes and then bucked up to feed the rest of the ducks from the safety of my arms. He was laughing again by the end.

After the lake, we walked to the park. He likes to play on the equipment for a while and then walk around throwing things.

When we got back, and before I gave him a bath, I styled his hair. It's ridiculously long. He's the cutest. We'll probably cut it this weekend.

Santa plays the saxophone.

We thought we'd give Santa one more chance, this time at the church party.

Mission: FAILED.

Maybe next year.

Emily Jones Memorial Fund

A few months after we left Charlottesville, a new family moved into our old ward so that the husband could start medical school at UVA. The day before Thanksgiving of this year, the husband, John Jones, died while caving in Utah, leaving behind his wife (Emily), a 14-month old daughter, and a baby on the way. A woman from Las Vegas is holding an online auction to raise money for Emily. I know it's late notice (the auction closes tomorrow), but the blog address is adailyscoop.blogspot.com. Go and bid on something! 100% of the proceeds go to Emily to help with her expenses. Lots of these items would make great Christmas presents.

Santa

The verdict is in:
Santa is still terrifying.

All About Sam

Sam had his 18-month check-up a few weeks ago. Here are the stats:

Weight: 28 pounds, 6 ounces (80%)

Height: 34 inches (90%)

Head size: above 95%.

This was his first appointment since we've moved and we changed doctor's offices. His new doctor was kind of shocked by his head size and had to ask if he's always had a big head or if this is a new development. I love his big head. The rest of his appointment went well.

Sam can say a ton of words. I won't be able to remember them all, and most of them he doesn't say perfectly, but he has his own way of saying the following: mama, dada, doggie, mouse, eye, head, mouth, diaper, banana, strawberry, blueberry, car, truck, clock, motorcycle, bicycle, sock, shoes, turtle, Jesus, star, moon, book, milk, tree, chair, Grandma, Grandpa, and I'm sure there are others!

He likes to sit in things:

Chairs

Laundry baskets

Boxes

Bowls

He loves to look at books and flips out every time he sees a motorcycle.

I took a video to capture his noises, and he makes some, but this video is probably only interesting to my parents. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Happenings

We've been pretty busy here. Dan's parents have been in town for about 3 weeks (first for a business trip, then for Thanksgiving). It was great to have them! We spent a few days here in Houston and then headed over to Dan's brother's house for Thanksgiving. Just like last year, the food was delicious and it was fun to hang out with them, go on a few dates, and play rockband. When I play those drums, it makes me want to ask for a drumset. A real one. But I think I'll just wait 10 years and play the part of the annoying parent and make Sam learn. I will then play his set when he's at school. That's the plan.

On one quick date we went to Half Priced Books and got a LOAD of loot! We got some books for Sam for Christmas, some classics, and others that we've wanted to read but haven't yet. It was awesome. Right now I'm reading Peace Like a River and I'm loving it so far. $2, baby.

Dan's dad headed home a few days after Thanksgiving and Dan's mom stayed until this morning. It was nice to have her here and have some help with things around the house. Sam woke up this morning look for Grandma but she had already left.

Yesterday was Dan's birthday! He is 28. Hopefully he doesn't mind me saying that. It was fast Sunday and let me tell you, it's hard to make a cake and frosting on fast Sunday! I think it turned out alright. Except the pink frosting, which was labeled "Christmas red". For dinner, Dan requested baked potato soup. Dan got a few books, a CD, a basketball, a camping stove, a picture for his office, and an alarm clock that projects the time and temperature on the ceiling. I love you, Dan! Happy birthday!!!

Question

Does anyone know how to make the writing space wider? I don't like how narrow the column is and I want it wider. Anyone know?

I love how Sam says "motorcycle." And I just got it on video!

Before we came to Houston, my mom gave me an alphabet book that she made for us kids when we were little. She cut out different pictures and magazine clippings to correspond with all the letters. On the "M" page, there is a picture of this hunk next to my mom's writing: "muscle man."

Everytime I show the book to Sam, he points at that picture and says, "Dada!" I love it!

Happy Halloween!

Well, we planned Sam's outfit on the fact that it was way hot last year and he was roasting. This year, of course, it was in the low 60s. We didn't stay out for long. Just long enough to go to a few neighbors' homes. No one knew who he was supposed to be. Some guessed Superman, others a superhero. No one hit the nail on the head, but I blame that on the fact that we're the youngest people on the street by like 10 years and Nacho Libre is a pretty lame movie. But I still think Sam looked super sweet! He just barely got the hang of Halloween (taking candy, putting it in the pumpkin) before we finished. Here's our little wrestler:

My Grandpa Cheney passed away yesterday morning. He was an amazing man who led such a wonderful life. I will miss him so much but I know that he is happy to be reunited with my grandma after being apart for so long. I'll save the rest of my thoughts about him for my journal. To see a better post about him, go to my sister's blog.


I'm glad that I got to bring Sam to meet my grandpa once before he passed away. This was taken almost a year ago at his home in Provo. At the time, I thought Sam's hair was pretty rockin' (except for that flat part in the front). Grandpa was so great with Sam and told me that Sam was husky and should be a football player. We'll see what happens.

I am grateful for families and the knowledge that this life is not the end. I know that I will see him again.

Just finished reading this book:


A+. And I don't even really like rabbits.

For some reason, when Sam is done eating, he doesn't usually shake his head "no" or signal "all done" like he knows how. Most of the time he does this:

So dramatic! I don't know where he learned it...

A few more pictures from my parents' visit. Not sure why they're so small...

This past weekend my parents came into town for a quick visit. We had a great time with them and wish they stayed longer!

Despite Sam's nap schedule and the bad weather, we managed to do a lot of fun things. I only took a few pictures. They took more, so hopefully they can e-mail me some of them.

Thursday Sam and I took Mom and Dad to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the Children's Museum. Sam fell in love with some cars they have there and that's all he wanted to play with the whole time. When we left, we picked Dan up and grabbed dinner at a true Texas original - Tin Roof BBQ. They had country karaoke going on while we were there and one old dude was actually pretty good.

Friday we kind of chilled. It was rainy. We got Sam some new shoes and bought candy at Walmart. Then we picked up Dan and went out to dinner with my aunt and uncle and their kids who are still at home at a seafood restaurant called Pappadeux.

Saturday we went on a nice long walk, played at the park, and attended the Bayou City Art Festival. Dan and I were hoping to score a sweet deal on a piece of artwork for above our mantle, but unless you consider $2,000 a sweet deal, there was nothing to be had. Some of the artwork was really cool, some of it was less so, but the people watching was magnificent.

Also on Saturday, Mom and Dad watched Sam so that Dan and I could go out on a date! We went to Shanks to play some blacklight mini-golf. It was pretty incredible how much the place was decked out. Dan beat me by ONE STINKING POINT on the last hole! Man, it was so unfair.

Shanks also had something called Balladium where you go in this room and shoot nerf balls at each other (and targets on the wall) through air cannons. I felt like an American Gladiator.

Mom and Dad left Sunday and the house felt so empty after they were gone. Sam misses his playmates!

Sneak peek.

Last year, Sam was a horse for Halloween and he was roasting the whole night! I felt really bad for him. This time around, we're keeping it cool. Topless even.

This is what I hope Sam's Halloween costume looks like. But mine will most likely be more homemade (read: ghetto). I bought a t-shirt at Goodwill to use as a cape, red underwear, and white tights which I will have to dye. Not quite sure what to do about the red shoes. Any ideas? I saw rubber boots at Walmart but they were $10. I'm trying to keep it under $10. So far I've spent $3.75. (Plus blue dye is another $2.) I'm excited. This is probably the last Halloween where Sam won't care what his costume is so I've got to make it count, right?

UGH. Let the childproofing begin.

WARNING: Picture overload

We just got back from a trip to upstate New York. It was a lot of fun. I'm going to include a few details that you might not find that exciting, but I want to write them down so I don't forget.

Tuesday morning we flew out of Houston. We got to Buffalo around 6:00 p.m. and took a rental car over to Rochester, NY to stay with some law school friends. Actually we weren't really friends during law school. I don't know why. Turns out Amanda and I have quite a bit in common including hair straighteners, retainers, toothpaste, and hair brushes. And sons who were born 6 days apart. But she was already in NY at that point. (Sam looks like a giant, but they're actually about the same size.)

Wednesday we went to the quaint little town of Palmyra. We saw the Hill Cumorah, the Smith Family log home, the other Smith home, and the Sacred Grove. We also drove through the Palmyra Temple parking lot.

After lunch at DiBellas and a nap for Sam, we headed out again with Amanda and Ethan to see the Whitmer Farm in Fayette. It was cool. The missionaries kept asking us questions and putting us on the spot, which was slightly uncomfortable, so I eventually refused to answer. Amanda took one for the team.

For dinner, the Mudricks whipped up a delicious feast, we played some Bananagrams, and watched So You Think You Can Dance using their awesome DVR. What a blessing to mankind. That third judge guy really bothers me.

Thursday we said farewell to the Mudricks (Thank you SO much for letting us stay!) and went back to Palmyra to see the Grandin Print Shop, where the Book of Mormon was first printed. We ate lunch at Nima's Pizza which took like 3 hours longer than anticipated. Perhaps that's because Dan ordered a calzone which ended up being the size of a real pizza, but folded in half. We saw Alvin Smith's gravestone and then headed down to one of the Finger Lakes - Canandaigua. It was a little early as far as catching the fall colors, but some of the trees were really pretty and close down to the lake it was GORGEOUS! We really enjoyed that drive and are thinking it would be a great trip to do that another time a little bit later in the year when the leaves are peaking.

We stopped at a state park called Stony Brook and thankfully it was a free day. We were some of the only people there and the waterfalls were really pretty. It was perfect weather, too. Sam was a rascal (he wanted to walk by himself) and Dan went crazy. This picture sums up that moment perfectly.

After playing on the playground for a little while, we headed back to Buffalo, where we ate at Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen. Apparently he is famous. But I don't think it's for his cooking. It was not good. In Western New York, "beef on weck" is a local favorite. Dan said he'd rather had Arby's. Me too, and I don't even like Arby's.

Friday we went to Niagara Falls. It was super cold that morning, but warmed up throughout the day. It was really picturesque. Dan had never been there before (nor had Sam) so it was nice to see his reaction to it. We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist down near Horseshoe Falls. Right before our maiden voyage, they rang the stupid boat bell and Sam flipped a lid - ensuring that the rest of the trip was a nightmare. He hated it. Dan and I thought it was pretty cool, though. You can't really see anything since you're being pelted with mist, but it's fun.

Dan climbing close to the Falls after our ride. We ate lunch at Top of Falls on Goat Island. Once again, lunch took forever. After lunch we walked around some more and then went to Old Fort Niagara which is actually quite far from Niagara Falls. As the name implies, it's pretty old.

We spent our last night at the Holiday Inn Express near the airport. We had been assured by reading TripAdvisor reviews that it was quiet and there wasn't any airplane noise. WRONG. It was like planes were taking off right outside the window. At 6 a.m.