Sledding

 I was out running errands one Saturday, and when I got home, this is what I found. Ryan had pushed a ton of snow up against our rocks in the backyard to make a sledding hill. 

All three of them were so excited to show me.......

Within 4 minutes of walking in the door, Hayden and Cole had both gone down, and they were both crying from injuries! It's all fun and games, until someone gets hurt :) Ha, and I had to of course pull out the camera to catch the tears....

Ryan made a few adjustments to make it a little bit safer, and then they were set to give it another go. A few neighbor kids even came to try it out over the next few weeks. 

What a fun Daddy!

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas this year! It was very busy, but so fun to celebrate with family.

The kids woke up about 6. We let Brooklyn sleep for a while. Then we headed down to the fun. We opened stockings, had breakfast, and then opened presents. Ryan's not a big fan of waiting until after breakfast to open presents, but I love to extend the excitement for a bit!

Hayden was so excited about the makeup she got. She kept reapplying it throughout the day. 

Of course, Brooklyn had no idea what was going on, but she was happy to have all kinds of attention throughout the day!

Cole got lots of fun things. He was excited to add to his Imaginext collection.

We spent the morning just hanging out with our family enjoying the magic of Christmas morning.

Grandma and Grandpa Woodland came over for a little bit to see the loot and bring even more fun!

Hayden and Cole were excited to try on Cole's new costumes. He's been dressing up in Hayden's princess costumes for so long, we figured it was time he had some boy costumes to wear!

That afternoon we went to have lunch with my family. We had it at my parent's clubhouse and they also invited people from their branch that didn't have family to spend the day with.

Hayden with some beautiful pink eyeshadow!

P.S. Her shirt says LOVELY. About 6 different people asked during the day :)

It's so sweet how much Uncle Sean loves this little girl!

The MacLeod crew.

Our next stop was Natalie and Cody's house for Christmas dinner. We eat, hung out, played games and got tired! 

After all of the excitement, we headed home and crashed!

It was such a wonderful day and a great reminder of our Savior Jesus Christ and all of the love and blessings we've been given!

Christmas Eve

Ryan's family has the tradition of going to breakfast at Ruth's Dinner and then to the Zoo on Christmas Eve. This Christmas Eve was super snowy, but we had lots of fun. The snow really started coming down towards the end of our visit.  

Hayden drew, colored and painted this guide so we would know what animals to look for at the zoo. Isn't it awesome?! I just love it!

We went back to Grandma and Grandpa Woodland's house for some lunch. Grandpa Woodland read some Christmas books to the kids, and then we braved it home in the massive snow storm.

When we got home, we found the jammas the elves had left for us!

Later that night the kids sprinkled the reindeer food on the lawn. We left out some treats for Santa, had a little Christmas devotional, and headed off to bed, so Santa could come!

Christmas Card and Newsletter

Here is our Christmas Card and Newsletter for the year...

This has been a busy year, full of changes. We had a baby girl, Brooklyn, in June. Ryan accepted a new job at US Synthetic in Orem. So, we packed up and moved to Utah in August. We have been busy getting settled and adjusting to life in Utah!

Brooklyn (6 months)- Princess, super  ticklish, great smile and laugh, happy baby, rolling, grabbing everything, eating baby food, little bitty, very loved.

Cole (3 years)- Preschool, gymnastics, loves cars and  superheroes, great imagination and loves to play pretend, smarty pants.

Hayden (5 years)- Kindergarten, reading, gymnastics, social, lots of play dates, lost first tooth, great big sister, loves to hold Brooklyn.

We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for sending us His Son, and for the peace and joy we have in our lives.

We hope you also feel our Savior's peace and love this season and all through the new year!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Ryan, Carli, Hayden, Cole, and Brooklyn

Christmas Program and Party

Hayden had her school Christmas Program on the last day of school before the break. She had been practicing and talking about it for months before, so she was beyond excited! 

They all got to wear pajamas and they sang all kinds of Christmas songs. All the kindergartners sang as a group and then each class got to sing their own song. Hayden's class sang "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." They had a radio playing the songs, and the kids wear way off from the people on the songs, but it was still fun to hear them and see their enthusiasm. Daddy, Grammy, Grampa, and Grandma Woodland were all able to be there with us to support Hayden!

That night was our MacLeod family Christmas party. We had it at Sean's church building. We had a yummy dinner and then had a fun visitor...

Cole wouldn't really talk to him. He had already talked to Santa at our ward party, though. He asked that Santa for Legos, which totally threw us off. "Santa" already had presents for Cole. We were hoping he would forget about it but everyday he would say something like "I asked Santa for Legos, so I'm getting Legos." So, "Santa" had to make another trip to the store to get some Legos!

Brooklyn was pretty indifferent to Santa.

Hayden was scared to death of Santa! She is not our brave child and only agreed to sit on his lap if she could hold on to me with a death grip and get a present from him.

Then all of the kids put on the nativity. Hayden was Mary, Brogan was Joseph, and Lindsey was the donkey. Cole was one of the wise men.

Grampa and Brooklyn

It was such a fun night and so great to be with family!

Brian Reagan

US Synthetic put on a great Christmas Party. It was held at UVU. Ryan's parents were nice enough to come over and babysit while we went. 

The party consisted of a yummy dessert bar and then great entertainment by Brian Reagan!

Ryan and I love Brian Reagan. We went to one of his shows a few years ago (maybe 6), and loved it. So, we were so excited. This party was a great night with yummy food and lots of laughs!

Looking forward to seeing how they will top this next year ;)

6 month Baby

This little girl turned 6 months old about a month ago! Isn't she the cutest?! 

At the end of November, she was being a little ornery, which was strange, because she hardly ever cries. She wasn't sleeping well, either. So, I took her to the doctor. She had dropped to about the 20th percentile in weight to only the 5th percentile in a month. Not good. So, we found out why she was so ornery- she was starving!! Poor little baby. We switched to formula and increased her baby food feedings. I took her back 2 weeks later for her 6 month check up and she had gained a pound!! 

Her 6 month stats were-

weight- 13lbs 7oz- 15th percentile

height- 26.5in- 85 percentile

head- 42 cm- 30th percentile

She's still small, but not for long. She is gaining weight fast! With this added weight, she has gotten back to sleeping through the night. Oh happy day!

Using her tongue to play with her teeth

She has 2 teeth on the bottom that are adorable.

She has THE GREATEST smile and laugh, and is very ticklish. 

She still rolls around and has started scooting backwards.

She squels a lot :)

Hayden and Cole still adore her, and are great to hold her and play with her when I need help.

She loves to play in her saucer.

and she's pretty much the cutest little princess around!