Kristi (Brian's sister) was in town with here boys for the holiday and we took a drive up to Hardware Ranch to see the elk. It was great fun. I love nature and the boys thought it was AWESOME!
Every night when we get home and the lights are on on the tree Kristian runs over and lays under the tree and wants us all to come lay by him. He says it is warm there. It is so cute and fun. I love the look in his eyes - the picture just does not do it justice.
So it was our 20th annual Christmas get together for my friends from high school. I did say 20th. We started the year before we got out of school so I have not been out of school that long. (whew, thought I was old for a min) Left to right would be Becky, Leicha, Amy, Kara and me. We started out with 8 of us I think and the numbers vary each year. At first we exchanged gifts and had dinner at someones house but that got to be too much work. Now we just meet for dinner, though this year it was brunch. It is always good to get together and share our lives from the past year. 
So Grandpa got himself a new torture machine. It is really a inversion table that tips you upside down to relieve the pressure in your back. Kristian was so funny when Brian got on it the other night. He sat by Brian's head and held on to his sweater and kept saying 'I will stay right here dad, it's okay, I won't leave you'. Then when Brian got off I made a comment that it must work because he looked taller. Having heard that Kristian decided that he wanted a try. He told me he was very scared but he was big and would try it. Here he is hanging upside down getting taller.
Merry Christmas to all my family and friends! This is the tree Kristian picked out. He said that he wanted a little one and the first ones that he picked out were no taller than he is. But in the end, this was the perfect one! It is hard to see the ornaments, but they are all silver. I really like it, but I always like our Christmas tree. I love this time of year!
It seems we are on our way to being potty trained! YEA! Kristian wanted to ride the train, and so after 5 successful potty trips we went on a train ride. He loved it. I have to tell you that getting to this point his mom about lost it. I had a break down just the day before because I was not sure that he was ever going to get it and I was just not teaching him right and therefore I a was causing undue stress in the life 
of my kid. He was SO sad when he got his pants wet but he insisted on wearing underwear. But every since I had my breakdown he has not had an accident! (and he didn't even see my breakdown). I am so proud of him! I was taking pictures with my phone and told him to smile. When he saw this picture with his tongue out he thought he was so funny. Way to go Kristian!
So Santa is officially in town! They had a parade the other night and I helped a friend with a float for the Boys and Girls club. It was great fun. Kristian came to 
the parade with Grandpa and Grandma Gifford. I think that Kristian had more fun trading hats with Grandpa then he did watching the parade!
The girls starting at the left: Jen, Shannon, Christiann, Me, Camille and in the back are the Megans (though they are spelled different) We laughed at this picture because it looks like they were at the table behind us and just turned around to be in the picture. After ice cream and appetizers we got in line for popcorn and drinks. I am always good for more food! The movie was good too!
Her name is Li'l Billie.
My grandpa that built the cabin used to call my grandma and my mom Li'l Billie. This is our tribute to those most amazing women in my life. I have included a picture of L
i'l Billie and Echo Gillett together so that you can see that I did in fact carve a bear and not just post Brian's bear twice. On the bottom of the bears we have put that they were cut from the site of Grandpa Gillett's cabin and then the date that they were carved. I hope they will be in our family for a long time to come.
of 2 days before Halloween, Kristian was NOT going trick or treating, he was not dressing up, and he did not like candy. 
This is while we were in Florida last November. This is Kira and Kristian watching some cartoons in the morning before anyone else got going. We loved our stay in Florida. My uncle had a condo that he was at by himself and he invited us to visit. We took Kristian to the zoo and he loved it. We played on the beach and watched the dolphins swim from outside the balcony. We also watched a launch of a satellite from the balcony. It was a great trip.
This was a fun tag - it brought up fun memories.
Now it is your turn. If you read this you have to play
Tag you are it.
I know he does not look too upset in this picture, but he was when it happened. We had just finished lunch and he got down and was trying to kick his dog. Yes I said kick his dog. That is what he does for fun lately. So he was trying to kick KC and he lost his footing. That is what I am guessing anyway as I only heard it. He kicked and down he went, face first into the shoe rack that we have by the door. There was not a lot of blood but his nose sure looked flat. I got an ice pack and sat on the floor with him trying to calm him down and I asked him what happened. He said, while crying, 'I was trying to kick KC and she moved'. Moral of this - don't kick the dog. While it does not appear to be broken it does look like it will hurt for a while. I am hoping that it does not get too black and that I don't get turned in for child abuse. 
We woke up to snow! Kristian was very excited. He didn't even argue about going to church because that meant that we got to go out in the snow. I guess that I had better get used to the cold because I am afraid that we will still be spending alot of time out side this winter. After church we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Bingham's and Daddy and Kristian wanted to build a snowman. Brian has never been one to do things in moderation, so this is the out come. 
We had the Alzheimer's walk this morning! Mom, Camille, Brian, Kristian and I all walked. Thanks to those that donated money. This is really a cause that I believe in. Rumor has it that they are close to having a drug that all but reverses this crippling disease. We are looking into getting the information so we can be in the test groups. This is the group walking! (I walked also just can't take the picture and be in them also.)
Kristopher and Francisco were in town this weekend and Kristian had a ton of fun playing with them. I love when they come down. The went to the duck pond with Brian (I was working) and then we took them fishing at the fish farm. Makenna went fishing with us. She was the best fisher of the bunch. Of course I forgot to take the camera with us and just had my phone and my new phone does not take as good of pictures as my old one did so none of them turned out. I did snap a few shots of the boys playing at grandma Bingham's house and this is my favorite. Kristian and Kristopher (Fopher) playing the piano.
We got to go to the cabin this last weekend - My favorite place in the world! We had a great time. David(brother) and Mindi and the kids came. Camille (sister) and Kira rode up with us and we met mom and dad there. The kids got to ride in Grandpa's Mule! He and grandma have sure had fun on it. We went down to the lake and let the kids have the time of their life throwing rocks into the water. What a great family I have, love spending time with them.
So began our Lake Powell vacation. Forgive me if I share too many pictures, it was hard to pick my favorites. 
year. What a wise decision. Kristian loved being on the 'big boat' as he called it. It is one of my favorite places on earth. Looking at these rocks is it really that hard to understand why? Notice the rocks that have recently fallen. This picture was taken while looking across the canyon from where we were anchored. We found a place that never was in direct sunlight. For those of you that have been there, you know that is a feat. We had to rig up a pulley system for out raft to be able to go out to the sun once in a while. And even there we only had sun from about 10am to 2pm. But it sure helped with the heat. We ran out of ice on the third or fourth day so it was nice to be out of the sun. 
like to sit right in front of Brian because he kept getting his head bumped. He even tried to paddle a few times. It was much more fun to just let dad do all the work though (I agree). My parents even tried it and liked it. Though it is a work out for the upper body. It is a good thing that it is so wide because if you tip it, it is VERY hard to get back in. (for us fat people)
box of rocks for him to take back on the boat so he could throw them off the back. If we stayed on the rocks too long he would run out of rocks to throw. It was hard to keep up with him. I think that we all took advantage of when he took a nap so that we could recoup. He was great entertainment for us all. 
first exposure to deep water. He held on to my life jacket so tight the first couple times we got in, but eventually we were able to get him to swim from me to Brian. Once he realized that he could get around on his own, it was hard to reign him in. It was just a matter of finding the right thing to bribe him with. Jumping off the rocks was the thing that worked. I could not believe how little fear he has. Complete trust in his parents. He did not want to stop. He just kept saying 'again, again', and of couse I would let him go again. I have it on video but am not sure I can figure out how to put it on here. I will try. When we were all done jumping he swam all the way from the rock back over to the boat (15feet or more) and then wanted to jump off the side of the boat as well.
These are Kristian's cousins on the Bingham side of the family. What a mix! Makenna, Kristopher (Fopher), Francisco (Cisco) and Kristian. The boys live in Boise and were down visiting grandma for the week. We got to spend some great time with them. This day we went to Dinosaur Park and I forgot my camera (suprise). These pictures were taken with my cell phone again. They turned out so good. I love that Kristian likes his cousins and can get to know them often.
South Ogden Days were the week of the 23rd. Aunt Teri talked us in to going to the Parade at the end of the week. Kristian waved at everything that went by. The fire trucks sprayed water at us and he was not sure that he liked that too much, but he loved the candy. 
