CHRISTMAS 2012!!!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! I love Christmas parties, I love Christmas movies, I love Christmas music, I love Christmas EVERYTHING!!!! This Christmas was a little different because I got home from FL the day before Christmas Eve, but it was so fun that Adelaide was able to get more into the Christmas spirit. We started out the tradition well with our annual tree hunt and then it went awesome from there.We watched The Grinch, White Christmas, and Rudolf together (I had plans for many more, but it just didn't happen); we made Christmas cookies with Whit and Laurie (Adelaide mostly took care of the eat and destroy aspect of it);

 

we had an epic 12-12-12 ugly sweater party (ugly photo booth pics provided); we did some little service projects for the 12 days leading up to Christmas; we had Hunter's Stew (Sheryl's traditional Christmas Eve soup) Christmas Eve at G-ma and G-pa Stoker's house with the Stoker clan; we had our traditional Christmas breakfast (monkey bread and strata) while we chilled at our house; and then we ended our Christmas festivities up at Dad and Kathy's house with lots of good food and the Archers. It was a really great Christmas besides Sheryl not being there to share it with us.

 Riding in on her new car toy

 Opening Christmas gifts at home (Lucy looks jealous...don't worry...she got something from Santa, too)

 Cousins opening presents at Pop and Gram's house

 Christmas Mohawk in her new Christmas dress from Grandpa Evan 

Getting dressed for Christmas Eve dinner

Video of her opening her first present (besides the car from Santa) from Grandpa Evan

Family Pics/Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at Dad and Kathy's house. It was fun to be with my Brosephs and their beautiful families. I am SO grateful for my family and how close we are. I am grateful that both of my brothers married women who are way out of their league and who I love like sisters. These women help me be a better wife and parent by their example. I am grateful that my Dad and Kathy live so close that I can see them occasionally and for their generosity whenever we need a tool or a break from our daughter. I am grateful for my life, my devilishly handsome husband, my adorable little girl, my home, and especially my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am a better person because of my religion and I am grateful for the way its teachings stretch me and push me to become better, more giving, and more GRATEFUL for all that I have been given (because I've been given a lot). Food on Thanksgiving is awesome, but remembering all that you have been blessed with is even better.

 I am horrible at taking pictures at family get-togethers because I'm usually laughing and having fun. Hence, there are no photos. Instead, I will include photos that my dear friend Britt took of us this fall for our family pictures.

The Laidy turns ONE!!!

My baby turned ONE! How does time go by so quickly? I have to tell you, this past year with this girl has been FUN! She is so AWESOME! She is smart, friendly, and loving and I just can't help laughing and smiling any time I'm around her. Ev and I feel VERY grateful to have her for our daughter. She's da best.

We didn't do too much on her actual birthday, so almost all of the pictures are from her party. We had a good turn out of friends and family. Evan's dad even flew down from Seattle just for Adelaide (what a good Grandpa). Dad and Kathy hosted the party at their house so we wouldn't be sitting on each other's laps and it was super fun. Adelaide had a blast, a sugar rush, and then a sugar crash (after most of the guests had left). My good friend Britt took lots of pictures of the occasion, so I just made a slideshow of them all. I also wanted to include the video of her eating her cake because that's always entertaining.

Our Trip to Colorado

In the middle of October, we made the long trek to Colorado to visit the Moore family. It was worth every ugly second of driving. Aunt B had an agenda of what we were doing and what we were eating, so all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride. B took all of the girls (Jamie, me, and A) to a 'farm' in Fort Collins where Adelaide could see farm animals up close and personal. Her favorite was the goats (as you will see in a picture below)

 She got to feed the goats and sheep but she was a little scared, so J showed her how it was done.

 She kept trying to hug the goat. I think it reminded her a little of Lucy.

 Opening her first birthday present from her aunt B and uncle Jimmy.

 All the girls!

 So, Fort Collins does this creepy thing called the Zombie Crawl. I had to go check it out, so Jamie and Trent were nice enough to let me tag along as we went and checked out all of the zombies. Some of them were very convincing....a little too convincing. I was ready for the inevitable zombie attack after this experience.

 There were also lots of weird people...like this tie-dyed man. This wasn't a costume. This was real. He even told us that he has another suit at home with tie-dyed shoes that go with it. That is tie-dye dedication, folks. And a little bit of crazy.

 We also saw a dude getting busted for zombie attacking people. I don't know if that's really true, but a girl can dream.

Our last day we headed out in the afternoon, so we had a fun day at the park in the morning to wear out Adelaide for the long drive home (it didn't work, FYI). I just love the look of joy on her face in this picture. Evan's look of joy is a close second.

It was a very fun trip and I was SO sad to go, but luckily the Moores are only an eight hour car ride away instead of an eight hour (slight exaggeration) plane ride.

Bear Lake and 1st bath in the big tub

I have so much catching up to do that I am combining some things that happened over the summer. One of my favorite things that happened was a girlfriend-get-together with some of my best buds. Terena and her husband came out to Utah for a family reunion and Kat and her family were transitioning from OK to HI, so we all got together for a beach day in Bear Lake. I love these girls and love spending any time I can with them and their beautiful families.

 Josie's do-rag (is that how you spell it?) was one of my favorite parts of the day, so I had to include a picture of it.

 My sweet Laidy at the beach. This was her first encounter with sand and all she wanted to do was eat it by the bucket load. It was a little too chilly to go in the water, so we just hung out on the blanket instead.

 Another epic adventure we had this summer was moving from the kitchen sink for baths into the big tub. A thinks that she is hot stuff now that she can make laps in our tub. I think that this is evident in the look on her face.

Archer Family Reunion

This year we had an Archer family reunion in Midway, Utah. It was mid-way for all of us to travel (I'm laughing at my stupid attempt at humor as I write this...wow). It was so much fun to see all of my siblings and  dad and Kathy, but the most fun was seeing all of my nieces and nephews. I know people think they may have the cutest nieces and nephews, but I KNOW it! They are all beautiful, smart, and funny. I can't wait for Jr. and Laidy to get a little older so they will play together like all of the other cousins. Here are a few pics of our 'pool day', compliments of Joby and Jules.

 Check out her thighs. I know you're jealous.

  Kissing Cousins

 Sharing bugs with each other. So cute.

I'm so glad that my dad and Kathy put this together because it was so much fun to get together with the fam and not have any holiday pressure. We just relaxed and had fun and enjoyed one another's company...what family reunions are supposed to be like, right?

Girl's Camp

I was in charge of Girl's Camp for our church this year and lucky Adelaide got to come along with me. Luckily we didn't have to 'rough it'. There was a trailer on site, so we were able to sleep in that instead of a tent. All of the girls loved having Adelaide around so much that I barely even saw her. This was Adelaide's first camping experience and she handled it like a champ.