IT'S A GIRL!

Good news everyone! We had our ultrasound on Tuesday and we are having a girl! We are very excited and love talking up the "baby sister" thing with Cody. Hopefully the more we talk about it the more it will become real to Cody (and us!). I have my ultrasound pictures but I won't be posting them yet. Our internet connection has pooped out on us and so I am doing a quick update here from my parents house. I am sorry for the sudden drop in posts. I was doing so good at keeping us up to date. Darn! Despite the internet/holiday set backs I will keep trying to keep things rolling. Anyway, I just had to pass on the good news about our baby girl. I hope she likes wearing navy blue and playing with monster trucks! :)

Steve's Birthday

Yesterday was Steve's birthday. Tammy, Raquel, and Lacey brought dinner, Superman balloons, and birthday cake (homemade ice cream crammed with chocolate) up to our house to celebrate. We played games and ate on the new table we got for Christmas, which we LOVE! Everyone can actually fit around our table now.

Happy Birthday Steve! I Love Ya!

The Thomas the Train Trend

Christmas and winter are so much fun with kids. Cody has really gotten into the spirit of things this year and it makes Steve and I even more excited for Christmas and actually sort of OK with the snow thing. Cody can't wait to put on his gloves, hat, and coat every time we leave the house and every time we bundle up to go outside he tells me, "snow boots, mom" and each time I would tell him that we don't have any and then he would say, "store" (what a problem-solver). I knew that my inspired mother-in-law bought Cody some Thomas the Train boots for Christmas (which just happen to match his Thomas the Train hat and gloves) and figured he would just have to wait a few more weeks. When I told her about Cody being very adamant about getting some snow boots she let him open the present early (she was just as eager to have someone to play in the snow with). Cody put the boots on and Grandma and Cody went out to build a snow man. That was Sunday and Cody has worn them ever since. When Steve was a little boy he would wear his snow boots all summer (in Arizona) and so I can only imagine what we are in for :) I am so glad that Cody loves playing in the snow and that he is loving his boots. Last night we took off his pants while we were getting ready for bed and before I knew it, he had his boots back on. If there is anything cuter than a little boy with boots on, it's a boy wearing boots and no pants!!

What's wrong with this family picture??

Two posts ago I shared our story of unsuccessfully getting a complete family picture and mentioned that we are still in need of a picture for my parents mantle that includes all members of our growing family. While looking through some pictures on my parents' computer I came across this one that was taken on Sara and Bob's wedding day in May by their photographer. There are five great reasons why I think we should use this picture instead of getting a new one.

1. I was amazed to realize that EVERYONE looked absolutely fabulous in this picture which is almost unheard of for a family picture. True, Cody isn't showing his cute smile BUT he is 2 years old and he is looking at the camera at the same time that everyone else is.

2. My hair looks normal! I don't know what it is about picture days, but it always seems that no matter how great my hair turns out on a normal day it will completely freak out on picture days. I have pictures dating clear back to kindergarten to prove it.

3. I am getting fatter by the day. My little pregnancy muffin top is alive and well and time is running out for looking good in much of anything.

4. Why pay a photographer to do something that you have already paid a photographer to do?

5. Our outfits coordinate. This is a must for my mother.

I am interested to hear your thoughts about this issue. I have brought this up with my parents but I am not sure they are totally convinced yet. If you would like to express your opinion about this picture please comment here. If you agree with me please email my dad at dduncan@premiercpas.net and let him know how you feel in addition to leaving your comments here. If you disagree you need not email, but feel free to comment :) Ha ha!

Thanksgiving in Sunny St. George

We had such a good time in St George for Thanksgiving to be with Nana and Bob (Steve's grandparents) and Momeo (Steve's great-grandma). It is always so nice to get away for a few days. I made our favorite pie: Sour Cream Apple (pictured here) which turned out great. It was a new experience making a pie in a real pie dish. We've been using a frying pan until Nana gave us some of Momeo's pie dishes last weekend (thanks Nana). We played tons of games including Guitar Hero. Cody was able to play outside at the park because it was so nice outside. He also had new toys to play with which is always exciting and kept him busy. The only thing we didn't do is shop which made the trip very budget-friendly :) Thanks Nana and Bob for a great time!

Family pictures without the whole family

Last weekend my family got together to take an official family photo to hang over the mantle. The family picture has been long over due. The last one we had taken was right after I got home from my mission and is missing three additions: Steve, Bob, and Cody. We planned to meet at Cedar Hills park where Steve's mom would be our photographer. The weather wasn't too bad. It was chilly, but the sun was out. There was one problem though...my sister, Brooke, was missing! No one could get a hold of her on her cell and time was running out. Brooke had to work later that day so there was no time to go to Provo to find her. We decided to go ahead and get some individual/couple/small family shots to start out. Then we took group shots that are nice, but incomplete, and therefore cannot be used for the mantle (but make nice pictures for my blog). When we couldn't stand the cold anymore we all headed out. My parents drove down to Provo to find Brooke and found her at work by that time. Apparently, Brooke's alarm clock had not gone off, her cell phone was on silent, and she had slept in. Oh well. Some day we will get that family picture crossed off our list.

Christmas Tree Hunting

This is it! Our Christmas tree is a beauty!! Last Saturday we went hunting for our Christmas tree in the wilderness. We went with Steve's family and Grandpa Farnworth. This is the first year that Cody will have his own Christmas tree since the last two Christmas' we were at Wymount where they didn't allow real trees. So we were all excited to finally get our own tree again. Christmas just isn't as fun when you don't have a tree!
Not only did we get to pick out our own tree this year instead of just helping everyone else find theirs, we had great weather!! Usually by this time of year there is a lot of snow in the mountains and we are all bundled in as many layers as possible. I think Cody especially appreciated the warmer weather. Last year I remember spending most of the time in the car trying to warm Cody up and visiting with Grandma Farnworth. Since Cody wanted to hold the saw we gave him a stick to pretend with which he was pretty happy with. He didn't let go of his saw the whole time. I am excited to decorate our tree this next week and get out all of the Christmas things.

Cooking with Daddy

We love to cook. Trying new recipes is a favorite family activity. This is a picture of Steve and Cody making "alfredo" (as Cody calls it) a few weeks ago. Steve is really good at perfecting a dish. We can go to a restaurant and he can pick out the ingredients that were used and then go home and make it himself. Although this makes for some really great meals it takes the fun out of "going out" which is something that I really love to do. But Steve doesn't like to pay someone else to make something that he knows how to make (makes sense). One of our favorite things to do is get the restaurant copy cat recipes off the internet. Tonight we tried a new recipe for "Papa John's" pizza. It actually turned out really good. Although it wasn't quite the dream that Papa John's pizza actually is, it didn't taste like homemade pizzas usually do. Maybe we'll perfect it eventually, but until then we can still go out for pizza. :)

Christmas Train in September

I just found these pictures: Two months ago we finally gave in and let Cody get out the Christmas train that he asks to play with every time he sees it in the closet. He is so funny. His new thing is anything to do with trains. He actually asked to get the train out the night before this picture was taken but we were brushing teeth and getting ready for bed so we said that we would do it when he woke up. (That's our way of saying tomorrow to a 2 year old: "after you go to sleep and wake up"). Well, the next morning we went in to his room to get him out of his crib and the first thing he said was "train?" in a sweet little voice. We had completely forgotten about the train by then so it made us laugh that 12 hours of sleeping had not deterred him in the slightest. So we got the Christmas train out and set it up. By the looks of the pictures you'd think it was in fact Christmas Day. Little does he know that the Christmas season is on it's way and he will be able to play with the train for a lot longer than just a Saturday morning in September. Who needs presents when you've got a train?

Halloween FHE Party