Winter Cabin Trip

So, I know that I said that I wouldn't go back to the cabin in the winter until we had some newer snowmobiles there with us, but after having a couple years to warm up to the idea, I was ready to ammend my statement. I decided we should go, but not go any farther away on the snowmobiles than we would want to walk or hike back.



It worked out pretty well, especially since Jeremy took off a few days and came up with us. Hayley spent lots of time with her daddy on the snowmobile. Jackson, on the other hand, was scared to death of the snowmobiles. He did not want to ride, and he didn't want anyone else riding them either.



At least he looked cute all bundled up. :)



Such a super fun weekend, that we're planning on going again over Presidents' Day next month. And Jeremy and I are going to go up again in March when I'm off track again. Alone. I'm super excited. :)

Cookie College

It always seems like there's a little bit of an after Christmas funk around our house. We're kind of mopey and bummed that all the holiday fun is over. So when I saw an ad for Cookie College at the Naborhood Bakery at Gardner Village, I thought it sounded super fun. I called to sign up Hayley, and they told me that unless they got at least one more kid to sign up, the class wouldn't carry. So I signed up Jackson too. :)



He was in heaven. He loved looking at all the treats in the case, and using the cookie cutters and later frosting his cookies.



They also did a tour of the bakery and showed the kids all the gizmos and gadgets and ovens that they use to bake their treats with each day.



Hayley also thought Cookie College was wonderful. Her favorite was the foot cookie that she made. Her least favorite was when she got trapped in the bathroom for a minute after the old lock stuck. She was pretty stressed.



But it wasn't anything a few cookies wouldn't fix.

January 2012 Faves

Hayley Bug

Favorite Food: "Daddy Sandwich" (Grilled ham and cheese sandwich) and KFC
Favorite Treat: mini muffins from 7-11
Favorite Friends: Aisly, Kade, Kylie, Bailey
Favorite Toys: Her scooter, and anything that has to do with paint, glue, tape or scissors
Favorite Movies/Shows: Parent Trap, iCarly, How It's Made, Cake Boss
Favorite Song: Thriller, Poker Face, and Mary, Did You Know?
Favorite Things to Do Inside: Play her Leapster.
Favorite Thing to Do Outside: Go see if friends can play and ride her scooter.
Favorite Thing About Jackson: When he hugs or kisses her.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Clean her room, and especially clean up any mess that she didn't make.
Funny Things She Says: She's started telling jokes, and she will laugh right along with you at the punchline.

Action Jackson

Favorite Food: Cheese cubes and chicken nuggets
Favorite Treat: Any candy that anyone will give him.
Favorite Friend: Anyone who will get down on the floor to play with him.
Favorite Toys: Anything Thomas the Train, blocks, cars, trucks
Favorite Book: Any animal books
Favorite Movies/Shows: Barney, Thomas, Bob the Builder
Favorite Things to do Inside: Go to the Fitness Center Daycare.
Favorite Things to Do Outside: Chase his remote control car and go for walks
Favorite Thing about Hayley: She will share whatever treat she has with him, even if we have told her she shouldn't and that she is not in charge of the baby.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Go to bed and go down for naps.

New Things He Says: What doesn't he say? Favorites lately are fix it, open it, hungry, sandwich, night-night, nap-nap, candy, Barney, Thomas, Bob, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Whitney, help, Idunno, all gone, and "Hi" to anyone who will listen, including strangers.
New Things he Does: Shake his hand at you when he wants you to go away so he can do something he's not supposed to be doing.



And he's still my favorite. :)

Love. This. Boy.

All Caught Up!

There are eight (yes, eight) new posts below documenting our December/Christmas season. Be sure to scroll down, or click here:

Dicken's Festival
The Wright Family Christmas Party
The Dame Christmas/Birthday Party
Christmas Eve
Christmas Morning
Christmas Day
Gardner Village
ZooLights!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

ZooLights!

With the unseasonably warm weather, we decided to squeeze in a trip to ZooLights. It far exceeded any expectations that I had. Moving lights, interactive lights, backdrops, it was awesome!



This set was my favorite. These animals passed the star to one another until the monkey put it on the top of the tree.



Jackson really did like it, even though you can't really tell from this picture. His favorite was the monkey who was throwing a banana into his mouth, with all of it made out of lights.



We also rode the carousel. They even piped in Christmas music for it. Jeremy had to work, and I was so glad that my mom and Robert came with us, since they were happy to ride the carousel with the kids. It makes me so sick. :(

Waiting for the carousel...



And taking a spin...



This was one of Hayley's favorite animals made out of lights. It's the fountain that is such a symbol of the zoo for our family. I remember it from my childhood, and Hayley loves it too. Neither picture is great. If there's a good way to take a picture so people's faces show up, and you can see the coloring of the lights, I haven't figured it out yet.



If you haven't done ZooLights, I would very highly recommend it. Even on a night when the weather was awesome and it was super crowded, there's so much room to spread out, it didn't seem too bad at all.

Gardner Village

I didn't want those few days when the temperatures were in the 50's to go to waste, so we did a few of the Christmas activities that had been on my December list that we just hadn't gotten to yet. We went to Gardner Village to see the elves, which Hayley loved. Jackson was a little leary of the elves at first. Maybe he figured out they had something to do with Santa.



We'd gone to see the witches before, but never the elves, and it seemed like maybe it would have been neater to go at night when they are all lit up. Oh well. Now we know for next year.



Don't let Hayley's get-up fool you. It really was a nice day. Perfect hoodie weather, just the way I like it.



Hayley and Jackson may have snuck under the fence to play near this gingerbread house. I may have let them since there was no one else around.



We finished up our outing with a treat at the bakery. I knew that there was a Elf Hunt paper that you could fill out and redeem for a cookie, but that seemed like a lot of work, so I sprung for the dollar a piece and just bought us each one. Hayley was in heaven that they had macaroons. And then of course she had to tell us about the last time she had a macaroon, which was at Disneyland. Later I got a note that read:

I wont too go too Disnyland.
Love, Hayley

I love that girl and the way she thinks!

Christmas Day

Jackson just kept on being happy all day long on Christmas. He was friendly and smiley all day long, even playing and wanting to be held by the extended family relatives he doesn't even know that well while we were at Aunt Carol's for lunch.



Then we headed to Stacey and Matt's house to open presents with my Dad. Jackson liked his remote control car from Grandpa, so we got it all out and batteried up for him. The funny thing was, he had no interest in the controller, he just wanted to chase the car around.



Hayley loved her sewing kits and paint by number sets. It's been fun to do a crafty thing with her while Jackson is down for his nap in the afternoons.



I got a darling jewelry box and some fun gift cards to spend. :)

Here's my Dad, Dennis, and his three daughters, Whitney, Heather, and Stacey.



So happy to have all of us together and celebrating such a great day!

Christmas Morning

Someone woke up excited and ready for Christmas morning!



Have you been noticing a theme with any of Jackson's gifts so far? This child loves, loves, loves Thomas the Train lately. His big present of the morning was this Thomas the Train set.



Hayley got a scooter from Santa. The first few pictures I got a kind of half-smile, so I told her to start looking more excited about her scooter. Thanks Hay, that's a little more like it!



One of the best things about Christmas morning was that Jeremy was off and home with us to wake up and open presents. Plus, he put together the playhouse from Grandma and Grandpa.



The Dora Kitchen that Hayley supposedly wanted so badly still hasn't made it out of the box, and she still hasn't even asked Jer to get it out or put it together. Yeah, Santa may take that one back to WalMart.

P.S. In case you were wondering, Jeremy got a new airplanes and jets calendar and this Indiana Jones themed shirt, which is kind of an inside joke.



I got these for Christmas, and I love them!



Good work on picking out cute Skechers, Jer. :)

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we headed up to Jeremy's parents' house in Centerville. We had a family picture taken, and were treated to a nativity performed by the kiddos. Hayley was Mary, and Jackson was... off doing something else, apparently.



Sorry about the crappy quality on those nativity pictures. My camera has issues. Actually, Jeremy says that it only has one issue: That it's getting old. I told him he's welcome to surprise me with a new one any time. Ha!

Next we opened presents. Jackson got this little Percy the Train flashlight. It lights up and makes train noised when you push the button. He loved it.



In fact he loved it so much, that he just about had a fit when he couldn't get it out of the packaging himself. Imagine this face and him yelling, "Out, OUT! Fix it! OUT!" Really child, just a little patience. Just a little.



He also got these awesome JawBones which are like updated TinkerToys. They kept him and Hayley busy for quite a while on Christmas Eve, and him, Hayley, and the cute stranger boy in back of us at Sacrament meeting the next day busy for almost the entire meeting. Score!



Hayley's favorite present I think, was this joint gift for her and Jackson, a playhouse, complete with a working doorbell and play phone.



Also a fun surprise was the Christmas pinata set up in the garage. Love how someone tells Hayley one more hit, and she squeezes in about three. Selective hearing on that one, I tell you.



Even on little Jackson, the pinata and stick brought out his "crazy eyes."



The kids sure had fun on Christmas Eve, with their cousins and seeing the grandparents!

The Dame Christmas/Birthday Party

With my dad's birthday being so close to Christmas, it's kind of inevitable that sometimes his celebration gets smooshed together with something Christmas-y. We had a yummy dinner at my house, and finished off with cake and ice cream.



My Grandma Dame and Aunt Jan came over for the celebration too, and sweetly brought Christmas gifts for Jackson and Hayley too. Jackson kept pointing at the bears in the book saying, "Anmo, anmo!" ("Animal, animal!")



I tried to take a picture of Hayley with her gifts and Aunt Jan and Grandma. I told her to smile normal, and this is what I got. Awesome.



Apparently that smile runs in the family, because Jackson also has the look down pat. You would think they'd be a little more well trained with all the pictures I take, right?



My dad also opened his birthday presents, which he liked, but I know that mostly he was just glad to be home from his out of town job. We were glad to have him home to celebrate with us too.

The Wright Christmas Party

My mom's side of the family always starts the celebrations off early, and this year we had our party the Thursday before Christmas. We met for dinner at yummy Braza Grill with all of my mom's kids, and all of Robert's kids, and afterward we headed to my mom's house to open gifts. Hayley and Jackson were both in heaven and so spoiled with all their gifts.



Hayley loved her new Squinkies and their gumball machine house.



Jackson loved his new cell phone from Grandma and Grandpa.
"Hello? Hello? How you? Kay. Bye bye. See ya!"



Also a hit was this little hills and roads car course. That was until I couldn't get it put back together correctly fast enough for Jackson the next day. There's nothing like feeling dumb not being able to put a two-year-old's toy together while he yells, "Fix it! Fix it!" in your ear. Glad I got it figured out before he got any more worked up.



Such a fun start to our Christmas Party Extravaganza!

Dicken's Festival

My Dad has been working out of town lately, and the last time that he was home to visit, one of the things that he really wanted to do was go to the Dicken's Festival. My sister Whitney, my kids, my dad and I headed there for the evening after Hayley's dance concert. Jackson's been really into animals lately, so when we saw one of the big horses drawing a carriage around, I turned Jackson around so he could see it, thinking he would love it. Yeah, not so much. He screamed, "NO!" so loudly even I was a little freaked out. So, animals in books = great, animals in real life = not so much. Got it Jackson.

We headed into the buildings at the Fairpark, and stopped for a picture with the Scrooge backdrop. Funny how Hayley did not want to be the Ghost of Christmas whatever-the-little-fairy-girl-is. Acutally, I'm pretty sure she just wanted an excuse to stand on that green bar.



This Santa, or Father Christmas, as he was called was so darling. Taking time to talk for a good few minutes with each child. The picture is out of focus because I didn't use the flash. I didn't use the flash because there was a great big sign that said no personal photography. I just wasn't up to paying $40.00 for a pictures with Santa photo package when only one of my two children was interested in seeing Santa. Jackson started yelling, "No, NO! Help, HELP! Help me!" as soon as we got in line. I let him sit this visit out.



Hopefully next year Jackson will be over his Santa issues, because we will be back next year for another visit. I gotta get Jackson trained that this is actually a fun holiday tradition!