Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 came and went! It was a very memorable one though. It was Zackary's first, of course and Kaylee actually was old enough to get excited about Santa Clause etc. It was so cute seeing her wake up on Christmas morning and say 'Daddy let's go see Santa Clause!' So fun! We were truly blessed in 2009 and look forward to a wonderful 2010!

Kaylee and daddy putting the star on the tree.

Look carefully at this picture. Kaylee meticulously aligned each one of the ornaments in a perfect line! And she separated them by color too! I'm afraid she may have some 'perfectionist' in her (don't know where it might come from ;-) )

Zack helping out too...

And of course we had fun putting up the lights on the house (until one strand burnt out and we had to buy completely new lights!)

A couple of good looking guys there! ;-)

Kaylee did very well with Santa this year. She was a little timid at first, but Santa started asking her about her new baby brother (calling him by name) and she opened right up. Now how did Santa know that? Look closely!

Here's Kaylee and 'Santa' again...

Tyler, on the other hand, didn't do so well...poor little guy!

Christmas craft time! Kaylee and Tyler had so much fun making gingerbread stars!

Kaylee's so proud of hers.

The two cousins...

Silly kids!

Look at that grin!

Kaylee just loves being a big sister! Look at how cute this is!

So happy!

Here she is opening her Christmas Eve pajamas from Gramma.

Try not to smile looking at our little Zackary Clause!

Mommy and her kiddos...

Zackers smilin' at Gramma...

The three cousins!

Very happy grandparents!

Happy family!

Some 'Manly' Activities

We've been considering remodeling our house for quite some time now and in preparation for this crazy adventure, Jared has been 'anxiously engaged' in many destructive activities involving a chainsaw, hatchet, shovel and pick. He finally conquered the who-knows-how-old orange tree that conveniently decided to become a non-fruit bearing tree the season after we moved into our house (it was right in the middle of our planned master suite anyway). All things considered, Jared is very happy with his work...

Here is a pic of the tree 'floating in water' (or so it would appear).

 Jared just had to take this pic the very night that the tree fell (yes, that's right, he usually works at around 8pm at night, spotlight and all - just hope the neighbors didn't confuse him with a gravedigger!)

See the pipe? He managed to find our sprinklers too!

Should be fun lifting this little guy into the trash can!

The Elders Quorum of the Atherton Ward decided to have a testosterone-filled event dubbed the 'Anything Goes Pinewood Derby'. It was awesome! The guy that won had a compressed-air car. Jared's car came in 2nd place! Some other notable cars included a rubber band-powered car (basically a sling shot), a balloon-powered car (didn't do very well) and of course a CO2-powered car (luckily for the rest of the competition, the triggering mechanism for this car wasn't working).

And who could forget the rocket-powered Delorian?

Jared was pretty fond of his car too. Go speed racer go!

Zackary's Blessing

We blessed Zackary on Sunday, December 6th. What a blessing it is to know that we are an eternal family and that Kaylee and Zackary have been sealed to us for time and all eternity! It was such a wonderful blessing and we were pleased to have family come and enjoy the day with us. Jared's mom even came all the way from Atlanta! Well, here are some pictures!

And here is the whole crew...

All of the grandparents...

And the great grandparents...

Just the grandparents...

Mommy, Daddy, Kaylee and Zackary...

It was so great to have Grandma Niecee here! Kaylee loved showing off her baby brother to Niecee. They had so much fun together!

And with Zack...

It was awesome having her here! It was so funny too - after she left, Kaylee would see something out of place in the house (like a hair dryer or something) and say "Oh no, Niecee left this?" It was so cute. We miss you! Come back again soon!

Picture Overload...

It's December already? Only 2 weeks left until Christmas? Wow...we now fully realize how crazy life is with two kids! Tag-team is the name of the game...it sure is a lot of fun though! We've tried to take a lot of pictures over the last month...getting them up on the blog is another story! ;-) Well, enjoy the pictures...

Here is GGma and GGpa with Kaylee and Zackary. Oh how we love them both!

Kaylee and Mommy made some 'bird nests' one day for their letter 'N' activity. They turned out great! And of course Kaylee enjoyed eating them...

One of the best feelings in the world is holding a sleeping baby. But it's even better when you fall asleep as well (as long as you don't drop the baby, of course)! Haha...

And look how cute this one is of Zackary and Mommy...

Zackary just loves his swing. We try and not let him sleep in it too often (so it doesn't become a bad habit to break), but sometimes it's a saving grace!

And Kaylee didn't want to be left out, so she decided to get in her old car seat...silly girl!

For Thanksgiving, Kaylee and Mommy made their first ever pumpkin pie! I have to say that it turned out quite well...Kaylee had SO much fun too! Look at that smile!

Nothing better than some closeups of those cute little hands and feet! Just wanna kiss them all over!

Zackary and Daddy being silly...

Love that do!

Love the shirt here!

And look at those tiny little leggies! We loved his booties too...

As a parent, it is just so awesome to see your kids together so happy and so cute! Love this one!

Zackary just loves his mommy...and for good reason! ;-)

So fun having cousins around to play with! Oh these three are going to be TROUBLE!!!

Now there's one happy family!