Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas.  It was fairly low-key, since Spencer was sick, Cory & I were fighting colds, and oh yeah... I'm still pregnant.  I decided I'm a fan of low-key... it was nice to be at home and spend time as a family.

Spencer helping Cory put the lights on the tree

The Christmas tree was Spencer's favorite thing about Christmas - he loves the lights

Temple Square with Cory's parents

Temple Square (Spencer was in heaven with all the lights and water!)

Cooking Christmas breakfast

Presents!  He loved unwrapping them... even if they weren't for him

Trip to the Zoo

Spencer and I took advantage of one of the free days at Hogle Zoo and went in February (well, we went in January, too, but I forgot my camera). He loved it both times. He loves to be outside, go for walks, and loves watching other kids... so the zoo is a fun place for him. It's nice that it's not very far away (and nice that it was free!)

The ducks were his favorite.

Pretty view of "This is the Place"

(There's a giraffe in the background)

November & December

Here's some pictures from November and half of December.

(The first 4 should be at the end... but I don't want to spend the time to fix it...)

Christmas lights at Temple Square.

Dad combed my hair...

We went for a fall hike up Farmington canyon. Weather was gorgeous and it was beautiful.

Like father, like son.

First snow.

His hair is getting really long and it's so adorable.

New snowsuit.

He loves Cory.

So cute.

It was too cold for Turkey Bowl, so we all played dodgeball instead. Very fun and much warmer!

Watching the dodgeball.

First Thanksgiving dinner.

Playing with cousin Fisher.

Helping with laundry.

Impressive he managed to back in there.

He loves french fries. Loves them. (Don't worry; it was homemade).

Yoga baby... downward facing dog...

Helping with the Christmas decorations.

Helping me with couponing.

Helping with the dishes.

Eating dinner with Dad.

Playing bongos with Dad.

He loves the Christmas tree with the lights.

Sacred Snow

Our friends Matt & Renee finally came to visit us! After what I believe has been 4 other unsuccessful attempts to visit us, they finally made it. It sure was fun to see them, and meet their son Jaeden. Of course, we did what we've done for all other visitors... go see the church historical sights.

We didn't take a ton of pictures (mostly because we've already got a bunch from other trips to the sights)... but we did get a few of a snowy Sacred Grove. Most people don't get to see it in the winter ('cause let's face it, it's cold!) But it's very peaceful and pretty. We didn't see anyone else in the grove our whole time there.

It was a quick trip for the Memmotts. But it was very nice to see them and get to spend a little time together. People always ask us if we're going to miss New York when we move... and the answer is yes, at least certain parts. How many other people get to live in the Cradle of the Restoration? We've been here for (almost) 4 years... living right where the Church was reorganized... getting to tour these sacred sights so many times that we've lost count. It's special every single time we go. We'll miss it, definitely.

Some improvement...

Good news - we're still alive! We didn't crash driving home yesterday :) It got to be pretty scary looking outside, so the President dismissed everyone early and we all got to go home at 1:00! Half a snow day - I'll take it. Cory and I both left and got home safely, for which we were grateful. It's a good thing they closed school early, because by the afternoon, it looked like this:


You can see the snow coming down pretty heavy in the picture, if you look closely.

It was improved this morning. The roads were semi-clear (well, as clear as they ever get for out here). It's hard to tell, since the wind was blowing pretty strong last night, but we figure we got about 8-10 inches of new snow. We also got a little bit of freezing rain, right at the end of the storm. Lots of snow + freezing rain = super ice! It made clearing off my car this morning a nightmare. That aside, there is something very beautiful about freshly fallen snow, especially in the morning, with the sun rising. Everything feels beautiful and fresh. And it's oh-so-pretty.


Of course, they're saying we might be in for a Nor'easter next week, so my opinion about freshly fallen snow may change ... but for now, I'm just grateful we got mostly snow and not that much ice.

The weather outside is frightful...

As predicted, our winter storm has arrived. The weather guy said we would be getting anywhere from 8-12 inches ... and it's snowing pretty heavily currently. This is what we woke up to:

Nice, huh? The picture is taken from the same window as this picture from last week's post:


I know what you're thinking ... "um, is that the road? I can barely distinguish it from the surrounding fields..." Yes, I was thinking the same thing, too, as I drove into work this morning. Given that the bulk of our 8-12 inches are supposed to occur between the hours of 9am - 3pm (and it's now 9:30am), I'm going predict that the drive home is going to be even more fun than the drive to work was this morning ...

Stay posted ... I'll probably be adding more pics later today ...