Pre-school Christmas Program

Last week Davey had his pre-school Christmas program. He had been practicing the songs all week, and we sang them together every time we were in the car. I wasn't sure how it was all going to go. He is a pretty outgoing kid, but does get a little shy around strangers.

Here he is, waiting with his Daddy for things to get started.
He is lined up here with a bunch of kids in the class. There was a piece of tape on the floor with their names where they were supposed to stand. This is a pretty big feat for a class full of three year olds!
The told the story of "T'was the Night Before Christmas." Davey was a reindeer.
Here he is at the end standing with Santa.
Each kid had a solo during "Frosty the Snowman." His was, "He was made of snow, but the children know how he came to life one day." He actually did pretty well.
At the end, Santa stopped by for a quick visit.
He had so much fun and was pretty proud of himself. We had lots of fun watching him of course!
He also sang, "Jingle Bells", "Up on the Housetop", and "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." The last one was his favorite, he had the whole thing pretty much memorized. All in all, it was a pretty good program. Well, at least it was good as far as pre-school programs are concerned. His teachers, Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Barney did a great job putting it all together. We are so glad that Davey can go to their pre-school.

Nibley Nativity

Last night we went with Dave's mom to the Old Barn in Nibley where they were doing a live Nativity. I really wanted to take Davey, since most of what he has seen so far this year has focused on Santa and the commercial side of the holidays. Don't get me wrong, we love Santa, but Davey is old enough to understand at least a little about the REAL reason we celebrate.

Anyways, the Nativity was really neat, even though it was really cold. There were all live animals, and volunteers from the community playing, Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, and Wise Men. There was some really nice music playing in the background and a voice reading the Christmas story from the New Testament. They definitely did a great job setting the right spirit for the occasion.

They did have a couple of sheep you could pet, and of course Davey didn't want to miss out on this!One of the neater things was this camel that was there. I have no idea where they found it, but it was pretty cool.
This picture cracks me up. Davey did not want to go near that camel. He liked it from far away, but this was the closest he would let Dave take him.
And of course here is the Nativity scene. Davey just stood there forever and stared. We asked him if he was ready to leave and he kept saying no. Later in the car he told me he wished he could have held Baby Jesus. It was so sweet! I promised him that when his new brother is born he can hold him as much as he wants.
Thanks Grandma for taking us to the Nativity and letting Davey see Baby Jesus. He definitely enjoyed it and I hope he remembers it at least a little over the next couple of weeks.

Children's Christmas Party

Today we went with my parents to the Children's Christmas Party they have every year at the Logan Country Club. It is a lot of fun because it isn't too crowed and they have fun games for the kids to play. To make it even better we had our first real snowfall of the year, so it was beautiful outside.
One of the nice things about Davey is that he isn't scared of Santa at all. This year he is asking for building blocks. Although, yesterday, when I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas he said, "Not anything, I already have toys." Then I asked him if he would be sad not to have presents to open for Christmas and he said, "No." I just wish all this unselfishness will last as he gets older, but I am sure it won't!
Here he is at the putting green. He loves golf already and was hugging another putter later that afternoon in the pro-shop. I guess he takes after his Daddy.This is the fishing pond. I love his cheesy little smile. Also, notice the tattoo of a gingerbread man on his hand. He definitely loved that.
Here he is at the beanbag toss. I was impressed with his arm this time around!
Here he is patiently waiting for a balloon animal. This was definitely one of the busier stations!
Finally, he made it to the front and asked the clown for a puppy. She promptly made him a weiner dog....which I popped on the way out to the car. Whoops, I was just trying to fix it!!
All in all, we had a great time. Davey even said in the car on the way home he wanted to go back to the country club later to a party and see Santa again. I told him that although this party was over, there would be more Christmas parties later. Thanks again Mom and Dad for taking us to the party!!

The Mall Santa...

I am usually not a fan of mall Santas. Every time we go to see Santa at the mall, he looks like he has had better days. It is usually some college kid with a really bad beard who is sick and tired of bratty kids sitting on his lap all day. For this reason, I was not going to let Davey see Santa until we went to the Children's Christmas party at the Country Club with my parents in a few weeks. However, last night we were at the Provo Towne Center and we walked by the Santa display and I was impressed by the genuine looking Santa that was there. As you can see, he not only had a real beard, but his suit was pretty nice as well. Better, yet, since it was a Tuesday night and not crowed at all, he took the time to chat with Davey about the gifts he wants and reminded him that he needs to go to bed when we tell him to. We are milking the whole, "Be a good boy, and Santa will bring you presents" line for all it is worth. I think it is working though, because the other night Davey started crying because he knew he had been naughty and was scared Santa wasn't going to come.

Baby it's COLD outside!!

Two days ago we had our first snowstorm of the season here in Utah County. First thing that morning at 8 am I opened the door to show Davey the snow outside. He got so excited and started jumping up and down. He begged to go out and play that second. However, it was barely 8 o'clock, and I am not about to go outside that early. I managed to push it off till 10 o'clock and then we headed out. Brrrrr! I was freezing!! Not to mention the fact that I couldn't find his gloves or his boots. I lasted for about 20 minutes and then I made him come in. He would have stayed out all day.
This is the little playground set we have in our tiny backyard.
I guess all that playing wore him out. I put him in his bed for a nap and when I went to check on him 10 minutes later this is where he wound up. Oh well, I guess kids will sleep anywhere!

We're having a......

Yep, that's right it's another boy. For those of you who aren't aware, we are expecting our second baby on about March 20th!! We are all very excited. It is kind of funny, because before we had found out the gender, Davey said he wanted a girl. He said this every time you asked him. So, silly me, I thought he might be aware of something I wasn't. I have to admit, my three year old had me convinced it was a girl!! Needless to say, we are still excited and happy that Davey will have a new little buddy in about 4 1/2 months. As for names, we are open to suggestions....

Happy Anniversary to my Hubby!!

Ahh...it has been six wonderful years since Dave and I got hitched. We celebrated our anniversary yesterday. Thanks Dave for being such a great husband. I know our life isn't always blissful, but it sure is a lot of fun. You do a great job of taking care of us and you are the world's best Dad. Of course I would do it all over again!!
In honor of my terrific husband I found this Hubby tag on one of my friend's blogs. I hope she doesn't mind if I steat it, even though she didn't tag me. Thanks Monika!!

1-where did you meet? At Willow Park on the 24th of July 2000. We were both there watching the fireworks. Cheesy, huh?

2-how long did you date before you got married? 2 years. Forever by Mormon standards.

3-how long have you been married? 6 years as of yesterday.

4-what is your favorite feature of his? His smile.

5-what is your favorite quality of his? The way he gets along with people. He is a total people person, and almost everybody likes him.

6-does he have a nickname for you? Gorda. For those of you who speak Spanish, it means "fat girl." I don't know why this is my nickname, he claims I wouldn't answer one day when he was calling my name and finally he yelled Gorda and I did, so it stuck.

7-what is his favorite food? Anything beef.

8-what is his favorite sport? To watch-basketball, specifically, the Jazz. To play-golf.

9-when and where was your first kiss? Only a few days after we met at my apartment. I had just told my roommates earlier that day that good girls didn't kiss right after the first date but he was too irresistable. I guess you can call me a hypocrite.

10-what is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Go golfing, attend sporting events, and anything fun with Davey.

11-do you have kids? Yep, one Davey who is three and stay tuned for more on this question...

12-does he have a hidden talent? Ummm, not sure, he likes to make up impromptu songs while driving.

13-how old is he? 30.

14-who said "I love you" first? Not sure, probably me.

15-what is his favorite type of music? Most rock. He loves Metallica, Bob Marley, Jack Johnson. He mostly just hates country, except for old country, like Johnny Cash.

16-what do you admire the most about him? He hardly ever gets angry, and if he does, he never holds a grudge. I myself can have a temper.

17-do you think he will read this? Eventually.

Superman...again....

Davey decided he wanted to be Superman this year. For those of you who know us, this should not come as a surprise. He has been Superman four years in a row. That is every Halloween since he has been born. It all started when we found a cute Superman costume for him when he was just a couple of months old. That year Dave said he was going to be Superman every year until he could decide himself. Here is a short history of Davey as Superman...

At two months old:
One year old: Two years old:And finally, this year, three years old (notice he has grown some muscles): Now take note, I tried to give him a choice this year. I asked him what he wanted to be. I even suggested some other options, such as a fireman, golfer or Thomas the Tank Engine. I figured he is old enough to decide, and decide he did. He still wanted to be Superman!! I love it though!

Here he is on Halloween night with his cousin Jacquie. This is just before we headed out.

We went to a Trunk or Treat in our old neighborhood in Millville. Anyways, after the trunk or treat we went to Janet Alder's house, aka "The Doughnut Lady." After a couple of houses Davey really caught on. He was running up to each door and all over Millville. I find this amusing because we will be in a department store and after walking 10 feet he will be sitting on the floor complaining that he is tired. Well, I think he walked/ran, about 7 or 8 blocks, and after each door he would turn around and ask, "Mom, where is the doughnut lady?"Here is his right before we left with our old friends and neighbors the Ekstroms. It is so much more fun when you can go trick or treating with your friends.

Finally, after long and fruitful night, one last shot with the cousins. FYI, Joie is a horse...not a giraffe, cow, or dinosaur.....

More Halloween Fun...

I have been going to the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan for years. I remember when they held in the middle of a farm, rather than at Elkridge Park with the paved walkways. I am always so amazed by how creative people are. I am honestly one of the most uncreative people you could ever meet. I guess I am just too practical!!

This Noah's Ark display was my favorite. It was especially fun to take Davey this year because he is at the age where he notices EVERYTHING! He could have spent hours identifying every animal there.

At the end of the walk are the cutouts. As I have mentioned before, Davey loves these things!

A couple of days later Davey had his Halloween party at pre-school. They did a little parade up and down the street. He was having a blast.

Afterwards they all posed for a picture in front of the school. They were all so cute!!

American West Heritage Center

We thought it might be fun to take the kids out to the American West Heritage Center for their corn maze and other activities. Some of the Halloween masks, decorations, and creepy sounds scare Davey, so I did some research and decided that the activities here looked pretty kid friendly.

Here are Davey and Jacquie outside of the corn maze. They actually did pretty well in it. We went at night and parts of it were pretty dark, but they didn't seem scared. They did get a little tired though. Davey had to ride on Dave's shoulder through the last third of the maze.

There was a "witch" telling stories, and of course these two loved that!!
Stay tuned for more Halloween fun!!

Fire Station

Davey's Grandpa used to be a fireman. Now he is a consultant and goes all over the country to teach classes to firemen. Well, lucky for us he was in Provo last week teaching, so one night we met up with him at the fire station and he arranged for a Davey to take a tour of the place. Of course the neatest thing there for a three year old boy to see is the fire trucks! The firemen let him sit inside and they even turned on lights. It was almost 9pm though, so we decided it would be best not to turn on the siren or honk the horn though. We definitely had a good time.

Field trip to the Big Red Barn

Davey went on his first pre-school field trip yesterday. We went to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin. I volunteered to help chaperone. The Big Red Barn is at a huge farm with fruit orchards and pumpkin patches. The also gave us some yummy doughnuts and took us for a ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor.


Davey always loves posing in cut outs like these. He knows exactly what to do.
Here he is in the pumpkin patch. It was kind of fun to run out an find a pumpkin. We always have gone to the grocery store. Either that or Gerald Knights house in Nibley.
He absolutely loves going to pre-school and playing with all of his friends. I honestly don't think I have met a more social kid.
He loved riding behind the tractor. It was definitely fun and bumpy.
Here is the final choice. The man at the farm told him that he could wash the dirt off the pumpkin while he was taking a bath. I tried to convince Davey that we should wash it in the sink, but he is pretty insistent that we should do it in the tub. We shall see.

At the golf course...

Okay, so anyone who knows us, knows that our family loves to golf. Davey has always played around the yard with toy clubs, but we hadn't taken him to the golf course itself. Last Friday evening we decided to head out on one of the last tee times and see how he did. We talked to him about trying to be quiet and following directions. He did okay at first, but whispering for 2-3 hours is pretty tough for a 3 year old!!!

His favorite thing was actually riding in the cart. I think it is the whole idea of riding in a moving vehicle while unrestrained.
It was actually kind of nice to be out on a nice fall evening, just the three of us...
Dave is trying to get him to focus and actually putt the ball.
Every time the ball goes in the hole he jumps up and down and cheers for himself. Then he looks at me and says, "Mommy, take a picture!!"