Christmas in Wisconsin

We traveled back to Wisconsin for Christmas this year. We hadn't been back for the holidays in about 5 years, so it was time to head back for the festivities. Emma had so much fun seeing her aunts, grandma, grandpa, cousins and friends.

playing soccer...always on the move!


getting ready to go to church


eating in Great Grandma Betty's highchair she used as a baby







with Grandpa Rich


We bought my mom snowshoes for Christmas so I had to take her out and show her how it's done.



We took Emma sledding almost every day. Boy, now that's a workout for Andy and me.


Wheeeeeee!



with Great Grandma Betty and Aunt Tina

Emma Meets Santa

Emma's daycare had their holiday party this afternoon. Santa even joined in for the festivities! I don't think Emma knew quite what to do. She just sort of stared at his beard.

9 Months Old!

We went all festive for this photo shoot...

Happy Holidays

Last night was our annual holiday feast with friends.



flirting with Uncle Ben...


Our friends, Julie and Everett, have a daughter about a month older than Emma. It's fun to watch them interact.



After our delicious feast, we decorated sugar cookies.

Emma's First Thanksgiving

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! We hosted Thanksgiving this year and it was great! It is so nice to be able to welcome our family into our home for the holiday. I think we all stuffed ourselves to the point of food comas.


Emma got an early Christmas gift from Great-Grandma Abbie.


Just lounging...on the verge of falling asleep


Emma loved the turkey, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

Go Chargers!

I have put up pictures of Emma in her Wisconsin Badger, Utah Utes and Green Bay Packer gear, so it's only appropriate to post some pictures of Emma sporting her San Diego Charger gear.

Snow Cute!

We have gotten a lot of snow lately so we've had to do a lot of shoveling. Emma loved sitting in the snow, watching all the action. She even got to go for a ride in the shovel. With all of the snow we have already gotten, we've decided to invest in a snow blower. I thing that's a smart decision on our part.

Pucker Up

One of Emma's favorite hobbies is looking at herself as she stands in front of the mirror. Lately, she has been noticing her tongue. Watch out boys!

All Bundled Up

So Emma has about 4 snowsuits. Two were hand-me-downs and 2 we bought at the Patagonia Outlet store. As crazy as it sounds, each one does have its own purpose. We have used all 4 already and Emma seems to fall asleep in all of them. On this particular afternoon, it was a bit chilly so we opted for one of the heavier snowsuits.


Before...


After...

8 Months Old...Already!

Time is going way too fast...slow down!!! Emma is at such a fun age right now. While she's crawling backwards and pivoting, she much prefers to stand next to the couch. The other night, she even started holding on with one hand and, just for a second, no hands. Most mornings, while I eat my breakfast downstairs, I can hear she is awake by her singing. She loves to sing in her crib in the morning. I'm not sure where she gets the singing gene from because it's certainly neither from Andy nor me. She smiles at EVERYONE and she is just so curious about everything.

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween festivities started on Friday at school and didn't end until early this evening. Emma's daycare came to our school's parade. It was so much fun to have her there! We walked the parade with my class. On Saturday we went down to Grandma and Grandpa's for some delicious chili. Unfortunately, it was raining so they didn't get any trick-or-treaters. (Much of Salt Lake went trick-or-treating on Saturday night, due to Halloween being on a Sunday.) Today, the actual day of Halloween, we went to Main Street for the annual Howl-o-Ween parade. What a hoot to watch all of the dogs dressed up. Cooper is too big for any store-bought costume so we just dress him as a sports fan, sporting one of Andy's t-shirts.






We are watching Ben's dog, Sarah, while he's up on the Slope. She participated in the festivities, too.



Our friends, Mindy and Steve, dressed as a s'more and their dog was the campfire. Too cute!