We wish you a very Merry belated Christmas

Well, here we go. We had a great Christmas this year. We saw lots of lights, ate a lot of good food, and got to spend a lot of time with family. Here are a few of the highlights:

Went and looked at Christmas lights with Charity

Had a pre-Christmas dinner/party with Charity because we had each others names for Christmas. A silly picture of Weston with my lens cap.
Benson loved his hanger, I mean shirt

Weston got a BYU baseball bat and ball from Charity that he loved, if you couldn't tell from his reaction.

We decided to ride the train to Utah for Christmas and it ended up being a lot of fun. Weston got to watch a lot of movies.

Both kids got to roam around and we didn't have to make stops. It was nice.

I got to see temple square with all the lights for the first time. It was pretty, but I think I was expecting more lights.

Jaleen and Ethan helping Benson to walk

My dad treated us all to some yummy hot chocolate

All of us

We also went to a BYU basketball game with my family. We won and it was fun to see Jimmer play this year.

Christmas Eve we all opened our Christmas pajamas. Weston hugging Benson while in their matching pajamas from my parents.

All the grandkids in their pajamas

Weston always loves being with his cousins because they are always willing to read to him

Our little marshmallow playing in the snow

Weston sledding down the hill with Casey. Unfortunately it only snowed one day we were there, so they took advantage of it.

Christmas day. It can be a little chaotic with such a big family

When we got home we gave one of his presents that was too big to take. A Radio Flyer tricycle.

Tuckered Out

One day Weston was swinging his little heart out and I was taking pictures of his cute smile.

We switched swings, and next thing I know he is dozing off. I guess waking up at 6:45am can do that to you.

9 Months

Benson turned 9 months on Dec 5th. It has been a fun 9 months with him in our family. He is such a happy kid. This is what he was up to:

-Can stand up for a long time by himself and let's go of things to stand by himself a lot.
-Took 1 step
-Learned to clap
-Waves his hand to say "hi"
-Dances when there is music on
-Rocks in his high chair while he is eating
-Likes to play with cars and push them around.
-Likes to throw balls
-Hi-fives
-Says "Da-da" all the time.

Here he is on the big day!

Is always happy when there is food around
Loves to play in Weston's room

Happily playing in the tupperware drawer with Weston

We are grateful...

...that we were able to have a great Thanksgiving spent with friends and family. We had a wonderful day filled with running, football, food, laughs, talking, hanging out, more food, and Harry Potter that night. Who could ask for more?

The morning started out bright and early with me running the Roseville Turkey Trot. Charity signed up all the sister-in-laws and it was fun. Charity and I ran the 5K and Ashley ran the 10K. I ended up getting 4th in my age group, which was a pleasant surprise since I had only ran one other time since having Benson.

The kids as they were cheering us on. This picture kills me because it is typical Weston and Paisley.

The three runners in our shirts

My fan group

Playing football in our cul-de-sac

The kid's tables. It was nice being able to have it in a house this year. I got to use all my nice dishes and decorate the table, which I really enjoyed.

Benson and me

The adult table

My centerpiece

Old Town Sacramento

Garth and Janelle and kids came up for Thanksgiving again this year. While they were here, we decided to take the lightrail to Old Town Sacramento. It took longer than we thought it would, but it was still fun. Once we got there, we just walked around, visited one of the old candy stores, then headed back. We got to go out to dinner with Garth and Janelle that night while the kiddies stayed at home. It was nice having babysitters on hand whenever we needed while they were here :)

On the Lightrail

Enjoying some caramel apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

The Train Museum. We didn't think it was worth it for $10 a person, but we took a picture with the train in the lobby and visited the gift shop. Aren't they cute?

Weston picking out some taffy at the candy store.

That night Trevon read to Weston and put him to bed

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I'll let you guess who is copying who though :)

Westonisms

Some funny things Weston has said recently:

*Weston hears his full name (Weston Douglas Tanner) being used quite a bit in this household (I'm pretty sure it is how he learned his middle name). One morning I was putting the dishes away and I was putting some glass bowls up on a glass shelf. They were making quite a bit of noise and Weston turns to me and says very sternly, "Mommy Douglas Tanner." I guess he thought I was being too loud and needed to be reprimanded :)

*Casey went to the BYU v. CSU game this last month and while he was at the game he would text me scores and then called to let me know we had won. When I got off the phone, I turned to Weston and said, "Yeah, BYU won." Weston then shouts, "BYU 2."

Disney on Ice

We went to Disney on Ice at the end of October with Ashley and the kids and our friend Katie and her son Tyson. Of course we got tickets through Casey's work. I was a little unsure how Weston would like it, but he likes singing and there was plenty of that, so we were good. I really enjoyed the show and thought they did a good job too. I could have done with the intermission and the Peter Pan ending could have a been a little bit shorter though. All the kids starting getting a little restless about 20 minutes before it ended. You can always count on Disney for a great show.

I forgot my camera, so Ashley was great and took pictures for us. I loved this one of Weston.

Benson just crawled around a lot and played on the chairs.
The three of us

8 Months

Benson turned 8 Months on Nov 5. We just love our little Benson Bear. He is such a good kid. Here is what he has been up to:

-Loves to eat and is a good eater. He eats everything we give him, but loves homemade strawberry-banana yogurt, cheese, toast, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
-Crawls around and plays by himself really well. We often find him in Weston's room playing by himself.
-Loves to go outside and crawls to an open door as fast as he can to try and make it out.
-Stands up to everything and can switch between objects.
-Has stood up by himself for 12 seconds, took one step, and is starting to let go of things while he standing up.
-Started "talking" with more consonants. Ba-bas, ga-gas, and has said Da-da a few times.
-Opens drawers, cupboards, and pushes doors open.

Swinging outside. If you look close you can see his two little teeth.

Loves to play in Jason and Ashley's ball pit and crawl through the tunnel
Sleeping with Dad. He is still a little attached to me right now, so Casey takes advantage of these opportunities when he can.

Whenever I load or unload the dishwasher, Benson comes crawling as fast as he can from whereever he is at. He loves to play in the dishwasher.

Playing under the chairs. Weston did this same exact thing. I think pub chairs are the perfect height for babies to play under.

A Pirate Says, "Arrrrgh"

Halloween just flew by in our household. I couldn't believe it was here already and then it passed just as quick, but it was filled with fun times as always. We went to our trunk-or-treat and Charity's, so Weston got plenty of candy, and we had a fun Halloween dinner even though Casey didn't get to share it with us. We only got a few trick-or-treaters, so I gave them some of Weston's candy and I heard one boy commenting about how his mom gave out his candy last year (they could see me getting the candy through the window in the kitchen) as I was coming to the door.It was kind of funny. Here are a few of our Halloween activities:

Opening the Halloween package from my parents. Weston was more excited about the books than the candy and Benson was just glad to have something to chew on. Weston was a pirate this year. He likes Backyardigans and one of the pirate episodes is his favorite. If you ask him what a pirate says, he says, "arrrgh" really well. He looked pretty cute and I only spent $6 putting the whole thing together.
Benson was a lion so I dressed up for the first time in a long time and was Dorothy with him.

Our little drunken pirate with a corn muffin in one hand and a cookie in the other.

Benson receiving his first piece of trick-or-treating candy

Our little lion cub. He looked so cute and didn't mind his costume at all.

Charity making the rounds with Weston at her Trunk-or-Treat

Weston was happy about how much candy he scored. It's too bad he doesn't really like candy. We put it on the counter and he he only asked for it a few times.

After a few pieces he was literally bouncing off the walls that night.

Casey had training in L.A., so we had to take him to the airport that evening. I wasn't going to make a Halloween dinner, but then decided the boys deserved one so I made do with what I had on hand. Our pumpkin pizza.

The spider web and BBQ Finger pizza

Our ghoulishly green punch

My two boys at the end of the night. They were both happy even though only one looks like it :)