Olivia The Artist

Olivia got a drawing/desk for Christmas. She loves to draw, and is so proud of all her drawings she draws for us! Our fridge is becomming filled up with her lovely drawings:)

Walking to the fridge to hang up her artwork. (I love how it shows how proud she is of herself)

Ta-Da!

Also tonight she was a daddy's girl:)- How precious!

Merry Christmas

Christmas was wonderful for us! First off a summary of our presents we got: Olivia got the Disney animated Tangled doll, more dolls, just a bunch of toys and her own desk, and some clothes, books, things she needs( new tooth brush etc.), camera and some blocks(the kind that have the pokey things all around them). Korver got some clothes, bear, musical toys, crawling ball, his first tv, books, stacking blocks. And they both got some toys together. Mike's main gift from me was an Ipod Touch. My main gift from Mike was a new lens! I love it! We got awesome things from both of our families too. Some meaningful Christmas letters, a gift that benefits us for the better, a Wii! clothes just a lot of awesome gifts, and some really truly meaningful ones this year:) We first went and visited Mike's family in the morning and then mine later that day. So for my sister Stephanie, she wanted to write her husband Jon a book for Christmas and she wanted me to illustrate it for her. It was so much fun doing it for her, and she even made me a copy- thank you SHutterfly:) ANYWAYS the book is so cute(not just the drawings) but the story is so cute its about two kids trying to catch the tooth fairy. Stephanie is a really talented writer. Here are some pictures of a few of the pages.

She typed the words in different colors. It turned out so cute!

 

Here is a picture with my new lens- Mike took the picture:) I did not just color my hair red for Christmas-

And this is why we really buy our kids toys:

Grandma and Grandpa Smith with DeAnn's kids Izzy and Russell and then Olivia and Korver- he's gettin' so big huh! ( new 49ers onesie:))

It was such a wonderful Christmas but it went by way too fast!

Christmas Family Update

We sent out Christmas cards but didnt send a family update with it so here it is: 

Mike and Haley:

Mike is still the head stone mason at Hearth and Home (fireplace place) and does such an awesome job. Lately he has been really busy at work and on side jobs which is great. Plus he doesnt like to sit still:) With work keeping him so busy there hasn't been time for sports but with basketball coming up Im sure he will play on a few teams.He is so great to stay up with Korver at night and he helps out so much around the house with the cleaning. I really lucked out when I married him! (not only because he likes to keep a clean house) He truly is wonderful. I love being at home, entertaining the kids, keeping up the artist in me with drawing, and also taking pictures. I have been able to have a lot of photo shoots lately which is so great! Life is keeping us busy.

Olivia:

Is 2 1/2 and is just so much fun. Yes, she wants to do everything herself. She has finally been actually talking! Its funny how you think it will never happen and then one day its just like they never stop:)She loves nursery. Lately her thing is just to come up and say "I love you momma" and give a big hug. She just loves to dance and she loves to copy what ever she hears. She loves to do the dishes and play in the water. Her hair is getting so long and she wants to keep it long:) Every morning she goes and hops into Korver's crib when she hears him wake up and lays by him until mommy will get herself out of bed to get him:) She is such a great big sister to him... but she does try to steal his binky every now and then but she knows she is not supposed to have it. She definitly keeps us on our toes:) This next year I want to start her in dance. She loves Super Why, Cat in the Hat, Enchanted pretty much anything she will watch and gets into. We try to potty train her but Im not really rushing it right now. She really does talk all the time but it does take her a while to warm up.

Korver:

Our 7 month old bundle of joy:) He is going to be crawling any day now! He is a butt scooter. One minute he is by the couch and 5 minutes later clear across the room! He has his first tooth and only wants to eat what we eat:) For the most part he sleeps through the night. We could just let him cry himself back to sleep but its hard when he is in our room:) Mike is so great to get up with him most of the time! He is so happy and just melts your heart with his smile. You can make him laugh so easily and he loves to pull himself to standing position in his crib and on the couch and if mommy is close enough he'll climb his way up on me. He is our ball of fun! (and he stores all his food in his cheeks:))

Have a Merry Christmas!

First Tooth!

This cute little 7 month old guy has his first tooth! Well it just broke through:) Isn't he just the cutest thing! He is such a ball of fun!

Daddy reading Olivia Christmas stories in the background.

Birthday Weekend Of Fun

For my birthday from Mike he sent me away to the Little America Hotel with some friends to have a break from the kids. It was a nice relaxing getaway.( plus learning some new interesting information...:)) We ate yummy food at Bucca Di Peppo and then colored our hair at the hotel- i have bright red streaks in front- fire engine red. Then on Saturday a day of shopping at the Gateway:) Thanks honey for a wonderful weekend! Now that Christmas is only two sundays away here is something to get you in the mood:)

You're Invited!

You are invited to celebrate my birthday with me:)

Enjoy!

My Cake

Birthday Outfit

Presents

FHE

For the month of December ( well we started right after Thanksgiving- so part in November) for family home evening we have themed it around doing service for others. We have been keeping it focused on Christ and service. So to keep Olivia entertained we have been watching the Book Of Mormon sing- along videos and been teaching her that we always need to keep Christ with us and tell her all the things he has done for us, etc.  For our first FHE activity we watched the nativity and I explained to her that Jesus gave us everything- she is only two so I explain things in a way for her to understand and then I had her go through her room with me to find things she doesn't need and that we could give to another little girl who needed some things for Christmas. She was really willing to give up a couple of her things. (first I had searched for a family who needed help with Christmas) . Then we delivered the stuff the next day. So for tonights FHE we are still focusing on doing service- we are going to talk more about all the wonderful things Christ does, and gives to us,(spiritually and physically) and what we can give to Christ - and so we will just be talking about ideas and then later on probably on Christmas Eve we will actually each write something to work on for the next year for Christ, put it in a box or something and then open them on Christmas Eve next year. Anyways I found this video and will probably show it sometime during FHE tonight. Then we are making holiday cookies to deliver to people.