Christmas

I forgot to take pictures at our house opening presents. But Jefferson got some as we went to other houses. Christmas morning we got up and opened some presents. We got a new TV and it's been mounted on the wall in our bedroom for awhile, so we didn't have much to open. Lincoln started opening a present, but was having too much fun with the toothpaste I gave Jefferson in his stocking. So he opened one of his three presents before we left for my parents house. It was a small dump truck from Santa.

We got to my parents at 9 a.m. so my family could do our gift exchange before the extended family showed up for breakfast. The little kids all opened their gifts. Then we played a game with gift cards. Instead of presents to each other we brought a $20 gift card to exchange (it was the Porter family's idea). Anyway I read a story with right/left in it and we passed the cards around the circle. Whichever one you ended up with at the end of the story you kept. We did have to do 2 trades so people didn't end up with their own card. Jefferson and I ended up with Kohl's and Training Table.


After presents we took a family picture and started cooking breakfast. I didn't get any pictures of that, but Grandma & Grandpa Pay, Jerrold's family and my Aunt CA and cousin Allyssa all came over for scones, french toast, ham and scrambled eggs. YUM!

After breakfast we headed over to Grandma Pay's house. She didn't bring her gifts over so we stopped by. Lincoln got a super cute Sunday outfit and Jefferson and I got knives. Then we headed to Grandma Catlin's house. All the Allphin cousins were over there and we thought we would stop in to say hi. She had sent her gifts up to our house (Lincoln got a book about a mouse with the accompanying stuffed mouse and we got Lehi Roller Mills mixes and towels.) We were able to watch Grandma open her gifts and say hi to our cousins. We didn't stay long - it was almost 1:00 and Lincoln hadn't napped yet.

Lincoln slept on the way home and didn't want to go back down when we got home. He managed to open another present - a new shirt. So about a 1/2 hour later we loaded up the Porter's presents and headed to Jefferson's parents house. Everyone got there at 2 and we had food (sandwiches, meatballs, smokies, Christmas jello, pumpkin roll, and lots of other goodies). After eating we exchanged gifts and played our gift card exchange game. At the Porter's we went by age to pick a card. It could get stolen twice. Ramona kept getting all the good gift cards and was stolen from quite a few times. I took Target from her and Jefferson took Home Depot. Earlier Heather had taken Papa Murphys. It was fun and I am happy with what we ended up with. (FYI - to the Pays we took Kohls & Smiths and to the Porters we took Papa Murphys & Smiths).

Here is the Porter family photo.

Lincoln actually went down for a nap upstairs at the Porters while we opened presents downstairs. He slept for a nice long while. We went home around 6 and I was exhausted! Heather had given Ella a play tent with a tunnel. I had the exact one wrapped up at home waiting for Lincoln to open. I was thinking of saving it for another occasion, but decided to go ahead and let Lincoln open it. He did and we only took out the tunnel. He's had a lot of fun crawling through that tunnel!

Disney's Prep and Landing

On December 8 I recorded a show on ABC called Disney's Prep and Landing. It is Lincoln's favorite show. He will sit down and watch it - usually the whole thing (it's a 1/2 hour). He likes other shows but won't sit still while they are on. It's pretty funny. His new favorite thing to do is climb the ramp at the end of our bed and sit. (The ramp is for the dog.) He had some books this time and was watching the show. Too funny. He does enjoy flipping through books and looking at the pictures.

ps. That is our new TV we got ourselves for Christmas!! We've had it almost a month. I love it!

End of the Year - Part 2

Continuing on with the pictures in the camera....

We had a pretty good storm the first part of December. On Saturday, December 5, Jefferson went out to shovel the snow. Lincoln really wanted to go out, too. Here are some pictures of him and snow.


He walked over to the front of the house and fell in the snow. He didn't like it after that. Plus he took off his gloves and his hands were freezing cold. Not to mention how wet the rest of him was after falling in the snow.... So after all the bundling up he was outside for maybe 10 minutes and came in the house crying.

Lincoln falling down.

December 16 Ramona got all the grandkids together to did gingerbread houses/trains. Jefferson was helping a neighbor so that left me to do the train by myself. Luckily Megan stepped in to help. Lincoln just wanted to eat it. We had a good time decorating. I will have to get pictures of the completed projects from Abby. It's been about a week and the train has just been sitting on our counter. We let Lincoln get a hold of it and this is what happened.

Can you tell how colorful Lincoln's face is? He did push the train around for a tiny bit. He mainly wanted to eat it. He did manage to get a few little pieces of candy off the train, but he didn't get to eat them. The train is now resting in peace in the trash.

ps. Isn't it a nice looking train?

End of the Year - Part 1

I was trying to get my pictures off the camera and organized so they could be printed. I came across a few from the last 2 months that I would like to share.

First the Festival of Trees in Davis County. For the Porter birthdays this year we decided that instead of gifts we would do a tree for the festival of trees. We made a lot of the ornaments during the birthday parties. The rest were bought by various family members. In November it was time to put it up and on display. Michelle, Suzanne and Ramona did a fantastic job decorating. Jefferson, Lincoln and I went over when they were pretty much done to check it out. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. Next year the plan is to save for a trip to Disneyland. We'll see how that goes... :)


Our theme was Patriotic (in case you didn't get it). 4th of July is a favorite family holiday and seemed to be a perfect theme for our tree.

Also in November the YW held a baby shower for two of our leaders. The 1st counselor - Stacie - had her baby in December. The 2nd counselor - Allison - is due in January. We invited all the ward member to come. We made quilts for them during the shower, guessed baby pictures, had yummy brownie sundaes and opened presents! They are both having/had girls!!

I'll continue more in the next post! :)

Christmas Card 2009

Merry Christmas! I hope this year finds you doing well. Here is a little recap of our family this past year.

Jefferson has been working at Pine Canyon Electric. They stayed pretty busy during the slow season, which was a blessing! It has been a little slow lately. Luckily he has been able to do some manufacturing work for his brother which is awesome! Jefferson was released from teaching primary in the summer and got to have some time off. He was just recently called as a Webelos leader in the Scouts. It should be an adventure! In his spare time he has been doing projects in the garage and helping neighbors with their projects (cutting down trees, installing new ranges, fixing light problems, etc.) He has also been busy playing with Lincoln. Jefferson is an awesome dad and Lincoln loves being thrown in the air or pulled around in makeshift sleds.

If you read the blog last year, I reported that I was able to go to work part-time last year and still have insurance. Well, in April I found out that numbers were going to be low and as a part-time teacher I was being involuntarily transferred. It was a very stressful time for me as I wondered where I would end up and how it would affect Lincoln and the daycare situation. I would say it was a trial for sure - I loved where I was teaching and what I was teaching. But I must say that Heavenly Father is aware of me and was waiting to bless me. I ended up at the junior high right by my house. Fairfield Junior has been a GREAT place to work. They went to the block schedule this year so I just teach on B-days. Right now I teach all 4 periods that day so I am making some extra money with productivity. I teach 3 CTE Intro classes and 1 Word Processing Bascis. The CTE Intro class is for Technology and Engineering (which is usually taught by the shop teacher). A little crazy I know, but I am having a great time. CTE is all 7th graders and WP Basics is 9th. The teachers I work with (and administrators) are amazing. I was called as the Beehive Advisor right around the same time. I love teaching/seeing my Beehives at school. It's been the best thing for me! On my "off"days I am at home with Lincoln and loving being able to be home most of the time with him. I also had some back issues which made heavy lifting (i.e. Lincoln) almost impossible. I just got a steroid epidural shot in my back on Thursday and must say it's amazing. I'll try and post the x-ray with the needle in my back. :)


Lincoln is 14 months. I can't believe what a little person he is. I was carrying him up the stairs the other day and thought - this definitely isn't a baby anymore! He spends most of his time running around the house, climbing on things, and getting into things I am trying to keep him out of. He spends B-days at the Davis High Daycare. I love that he still gets to go there. Lincoln keeps us on our toes! He is so fun to have around and is a really happy kid. Check out how cute he is in the Photo Shoot post.

This year has had it's ups and downs for sure, but I am always grateful for the blessings after the trials. They do come! I am thankful for this time of year to focus on the Savior and hope that everyone can feel the true meaning of the season this year. Merry Christmas!

Photo Shoot

Isn't this kid adorable? My neighbors are photographers and sponsoring an "Adorable Baby Contest" for kids 6 months-2 years. So I thought I would get some pictures of Lincoln.


Here are some of my favorites. I'll let you know when voting on the contest begins so you can go and vote for the cutest one - I mean Lincoln!

Temple Square Lights

On Sunday we went to temple square to see the lights and watch Maren perform. She is in a singing group in Lehi and performed a few songs with them. We watched the first performance at 6:30 in the Assembly Hall. Her second performance was at 8 in the South Visitor's Center. After the performance we walked around for awhile with my mom and dad, Josh-Liz-Samantha, and Natalie's family. We didn't walk for too long because it was getting late and Lincoln was ready to be out of the stroller! It was fun to see the lights. I think Lincoln will really love it next year.

Thanksgiving

Since Halloween took so long to blog about, let's get Thanksgiving done now! This has been a week of thanksgiving for sure. On Tuesday night, Jefferson and I got to go to the temple with his sister Suzanne. Other than my brief coughing fit, it was a lovely evening in the temple! Then on Wednesday we got to witness Suzanne, Joe, Capree and Oakley be sealed together. What more could I be thankful for than temple blessing and the knowledge of the gospel. Thanks, Ganges, for letting us be a part of your special day!


On Thursday we had breakfast with the Porter family. Yummy quiches, sweet rolls, ham and pumpkin roll. Perfect way to start the day. It was Gary's birthday so we opened presents and played a quick game about how well we knew him. Jefferson then went to Sports Authority with the boys and I took Lincoln home for a nap (and I needed a shower).

We headed to my parent's house around 4:30. All my brothers and sisters (and their families) were there for dinner. Dinner was delicious. I love a good turkey and mashed potatoes! Before dessert we all went to the family room to discuss Christmas. After much laughter (and some hurt feelings) we figured out what we wanted to do. So we ate dessert! Jefferson made pumpkin cheesecake bars and I thought they turned out very good. There was also 3 kinds of pie and a German dessert Johanna made with nuts and pastry and raspberry preserves. YUM!

Needless to say it was a good day of food and family. I am so grateful for my family (brothers (in-law), sisters (in-law), parents (in-law), aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc...). Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Now....let Christmas decorating and songs on the radio begin!

Halloween

Yes, Halloween. I was going to at least get this up before Thanksgiving, but alas, it did not happen. Oh well. Here are some cute Halloween pictures of Fireman Lincoln. He got to dress up Thursday and go trick-or-treating with the daycare around to the classrooms at Davis High. Then we went around the block on Halloween night with some neighbors. Found out he loves suckers :)


After going around the block Jefferson took Lincoln over to the Porters to see all the cousins. I think everyone looks pretty cute in their costumes!

Sick Baby

Lincoln hasn't been feeling too well lately. Yesterday he just wanted to be held. At night he started getting a fever. I took him to Grandma Porter's today. As we were walking out the door, Lincoln threw up all over the kitchen floor and himself (luckily it was on the tile and not on me). So I had to change clothes and quickly clean up so I wasn't too late for school. Since he wasn't feeling well, and Grandma had other kids to watch, I went to school and started hunting for a sub. Luckily I found someone and was able to go home to take care of him. I ended up taking him to the doctor because his fever wasn't going down. Ear infection! Second one in 2 months and the same ear. The doctor said it was a pretty good infection so he gave him a stronger medicine. Hopefully it helps Lincoln feel better soon! I could tell he just didn't feel good. Poor kid! Luckily we got in today before the weekend. After all the running around today, he is finally down for a nap (the doctor's office called and said to come just after he fell asleep for his nap). Let's hope this medicine works quickly!

St. George & Hoover Dam

For the UEA Break (or Fall Recess), we went down to St. George. We left early Thursday morning. The weather wasn't so great up in Layton and we were excited to go where it was a little warmer. On the way down we stopped at Cove Fort. It was in the 40s outside, but we bundled up and went to see it while Bear was locked in the car. We started with a movie in a warm cabin. Lincoln got bored after 5 minutes and wanted to walk/crawl around. It was hard keeping him from getting where he shouldn't. There was one other couple with us and they didn't mind him running around, although I felt bad! Then we went to the Fort and walked through all the rooms. It's pretty interesting. The man that showed us around is a Gubler from La Verkin, where my old college roommate Kasey Gubler is from. He knew her family (what a small world). After the Fort we were free to look at the barn and blacksmith shop, but Lincoln and the cold weather told us to get back in the car and continue on to St. George.

Jefferson's parents have a house in St. George and let us stay there. It is a 3-bedroom house, and it was VERY nice to stay in. It allowed us to bring the dog and was super cheap! :) They are in the process of furnishing it, so some of the time in St. George was spent at the DI, etc. looking for some good deals.

On Friday we decided to head down to Hoover Dam in NV. We drove the scenic way down and the I-15 way back. We thought about stopping in Vegas, but Lincoln was finally asleep so we drove. The Dam was really interesting to see. You can pay to go on a tour, but with Lincoln we just walked across. They are working on building a road/bridge across the river so you don't have to drive over the Dam. Check out the progress in the pictures. It's amazing how low Lake Mead is right now. We enjoyed going down and seeing the Dam. Jefferson had gone a few years ago and said it had changed a lot. We are planning to go back when Lincoln is older so we can go on a tour :)



On Saturday we did more shopping (we did some Thursday afternoon). Lincoln got his first pair of real shoes! We also went to the St. George Temple (since we were missing General Conference...). It was nice to be out and about in the pleasant weather. Here is Lincoln on the temple steps and then eating Jefferson's hat (it's what he did the minute we took the Binky out). Also a nice shot of the temple by Jefferson.


We cleaned up Sunday morning and then headed home. I had a great time and look forward to heading down to St. George again sometime soon! We found a few more side trips we would like to take...Kanab, Zion, Shakespeare Festival....If you know any place around we should put on our must-do list, let me know in the comments!

Lincoln's 1st Birthday

So school started and the blogging seemed to stop. We've done a few fun things the last 2 weeks so I will try hard to get it all blogged. But first (and most importantly) Lincoln turned 1 on Oct. 7! I can't believe it's been one year. We went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Porter on his birthday since they would be out of town for his party. I had parent teacher conferences until 5:30 so going out seemed easiest for me! We went to Fazoli's (Lincoln and I shared chicken, noodles and breadsticks).

Here are some pictures after dinner opening presents from the Porters.




You can tell by the end he didn't want more pictures!

On Saturday we invited all the family for a party. Not everyone could make it, but we were happy that a lot of family was there. We had cake and ice cream, took a quiz about Lincoln, and opened presents. It was fun to have both sides of the family together to celebrate.



I love having Lincoln in our family. He is so much fun. He is super cute and super fun. He loves to play with blocks (well, knock down towers of them), books, plastic spoons, and any other toy he can find. He crawls through his "tunnel" and on empty boxes. He is walking! (He started about 11 months) He gives the best kisses (open mouth, of course). He does like to get into everything he shouldn't, but he is just a curious little boy. He is getting to be an expert at Patty Cake and he's loved Peekaboo for as long as I can remember. I love how excited he gets when Jefferson comes home, or when I show up to get him at the daycare. He loves both of us, and we love him! Happy 1st Birthday, Lincoln!!

Coming up next: UEA trip to St.George and Hoover Dam.

The End is Near

The end of summer that is. Can you believe it? I've already been back to school a few times this week. Yuck :) I am on the laptop and don't have pictures, but wanted to take a minute to remember what we've done since the last post. Let's see....

I guess the first big thing was Girls Camp. This year was ward camp and we went to Camp Atoka just past Huntsville. The camp was Tues-Fri. It was my first time leaving Lincoln so I only went Wed-Fri. It was a lot of fun and I am glad I went. Some of the highlights included watching the girls tube down the river, skit night, hiking by Causey, and testimony meeting. The leaders definitely had "mini vacations" away from the kids and I think the girls had a great time as well.

Saturday, August 1 my cousin's daughter Ellie was baptized. They live in Virginia so we hardly get to see them. It was neat because I went to Ellie's blessing when I lived in VA, and now she is baptized! Afterwards we went to my aunt's pool for a bbq and swimming. Lincoln was tired so I just ate and then left. But we did go back to the pool Monday for swimming!!

Sunday, August 2 Samantha was blessed. Lincoln was super fussy so I listened to the prayer in the hall, but Josh did a great job! We visited after the blessing at Liz's parents house for awhile before heading to Jefferson's parents for a small party for Laurie's birthday. It was a busy weekend!

This past weekend was fun. Friday night (after a day of training for the new class I am teaching next year) Jefferson, Lincoln and I headed up to Deer Valley to hear the Utah Symphony. (Can you believe twice in one year??) We got free tickets from Darrin (THANKS!!) and heard The William Tell Overture, Variations on "America", and Peter and the Wolf. During Peter, Treat Williams (Everwood dad) narrated and students from the Ballet West Academy danced. It was really cute and only lasted an hour (so Lincoln did well - plus it was one of those really cold days).

Saturday night we headed down to Bountiful to watch part of the International Summer Festival. It was pretty cool to see the performers from different countries. We saw performances from Spain, China, Hungary and Poland.

This weekend I am trying to get Jefferson to take me camping. It might only be for one night, but I would really like to "get away" before the summer is over. We'll see. Until then I am moving in to my new classroom (I am teaching at Fairfield Jr. next year) and trying to figure out what I am teaching (2 new classes - CTEI Tech & Engineering and Word Processing Basics). Wish me luck :)

Teeth, 9 Months, Blessing/Party and More Lagoon

First - Lincoln has teeth! It's kind of hard to see them in this picture, but he has the bottom two teeth.
I also took some pictures when he was 9 months old on July 7. Here are some of the better ones.




On July 19 Jefferson, Lincoln and I headed to Lehi to see Kiana be blessed and have a birthday party for Maren (10) and Corbin (3). It was a fun day. The blessing was really nice and afterward we headed back to Natalie's for the party. There was lunch, presents and cake! We got the Pay grandkids together for a picture. The little ones weren't too happy (it was definitely past naptime for Lincoln).
After that fiasco we had cake. Here are the birthday kids!
For the 24th of July we celebrated by having scones at the Porters and then heading to Lagoon with Mitchel. It was bounce back time so we took advantage. Mitchel was a sport and went on the rides with me or Jefferson while one of us stayed with Lincoln. Lincoln got to kick it in the stroller with his Mohawk hair (thanks again to the sunscreen).
We went on all the rides we wanted to and saw Abbey's show (she does the sound for one of the musical performances). Mitchel was dying to go on the Sky Coaster so I went with him.
Lincoln rode the Ferris Wheel (again) and the Carousel (first time)!
Then it was time to go home!! We were there from around 11:30 until 5ish. Plenty of time to be at Lagoon in the hot sun. :) That night Jefferson and I had Fazoli's (only ones there on a Friday night...could it be because everyone else was at a family bbq?) and I was in bed by 8:30.