Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve we did our traditional Shrimp Boil, opening presents, and playing games.  Ty, Ash and their kids were here too.  We missed Spence, Car, the twins and Justin this year!

Justin sent each of the kids a present to open. He sent them each an "Elder Bear" (Justin is serving his mission in San Francisco and has been out for 4 months).  Each had a backpack and all, and inside the backpack was a personal note from Justin.  Uncle Justin is the best!

Reading Owen's letter from Justin to him, totally made me cry. Justin is so thoughtful and Owen will cherish that little note forever! And so will I.

Owen opening his jammies from Grandma and Grandpa.  (We bathed the kids and got them all ready for bed before opening presents, hence the naked-ness).  Owen was really into the wrapping paper.

Crew, Gracelyn, and Owen wearing their Christmas pj's and reading their Christmas books from Grandma.

The big kids in our pajamas.

We always get a new game on Christmas Eve too.  Clearly, Brett and I are a little more excited than Ty and Ash.  Uno Flash, love it!

 We are heading to Denver to spend some time with Craig and Sheri tomorrow!!  We are loving spending time with family.  I'll get to the Christmas Day pics soon...sadly, I only got a few.  I have to steal some from my parents.

Star-Struck...

Owen met Santa last night. 

He liked him just about as much as he liked the snow.

Snow!!

This weekend we went with our friends the Hutchinson's and the Berry's went up to the Hutchinson's family cabin in Heber.

We had such a fun weekend playing in the snow, playing games, watching movies, and eating so much good food. 

Owen got his first taste of the snow.....

Doesn't he look excited?

Linley pulled him around in the sled and he started dozing off...

 

He was quite comfy.  The still-too-big puffy coat helped (he can't really move in it).

Brett took him down a hill on the sled.  

 

And four wheeling (in the driveway).  Owen, once again, looking thrilled!

He didn't laugh or even crack a smile.  But he didn't whine or cry either.  I think he likes it, but we'll have to give the whole "snow" thing another go. 

Thanksgiving...Giving thanks

A little late, but better than never...

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Brett's Aunt & Uncle Janet and Roger and their families, along with Grandma Denney, Arlene & Emily, and Vicki. 

The food was amazing.  Janet & Roger make a great team when it comes to makin' a turkey.  Wow.  You know it must have been good if I'm still thinking about it a week later.  

The company was great.  Owen had so much fun (in between his cranky, teething fits) with his cousins. 

This year, more than anything I've been reminded of how grateful I am for family; my family, Brett's family, our extended family (that takes us in on Thanksgiving) and our "fake" families.  I don't have family from my side close by, so I'm grateful that Brett does and that I feel like they are my family too. 

I'm thankful for the phone calls, emails,  facebook chats, and skypes from family members that live states away.  Staying connected is important.

I'm grateful for sister-in-laws who feel just like the sisters I always wanted (no offense Tyler, Spencer, or Justin. I'm grateful for you too.  A girl just needs some sisters.)

I'm thankful for friends that are like family. You know who you are!

And I'm so grateful for the two handsome fellas in my life.  I love you both to pieces!  

 

Growing Up

Owen is 9 months old today.  He's turning into a little boy faster than I can stand it. 

The weather was great this afternoon and he was refusing a nap...so we took pictures instead:)

His "Please, no more mom!!" face. 

I can't believe he'll be one year old in just 3 short months. 

Someone might have opened a Christmas present a little early....

  Nana Sheri gave us permission to give it to him early if he was ready....we couldn't resist.  We'll wrap it up and have him open it on Christmas too:)

He's a Naughty Little Beaver

This is how we usually find Owen when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap. 

Kinda cute, until we saw this...

His two, cute little bottom teeth are destroying his crib! How do we make it stop?

Ragnar Pics....lots of them.

I still can't get over how fun Ragnar was!  Or how sore the entire lower half of my body was for the entire week afterward.  Sitting in a car for several hours, running 7 miles, sitting, running, then sitting and running again was seriously rough on the booty, hammies, quads, and calves.  Next time I think we'll consider warming up, cooling down, and stretching before and after each run.  I don't know what happened to our common sense during the race. 

Here's a glimpse of our team's adventure...

 The start line

 Traci was our first runner.  She always got our team off to a strong start.  Her very first leg of the race, she seriously booked it.  We almost didn't get to the exchange in time.  Oops. 

Emily was up next.  Her first leg was straight up hill and she killed it.  She's a personal trainer in Vegas now.....so of course she's got them rockin' abs!  You should have heard the whispers as she came running into the exchange.   

Collin was  our third runner.  I'm pretty sure he just climbed a monstrous hill as well.  C'mon Collin, it really wasn't that easy was it? 

 Up next was Brett.   Can't believe I converted this guy into a runner, at least temporarily.  He trained hard and ran more than he ever had to get ready.  He's already talking about doing another one...in the meantime though, he's "getting back to the weights."  Thanks for doing this with me!!!

I was our 5th runner.  I'm coming into the first exchange after my first 7 mile run (it was all downhill...saweet!)

Todd was the last runner in our van.  He too, had some killer hills and by far, the hardest legs of the group. 

 

 One of the best things about Ragnar is everyone cheers for everyone.  It was especially fun to have people like these crazies cheering for you as your ran by.

 

Cory (in the other van from our team) stopped during his run to dance with these people.  Too funny. 

Loved being able to do this with Brett!!

 

Can't wait to do another one.

Our Little Dragon...

Owen and I are excited for dad to get home.  He's been in New York playing working all week.  I was supposed to go to Idaho for some girl time with one of my besties, but I didn't quite make it. (You can read about that fiasco here).  We've had a very lazy week, but we are ready for Brett to be home and to start partying for Halloween.

I bought Owen's  costume about a month ago and immediately put him in it to take some pictures. Given that it snowed just a couple of days ago, I'm glad I did it then when it was still warm outside. Isn't Halloween for babies all about the cute pics in their cute costumes? I just took mine early;) 

So here you have him, our little Dragon. 

My very favorite....I just want to nibble on him

Have a Happy Halloween Everyone!

The Thomason's: Fall Family Photos

Take a peek Jenna....your family is too cute!

 

Ragnar Relay Finishers

Brett and I survived our Ragnar Relay in Vegas.  Our team ran a total of 195 miles in 31 hrs.    Brett ran 16 miles and I ran 18.  We were running on 2 hours of sleep over 31 hours.  By the time we were done we were exhausted and our legs had never been so sore.  But we are ready to another one....they are so much fun.

Unfortunately, my camera died and I didn't get ANY pics.  So I plan to steal them from my teammates (like this one) as soon as they post theirs (or email them to me, hint hint).

Hopefully I'll have more pictures to post soon along with more stories of our weekend of running.