It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

 We drove around looking at Christmas lights so often that Azucena started asking us "go look at the lights?" every time we got into the car. She'd also use a few catch phrases over and over: "oh nice, very nice" and "look at the lights! They're beautiful!" :D In our ward boundaries, a whole row of houses gathered together to become "Santa Claus Lane" and those houses did such a great job!

 We also got a really good snowstorm (finally) which meant we had to try and re-create my baby picture from Utah. :D Unfortunately, Adelaide was much less cooperative than Azucena had been and we didn't get any decent shots. But here's a look at how I took the pictures (and proves how awesome Clark was, since Azucena kept trying to get outside). The snow looks gorgeous and really gets us in the Christmas spirit!

Earley Christmas

 Our last night in Utah was our family Christmas celebration. Annie finished all the extra stockings she's been making (two daughter-in-laws and two granddaughters in three years! That's a lot of needlework!) and hung them up by the fireplace. I love how full it looks!

We had lots of fun opening presents and having the girls discover new games, toys, and books. Christmas is definitely better with kids. I'm hoping Tyler liked his T-shirt despite the face he's making in the picture. :D Also, that gift from Brady IS wrapped in toilet paper and it WAS a book about potty-training. He's so punny!

Adelaide's Birthday Party

 I can't believe we're already celebrating your first birthday, Adelaide! I mean, I know it's still a couple of days away, but you're already so grown up it makes my heart ache a little. What a beautiful lady you're becoming!

Since we're in Utah for Thanksgiving, we decided to have your party here, with family. Your great-aunts and great-uncles were kind enough to get you some fun gifts and you were able to spend time with great-grandma Gardner and your cousins Kaiah and Maisie.

 YOUR CHEEKS!

 Instead of doing healthy food (like your sister's first birthday) we went whole hog with sugary goodness. Everyone got to make their own owl cupcakes and we had no-bake cookies shaped like nests and filled with jelly bean "eggs." They were cute and I liked how they both looked so we'll call the party a success. :)
 

Thanksgiving in Utah, pt. 1

 As if doing a 5K on Thanksgiving morning isn't enough, Clark insisted on doing his ab workout the night before. Brady joined in with him and so did Azucena!

The next morning, at the unholy hour of before-the-sun-rose, everyone got their things together and Uncle Steve showed up and we set off for our 5K adventure!

Our family even got a picture with the Thanksgiving turkey!

 I love Tyler and Jessica for all the reasons shown in this one picture. ALL OF THEM! :)

 Friday night, we got to go to the Lionhouse Pantry for dinner (which was super delicious!) and walk around Temple Square. We even ran into the Kermanns from our Wymount ward! This is the first tradition that has been a repeat for Adelaide--I can't believe she's almost one year old! If it hadn't been, like, zero degrees we would've stayed longer but, as it was, the girls were completely chilled even after a half hour of walking around. Also, I love Clark's iPhone picture of our family; Azucena's face is classic. :D

Side note: while I love how downtown Salt Lake is evolving and growing, this picture makes me sad: you used to be able to stand at the northwest corner of Temple Square (or even that end of the Conference Center) and get a beautiful shot of the temple spires in the night sky. Now it almost looks like the temple is marketing Zions Bank. :(

November 22

 

 Exactly on his 18th birthday, Edgar was able to take out his endowments in the Denver temple. Clark was kind enough to fly me to Denver for the day (seriously, a day) and, despite the ridiculous weather and delays and crappy non-existent customer service, it was a great trip. Above are Dad, Mom, Edgar, Nathan (thanks for your face, you dork), and Taylor, his soon-to-be. :D

Afterward, Dad took us to a Vietnamese sandwich place which was ridiculously DELICIOUS and man, do I want to go there again five times this week! MMMM! Edgar also commented on how Adelaide looks just like the Buddha statue they had in their shop (she doesn't) but I couldn't help taking a picture of them together. Can't wait to see everyone again at Christmas!

A Week in November

 So this week we had some decently warm (and non-windy) weather! This meant that, for the first time, I was able to take the girls to the school playground that is literally in our backyard. (We also have an animal hospital in our backyard, but that story is for another day.) Azucena LOVED it. She constantly asks to go play on the slide. I love how adventurous she is! Also, the little sneak knows how to climb anything in front of her, be it a crib, bookshelf, or jungle gym. Yikes.

Wednesday was pretty icky, though. I woke up feeling absolutely TERRIBLE. I couldn't even sit up I was feeling so ridiculously dizzy and nauseous. I tried to encourage the girls to hang out on the bed and read stories (kind of--I'd just recite bits I knew rather than read pages and bring on more nausea) but that turned out to be a pretty terrible idea once they discovered the journals and alarm clock that sit on our headboard. After a couple of hours of toughing it out (and asking for advice on Facebook) I finally lay down to nurse Adelaide for her morning nap and fell asleep, too. 45 minutes later, I woke up and discovered that Azucena had done this to herself:

 Thankfully, everything she used was washable (thank heavens we hid the Sharpies!) but MAN was she a mess! The instant her toes hit the bath water it turned a dark purple and the more of her that came in contact with the water, the worse it got. Thankfully I was feeling MUCH better and was able to scrub her down. However, it turns out she'd gotten into one more thing while I was sleeping, and Adelaide took advantage of my being distracted in the bathroom to satisfy her sweet tooth:

Last Oregon Post

The last full day of Oregon, we visited the "Devil's Punchbowl" as a gigantic family (we were only missing Grandma Earley!). There is some darn beautiful scenery on the Oregon coastline!

 The crew (minus me (taking the picture) and Grandma Earley (resting at the beach house)).

 Devil's Punchbowl. Sadly, I'm too short to have really gotten any good shots. As it was, I had to hold my camera an arm's length above my head and just shoot blind.

 Mmm, waves splashing on rocks. :)

 Awww, the Earley boys!

 Adelaide decided to randomly take a nap right when we pulled up to the park/hike. Silly girl.

 Azucena refused to look at the camera because she, too, was getting ready to sleep (as evidenced by the next picture).

 Well, two out of four smiling for the camera isn't bad, right?

Man, I miss sunsets without mountains!