New Year's Eve

First off, as I look back on our vacation in Denver there were so many pictures that I wish I had taken or had had an opportunity to take. Some of those were of Aunt Emily and Uncle Brandon pushing Liam around the kitchen in his boat (aka a very large box), Aunt Katie and Liam making cookies, Liam chasing Uncle Rod around for what seemed like hours, Grandma and Liam making brownies, Grandma and Liam going sledding at the park (in my defense I wasn't present for this activity since Michael and I went to the movies while Grandma and Liam played), Liam chasing the dogs around, Liam playing on the ipad with Uncle Drew and Aunt Betsy, Liam constantly staking claim to Grandpa Quillen's lazy boy recliner whenever he watched a movie (What can I say? He quickly figured out where the best seat in the house was), and the list goes on. However, I was able to get at least one or two pictures of Liam with his Grandma and Grandpa Quillen. On New Year's Eve we were the only ones left in Denver and we were leaving for the airport around 7pm for our flight home. So mom got out her party hats and noisemakers and set a timer to go off shortly before it was time for us to leave and we celebrated the New Year. Liam had no idea what was going on but he found the noisemakers and the popits fun all the same.

Our flight left around 9pm that night and we got to Portland around 11pm. We thought Liam would for sure fall asleep on the plane since we carried on his carseat so he could fly in it. Well, he was very well behaved but no he did not sleep a wink and finally fell asleep after we picked up our car from where we parked. I couldn't believe the crazy boy. All I can say is I'm just grateful that he was in a good mood.

Emily's Wedding Day

Alright I don't have any pictures yet but I'm hoping to get some soon which I will add to this post when I get them. It was a beautiful sunny day and Emily looked perfect and it was wonderful seeing how happy both Emily and Brandon were to finally be married. Everything turned out perfect and the reception was even ready on time with only an hour to set up. It was quite impressive to watch/participate in. We all had our assignments ahead of time and when we got there it just seemed like everything went like clockwork. Liam enjoyed the day and was quite well behaved even though he refused to take a nap and had a late lunch. He enjoyed spending time with Michael's Uncle Rod and they were best buddies. When Liam was getting a little anxious and uncooperative while waiting for the bride and groom to come out Uncle Rod volunteered to take Liam pterodactyl hunting and Liam LOVED this. They wandered around the temple grounds for quite a while and I think if Liam had had his way he would have spent the entire day looking for pterodactyls with Uncle Rod. (Mom I think Michael got a picture of this on your camera so if you could email it to us I would really appreciate it!) Except maybe with a break for cake. He had two pieces and would have had more if we hadn't cut him off.

Once there was a snowman

Michael was superdad while we were in Denver and I often used the belly as an excuse to avoid going outside plus I was trying to help Michael's mom as much as I could since she was preparing for a wedding. So, that left Liam and Michael a lot of play time. This particular day they did some more sledding in the backyard and built this little snowmen. They would have made a bigger one except this was not the best snowman building snow.

Sledding

While we were in Denver they had what I thought was the perfect amount of snow. It snowed Christmas Eve about three or four inches. Liam LOVED it and I think played out in the snow almost every day we were there. This particular day Michael decided to get a good work out and spent quite a while pulling Liam around on the sled. If you notice that Liam is lying in the snow for half of these pictures it's not because of the crazy rough ride he was getting but because Liam thought it was funny to dive out of the sled at every opportunity.

Merry Christmas

This year we were able to spend Christmas in Denver with almost all of Michael's family. We arrived the afternoon of Christmas Eve and were able to a wonderful dinner with all the family and then go Christmas caroling and deliver goodie plates. Liam loved doing this and especially loved the several inches of snow that he got to walk through in order to participate. The next morning Liam was kind enough to sleep in past 8am and he was the official alarm clock for everyone else too since he was the only little kid around. When he woke up and we told him that it was Christmas and that Santa had left him a present he was pretty excited. Here he is patiently waiting at the top of the stairs in his new jammies to come down and see all the gifts.

First sight of his new traint track.

He loved his train tracks and actually wasn't that interested in opening his other gifts. We were able to beguile him some but when he dumped his stocking and saw that there were wrapped presents he seriously just left them in a pile and went right back to his train track.

His duplo legos did distract him for a couple minutes but in the end it was right back to the track again.

He loved his Gordan train that he got from his Great Grandma Quillen.

So overall Christmas day was a wonderful success. We enjoyed watching Liam get excited over his gifts and I'm pleased that he continues to play with his train table on a daily basis. Liam also spent a good chunk of his afternoon using his new snow pants and playing out in the snow. I am so grateful for our Savior and the gospel and was especially grateful that we were able to celebrate his birth with our family.

Early Christmas

Since we were leaving for Colorado early Christmas Eve we decided to let Liam open his present from his Grandma and Grandpa Allen early since there would not be room to pack it on the airplane. When he came downstairs from his quiet time he noticed the gift under the tree immediately and was so excited when he was told that he could actually open it.

Santa Gloves and Toothpaste

I put these gloves on and Liam looked at me and said, "ho ho ho." He then asked to see the Santa gloves. At first I wasn't sure if he thought I appeared to look like Santa since I have a huge belly and was wearing gloves but I soon discovered that he referred to all gloves as Santa gloves and was relieved that he wasn't commenting on my current prego weight.

Also, Michael has been working long hours recently in preparation of taking over an entire week off from work for Christmas. So, tonight we were skyping with Mom and Dad Quillen to pass some time. Liam went upstairs to find his snake and when he didn't come back after five or so minutes I decided I'd better go check on him. Turns out he found "daddy's toothpaste" and decided this would be the perfect opportunity to use some. It was almost full before Liam got his hands on it.

Snow

We had the tiniest bit of snow the other day and Liam wanted to go play in it so bad. I put his rainboots and coat on and sent him out in his pajamas. I couldn't believe how long he stayed out in it. He finally came in almost in tears telling me that his fingers had owies. The poor boy didn't understand that the reason was because his hands were so cold. I had him put them on the heater but it still took a while before they stopped hurting.

Ward Christmas Party

We had our ward Christmas Party and Liam was so excited to see Santa. I actually used seeing Santa as leverage earlier in the day to get him to be obedient but it later backfired when he didn't take a nap because he was so excited to go. Here he is with Santa pointing out mommy and daddy and even though he was so excited to see him he wasn't quite convinced that he should sit on his lap. After his turn he just kept looking up at him on the stage and waving goodbye.

Christmas project

So, I have other projects I need to post but here's one that I actually took a picture of. Here is one of my first projects using my new serger and all I can say is I love it! I always wanted a cute ruffled tree skirt but the idea of hemming layer after layer did not appeal to me. So, when i had the option of making one without the hemming I finally did it and i love it! I used the plaid fabric that I've been wrapping around the base of my tree for the past 5 years and then spent another five or six dollars on burlap and a dollar store tree skirt to use as my base.

Love my little backyard

Yes indeed we love our little backyard. He doesn't play back there everyday but often enough to keep him and I sane.