Christmas Day!

Christmas was wonderful this year and Santa Claus found us even at Grandma Wangsgard's house! It was a lot of fun this year because Haley was actually understanding who Santa is and what he does! She was so excited to put out cookies and write a letter to Santa. The morning was wonderful and the kids had a great time of course! Haley was especially excited about the Tinkerbell movie (she was into tinkerbell this year- hence the pj's as well) and also a talking doll with a stroller, high chair, and bed. Parker loved his Truck that Haley gave to him and also his play farm - he kept saying "yeehaw yeehaw". They were both really excited to have a new sled that they both could fit in! Later that night we had that Wangsgard Christmas party which can only be summed up in one word - CHAOS!! We love the chaos though and it is so fun to have all the cousins together especially for Haley! We are so grateful that we were able to spend Christmas with all our family - it would be so wierd not to be with them all!

Christmas Eve

My family always has their Christmas party on Christmas Eve and we were so glad to be a part of it this year. It was extra special because my Grandma and Grandpa Jackson were there. We had a little program and the kids sang Jingle bells, and also had a nativity. Haley was an angel, and Parker was the cutest sheep I've ever seen!! It was such a fun night of giftgiving and traditions! We ended the night with Christmas Eve Jammies!! Haley was so excited for her Tinkerbell PJ's and Parker would point at his 'Cars' PJ's and say "Tuck" (aka truck) It was pretty cute!

After I posted the slideshow I realized I missed a pic that I wanted to share. This is Parker sporting his Cristmas punch mustache! (Christmas punch is a long time family Christmas tradition)

Tree Decorating!

We decided to get a Christmas tree and decorate even though we weren't going to be at our house for Christmas. I have such fond memories of decorating the Christmas tree when I was little so I guess I want to give my kids the same experience. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. Haley was especially excited when she got to put the star on. Also, we had quite the snowstorm (of course it was while scott was gon) and I was snowed in for a few days. The wind and drifts were the worse part and it all seemed to land in front of my house! Thanks to some wonderful neighbors we were able to get dug out! The kids didn't mind the snow though!

Thanksgiving!!

We had our very own Thanksgiving dinner this year! Although it was bitter-sweet to be away from family we enjoyed celebrating on our own. I cooked my very first Turkey (which didn't turn out too bad considering) and we had all the fixins. Needless to say we had a LOT of leftovers! Haley was very excited to eat turkey and Parker of course made a HUGE mess but it was a lot of fun. I am so thankful for my little family!

Halloween Pumpkins!

Here are some pics of the kids in their Halloween costumes - My two sweet pumpkins! Haley has been very into pumpkins lately and was so excited to be one! Parker looked especially cute with his on and his little waddle, I wish I would have got some video of him! Haley loved carving the pumpkin as well! Halloween was really fun - we played in the leaves during the day and then took the kids trick or treating to a few houses. Haley loved trick or treating and still talks about it :)

Family Pictures!

These are the best of our new family pics! They turned out great! Thanks to my friend Katrina who took them for us! She did a great job! Its quite a trick getting everyone to smile at the same time, but we got a few good ones ;)

 

(If you click on the collage you can see a bigger version of it - I couldnt get it any bigger on the post)

A visit from Grandma!

It's taken me a while to get this on here, but a couple weeks ago my mom came to visit for a week! It was so fun to have grandma stay with us for so long and the kids loved having her here! We all were very sad to see her leave, but are grateful that she was able to come out.

The kids did most of the entertaining for her ;) but we did go to a couple fun places. We went to Reimman Gardens - which is part of Iowa State - obviously it has lots a beautiful gardens but it also has a butterfly house (which the kids absolutely loved) and also a little kids area where they had a fossil dig and dinosaurs. There was also these chimes that you could step on and they would play, Haley enjoyed that a lot.

Near the end of the week Paul (Scott's brother) and his family came as well! (We dont get visitors a lot, but I guess when it rains it pours!) While they were here we visited the famous Boone Train. The kids really enjoyed it. Haley loved having all her cousins here as well. She always asks when Dane is coming again - and tries to convince me that Grandma is at the airport waiting for us to pick her up :)

Horseback Riding

A few weeks ago we took the horses and went for a very nice horse ride. We decided we better do this since Isabelle (our mare) was going back to Utah with Scott's brother - since she is half Scott's nephews. We went up to some trails about an hour north from us and it was a very pretty ride.


We rode for about 4 hours and the kids were champs. We thought we'd give them a break and stopped at a little stream on the way back and they thought that was pretty fun. I don't know what Parker liked more- riding the horses or splashing in the water! It was a good thing we were pretty close to the truck because they got very wet and muddy.



We all just love to ride so much (especially Parker and Haley) and were glad we were finally able to get out on a good ride. It was a good way to say good bye to Isabelle - we will definately miss her!

Kitchen Remodel....the cheap way!

So this has been our big project this summer. We refaced and painted our kitchen cabinets! It was quite the project and the first time I hated that we had so many cabinets! We also ended up getting new flooring because it was on clearance at Lowes (we have now banned ourselves from that store ;) I am so happy with how they turned out - it looks so much better than it did before! Although it still needs new countertops and backsplash I think it has at least been brought out of the 80's!

This is what we did: We first had to remove the wooden handle all the doors and drawers, and then put another board the same width as the rest of the door in its place. Then we bought some plywood sheets and cut them into 2 1/2 inch strips to frame out the doors and drawers. Then we painted them white and added knobs and handles for a finished look.

With boards, paint and supplies, knobs and handles the total was around $250. Not bad considering it looks like we got new cabinets! Oh, and we didnt come up with this ourselves I saw it on HGTV (I love that channel :)

Before Pictures: (I was a little late getting my before pics - we had already taken off the top doors, but you get the idea) I did find a pic that Haley had taken a while a go that shows the top with the doors on)

After pics:

And yes, I know that I need a black fridge - need to get some more moneys first ;)Most of all I am just grateful to have my kitchen back!

First Day of Preschool!

On Friday, Haley had her first day of Preschool! She has been so excited to start and she absolutely loved it!


Sooooooo excited!

When we arrived she did not have any problem walking right in a enjoying herself, meanwhile I was getting a little choked up! My little girl is just getting so big!

She was excited that her good friend Elliot (from nursery) was in her class - he is the one standing next to her. And her teacher is my good friend Katrina so that works out well since she already knew her.

She was so excited when I picked her up and wanted to tell me all about it, it definately wore her out though and she fell asleep in the car ride home :)

Iowans for 1 year!

Well we have been here in Iowa for one year now! It's crazy how fast the time goes! And yet when I look back a lot of things sure have changed since that first cross of the border. My baby is no longer a baby anymore, my now 3 year old has had many milestones (#1 being potty training), we've added a new baby horse to our family, and made a lot of changes to our house (and yet many more on the list ;). Iowa has definately grown on us and we have made a lot of friends and have a great ward. We love how green it is out here and you dont even have to water! Although it does make mowing the lawn a chore (especially when the lawnmower is broken - but that's another story) We still definately miss all of our friends and family back in Utah and many tears have been shed in your behaf! Every birthday and family party or reunion that we've missed makes us very sad, but we know that this is where we are supposed to be so it helps during those hard times. So one year down, and however many the Lord intends for us left! We feel very blessed and know that we are being taken care of! Thanks to all for your love and support and know that we love you too!

Nothing like falling asleep to a good book!

I actually took this a while ago, but I was going through pictures and just had to post it! I came to check on her to make sure she went to sleep for her nap one day and this is what I found - there really is nothing like falling asleep to a good book!

What a Princess!

Haley was recently invited to a princess party and Cinderella was there. She absolutely loved it!

They played games and read stories with them. To say she was amazed is an understatement, more like awestruck! She just sat there at stared at Cinderella.


Each girl got to walk down the red carpet and Cinderella crowned them a real princess!

It was pretty cute and she loves playing with her crown and necklaces that she got. Now, whenever she sees Cinderella on anything she says, "Mom, I know her!"

Happy 1st Birthday!

On July 31 it was Parkers 1st Birthday! We had a lot of fun that day. We started off his day with his favorite breakfast - pancakes. Then we went to Fun Days which is a little town celebration which was fun, mostly just to be together as a family. Haley probably had more fun than Parker but I think he had fun too. After that it was back home for some cake and ice cream. Scott was the cake decorator this year - I know its pretty shocking to hear that! But when you find out that it was a Tractor cake - not so shocking! Scott put a lot of creativity and effort into making it look realistic - from the pic you can tell that it is a tractor with a digger on it and it is digging up a field! I was so proud of my hubby! It turned out looking great! Parker definately enjoyed digging into the cake himself and ate every last bit of cake and ice cream that I would let him have (he would have eaten more if I'd let him). He loved opening his presents more than the presents themselves! I wish family could have been there, but it still was a wonderful day!

It's just crazy how fast the time goes. It seems like yesterday when we were bringing him home from the hospital! He is getting so big and learns so much everyday. Here are a few things that we just love about him:

• His open mouth kisses.........My favorite!
• His sweet little hugs
• The way he jabbers
• The dimple on his right cheek
• His monkey crawl
• His cheeser grin
• How he eats more than his sister
• The sweet spirit that he is!

First Haircut, First Word, First Step

This post is actually about a month late! All of these things happened a little while ago but we've just been so busy and I've had other things I wanted to post, but I have finally gotten to it!


First Haircut:

First Words:

"Mama!" (Haley said Dada first so I was pretty excited about this one!)

"kuck a kuck a kuck" - translation: Yucky

and then a little later came:

"Dadadada"

First Steps:

(video soon to come - I cant figure it out on this new computer so I'll put it on when Scott comes home!)