christmas comes but once a year...

i sure miss my grandpa vern.... it was this time last year that we knew he was very sick and would most likely be his last with us.  it was a sad christmas for sure.... this christmas it was much better but his presence was still terribly missed.  i spent most of the month pretty sick.  pregnancy hit me pretty good this time... nauseous all the time.... and cant stop sleeping.  we did decorate the apartment a little.  we had decided to stay in tucson and have christmas with jeff and stevie.  daniel really enjoyed this dumb little felt tree thing i bought at target...

chris and i went on a double date with jeff and stevie to this neat movie theater that has recliners and waiters to bring you food during the movie...  it was really fun.

my belly started popping out enough that now when i do dishes it always ends up getting super wet... haha baby number two already showing...

daniel and i enjoying a  nice fruit snack moment... 

our apartment also has this nice little park... daniel enjoys sliding his cars down the slide... more than sliding down it himself... haha

this apartment also has a very large patio... so daniel spends lots of time out there... either playing with trains or cuddling up with a blanket and pillow... he will lay on that floor forever.... 

daniel and i had fun decorating this little house... and then he spent the next two days eating it... including the actual house... hahaha

for christmas eve we had jeffs family over and we had dinner and played little christmas games... do you want to build a snowman?  we wrapped chris and stevie in toilet paper,  we did snowball bowling with cups, played dont eat pete.... the favorite of the night... my friend sara taught me that game while in north carolina.... i also pulled out my super special christmas sweater for the night...

my boys looked super handsome in their plaid shirts....

i set everything up once the boys were in bed... i remembered last minute that i needed to put together daniels scooter.... woops! 

this little man was super excited about his scooter... rode it all over the apartment that day.... chris and i gave each other fun little stuff... he got a neat camping spoon and i got our traditional bathroom calendar... 

daniel also got some really fun magnet puzzles and letters... and of course legos... both boys got legos.... and enjoyed putting them together all day... 

after we finished with presents we headed over to jeff's where i made my family's traditional christmas crepes.... then we spent most of the day over there....

the next day they left for disneyland... we had a couple days with chris home for the weekend then daniel and i flew off to vegas while chris went back to work... he flew out on new years eve to meet us there... 

while in vegas we had a good time going bowling with everyone... daniels first time bowling... he liked it for a minute but bored after a while... he and axel sat at the table and ate chocolate...

daniel and amanda had a good time decorating cookies... or daniel had a good time eating the candy meant for the cookies.. too funny....

mom also had these big blue balloons she blew up and the kids had a great time hitting each other with them.... it was chaos but totally fun....

for new years eve we had jack and laura over.... and emily for a little while... we pulled out the glow sticks and had a dance party.... it was totally silly... but man we had a good time.... then everyone left and i went to the airport to pick up chris!!! glad we get to spend the new year with him!!!  its been a tough year for sure... but man it ended nicely.... expecting baby number two, nice transition out of the military, chris working and learning a ton.... being so close to family.... i will say we are so blessed and looked out for.  i'm grateful things get hard sometimes so we can more easily recognize when blessings come into our lives... thanks 2014.... you were not my favorite year, but you set up 2015 to be a great year so thanks for that!!!!!

november... thanksgiving with santa...

we started off november in tucson with a trip to the open house of the new lds temple in phoenix.  beautiful temple inside and out.  i haven't been to a temple open house since i was like 5 and our whole family went through the las vegas temple.  i don't have many memories of that time, but do remember going with our very large family of cousins aunts and uncles.  the phoenix temple was beautiful.  the celestial room was really beautiful, but very interesting to be in there before the temple is dedicated and becomes the incredible peaceful room holy room.  we had a good time with jeff and stevie and their kids.  after we went to dinner and then headed home.. i believe the boys spent the afternoon in the pool with the kids.

the next day daniel and i hit the road to vegas to see my family.  our stuff had arrived before us and luckily my mom was there to tell the movers where to put everything.  i'm still impressed they backed the massive semi up the properties alley way so they could unload it right next to the barn where our things will be stored while we are in tucson.  

we had a great time with cousins in vegas... we went to the children museum... went shopping with grandma... played in grandmas backyard a lot... and even had a little bonfire marshmallow roasting fun.... 

daniel also took a pretty nasty spill on the rocks in grandmas backyard and got quite the fat lip.  this boy rarely hurts himself... but almost every visit to grandmas he manages to face plant and give himself a fat bloody lip.

after two weeks chris showed up to help load up the uhaul and drive with us back down to tucson... luckily we had master packer jack slade to help us load the truck... he and chris had great fun playing tetris with the boxes and furniture and perfectly loaded what we were taking with us on the truck.  

here's our first little picture of the newest soon to be addition to our little family... so far so good!!

soon after we got back to tucson and settled in it was time for thanksgiving.  this year most of chris' family traveled to tucson to spend it with us.  susan and ed, david, aunt sharon and her family, aunt marge, grandma rose and grandpa mitch... it was a full house.  we had thanksgiving dinner at jeff and stevies... my contribution was jeans beans, sweet potato casserole, and rolls... i always love making rolls and they turned out quite pretty this year.  we also had a surprise for the family as most didn't know i was expecting.  we put daniel in a shirt that said only child (until june) and didn't say anything... surprisingly it took forever for anyone to notice.. hahaha  daniel also had no problem helping himself to stevie's pantry to find the cheeto puffs.... hahaha he probably ate half the bag.

the next day we all drove up to flagstaff to ride on the polar express train.  i love flagstaff.  had so much fun visiting my sister emily when she was in college there.  its such a pretty town in the middle of these beautiful mountains. we got in line and got on the train... all in our pjs... and yes i wore a onsie.  they gave us hot chocolate... which was amazingly the perfect temperature.,.. and we got cookies... we sang christmas carols.... and then the train arrived at the north pole... all lit up beautifully... and on the way back to the station santa came through and visited our car!!! i was so shocked that daniel was so excited to see him... like... really liked him.  big smiles and laughs and santa handed him a bell.... one happy boy.

after the train ride we went to dinner with everyone... daniel was exhausted by then so we quickly ate and headed back to the hotel.  we spent the next couple days with family and had a really nice time seeing everyone after being gone across the country for the last couple years.  happy to be back on the west side of the country to more easily see our families.  

october was busy...

so in october we were officially in moving mode... we found an apartment to rent in tucson, we got our move all set up, we had our route home all planned out... it was a busy month, but overall a really good month...

to start off we found out we were pregnant again!!! yay! I was very excited and relieved that I could get pregnant and of course nervous that it would be the same as last time so i quickly scheduled an appointment with the OB in Tuscon so I could get an early ultrasound to make sure it implanted in the right spot this time.

we checked a few things off our bucket list before leaving town... including visiting the beach at least one more time, and going to waffle house.  earlier this year when bubba watson won the masters for a second time he went to waffle house after to celebrate... so we decided we had better go once before we leave the south...

daniel had a good time playing outside as much as possible... the weather was beautiful this time of year... 

the boys also had a blast playing with the hose on the trampoline for hours one afternoon.

daddy also generously shared his panera bread cupcake with daniel... and wow was it a mess... but i'm guessing he loved every bite....

the last bit of the month i spent intensely cleaning the house... i wanted every bit of our deposit back on the house... and sure enough when we checked out she gave us the full amount... she said she had never seen a rental so clean.  the movers came around the 20th... spent a fun two days of them packing and then living the weekend in boxes and chaos haha  it was an adventure!  daniel was so good the whole time the movers were there... stayed in his spot the whole day... on the couch while packing and in a corner of a room while the movers loaded the truck..... 

we were also able to attend our ward halloween party right before we left... this year we dressed as skeletons... it was a fun night.. nice to see some faces before leaving town.

then we hit the road.  the first day we just drove a short distance like 3-4 hours to Columbia, SC just to stay for the night.  the next day we drove a couple hours to atlanta, ga.  we went to the coca-cola factory/ museum.  it was actually really fun.  the best part was the giant polar bear... daniel loved him  walked right up to him and danced with him and kept imitating him... it was really cute.  then we went to the childrens museum there... which was pretty lame.  but it entertained daniel for a little bit before hitting the road again.

that night we stayed in montgomery, al.  felt like my home.... hahaha in high school my best friends gave me the middle name of montgomery since i didn't have one... silly, i know.  the boys enjoyed swimming.  i wasn't feeling super hot so i didnt' swim.  

the next day we just drove to mobile, al.  i will say that daniel was amazing this whole trip across the country... he just loves the car... he would take turns driving with me and then in daddy's car.  

the next day we drove through new orleans... this part of the drive was really neat as you drive on the highway over water for a long time... a little scary but really neat too.  new orleans was an interesting place.. we wanted to go to the french quarter and have lunch but wow traffic and parking were not possible so we headed back on the road towards this plantation we had planned to see anyway and stopped at the super cute restaurant near by it called the cabin.  and when i got out of the car i realized i had been there before!!!! when i came out to louisianna for my college roommates wedding she took us there... ha! small world.  after the awesome southern lunch we visited this beautiful plantation.  something so awesome and unique about the south and their plantations.  the tour guide was great fun... but the best part were the trees on the property!! just huge and beautiful.

that night we stayed in gonzales, la.  took a little walk over to the cabelas and had fun looking at the animals... killing some time.  the next morning we stopped over to see my college roommate lou (rachel tanner) and her super cute family and new house.  it was so fun to see them.. and i love lou... never talk to her on the phone but man we get together and dont skip a beat.  really fun.  then we hit the road again for a long drive day.  this time all the way to san antonio.  we had fun that night exploring the river walk.  just such a neat place there! had some really good mexican dinner... got serenaded... and had a really good night sleep after such a long day.

the next morning before hitting the road we stopped and saw the alamo... and there's still no basement in the alamo.... (points if you know what thats from!)

that day was another super long drive day into van horn.  really long driving day.  but we got there in time for a nice dinner at a local diner.  and the next day we drove into Tucson.  so glad to be off the road for a minute.  and to be driving into scenery that feels so like home.

our poor cars were so nasty... i mean serious bug attack on the front!

we stayed in tucson for halloween... chris started work right away.  jeff and stevie were nice enough to let us stay with them for a few days.  i was heading off to vegas that weekend for two weeks and chris was going to fly up and meet us at the end of the two weeks to drive a uhaul back to tucson with just a 3rd of our stuff.  the rest we were leaving in the garage in grandpas back yard.