Festivities in Utah

We were able to spend a week before Christmas up in Utah.  It was great to be able to visit our family and friends that we don't see very often.

One of our first activities was Grandma Connie's Christmas Party in Roosevelt, Utah.  It's so fun seeing all of Tyson's aunts, uncles and cousins.  We haven't been able to make this party in years.  Here is Susie mesmerized by all the people and, of course, Santa.

 Nina had so much fun playing with all of her second cousins.

 Grandma Connie and all of her great-grandkids.

 We got to visit with my Grandma Wood in Kaysville.  The kids enjoyed playing with all of her fun toys.

 Nina watched this train for hours.  We may have to get one for our house.

We got to spend some time with our friends, the Bilbaos.  Our kids are the same ages and it was fun to get together with them.

And of course no trip to Utah would be complete without a visit to Temple Square.  We were so lucky to see Aunt Bea (Sister Wood) before she left for Kentucky the next morning.  We got to hear the sister missionary choir do a "beautiful rendition of Silent Night" (Tyson's quote, I guess you had to be there.)

 We got a VIP tour of the Beehive House where she was currently serving.

 And, oh my goodness, the lights were magical!

9 months

This little chica is 9 months old.  Whenever I read the book The Boss Baby it reminds me of Susie.  This little peanut if packed full of personality.  She can be demanding and bossy, but never forgets to smile and laugh.  Here's a few factoids about this sweet little 9 month old:

• She is a tiny little thing, weighing in at 15 pounds 12 ounces (5th percentile) and measuring 25.5 inches tall (3rd percentile)
• We're not too worried about her size because this girl LOVES to eat.  She will eat everything offered to her and won't stop.  She will eat until she throws up in fact.  If you don't feed her fast enough she slams her hands angrily on her high chair tray and yells at you until you feed her. 
• Still no teeth and it doesn't look like she will have any soon.
• She loves to "talk".  Says dada, mama, baba.
• She LOVES dogs.  She gets so excited whenever she sees one.  She starts breathing heavily, her heart races, and she squeals and kicks her legs.  Pretty much the cutest thing ever.
•  She is crawling, kind of.  She mostly army crawls and gives up easily.  She will crawl a little bit, then look at me with sad eyes and will whine until I pick her up.
• She is still an "orangutan leech" baby, who insists on physical contact with "mama" at all times.
• She loves to laugh, especially at the silly things Nina does.  Her sweet smile melts our hearts and causes us to count our blessings every day.

Retail Therapy

Occasionally a girl needs a little bit of "retail therapy".  Our therapy sessions occur at the Valencia Towne Center (mall) with Grandma Beth.

Doesn't  get much better than lunch at Dink's.

 Gotta love the poinsettia tree

 A carousel ride is a definite must to keep the kids sane.

 Nina is all girl.  Here she is trying on knee high women's boots.  It's so funny how she is already interested in fashion.  She told Tyson this morning, "Dad, you look really cute in that outfit."  Are we in for some trouble or what?

 Nina must feed her obsession with trains.

Enjoying the ever-so-early Christmas decorations.

Christmas is Coming

 

The Fieldsted family has a Christmas tree!  We did our usual tradition: headed over to the local Home Depot, picked out a tree and brought it home.  Not much of a tradition.  Tyson wishes it was so much more.  I think he imagines us hiking through the snow to cut our own perfect Christmas tree.  Personally, I love the Home Depot tradition while we have two small kids.  It's about 2 miles from our house and takes us about 30 minutes to do.
Nina was so cute about it this year.  She picked out our tree and really looked forward to having a tree on the roof of our car.  She found that part fascinating and talked about that part of it for hours.  Anyhow, just love this time of year.

"Look Mom! I got another treat!"

That was definitely the quote of the night.  Cute little Sadie said that after every single door.  I think this Halloween was the most fun I have ever had trick-or-treating.  The little girls were so much fun.  They just loved every single second of it.  It was funny to see them coaching each other at the door.  Nina: "That's enough knocking Sadie.", Sadie: "Okay, you say trick or treat".  They both think they know it all, and in all reality, they pretty much do.

All ready to head out.

 Little Miss Snow White and her Poison Apple.  I tried to talk Nina into being Cinderella.  I thought it was an obvious choice because of her coloring and the pattern for Cinderella was much easier.  But, Nina insisted on being Snow White.  In the end she made a beautiful Snow White and loved wearing her costume, especially the cape that went with it.  Maybe those many hours spent on the costume were worth it!

 Grandma Beth went as Dobby from Harry Potter.  Nina was too afraid of her to get a picture with her.  Sadie was a good sport and apprehensively stood next to her for a quick shot.

Pumpkin Patch

Nina's preschool took a field trip to the local pumpkin patch.  Everyone had a grand old time.

Here's most of the preschool group.  Nina insisted on wearing a hat that day.  She has become quite particular about the things she wears and dresses herself almost every day.

 Nina thought this was the perfect pumpkin and rolled it around for a while.

 Here's our little pumpkin!  She's eight months old in this picture.

 She is seriously such a smiley little thing.  I think I love this age the most.

 Near the end the kids were a bit pooped out.  They had just finished the corn maze and were done.

Blast from the past

One of my best friends ever stopped by on her 30th birthday week, which happens to be mine as well.  Birthdays, that's actually how Kelly and I got acquainted in 6th grade.  She thought her birthday was October 21st, which is the same as mine.  We were so impressed and thought we already had so much in common. (Turns out Kelly's birthday is actually October 20th.)  We had much more than our birthdays in common.  We had good times doing band, district choir and ASB together.  Thanks for all of the amazing memories Kelly!  She and her husband are some of the coolest people I know!

Nina loved walking their cute little dog Pinky.  Poor Pinky is all I have to say about that.

 Here is everyone jamming out on the kitty keyboard.

Kelly and her husband Nate are amazingly musically talented.  Their band Good King Friday  just cut their first album.  You should check it out.  You'll be impressed I promise.