Ginger Bread House

 

This year we bought a kit to make a gingerbread house with William.

 

Just like any toddler, he sat and ate the candy while Nick and I decorated for him.

 

Either way, it was fun, and created some great memories.



Decorating For Christmas

 

With a little begging, I got Nick to hang up some lights on the house. William was more than happy to go out and help in any way that he could.

 

The next day we decorated the inside of the house.

 

William was so excited to help set up the tree with us.

 

It is so much fun now that he is big enough to help us decorate for all of the holidays, even if he can only do one or two little things.

Although he wasn't really much help actually decorating the tree, he did have fun pulling all of the ornimates out and spreading them around the house.



Gymnastics

 

 Nick was able to come with us to gymnastics the week after he got home.

 

 It was so much fun to have him there, and not only did I not have to chase William around, but I was able to get some good pictures.

 

William really enjoyed this class, and it was fun to do it with him.

 

Although now he treats our house like a gym, hanging and swinging off of everything, rolling off of the couch and jumping onto anything he can.



The First Snow

As we got ready for our ward Thanksgiving party, we got our first snow storm of the season.

William couldn't wait to get outside and play in it, and of course, eat it.

We didn't get much, but it was plenty for William to enjoy for a bit, and to get us all excited for the upcoming season.

Home Coming

The farther in November it got the more excited we all got to have Nick home. The second week is when they were scheduled to arrive, so we waited (not very patiently) for the phone call telling us that they had left Europe and were headed back to the states. I can tell you, my phone rang more in that week that it does in a normal month. Finally we got the call (after a few "test" calls, talk about teasing). Within 72 hours, I would have my husband back, and our children would have their father. I eagerly began preparing everything, thinking I still had a couple of days. The next afternoon however, I got a call saying that they would be home the next morning, at 4 am. Having lost an entire day I quickly cleaned the house, bathed the children, made signs and got everything ready. I got a babysitter for William and packed up everything to take Kaelyn with me. We got there 2 hours before the ceremony started, luckily I had a good friend with me to keep me entertained. There was a screen separating where the families were, and where the soldiers would be forming up, with a gap big enough to see their boots as they entered. As soon as the first row got lined up, the tears started rolling. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! They were smart and kept the ceremony short, and within five minutes of it starting, the soldiers were released. We had a planned meeting place, but he was on the other side of the formation so he fought (what he said felt like every other soldier) to get to the side I was on, but we finally found each other.

 

 

It was such a sweet reunion, and the media quickly caught wind of the fact that he had never met Kaelyn before and came over to interview him.

 

It was heart warming to see him meeting Kaelyn for the first time, and although he will never admit it, I could see immediately that she had him hooked.

 

 

 

Halloween

This Halloween was a pretty laid back one. Kaelyn was a pumpkin and William was a dinosaur. We didn't go trick-or-treating since Nick wasn't here but we did go to the ward party where everyone was in love with Kaelyn. 

William spent the evening wondering around slightly confused by all of the costumes.