THIS MONTH IS SUCH A SPECIAL ONE...

IT'S BIRTHDAY TIME FOR GRAYER!!!!

That's Right, our little Grayer is one year old!!! I can't believe one year has already passed since our little guy was born!! And let me tell you, it has been the best most rewarding year of our lives!! Grayer is our greatest joy and we thank Heavenly Father everyday for sending him to our home!!! Even though we are saddened to know that the "baby stage" is pretty much over, we love watching him grow and become his own little person!!!
Here are some pictures of Grayer's 1st birthday celebration...

Grayer's Birthday Door: adorned with Yogos, Fruit Snacks, and Raisins!

Snatching more treats

Grayer's Dinosaur Birthday Cake that I made, I thought it turned out pretty good!!

I got him all stripped down and ready to get messy and just dig into his cake, but he wouldn't touch it! All he wanted to do was eat the frosting off the candle! I even tried to help him by putting his hands in the cake but he still wanted nothing to do with it!!

Opening Presents

The Wagon was too big to wrap!

Playing with new toys -- poppin' pals and musical maracas!!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to! (I don't remember why he was crying)

But eating Raisins and Birthday Kisses from Daddy made it all better!

WE HAD A GREAT DAY WITH OUR
BIRTHDAY BOY!!!!

PRESENTING:
OUR 1 YEAR OLD!!!

Christmas Lights!!

I love the Christmas lights that my Mom and Dad put on their house every year. The lights are very simple yet very pretty! These pictures don't give it much justice, but just take my word for it, it is the best lookin' house on the block!! I took these before the big snow fall and I wish I would have gotten one after because the lights with all the snow looked amazing!!!
Oh, I love Christmas and I'm sad that it is over:(

FLYING HOME!!

This year for Christmas we got to fly home to Idaho Falls, Idaho to be with our families!!! We were a little worried Grayer might be a little terror on the plane, but he wasn't, he was an ANGEL!!! He slept the majority of the time and either played in the aisle or sat on our laps the rest of the time. We were very glad!! He loved roaming around in the airport and looking out the windows at the planes! He was a great traveler!!!

Christmas in Idaho!

Andy and I are very blessed to have both families live within 20 minutes of each other, because then when we go home we get to visit both families!! Yes, I will admit, at times it does create contention when we want to be at both houses at once and we have to split the time; but I don't think either one of us would change it!!!! We love being able to see both families!!
Here is how we broke it down this year....

Christmas Eve
23rd - Party at Susan's Grandma's house

• Prime Rib Dinner
• Talent show
• Cousin Gift exchange

24th - Party at Andy's house

• Turkey Dinner
• Luke chapter 2 reading
• Gift exchange
  

Christmas Day
Morning - Andy's house

• Open Gifts
• Breakfast at Grandparent's house

Afternoon - Susan's house

• Open Gifts
• Play Games, Watch Movies, and Relax!!
  

Then next year it will be flopped!! So far this little system has worked for us so that we can celebrate with both the Christensen family and the Gilchrist family!!!
Here are a few pictures of our fun festivities....

Grayer at Great Grandma Baker's Christmas Eve Party

Grandkids dressing Grandpa up like a snowman

Uncle Gregg's Family singing Grandma got Run over by a Reindeer - so funny!!

Grayer playing with Uncle Dwight

Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa Gilchrist's


Grayer got a bow stuck to his bum, I thought it was cute!

Aunt Molli helping Grayer figure out his new toy phone

Present time at Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's

Grayer playing with a little stuffed dog I made him For Christmas. He loves it!!!

SNOW!! SNOW!! SNOW!!

One thing I love best about Idaho is the white fluffy stuff that falls from the sky in the winter!!! And while we were there, boy did it fall!! I think overall we got a little over a foot of snow. It was so VERY lovely!!! This was Grayer's first experience with snow and I think he liked it okay!! He loved being pulled in the sled either by Mommy or behind the four wheeler, and of course I didn't get any pictures of that. When it came time to sit in the snow he wasn't quite sure what to think. Although, he did think it was fun to taste the snow!!

Crusty Nose!

My sister, Megan, with her baby girl, Eva, and me with Grayer

TRIP TO ST. LOUIS

Last week we took a quick trip to St. Louis, Missouri for an audition that Andrew had with the St. Louis Opera Company. He was originally going to go with other people from his program but they ended up canceling so I got to go along for the ride!! It was really fun!! Neither of us had ever been there before so we looked up things that we could do and places we could visit; like going to the Zoo, going to some historical Lewis & Clark sites, and going to the Gateway Arch. But, our plans were foiled by really cold and rainy weather so that meant that the Zoo was out along with the Lewis & Clark sites. So even though we didn't get to do as much stuff as we originally planned we had fun going to the Gateway Arch, going to a museum, visiting the very first church built in St. Louis, and driving around and exploring the city. Here are a few pictures of our adventures....

The Gateway Arch



I know this looks like a porta potty but it is actually the little "pod" we rode in to get to the top of the Arch! It was sort of like a gondola but really tiny, Andy had to hunch over so he didn't hit his head!! When they were building the Arch they couldn't use a traditional elevator to get to the top because it was on a curve, so they combine the technology of an elevator, a train, and an amusement park ride and came up with these "pods"!

Mommy and Grayer riding in the "pod"

Daddy and Grayer riding in the "pod"

The view from the top of the Arch



This is the Church that we went to. More pictures below!

The family at 630 feet in the air


This is a mural of the Arch. It's cool because it compares the height of the Arch, 630 feet, to other famous buildings and structures, so you can see how tall it really is! If you click on the picture you can see off to the left is the White House which is 70 feet. And off to the right is Old Faithful which erupts at 184 feet, and Mount Rushmore stands at about 500 feet.

This is the inside of the Church

It had the most beautiful ornate organ, this picture does it no justice!

Okay, I guess there were more than a few pictures -- sorry!!!
Oh and in case you were wondering Andrew's audition went really well!! We don't know yet if he will be hired, so we'll keep you posted!
HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!