A January Christmas after Christmas

A week and a half after Christmas, we headed down to Vegas for a long weekend and for our 2nd Christmas. Travis' parents spoiled us again with so many fun gifts. We enjoyed opening our gifts to and from one another and Dallen loved playing with all of his new gifts once we got home. We spent some of our time with the Starleys and went on a hike to the Arizona Hot Springs. It was a little chilly, especially toward the end, but lots of fun regardless.

We went out to eat at our favorite restaurants while in town and Dallen had a great time especially at the Mexican restaurant. Then as a fun family event, we went to Pole Position and drove the really fast race cars. Travis really loves it there and we all had a great time. It was a fun trip and so nice to spend some time in the warm weather. And having 2 Christmas' isn't that bad either. :D

White Christmas in Frisco Colorado

We had the most memorable Christmas this year. My parents went all out and rented a huge cabin and planned a couple of fun activities for us as our Christmas presents this year. We found the perfect cabin in Frisco Colorado; a quaint town on Dillion Lake in the mountains. We all arrived 3 days before Christmas and loved the Christmas anticipation and fun activities we did together. The first day we all went on snowmobile rides and took turns watching the kiddos. It was freezing but still way fun and a first for Travis and I.

Sunday we attended Church together and spent the day relaxing at the cabin. Monday was Christmas Eve and was the most perfect day of the whole trip. We all went sledding in the morning- even Grandma came to watch. The weather was perfect and we had tons of sleds. Everyone had a great time laughing and sledding together. For Christmas Eve we all went on a sleigh ride in our own sleigh fit for 21 people. We sang Christmas carols the entire way (hey!) and just laughed at ourselves for being so goofy and filling the air with music for all the other sleigh riders to hear as well. We were taken to a warm tent structure for dinner and entertainment and had so much fun eating a yummy meal and dancing to the music. It was more carols on the sleigh ride back and then off to bed to await Santa. It was the most magical Christmas Eve. I will never forget it.

Christmas morning was the usual-lots of wrapping paper and lots of wonderful gifts. Dallen enjoyed opening a couple gifts and then just wanted to check out the toys. It was so nice giving my gifts and being there to see the fam open them. Travis was so sweet and got me these super cute authentic cowboy boots and the bike trailer I wanted as well. It was a wonderful Christmas day. The rest of the trip and during down time, we played lots of games, Telestrations and Words of Wiz Dumb being the family favorites this time, relaxed in the hot tub, and played with the kiddos. We even squeezed in a professional family picture. I can't complain about any of it and I think I can say that it was the best Christmas I've ever had.

18 months

What I've noticed most about Dallen turning 18 months are the words he's saying and the jibber jabber he does throughout the day. It's so adorable. I love that he is a little talker. He's trying so hard to communicate and points to things all the time. He watches us when we try to get him to mimic what we're saying, but he rarely tries. Here is a list of the 12 words/phrases he knows right now:

Dada

socks

deer

fish

pixie

there she is

ut-oh

woah

no

hi
thank you
teeth

The phrase 'there she is' was learned because I apparently say that a lot when I'm looking for Lily and then find her. So he'll say it when he finds something or someone he's looking for. It's sooo cute! Socks is his favorite word. He says it whenever he sees socks being put on and I think he gets excited about it because he knows it means we're going outside. :) Pixie is really pronounced six-y and is the name of our dog sitter's schnauzer. To Dallen, I think Pixie represents going to the Harris' house and getting lots of attention, treats, and a fun place to run around. He loves being with them. It's so fun watching him learn this world around him. 

He's also getting into more and more things. I know I say that every time, but it's getting worse- the desk drawers, the kitchen drawers, still the toilet and dog food/water, DVD drawer and on and on. He loves looking at different DVD boxes and really just loves getting into things that aren't toys. Such a little stinker! 

He loves riding the Grizzly ATV with Dad and makes Mom so nervous! It's so cute though to see them take off together though. :)

Bolt is his favorite DVD by far right now. He doesn't have a favorite food because he changes his opinion all the time! It drives me crazy. He is a bink-a-nator and drags his blanket around like Linus. :)

I'm sure there's more I could go on about but those are the things that stand out the most about him right now. We're loving all of the different stages and sharing our lives with our little guy. Life just can't get any better. :D

Hicks Family Pictures

Here are our 2012 Family Pictures taken in September. We love them! Photography by Kate Gundersen. Sadly, she moved to New Zealand shortly after this shoot.

Birthdays Weekend

This year we lucked out and Travis had a 4 day weekend during our birthdays. So we decided to head up north to spend time together and do some Christmas shopping. We stayed with Jay and Tamara Starley, which we love because it’s so comfortable having their basement to ourselves. They have become good friends and another set of grandparents for Dallen. J We drove up on my birthday and that night they offered to babysit Dallen so we could go out for sushi with our friends. It was one of the best birthday presents ever! Just to have a peaceful dinner out, it was awesome. We went out with Ben and Elisha, Travis’ friend from PA school and had some yummy yummy rolls. I can’t remember the last time we had sushi! It was well over due. That day we spent a lot of time at Cabelas and ran a few other errands as well. Dallen loves Cabelas- looking at all the mounts and fish and running around the store; so it’s always fun to take him there. We went to Sarah’s as well and Travis removed a few skin tags for her while I let the boys run around outside. It’s always good to see her and her boys.

The next day was Travis’ birthday and we spent a lot of time at the new sports store, Scheels. It has mounts and fish as well and just lots of stuff to look at it, so we had a good time there as well. That night we went to Tucanos for dinner with Jay and Tamara while their neighbor, Lilly, tended Dallen for us. It was sooo nice of her to offer! So again we had a wonderful birthday dinner.

On Saturday the Young Women from Beaver had come up to go to Festival of Trees and see Savior of the World and since I’m the Laurel Advisor, I decided to meet up with them in the morning at Festival of Trees. I’d never been before so it was neat to see all the trees and items under the tree that people had bid for. All the money goes to Primary Children’s Hospital. It was a great charity fundraiser and fun to hang out with the Young Women for awhile. Afterwards I met back up with Travis and Dallen and we went to the Apple store to check out the iPad minis. We decided it was time to get an iPad and wanted to figure out which one we wanted. We will primarily use it for video and picture viewing (meaning road trip movies and trail camera picture scanning out in the field). They’re way nice. It was a long day of shopping and ended with us driving home that night to meet up with Travis’ parents back at home.

Linda and David came up for our birthday weekend for Saturday night and Sunday. We met at our house at 9:30pm and visited with Dallen and then opened presents. They are always so generous! They gave me a couple massage gift certificates, a couple Christmas movies, a griddle/grill machine, a BYU T-shirt, and an outhouse Christmas decoration. On my actual birthday, Travis gave me the new bed spread/quilt I’ve been wanting and LOVE it! My mom got me a nice lightweight robe and Dallen gave me a new Patagonia shirt. It was a wonderful birthday. On Sunday we just spent the day doing things around Beaver; ATV ride, shopping, and shooting. We sold our Ranger so the boys took the Grizzly out while Linda and I shopped. I definitely miss our Ranger and am looking forward to getting a new one next year. (Travis wants a bigger and better model). So it was a great birthday spent together the 3 of us, and with friends and family. Yeah for 31 and 34 years!

Quaint Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we spent as just our small little family. Travis’ family hosted his Grandpa Jim at their house in Vegas and Travis only had 2 days off, so neither of us could make the trip. So the Wednesday before Thanksgiving day we ventured up into the mountains to find our Christmas tree. We hadn’t been up the canyon in a long time since they’ve been doing roadwork all summer so it was fun getting out. We went to a few places before we finally found the one off the Jimmy Reed trail. It turned out to be a much nicer one than last years! Of course it was too tall again when we brought it in the house; they’re so hard to judge outside of the house. It was a great day and a great way to start Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving day I decided to make a turkey dinner for us with all of the usual sides. It was a big meal for us, but it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a turkey and mashed potatoes and rolls and everything else. J It was my first time making Thanksgiving dinner by myself and it actually turned out really well. It took a lot longer than I thought, but I’m glad it all turned out.  When we look back on this year we feel so blessed to have Dallen in our family and really feel incredibly blessed overall. There is just so much to be thankful for!