Weston's 1st Christmas

Christmas morning 2009

I went to bed about 2am Christmas Eve after wrapping all the presents, setting up the stockings and playing Santa. John woke up about 6:30am. He's worse than a little kid. John has been talking about wanting another puppy for awhile but I can't handle another one right now. So I (or Santa) got him & Weston STUFFED puppies for Xmas. Homer thinks they are his new friends :) LOL

Weston & his Stocking

Homer J & Weston

After we opened all our presents, we went to John's parents for breakfast and presents. As it was the whole day, it was all about Weston :) He was spoooooiled!!

Weston & his Aunt Jocie

We then went to my mom's for lunch and more presents. It was loud and chaotic as always, but so much fun! All of my brother's and sister's were together, which makes for quite the crowded house, but I love when were all together!

Chaos at my mom's houseLast stop of the day was at my step-mom Pam's house for our final Christmas in that house. She gave all of us some amazing gifts that were made out of things that either belonged to my dad or made by him. She made some pillows that had our Halona Reunion logo on it that was designed by my dad. We also got a shadow box with one of my dad's white dress shirts, one of his ties and a picture with us and our dad in it. It also had some wording hand stitched on the pocket. They are awesome!! Weston got a teddy bear that was made out of one of my dad's shirts :) After the New Year she is moving with Tim & Gia to a brand new house. She is excited, but it's a little sad to leave this house as it's where my dad lived for so many years and we have so many memories.

When we got home, we were exhausted, so we just relaxed and watched movies and left all the mess to be cleaned up another day.
The next day my dad, Suzanne & Kassie came over and brought us our gifts. My dad gave us some prints of these pictures that he drew. They are so cool!

Weston & his aunt Kassie

It was a wonderful Christmas, especially since we had Weston. Next year will be so much more fun to watch him tear into his presents :) I can't wait!!

John's Christmas

Weston's Christmas (this doesn't include the High Chair & bed rails) My Christmas Gifts from all my parents. These are all SO amazing and mean so much to me!! I love sentimental/handmade things :)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we went to my dad's grave with my family. We had lemon meringue pie (my dad's favorite) and sang (or tried to sing) "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." We all started laughing when we couldn't remember all the words ;) LOL! My brother Mike read us a letter that he wrote for all of us and I broke down into tears. I miss my dad SO very much and it's hard to not have him here for Christmas.

After the cemetary we went to my other dad's for dinner. I made Navajo Tacos for everyone and we had a good time visiting and watching the kids exchange presents with each other.

A deformed piece of frybread LOL

The grandkids exchanging gifts with each otherLacey opening her gift from Weston. She loved it! (It was a Hello Kitty ring & giftcard to Hot Topic)Me, my dad & Suzanne

Then we stopped at my mom's to visit for a little bit. When we got home, Weston & I got our new Christmas Jammies :) Then I got to stay up until 2 am wrapping presents, setting up the stockings and playing Santa Claus. I was so tired, but it was worth it and I actually had fun! I drank hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies while I wrapped.

Michael & Christina wrapping presents (every year Mike does ALL of his shopping Xmas Eve and always has me or one of my little sister's help him wrap his gifts. Luckily I didn't have to this year! Thanks Christina!! LOL)

Shane, Cheree & their boys

Weston & I in our Christmas jammies (I've got my dad's old sweatshirt on:)

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Christmas 2009

Temple Square lights

Last night we night to Temple Square to see the lights with my family. It was pretty cold, so we bundled Weston in some warm clothes, his cute bear prom, the warm bundle me in his carseat, and his carseat cover with an extra blanket on top. We got there early, so while we waited, I got Weston out to feed him inside the visitor's center and he was sweating! LOL. We were all supposed to meet there, including my brother Jay & his family from Logan. But throughout the day, they all started canceling. So it ended up just being us, my mom, my nephew River & his "friend" whose name I can't remember :) Weston slept the whole time :)

Halona Ugly Sweater Party

Sunday we had our Halona Ugly Sweater Party with my family. It's a tradition my brother Mike started last year. This year we all got a little more creative and it was so funny. My brother-in-law Tim won this year with his disgusting shirt, LOL. We all missed having my dad there, but we still had a good time hanging out, eating good food and playing games.

Weston & Santa

Yesterday I went to SouthTowne Mall to meet my sister Leigh and my nephew Parker so we could get pictures with Santa. My sister waited in line for about 45 minutes by the time I got there and then it was another 30 minutes before we finally got to see the big guy in red. The things we do for our kids :) I knew Weston didn't care because he's too little, but I really wanted a picture of him and Santa since it's his first Christmas! :)

Weston & his Great-Grandparent's

Saturday we went to 2 family Christmas parties and Weston got to see 2 of his Great-Grandparents! The first was my Grandpa Williamson's birthday/Christmas party. My Grandpa Junior Williamson is my mom's foster dad. She went to live with him and and my Grandma Gladys Williamson when she was about 8 yrs old as part of the Indian Placement Program. She would spend the school year with the Williamson's and go back home to her parents in Arizona during the summer. She lived with the Williamson's until she graduated high school and went to college. They bascially raised my mom and she consider's them as her parents. My Grandma Glady's passed away a few years ago due to alzheimer's. I was excited to go to my Grandpa's party because it was the first time he met Weston :)Later that evening we went to the annual Pixton Family Christmas party out in Magna. This is John's mom's side of the family.We had a potluck and a visit from Santa! Here is Weston with his Great-Grandma Pixton. She is such a sweet, sweet Grandma :)

John's 31st Birthday!

Yesterday was John's 31st birthday!! As usual, he get's so excited for presents that he woke up twice during the night and asked if he could have his present. He's worse than a little kid. I made him yummy french toast, turkey bacon and blueberry muffins for breakfast. Then I finally let him open his present. Me and the boys got him a nice (expensive) Peterson pipe that he's been wanting for a long time. He was so excited and held onto it all day long. That night we dropped Weston off at Marq & Lynzie's while we went to dinner at Benihana's with John's parents and sister. The food was delicious and we had fun. I missed having Weston celebrating with us at dinner, but I think he had fun with his Aunt Lynzie and Uncle Marq :) Thanks guys for watching him! Happy Birthday honey!! Thank you for all that you do for our little family so that we can have a great life and let me stay home with our little guy. You're the best! Love you always, forever and no matter what.

Italian Sausage night

Yesterday was our annual Italian Sausage night at John's parents.

John & his dad John making the first batch.

His Aunt Barbara and cousin Anthony also joined us.Whaddup! (Weston's pimp pose)Weston & his Aunt Jocie

We had a lot of fun making Italian Sausage and scones and visiting with each other. Weston was such a good boy, as always :) Next year he'll be able to get his hands dirty and help out :)

Gia's family pics

Last Saturday I took my little sister Gia and her husband Tim's pictures for their Christmas card. Oh, and don't forget their little guy Oakley Grr Carter :) Gia found the neatest little place in American Fork and I can't wait until we get our family pictures taken again because I'm going to go to this place for sure!! Here are a few of my favorites....

Weston - 2 months

Weston is now 2 months old as of 3 days ago. Today he had his 2 month check-up with his Doctor and had his immunizations. He weighs 11 lbs 9 oz and is 23 1/4 inches long. I felt so bad when they gave him his 2 immunization shots and I wanted to cry. I think it was harder on me than on him. He let out one scream, cried for about 10 seconds and was fine.

He is such a good baby and is almost sleeping thru the night. I feed him and put him down at about 10:00 and he'll sleep until about 4-4:30. I'll feed him and he goes back to sleep for another 3 hours. He naps often throughout the day, but he gets more alert and awake with each day. He's so much fun and I love just watching him and talking to him as he smiles and coos back. It lights up my life everytime he smiles :) He can hold his head up and likes sitting in his bumbo chair. I try and give him some tummy time, but he hates it. He's gotten used to his bathtime and doesn't cry anymore, except for the 2 seconds it takes to get him out of the tub and wrap him in his hooded towel. I can't believe how fast he is growing and I'm glad I get to be home with him so I can soak up every moment. I love you my son!!

Festival of Tree's 2009

So it's that time of year again! The annual Festival of Tree's at the Southtowne Expo Center!! This is my 3rd year volunteering at the festival with Lynzie and I love it! This year I actually volunteered 2 nights. The first was Tuesday, opening night which is the auction night and we did invoicing again. I like doing the invoicing because you get to see how much the tree's sell for and we write down the really high priced ones and check them out afterwards. The second night that I volunteered was Thursday and we were hostesses, which you basically just stand around to an assigned number of tree's and make sure nobody messes with the tree's and talk to them about the story behind the tree if there is one. It also makes for great people watching (LOL). One of the tree's that I was assigned to was decorated in Orange, Gold and Brown decorations and had a wood sign that said "Orange you glad it's Christmas". The people who donated the tree did it in memoriam of their little boy (I think was 2) who died 2 years ago due to a brain tumor and his favorite color was orange. Most of the stories behind the donated tree's are similar to this story, and although it's sad to hear, it's so nice to see their families do something special and help give something back. I've always wanted to do a tree for the festival, but always put it off. Well, not this time. I am making a commitment to myself to do a tree next year in memoriam of my dad who passed away last April.
It was fun volunteering and it always makes me feel good knowing all the proceeds benefit the kid's at Primary Children's Medical Center :) Thanks Lynz, it was fun and a great way to kickoff the holiday season! Can't wait until next year!!

Grandma Rasmussen with the Wreath that her & Cheryl did

A car and sleigh that sold for $120,000