Christmas 2009 and New Years 2010

This post is a marathon but we had a very eventful holiday season and I want to include it all!

A few days before Christmas my cousin, Dayna, got married. My dad and I were able to attend the ceremony and Allie was an awesome babysitter for Navi in the waiting room. Nate unfortunately had to work that day and I don't really remember where my sister Bekka was. Haha Bekka. :)


The newlyweds Jake and Dayna. So pretty!

Christmas Eve
Navi with Great-Grandma Judy at Christmas Eve dinner with my Mom's family. A tradition that goes back as long as I can remember.

On Christmas Eve night we stayed at my family's house and Santa found Navi there. I like to be there on Christmas morning to watch my sisters open their presents since I help my Dad buy their gifts.

Christmas Day

In our family, Santa wraps his gifts in special BROWN paper. He also spreads the presents out all over the living room. Obviously I'm biased but I think it is much more exciting to see all the gifts spread across the living room (under the light of the Christmas tree) instead of sitting them out unwrapped on the couch. Boring! :) This is one tradition Nate knows I won't budge on.


Navi in the middle of the loot.





One of Allie's highly anticipated gifts - the Twillight series! Girl screams! AHH!


Navi was very spoiled on her first Christmas and she really enjoyed ripping open her presents. Of course she was more interested with eating the paper instead of what was in inside it, but there's hope for next year.

Bekka and one of her favorite presents - a PBR (professional bull riders) playstation game. I like to tease her that if someone would have just seen her pile of gifts without knowing who's they were, they could have mistaken her for a 13 year old boy. Ha, but that's why we love you Booie.




Christmas day afternoon we all go to talk to my brother the Elder. He sounded great and had some fun mission stories to tell us. We are so proud of him and can't wait for him to get home.

After we talked to Cade, we went back to the Buttars' for Christmas dinner. It is always fun to get together with all Nate's siblings and their kids, but we missed his sister Tif and her family who live in California! Navi especially loves to watch all her cousins. Before everyone arrived for dinner we got to open the presents that his parents gave us and Navi.


As you can see, she got spoiled once again. We did too for that matter! His parents go into A LOT of work to make it a great holiday and we really appreciate them.


Since Navi couldn't make a Christmas list this year, I requested a cabbage patch doll for her. I got one my first Christmas and she, "Noni", was my favorite doll for many years. Don't you love cabbage patch babies' names? Navi's was "Concha Corrinne". I'm thinking she'll go by Corrinne...



Her favorite toy is her Lion. She can ride on it to start and it transitions into a walker later on.






On Christmas night Nate's sister, Ashley, brought her new Wii game to share with the family. Needless to say, "Just Dance" was a HUGE hit. I'm not one to get up in front of people to play a game, but I couldn't help myself with this one. Turns out I'm pretty good too! Haha, but really, if you get a chance PLAY IT!!


Here are some of the cousins.


Ashely, Darrell, Marianne and Brex showing off their moves.


Nate, his brother and two brothers-in-law. The sisters and sisters-in-laws totally beat them score wise. Better luck next time boys.



We are very lucky to be able to share our Christmas with both our families. It was a great one!



NEW YEARS 2010

We celebrated New Years with my Wallentine family at a party at my Dad's. As Nate says, when you're with Wallentines be prepared for lots of LOUD stories and LOUD laughs. But I love it!


The next night, January 1, we had a party with our friends. Andy and Mallory Hutchison are excellent hosts and we had lots of good fun and lots of fun.


Here are some of the girls that were at the party. Traci, Alisha, me and Mallory. (I stole some of your pics Alisha! Hope you don't mind)


The cute kids at the party. Navi; Alli and Baby Jane, Andy and Mallory's girls; Cache, John and Anna's little boy; and Tag, Rem and Traci's newest boy. I love that most of Nate's friends are now dads!


And of course the night wouldn't be complete without more dancing! Here are some of the guys getting their groove on to "Womanizer". Ha.


And here Mallory is kicking all their butts.

Happy 2010 all!

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010!

Christmas Dress

Family Photos

I wanted some pictures to send out on Christmas cards. My sister-in-law just had hers taken and I loved them! The photographer who took them did such an awesome job and it was very hard to choose just one pic for the card....
So of course I have to share the rest! Because there are so many I will try and keep the wording to a minimum.
And sorry to my facebook friends for the repeat. Oh well!

Check out Nicole's website/blog at: http://nicoleleavittphotography.com/



My necklace disappears magically in some of them because it was oh-so-tempting and distracting for Navi. Shoot.


Attitude? Can't wait for the teenage years...






This is one of my all time favorites. I think she is saying, "See this finger? They are both wrapped around it."






Can't wait for Christmas!

This is What Grandpas are For

These pictures aren't the best quality because they're all from my phone, but it's the easiest way to snap a pic when I'm in a hurry.


It's kind of hard to tell but Navi is holding a big wad of paper; her favorite toy, and Grandpa is always so willing to give some to her.


Yes, we start early around here.


She loves when Grandpa Darrell tickles her. She freezes on the spot.


And last but not least...the one that made this first time, still very protective mom CRINGE...a delicious sucker. (and Grandpa may or may not be wearing his garmet top...any one who knows my dad knows this is not a rare occurrence)


I also wanted to throw in this video for fun. Allie and Bekka can always get her laughing.

Sixes

6 month session (I'm just a month slow in posting)

We love Eileen. And her talent. Enjoy.


Half of 1:

• As mentioned in a previous post, Navi got her first tooth on her 6 month birthday. Her second followed soon after.
  
• She now recognizes people and can tell when Mom is not in the room. She gets very excited when she sees Mom, Dad, both Grandpas, Grandma, and LOVES Aunt Allie. (don't worry Bekka, she likes you too)
  
• She is an excellent eater. One of her recent favorites is mac and cheese baby food. Mmm!
  
• She also loves the Gerber Puffs.
• When she is set down on the floor she instantly rolls to her stomach and begins to army crawl or takes a few motions to crawl. Now at 7 months, she is going to be full on crawling any day now.
• She loves to play with Daddy and already knows how to get what she wants from him.
  
• She is sleeping better and better and usually wakes up only once for a bottle. (she's a growing girl, what can I say?) And now when she wakes up in the morning she lays and babbles for a good 15-20 minutes. (it's a good "waking up" time for Mom)
• She is only a cuddle-r when she is tired, and sometimes not even then. (sad for mom) There is just too much to see and put in her mouth!
• She waves bye-bye. But only to Grandma and Grandpa Buttars. No one else believes me.

Happy Orange and Black

Here is a photo story line of our Halloween activities:




We were the Peanuts! Lucy, Charlie Brown, and Snoopy. I was very proud of my cheap costumes. My dress was a D.I. find, I made Nate's shirt, and Navi's snoopy costume was an Ebay steal! Applause is greatly appreciated. Oh and the thing on Nate's head is a bald cap and what is supposed to be Charlie Brown's one hair...it was a cool idea in my head.


This is our 3rd annual friend party. Party goers include:

BACK - Rem and Traci Rainey, as a turkey and a hunter; Alisha and Dave Webb, as a roulette table and a dealer; Anna, John, and Cache Swenson, as a skeleton family; Dani and Trevor Allen, as a pregnant nun (gasp!) and a Reverend (is that the correct Catholic term?)

FRONT - Me and Nate (Snoopy was sleeping...maybe even while lying on her back on her doghouse), Mallory and Andy Hutchison, as a Prego spaghetti jar (she's prego! haha) and a plate of spaghetti and meatballs; and a sad/tired little pirate nephew.







Navi's first trick-or-treating door. Aunt Bekka answered.


Trick-or-treating at Grandpa and Grandma Buttars'. (you can't really see Grandpa but he's there!)




Instead of candy, Navi got to try Gerber's Puffs for the first time.


Did she love them? Let's just say she inherited her mother's gag reflex. But she got used to them. :)


Snoopy had to take a bath to clean her nose and I just thought this was a cute picture.


She loves to splash.

And also a random fact...

We have TEETH!! As in more than one! Aunt Ashley discovered her first tooth on her 6 month birthday, October 14, and her second came in a few days later. I wondered how long Nate and I would have gone if Ashley hadn't found the tooth. Navi wasn't fussy at all for the first but her second was a different story. It wasn't too bad, but it was almost like since she knew that we knew she had one, she wasn't going to let us get away with another one breaking in easily.

It's so much fun to watch her grow and change everyday. We love our little Navi Babe!