We spent all weekend painting hinges for all of the doors and cabinets in our house (72 in all) We painted the door hinges to match the new doorknobs and the cabinet hinges to match the new cabinet hardware. It took forever and was incredibly labor intensive, but we saved like $400 that it would have cost us to buy new ones.
After:
As soon as we heard a peep from her room, we ran in to get her and wish her Merry Christmas. I think she was a little startled but thought it was fun.
She loved the Crayola Color Wonder set. She was already experimenting with pens and pencils on the furniture. Now, she'll have to use paper.
Limbo Elmo broke. So, Santa bought a Doctor Visit Elmo. He is just as fun.
And, how could we ever forget jewlery for such a lady. We knew she would love it after playing with Mom's all the time.
This was the grand finale! She played a while in the wagon with all her presents. Then, we were off to Granpa and Grandma's house. 
Tyler and I also had a great Christmas. We exchanged presents Christmas Eve so we could spend all Christmas with Rachel. Tyler was surpised to get his wish of a Digital Frame and wallet. He also got another Office calendar, a fog free mirror, and some car cleaning stuff. I loved to see his face. I certainly surprised him this year which is tough for me. Tyler bought me a gift card to Kohl's, Pink fragrance from Victoria Secert, and (the best) a heart rate monitor and calorie counter watch. I cant wait to use it! Rachel also received much needed clothes, toys, and books. Tyler got pants and an electric screw driver. As a family, we got a a camcorder. HOW exciting!!! Our blog with be rocking now.
Thank you everyone!!! And have a fantastic New Year.
We've been quite busy lately. Tyler took his last final finished school for the semester, then last Friday Dave, Tiffany and Tommy flew in from Phoenix and Mae came down from Idaho with the kids (-Rebecca who was sick and Jason who stayed with her) We celebrated an early Christmas at Robyn and Aaron's house on Saturday. On Sunday, we sang in our Stake Christmas concert. Dave and Tiffany stayed with us Monday and Tuesday and last night we went to look at lights on Temple Square before we dropped them off at the airport. Tonight we went to temple square again with the Lloyds and had hot chocolate and treats afterward and Melinda and Caleb's place. It's been a busy week, but we are excited for Christmas next week.
Rachel checking out the snow in front of our house:
We also realized today that her snowsuit doesn't fit her anymore. Actually it never fit her because last winter it was too big and this year it is too small. Anyway, we'll be off to the store to find her a new winter outfit later this afternoon.
Here is Rachel chasing the dog around and trying to play with him:
We played the candy bar game and Rachel helped everyone out:
Cousins playing dominos:
The Dixie National Forest is short one White Fir tree because we cut one down and hauled it back north. (Actually Uncle Don cut it down and Mom and Dad hauled it on their van because it was a bit large to strap to the roof of the Elantra.) When we saw it, we thought it was the most perfectly shaped, best looking tree in the whole forest, but when we got it home it was pretty sad looking. Once we got the thing decorated and lit it up, it actually ended up looking pretty good:
The tree was originally about 15' tall, and our ceiling is only 9' so we had to cut a few feet off the bottom to make it fit. We took the branches and made a garland for the balcony:
Rachel has always loved to dance, and now that she can actually stand, walk and move about on her own, she has gotten much better at it. One of her favorite dance moves is spinning, which she does until she falls down, then gets up, spins, falls and repeats again and again and again until she falls and bonks her head or gets so dizzy that she can't stand anymore:
We've had a nice weekend together as a family, and are excited for our trip this week to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin in Hatch for Thanksgiving.
They have messed up every part of the reservation I recently made. Seriously, they couldn't have been any worse if they had tried, and none of their employees seems to care at all. I'm not exaggerating when I say that each of the 10+ people I have talked to by phone over the past week has been rude and stupid. I'll walk to Florida before I ever consider buying a ticket from them again.
..and decorating a Haloween bag with mom:
We also carved our first family jack-o-lantern (for some reason we didn't do one last year):
Also, the weather on Saturday was terrible for about the 5th week in a row. We had our first snow that stuck on the ground of the year, though it had all melted by Sunday afternoon. (It actually got much worse after we took these pictures.)
Look at all those presents!!
Reading a new book with Mommy:
Eating her new socks:
Eating birthday cake:
What a mess!!!
Rachel was actually really sick most of the weekend, but we already had an appointment and she managed gave us a few good minutes of smiles for the camera.
The last one of her playing peek-a-boo is even cuter if you've ever seen her try to play peek-a-boo. She usually cheats and only covers one of her eyes. The other hand usually ends up on her forehead or ear.
She is feeling better now and we have all had a good but busy week. Daddy had a lot of tests and homework to do for school, Mommy has been busy getting ready to translate for General Conference and the RS Broadcast. Rachel is busy as always exploring around the house. This week she was able to find an uncapped pen, which she used to draw all over herself and the chair in the office.
Rachel's is getting so BIG! She is learning to use a fork and plate. The plate is sometimes uses as a cup which means everything ends up on the floor, but she is learning. She likes to use a fork, but she gets the ends confused sometimes!
Rachel and Daddy played at temple square while Mommy interpreted a CES Fireside for Sister Lant. She looks so cute at just the perfect place.
This is the house at 1026 Renee that we lived in while in Pocatello:
The new cabin has a fabulous view. It is just a great place to relax and hang out with family.
Rachel also met the horses across the street. She didn't mind if I pet them, but she wasn't interested in touching them. We're finding out that she doesn't really like animals.
We made a trip to see the old cabin and the sight there. It was amazing.
Tyler liked walking through memory lane from the swing, to the trees with his name on it, and of course the play house in front
Whack-a-mole!!!!
I got an offer from the banker of 53 tickets for my case, but foolishly turned it down. I only ended up winning 6 tickets :-(
