Be Thankful, Be Merry & Bright

We went to Idaho for three weeks in November. We spent most of it in Boise with Kevin's family and were also able to go to Sugar City for a weekend, which was a blast for me to be home again. It snowed while we were there, so we were able to 'get our fix' and are happy to be back to warm weather. 

We went to the zoo in Boise. It was much colder than we were used to, but the fall colors were so pretty!

Wade had a lot of fun at grandma and grandpas house, especially when all his cousins were there. 

• Climbing all over Brigham, who is only two weeks younger than him (top left)

• His all-time favorite thing was to play in the dog kennel. He did this all day, everyday! (bottom left).

• He took a bath with Beckett almost everyday. Its much more fun when there's someone to play with! (bottom right).

This is a video of Wade singing Christmas carols with mom while we were in Sugar City.

Seriously, this kid cracks us up everyday. This is him squishing his face up against the mesh on the portable crib.

One of our many cold walks to the park.

We went to a trampoline place. It was a blast! And wade LOVED crawling around on the trampolines. I guess a tramp is on our future purchase list!

This street is right behind the candy store. We couldn't miss this photo opp.

Wade's new cousin! Terese had her baby while we were there. Isn't she gorgeous! I was able to take a few newborn photos for them.

DECEMBER!

There was a Christmas parade in Glendale, it was fun, and surprisingly really cold, since we were sitting in the shade.

• Wade and his buddy Tallin watching the parade (top)
• There was a group of old ladies who were dancing. I will join a group like this someday! (middle left)
• Most of the floats were nativity scenes. The camel was awesome! (middle right)
• One of the streets near the parade had shops made from houses. This was a cute candy store. (bottom)

We dressed Wade up in Kevin's shoes and hat. He was adorable, and surprisingly loved it! Until we took it away, of course. 

Wade took his first steps (Dec. 11). He's already come a long way since then!

• Wade was not very excited to pose for me and wanted nothing to do with the santa hat, but he sure is cute anyway! (top)
• Sunday before Christmas all dressed up. (bottom)

Christmas eve was beautiful! We went to the park, and were wishing we had worn shorts because it was pretty hot! And, yes, the leaves are just starting to change color. 

Later that night, we drove up to my cousins house and spent Christmas Eve with her family. She made an amazing dinner, and later watched the kids frost sugar cookies for Santa and open Christmas pajamas. She even got Wade a pair of pj's. So thoughtful.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun! Wade got some cars and a race track that make a LOT of noise, from grandma and grandpa N. But, at least Wade loves noise. 

Later that day we went over to a friends for a fancy dinner. It was a lot of fun, and they set up a big gate so we didn't have to worry about the kiddos. Although at one point, it got really quiet. We checked on them, and they were gone. Wade had opened the screen to the sliding door and snuck out onto the patio. Of course, the other followed him out. boys...

We got together with my cousin, Sarah, and her family and took turns taking pictures of each others families. She's a great photographer. They turned out awesome! 

It's the season of fall

It's finally fall. Which, in Phoenix, means that it's finally bearable to walk outside and enjoy a nice day at the park. We absolutely love the weather. Its been in the low 80's and high 70's, and I'm thankful to walk outside in shorts and a flip-flops everyday, when seeing all my Idaho friends bombard Facebook with complaints of snow and freezing winds.  

My parents were able to visit the first week in October and it was so much fun to be able to show them our new home. I do feel bad that we didn't do much, since Wade needed his naps every couple of hours, I guess it's okay since their main priority was to love up on baby Wade ;)  although, we did go to the mall, go on walks and drives, hung out by the pool, made lots of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, checked out the Phoenix temple thats being built just up the road from us, and went to Kevin's white coat ceremony. 

My main regret was not taking more pictures while they were here! I kept forgetting my camera (I know...crazy!) So...I apologize in advance for the phone photos.

I'm so proud of Kevin! He loves this program and has been dedicating so much time and hard work into school. Kevin is studying to be a cardiovascular perfusionist, which means that he will run the heart-lung machine during cardiac surgery and other similar surgeries. 

(Above) This is his entire class after the white coat ceremony.

Wade had just woke up. He looks so grumpy, but he's just tired.

Checking out the Phoenix temple (under construction), mall walks, and pet store. Wade really enjoys dogs!

We went to the Arizona State Fair with some friends and had a blast. It was everyone's (except Kevin) first time going to a demolition derby and we were all very impressed. Wade did really well considering the incredibly loud cars, and audience. He didn't cry at all, but was his very curious self.

Going through the Ice Age museum at the fair.

The little guy was such a good baby the whole time we were at the fair, but look how tired he was at the end! He fell asleep in my arms on the walk back to the car.

October was full of Halloween parties/ activities. Midwestern held a really fun Halloween festival with trick-or-treating through some campus buildings. We weren't sure what the protocol was, since Wade isn't necessarily going to be the one eating the candy. In retrospect, we should've taken advantage of getting all that candy!

I had so many costume ideas for Wade, and of course, I ran out of time. But I stuck him in some overalls and threw together a cardboard/paper plate train and called him a train conductor. (In case you were wondering what he is supposed to be)

Halloween day was pretty relaxed for Wade and I. Kevin was very busy preparing for finals at school, but since nobody came trick-or-treating, I wanted to do something Halloween 'ish', so we painted a pumpkin. 

I was starting to feel guilty for being inside all the time. I began to notice how much he loves to stare out the window. Usually the only time we would go outside was when I would go walking, and Wade was strapped down to the stroller. So, now we spend a lot of time hanging out at parks. Wade loves to crawl around, and to observe everyone and everything around him. 

Wade wearing his baby friend, Clara's bonnet. How cute ;) He's so happy to play outside! Until its time to get back into his stroller (below).

Wade's first time in the swing. He wasn't sure what to think at first, but he LOVED it! Of course, what kid doesn't love swings??

I gave Wade his first haircut. It may or may not be butchered, with a few bald spots around his ears...Good thing hair grows back. I will learn as time goes on. 

I am so in love with this boy's expressions. He has about 900 different facial expressions!

He loves bathtime, playing in drawers, cupboards, and the dishwasher. He sprint-crawls (meaning, he is fast!). He walks all along furniture, climbs onto anything he can, including cardboard boxes, the entertainment center, the rocking chair, etc...

He keeps me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Welcome to our new home in Arizona!

 I have finally started a blog! Now that we are officially away from (immediate) family, we can keep you all updated on our new adventure in AZ! I'm not much of a writer, so I will most likely be bombarding you with photos, the majority of cute little Wade. 

Before I get to photos of Arizona, here are some pics from our last Hoorah in Idaho.

Getting back from a nice walk.

Cousins! Just missing Shailee. Vinny loves cookies, can you tell?

Goodbye kisses. So sweet!

These two love being grandparents! I can't blame them.

Moving to Arizona was an adventure. Kevin drove a 24' budget truck with our car towed on the back. It was slower, louder, and much bumpier than our car. Luckily, we had a nice pit stop in Utah for Kevin's brothers wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and reception, and was fun to see family before we took off. 

We left at 4 AM, the morning after the wedding for the rest of our big trip. Everything was going perfect. Possibly too perfect. Wade had been sleeping the entire time, only waking up to eat his bottle. We may have jinksed ourselves, because when we stopped around lunch time at a gas station just outside of vegas, Kevin and I were bragging to ourselves about how perfect our baby is and how smoothly the trip was going. We got back into the truck and right as we pulled onto the freeway, the truck died. We pulled over, checked the lights, searched and searched for the manual that wasn't there, then decided to try again. It was running great. We drove through Vegas, and past Henderson when it died again. So, we let it rest and tried one more time. About 10 miles later it happened again. By this time it was around noon or 1 and it was at least 100 degrees outside. 

We called budget and they called a mechanic to come check out the truck. No joke - he came 3 1/2 hours later. We sat in the car that was being towed by the truck so that we could have some air conditioning. It was too hot to get out, so we still had to sit in a non-moving car for nearly 4 hours. At least Wade enjoyed being out of his car seat.

The mechanic topped off the very low oil and coolant and noticed that there were several problems in which it shouldn't have even been rented out. We decided to risk driving in the 'not-so-safe' truck the rest of the way rather than unpacking all of our belongings and re-packing them into a new truck, like they so generously offered.

Thankfully, we made it the rest of the way and our apartment managers were sweet enough to let us move in past hours.

We have been here for about a month now, and I am sorry for some of you to hear this, but I haven't gotten homesick. Not even once! The people here are so nice! The ward are amazing, and every time I go to a grocery store, at least 5 people will come talk to me and want to see Wade. I have been invited to a 'play date' at least once a week, and I have really gotten to know some neat people. 

So far, I've made several trips to the mall, grocery stores, and the pool. And Kevin and I gone to the Mesa Temple. Once it cools down enough to stand the heat for more than 2 minutes, we will be exploring much more.

We wanted to check out campus before Kevin started school, but the security guard said we could only drive around the parking lot and weren't allowed to get out of the car since we didn't have our pass yet. Here are some 'Out of the window of a moving car' pics of Midwestern Campus. (still all I've seen)

My boys watching TV. Wade loves the remote.

Wade and Kevin had a rough day! Wade never falls asleep like this.

Since we've been here, Wade has learned how to sit up, and get back in to sitting position after crawling around. 

He loves his walker! He follows me everywhere and tries to get into anything I do. (garbage, dishwasher, drawers, laundry, etc.)

We love going swimming!

Boys will be boys. This is our friend Miles. He is so nice to Wade and loves to share his toys.

Cheerios will entertain this kid for a good while.

What can I say? I have a model on my hands.

All ready for church. One of the only times he's ever been happy to get dressed ready.

Like father like son. At the ward BBQ.