Happy 35th Birthday Dan!

Happy Birthday sweetheart! We have known each other for almost 9 years now and I have enjoyed every minute of it!

Little Dan...if you could ever really call him little!!!

This is a picture of Dan in first grade...the year I was born!!!

I decided to just post some random pictures of Dan growing up!

Dan loves his family. He wishes he could see them more often.

This is from our trip to PEI in 2001. Was Rachel ever really that small?

Happy Birthday!!!

Christmas with Nana and Papa

The day after Christmas, we went up to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with them. We had to wait a bit before we could make the trip though since it was snowing like crazy!

Anne got a fun new train from Nana and Papa that makes all sorts of noises (and doesn't have an of switch or volume control). It is fun and Anne really likes playing with it (every day)!

This is Anne is the shirt that I am wearing in the photo of my first Christmas. After my parents read that post, my mom remembered that she still had that shirt.

And this is Anne in my boots from when I was her age as well. They didn't really fit her but they sure do look cute on her!

New jammies from the grandparents! So much fun! Thanks Nana and Papa for all of the great stuff!!! We love you!

Antonia's First Christmas

What a magical and special Christmas we had this year! Not only did we get to celebrate in our new house, we had Antonia to share it with! Christmas definitely is for kids and so much more fun with them!

We took so many photos so I had to narrow it down to just the favorites!








Christmas Eve was fun! Anne fell asleep before dinner...poor little girl! But, then she woke up and had energy for the rest of the night. We had a yummy dinner together before Dan had to leave for work and then Anne and I played with her new nativity set. She loves it! We also watched Polar Express before heading to bed.

My most favorite memory about Christmas was waking up and seeing all of the presents that had been left under the tree. Dan took this picture before coming upstairs to get Anne and I after he got home from work.

Anne loved her presents. She got a monkey...Mr. Monkey...that she just loves to cuddle with.

This is actually my present Anne is standing next to (a new crock pot...hurray!!!) but she was just having so much fun helping me open it.

And you can't forget stockings! We had lots of yummy treats inside of our stockings this year!

And of course, last but not least, pictures in your jammies by the tree. Anne wasn't too into the idea of wearing her Santa hat.

I didn't realize until just today that I didn't take the camera from Dan to get some photos of him! Need to remember that for next year!

Christmas Memories

This is a picture of me on my first Christmas...28 years ago! Since then, I've had many, many wonderful Christmases and many, many wonderful memories.

Tomorrow I will be seeing my daughter experience her first Christmas and I am so excited! But, before we start making new memories with her, I'd like to share with you some of my memories of Christmases gone by.

As I was laying in my bed this morning, I was thinking of all of the wonderful memories I do have. The mental list I made was pretty long, so I'll just narrow it down to a few.

Christmas eve was always very exciting in the Dewey home. I remember having the hardest time falling asleep from all of the anticipation. It wouldn't be until I felt it was safe enough to sneak out to see if Santa had been at our house, that I could finally doze off...and then we'd sleep in the next morning. And the whole week after Christmas, we'd stay in our jammies all day, leave all of our new treasures in the living room and just play.

I have two favorite presents that I really can remember. They were all wonderful but the two that stick out right now are the doll house my Dad made for my sister and I (currently at my house) and also our dog, Heidi (Vinnie's first Christmas). Mom and Dad always made Christmas special for us. There was also the swing set my Dad made, the snowmobile my Dad fixed up...he is a pretty handy man! (Pretty doesn't come close to how handy he is).

Other fond memories that I have are of the Kamas Hatchery parties and sledding down the hill. It is now paved so I don't think it works that great as a sledding hill any more. Also, the Woodland ward primary program and Santa coming to see us. He would give all of us a brown paper lunch sack full of salted peanuts, chocolates and hard candies. Also the live nativity that the ward did. We'd all be freezing but it was such a wonderful tradition. And the stockings that we did in elementary school and everyone had to bring something for everyone else.

But, I think my most favorite Christmas of all was the year that my Grandma Dewey came to stay with us. She and I slept in my parents' bed and I couldn't sleep all night for fear I might kick her and break all of her bones. I don't remember what I got that year but it was just so special having her be there with us.

Now that I am the mommy, I hope that I can help my daughter (and future children) understand the true meaning of Christmas and to also have for themselves great memories of the holidays. Thank you mom and dad for doing that for me!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Trip to Temple Square

One of my most favorite holiday activities is to go see the lights at Temple Square. We decided to brave the cold temperatures, got all bundled up and we were not disappointed!

You can never have enough pictures of Anne...especially when she is really playing to the camera! She seemed to have a pretty good time - except when we kept stopping all of the time so Daddy could take more pictures! But, we aren't complaining about that now...he had so many that were fantastic. Here are just a few (from about 50) that are my favorites.

Dan proposed to me by the fountain on this side of the temple so that makes it my favorite side!

The state capitol in the background.

Such a beautiful photo of the temple with the reflection on the water.

OK, this one just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I look at it. Just such a beautiful scene with the simple white figures of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus with what to me looks like the temple as a protection from the world behind it.

Anne loves looking at the Christmas lights almost as much as she likes looking at herself in mirrors. They are just so interesting to her!

After about an hour, we were ready to go home but we enjoyed it so much! Can't wait for next time!

Happy 9 months Antonia!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe that little Anne is now 9 months old! That means that she has now be in the outside world as long as she was inside her mommy! And it also means that we are halfway to her going to nursery! =)

We just love this little girl! She is so much fun! Her new thing lately is to shake her head "no" at us but that is OK. She's learning! She loves fruit loops (but seems to not like the purple ones because they end up on the floor - go Wildcats!) and she loves her daddy! She just gets so giggly when he gets home from work!

We are so thankful that she has joined our family and just feel so blessed to be her mommy and daddy! We can't wait for this month with her...Christmas!!! It is going to be so much more fun with a little one in the house! We love you, Anne!

O Christmas Tree...and other holiday stuff!

Hurray! It's that time of year when Christmas music is accepted by all (some just don't appreciate "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" played in July) and we get to decorate the house all fun! And this year is especially wonderful because we have a little girl that makes it seem magical!

OK, so I think I have the cutest baby ever! I love that she loves to dance and have fun! She just can't contain herself whenever she hears music!!!

Mommy teaching Antonia the art of decorating a tree...yeah, right!

Anne, Daddy told mommy to test the lights, not taste them!

The final product! We had to finish putting the decorations on the next morning since it was past Anne's bedtime!

I love this photo of Anne because you can see her reflection in the ornament. Anne loves to look at herself...in anything!

So, here is a little "teaser" of some photos Dan took of Anne yesterday...I love that my baby loves to pose for photos!

After dinner last night, we decided to have a little fun! We downloaded a bowling game onto the PS3 and got into the action! So much fun!!!

Thanksgiving Photos

Let's get together and go pick out a house for Mom and Dad!

One Word Post

You have to stick to one word answers!
Here goes...
1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Where is your significant other? Work
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Short
5. Your father? Tall
6. Your favorite thing? Christmas!!!
7. Your dream last night? good
8. Your dream/goal? Organized
9. The room you're in? Office
10. Your hobby? Organizing
11. Your fear? Alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Utah
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Male
15. One of your wish-list items? Freezer
16. Where you grew up? Utah
17. The last thing you did? Phone
18. What are you wearing? Clothes
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet? Red
21. Your computer? SLOW!!!
22. Your mood? Somber
23. Missing someone? Dan
24. Your car? Silver
25. Something you're not wearing? Perfume
26. Favorite store? Walmart
27. Your summer? Busy
28. Love someone? Dan
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Today
I TAG... Jessica

Happy 8 months Antonia!

Today is little miss Antonia's 8 month birthday! It is so amazing how quickly the days go by and just how much fun we are having with this sweet little girl in our home. She is such a joy and blessing...I can't say it enough! We are so happy that our Heavenly Father sent her to our home.

Anne is still just rolling around everyone to get to where she wants to go. She is starting to figure out scooting herself backwards...now if she could just figure out how to move herself forward. She also has discovered opening the drawers in her bedroom (the bottom ones are the only ones she can reach) and she sure does know how to get everyone's attention where ever she goes. She will wave and say "hi" in her only little way to all that she sees when we go out. She even does it in the morning to everything she sees as we walk around the house. It is so cute. She also loves to talk on the phone and look at pictures of herself in the digital camera after we have taken a picture. She is just too smart sometimes for her own good!

Yesterday, we took Anne to Temple Square for the first time. It was pretty cold due to all the snow but it was a beautiful day. Her favorite was looking up at the Christus. She just couldn't get enough of it and didn't want to leave that room. The little spirits do know.

We were visiting Temple Square because we were taking Cory to the MTC. He is from PEI and it was so much fun spending a little bit of time with him. It was my first time to the MTC and it was such an amazing experience. The spirit was just so strong. We are really excited for him.

Last night, Dan and I were playing Worms on the Playstation and Anne wanted to join in so we let her have control of the paddle that wasn't in use at the time. She was having some fun with it...and helped mommy out a few times with the one that was in use.

We are just so happy that we have this little girl and that she is our's forever. We are looking forward to this new month with her and of course the fun that will be had this holiday season!