Christmas!

For Christmas, we headed up to Denver. Christmas Eve my parents hosted their traditional taco bar party. My dad make's the best green chili and it's a tradition in our family to have it on Christmas Eve. This year he bought some tamales to go with it - yummmmy! Harrison, Gabby and Jake were all out from Utah. It was great to see them.

Christmas day we opened presents. Hazel mostly got things she needed like cups, baby food, and such. Not that it mattered much - she would have been perfectly content just eating the wrapping paper. She also got some peek-a-boo balls that she loves! My parents got her a beautiful Christmas dress. When I was growing up my Grandma bought us a new dress every year at Christmas and Easter. My mom decided she wanted to keep that tradition going. Hazel is obviously very pleased with her dress this year:)

More than anything, it was wonderful to have a break and relax with family while remembered the true reason for the season - the birth of our Savior.

Catching up the Blog

December has been a great month so far. Hazel was in her very first ballet! Well maybe her second. Last year I danced the Sugar Plum Fairy in Nutcracker while I was 8 weeks pregnant with Hazel. Well, this year the directors of the studio I danced with decided it would be fun if she was in the show too. I was Clara's mom and Hazel was her "baby sister." She came out during the party scene in her cute dress. She was really good for all 3 performances! My dad was also in the show with us as one of the party parents. Three generations in one show!

Hazel looking darling in her dress!

Playing with the mirrors in the dressing room!

On December 9th we celebrated Mike's 27th birthday! Mike has been asking for a pair of Rainbow flip flops forever so he was super excited when he got them. He has now decided it's shorts and flip flops weather here in Colorado (nevermind the fact it was about 10 degrees on his birthday, haha) Hazel and I are glad he had a good day. He had just finished all his classes and so now he is enjoying a nice break between semesters. He is taking care of Hazel full time since he's not in class and he's so good with her! Thanks for being the best honey. I love you!



Hazel has also been fighting an ear infection on and off since Thanksgiving. They put her on antibiotics that seemed to help and she was better for about a week, but then the infection came back. Now she's on a different antibiotic. Hopefully it will clear it up this time. Even with an ear infection she's still a sweet happy girl. She started eating some solids and she loves it. Also, today she sat up alone for 10 minutes during church. She's growing up so fast!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! I'm looking forward to a short week and then a week off!

Thankful!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We spent out time up in Denver with my family instead of going to Utah. Mike's parents will be in Utah after Christmas so we postponed our trip so we could see them. My Dad made an amazing turkey with awesome gravy and we had a wonderful dinner.Chilling with Uncle Harrison

The day after Thanksgiving, we went Christmas tree cutting. Hazel rode in the backpack my parents have from when I was a kid! She loved it until she got tired, but we still managed to find a beautiful tree. Mike and I decorated it today and it looks great. I love Christmas trees!

Overall it was a fun weekend. It was great to have time to sit back and realized how blessed we truly are. I am so thankful for a job I enjoy, my membership in the church, my calling that teaches me so much, Kiara, my loving parents, and so much more. Above all I'm thankful for Mike and Hazel. Hazel has brought us so much joy! She's a sweet girl and we love her to pieces.

Happy Birthday!!!

This is a shout out to my mom! Happy Birthday Mom!

Love you tons and hope your day is GREAT!

Love,

Mb and J and H

Princess Falls

Ever since Hazel was born, she's been a puker! She pukes a ton all the time. It doesn't matter how much we burp her, she pukes. She pukes so much Mike gave her the nick-name Princess Falls (as in Niagara Falls).

Well the other day while I was at work, Mike put her on the floor with her bottle. He has taught her to hold the bottle herself and so she lay happily on the floor eating.

When she was full, she pushed the bottle aside and began to play. Meanwhile, Mike is typing a paper for school. He looks up and Hazel has rolled to her tummy, nothing out of the ordinary. Well, next thing he knows Kiara is licking Hazel all over. He goes over to make Kiara stop, rolls Hazel on to her back, and what does he find.......


Oh Princess Falls! What will we do with you?

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then check with your spouse, to see how right you really are.


1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Depends what sport is in season, haha. Right now, football or basketball:)

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
No dressing - only olive oil.

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
One food he doesn't like? There are dozens!

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. His drink would be?
Dr Pepper with NO ICE!

5. Where did he go to high school?
Freshman Year - Newport Harbor High School
Remaining Years - University High School

6. What size shoe does he wear?
11 or 11 1/2 I can never quite remember

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Easy - Hotwheels!

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Peanut butter and Jelly. He has at least 2 every week.

9. What would he eat every day if he could?
In-n-Out! Too bad there aren't any here.

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Golden Grahams

11. What would he never wear?
Ummm..... he will wear pretty much anything but I know he's never wear tights

12. What is his favorite sports team?
Basketball - Lakers; Baseball - Angels; College Football - USC; Pro Football - not sure. Other sports he doesn't like enough to have a favorite team.

13. Who did he vote for?
McCain

14. Who is his best friend?
Me (though Hazel's a close second)

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
Splash water all over the bathroom when I wash my face. He calls me Hurricane Justine:)

16. What is his Heritage?
Ummm..... English and Scottish I think.

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
He's not a big cake person. He'd prefer brownies.

18. Did he play sports in high school?
Yes! Football, waterpolo, volleyball, and he was offered a spot on varsity baseball as a Freshman but it conflicted with another sport so he didn't play.

19. What could he spend hours doing?
Playing around on his Blackberry. I think he'll have to be buried with it!

20. What is one thing you appreciate about him?
What a wonderful friend/support he is to me. He is endlessly patient and loving. I love you tons!!!!

Halloween

We had a blast this year dressing up Hazel! Last year neither of us dressed up once, but this year we each had several costumes:) Tuesday night we went to the ward Halloween party as cowboys and girls. Hazel even had little pig-tail spikes with bows!

On Thursday night, Mike had a party in his ASL class. Mike got some purple hair gel and started a theme. I was a rock star with purple hair (though Mike later decided I was one of the X-Men). Mike was a cowboy with purple hair, and Hazel was a purple haired monster!

Purple Haze!

Notice her one spike:) Does this make us bad parents? Nah!

Mike's ASL Class
My personal favorite was the Will Farell basketball player followed closely by Where's Waldo.

Wicked Cool Weekend!

Last weekend my Dad got our whole family tickets to go see the musical Wicked while it was here in Denver! Gabby, Jake and Harrison drove out from Utah to come too. It was amazing! I love that show! It kinda made me miss performing, but I love being a mom and wouldn't trade my life now for anything.

Of course I was having so much fun with my family that I didn't take any pictures of this weekend. But here are pictures of two of my favorite people in the world...

Fall

Fall has always been my favorite season. I love the weather, the smell of the leaves, the yummy pumpkin foods, fresh apples from my parents trees, and more. Mike decided to take Hazel out the other day and do a little fall photo shoot in the leaves:) He obviously hates being home with her 3 days a week *wink wink*



The weather here has been anything but fall like though. Last weekend we had a terrible ice storm that left the roads so slick that we couldn't even get out of the parking lot to go to church. Today it is 85 degrees an completely beautiful! One thing can be said about Colorado weather - it's certainly never boring.


Hazel is adorable as usual. She is growing like a weed and learning new things everyday. She laughs now and similes a ton. This past week she started sleeping 10 hours at night! She wakes up occasionally, but I give her pacifier back to her and she's right back to sleep. Unfortunately she's also started fighting naps. She's so amused by the world she tries to stay awake until she's exhausted and grumpy. No baby sleeps perfectly I guess.

Kiara still loves Hazel. She likes to lie near her on the floor when she's playing and "protect" her.

Mike meets his dream football player in Albertsons!