December Happenings

Here is a quick look into what we were up too in the weeks before Christmas!!

Owen often asked us to take pictures of him in front of the "Biiiiiiig Christmas tree!"... here he is posing with his new bus from Grandma and Grandpa! He stood there posing until we went and got the camera! Funny boy!

-Shad started his new Job!! He enjoys the work, the people, and the overall work experience he is getting there. He commutes to Tacoma everyday, which is only about 25-30 minutes away and in the opposite direction of most traffic... so that is a blessing! Owen and I are trying to adjust to being just the two of us all day again! :)

-We kicked off the month with our annual ward Christmas Party. Its a breakfast, where everyone comes dressed in comfy jammies and enjoys a huge spread of various delicious breakfast food. They also did a "Polar Express" theme/show this year, which Owen LOVED. Since like most little boys, he is very into trains.

- Just a couple weeks after Shad started at the law firm, they had their work Christmas Party. It was the first time I got to meet all the people that work there with him. Everyone is SUPER nice, and hilarious! Most of them are LDS, and BYU fans as well... so we fit right in! It was fun to talk and get to know the people he works with. Apparently they get pretty into their annual elephant gift exchange! Shad and I walked away with these gems:

The glass (Yes, real glass!) shoe soap dispenser was a highly coveted item. I was happy to end up with it! Shad got the magnet dart board, which was actually the coolest gift there. However, most gifts were pretty hilarious. Shad and I took a trip to the "As Seen on TV" to purchase our items: a pink snuggie and HD sunglasses (both were hits!).

-Owen was/is really excited about Christmas Trees and Christmas Lights. One night Shad and I decided to take Owen out around the neighborhood and check out the local lights. Owen LOVED it! He kept saying "Christmas nights!" and "Look at that!!" It was actually a really fun family outing. We bundled up, walked and drove around the neighborhood and admired the lights. Afterward we stopped for some hot chocolate!

Out walking looking at lights, seriously... he is SO CUTE!

Trespassing to get a closer look at the Reindeer!

"So fun!!"

-Owen is started to get pretty social, he is finally starting to do nursery by himself and is making friends. So I decided to host a little Christmas playgroup at our house with some of our friends from nursery. We had 8 kiddos here, and decorated sugar cookies. Then enjoyed our creations with some hot chocolate! It was so much fun to get with other moms and have other kids over for Owen. I think it is something we will have to do again. I, of course, did not take any pictures because it was a little crazy with all those kiddos and all that frosting, cookies, and sprinkled mess! :)

-Since showing Owen the lights around the neighborhood was such a big success Shad and I took Owen to Zoolights! The Point Definace Zoo & Aquarium puts together a pretty big light show at the zoo with lit up animals and Tacoma landmarks (Rainier, Tacoma Narrows Bridge, etc). Then they open up the aquarium portion of the zoo to check out all the fish and Owen's personal favorite: the Shark Tank! I totally brought my camera to this little outing... and when we got there we realized it was out of batteries. LAME pregnant-brain mommy moment!

Here's a pic I found of The Narrows bridge and Rainier:

Very Cool Zoolights!

Its so fun to do little things to celebrate Christmas! Owen is at such a fun age to enjoy just the simplest of things!