Feeling Festive

Apparently Christmas is almost here.  I know it must be coming soon because my wallet is hemorrhaging cash.  But in the spirit of the holidays, we decided to take Clayton downtown with cousins Olivia and Casey to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square.  I think it was the first time I have gone to see the lights since probably before I was in high school.  We thought Clayton would like all the lights, but he was kind of tired and cold and didn't think it was such a big deal.  You can get a pretty good sense of how excited he was to be there in the picture above.
All the lights are pretty elaborate, and it must take an insane amount of work to put them up.  But Temple Square isn't as big as I remember it being as a kid.  It was a pretty quick walk through.  Mostly I just walked around thinking that wrapping lights around the tiniest tree branches is a crappy job.  There are other jobs I would enjoy even less than that (like phlebotomist, Ikea assembler, or "community organizer"--whatever that is), but Christmas light hanger is right near the top of the list.

We took this picture of me and Tina in Temple Square.  And Tina observed that we look exactly the same in every picture of the two of us.  Which is pretty true.  So we've got the consistency thing going for us.

My Martha Stewart Moment

Yep!  I did it!  I made Thanksgiving.  Jared helped of course.  For you that know me, know that I can't cook.  I can bake cookies, cakes, and pies, but not "real food".  I can't even fry chicken, yet alone make a whole turkey!  I think it went pretty good, and I learned a lot!  I am happy to say that I bought a free-range turkey so it had a happy life before it was slaughtered.  (I do everything Oprah tells me to do).We had Jared's brother Logan and his girlfriend Ashley over, along with Jared's mom Souzzann and Jim.  Clayton fell asleep at the top of the stairs, so he missed much of the dinner, which honestly was nice.  I rarely get to have a meal without having to try to force feed

 him some food.  Here's my man carving the turkey.

Thankful for Clayton, the Narcoleptic

So, today is Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for, especially in these tough times. But mostly Clayton. That kid is rad.

Onto another update on Clayton's hijinks. Specifically, Clayton has developed a strange habit of falling asleep at the top of our stairs. For two mornings in a row, we got up in the morning and found Clayton sleeping in basically this same spot. I have no idea how early he gets up and moves from his bed in the morning. But he has also done it in the middle of the day. This picture was taken in the afternoon, shortly after I chastised Clayton for throwing something on the floor and took him up to his room to think about it. Clayton decided to think about it by passing out on the landing. Hey, whatever works.

Halloween is finally here!

We started off the day with going to Casey's Halloween parade at school.  Casey was a storm trooper. (I think) I'm not a fan of Star Wars, so he tried to explain to me which "trooper" he was and got confused.  Anyways, my mom thought it would be fun to pretend Clayton was in the parade, so she walked him through the line after the other kids.  Here they are.  Clayton was not a fan.

And the top picture (I can't quite figure out how to get my pictures lined up how I want) is a picture of Clayton right before he headed out to trick-or-treat.  He wouldn't put his mask all the way down, but Jared managed to get it on his head.  Clayton seemed to have fun.  Jared said he was really shy at first, but then once he got used to it, he was was saying trick-or-treat and thank you and I guess he tried to even go into some peoples homes.  

Pumpkin Carving

Clayton invited Casey and Olivia over to carve pumpkins Thursday night.  Once Clayton saw us cleaning out the pumpkins, he didn't want much to do with it so he headed up to his room to play.  That's why he isn't pictured.  Good times!

Clayton's girlfriends

Clayton and I met up with my friend Amber and her two little girls Madison and Marli for lunch at Gardner Village last week and took some pictures. Clayton loves the ladies!  

Party Time

Clayton was invited to his first Halloween party. The party was hosted by his cousin Casey, but I don't know why Casey isn't dressed up.  I could have sworn he was dressed as a storm trooper when I picked Clayton up.  Here Clayton is dressed up at Batman.  

I also found this picture of Clayton last year dressed up as a spider.  I remember he hated that costume.  We didn't even end up taking him trick or treating because we put the outfit on him and he started screaming.  I can't believe how big he has got!

Halloween Festivities

Okay, so for you that know my family, we take Halloween pretty seriously.  We even make Halloween gingerbread houses.  Here is Clayton and his cousins Casey and Olivia working hard on their houses.  Aunt Dina said that Clayton didn't decorate much, but he did enjoy the candy.  

Jared's 29th Birthday

On Saturday Jared turned 29 and we had a small party for him.  We just had cake and ice cream and watched Boston College beat Virginia Tech.  As you can see, the two of them had their BC shirts on.  Go Eagles!  

Clayton and Grandpa

Tuesday was Grandpa's birthday, and Jared and Clayton went up to Bountiful to visit him.  Here are a few cute pictures of them.  Jared said in the second picture, Roger was sitting on the chair by himself, and Clayton walked over and climbed up into the chair with him.  He really loves his grandparents.

Silly Clayton

Clayton thinks he is so funny when he finds dad's shoes and wears them around the house.  He even stops to look at his reflection in the oven and laughs.  So cute!

Horror Movie

Okay, so this is sort of a stupid post, but the freakiest thing happened yesterday afternoon.  It was quiet in the house (Clayton was down for nap) and I was reading when I heard a loud squeaky noise outside.  I ran to the front door and looked out and saw like 300 birds on my front lawn!  It was so loud!  I took these pictures.  The weird part was that after they flew away, they went on the roof for like 30 minutes just walking around.  I could hear their feet tapping and them fighting with each other on the roof.  Yes, fighting.  It was creepy.  I just thought I would share.  

Halloween Cookies!

Saturday night Clayton decorated Halloween cookies.  Well, he at ate more than he decorated.  It was funny because instead of just pouring sprinkles on the cookies, he put sprinkles on one by one.  We ended up spending an hour decorating a dozen cookies.  He seemed to have fun though.

Clayton's Halloween costumes

Clayton had these pictures done by Grandpa Jim last week.  I couldn't decide on what to dress him as this year, so I bought a batman and a vampire costume.  

New York

Jared and I went to New York last week for his old college roommate Jeff's wedding.  We also took our niece Olivia with us to scope out some colleges that she might apply to in a couple of years.  We had tons of fun but we missed Clayton so much!

Here is a darling picture of Jared and I at Time Square the first night we were there.  

Mommy's little helper.

I just thought these were cute of him.  The other night he got out the broom and cleaned the whole floor.  He also likes to dust, and clean the fridge.  He's a good little helper.

Clayton's 2nd Birthday!!!

We had a small party with my family on the 29th with cake and ice cream. Aunt Dina, Uncle Chris, Casey, and Olivia gave him his big wheel which he is starting to get the hang of. He can't quite reach the pedals, but he can push off with his feet.

Clayton's new and improved bedroom.

Clayton just turned 2 years old on the 29th, so we decided it was time to change his room up and change his crib into a big boy bed.  He seems to really like it.  So far he hasn't fallen out, but we put pillows under his bed just in case.  He got a TV from us, and Grandma bought him the table and chairs. 

Clayton at the park

Jared and I dressed Clayton up and took him to the park hoping to get some cute pictures, but he wouldn't pose for us, so this is pretty much the best out of 20 pictures we took.  He wouldn't sit still for one picture! 

Wilderness Adventure

Today we decided to get out of the valley for a little while, and thought it would be fun to do a picnic somewhere up in one of the many canyons that lie to the east of the Salt Lake area.  We settled on Little Cottonwood Canyon, and drove a few miles up to a little campground/picnic area.  We didn't really do much in the way of hiking around the area, but somehow Clayton managed to get himself dirty.  Like, really dirty.  Rambo dirty.
The main thing he did was sit down in a patch of dirt under some trees, pick up handfuls of dirt, and throw them.  Which wouldn't have been as bad if he hadn't decided to throw into the wind.  So handful after handful of dirt went flying and settled back on him (sticking easily on his freshly sunscreened skin).  He is definitely all boy.  I cannot imagine Clayton's dainty friend Hailey getting this dirty, under any circumstances.  You will also notice Clayton wearing his new monkey backpack, which is really a covert harness.  It may seem kind of like a leash, but with a boy who runs at the first sign of freedom, it is actually a kind of helpful way to keep him reined in.

Literally.

Hailey's Visit

Tina's friend Jamil from high school and her daughter Hailey came to visit us for a week, and just left on Tuesday.  Hailey is less than two months younger than Clayton, so they are pretty much into the same things and liked hanging out.  We took tons of pictures of them together, but here are just a few.
Here is one of Hailey flashing gang signs.  
Clayton had a lot of fun with Hailey.  He also got this new monkey backpack, which he thinks is pretty rad.  
Hailey liked playing on the swingset.  Especially while holding a measuring spoon.  Because, you know, swings just aren't the same without an accurately measured teaspoon.
Most of the time, Clayton and Hailey liked just hanging around, watching TV, and getting into trouble around the house.  We were all glad to have them out here, and Clayton especially hopes Hailey comes back to visit again soon.  Tina and I can tell that he misses her already.

Happy Birthday, Tina!

Today was Tina's birthday. She has officially reached the ripe old age of 29, which is about as insignificant a number as you can imagine. We have Jamil and Hailey staying at the house with us right now, and we had Tina's mom and sister Dina's family stop by for some cake and ice cream. I think it was a decent birthday. We had cake.
And here is Clayton with cousin Casey. Clayton is wearing the new shirt he got especially for today's festivities. It's pretty rad. Also, Tina's Dad, Paul, couldn't make the trip up from St. George. But he did send a pretty awesome gift, which Kris brought with her. Yes, friends, it is a photo of Paul from 1985, which has been at their house in St. George and which Tina and I have been coveting for years. It's pretty much the greatest photo I've ever seen. To borrow a phrase I've heard Paul use before, what do you get the person who has everything? Answer: THIS PICTURE--
My photograph does not remotely do justice to the original. I cannot possibly express how awesome it is. Paul, you are a dashingly handsome man. And this particular phase in your fashion history would make Cotter and Borat proud. Thank you, thank you, thank you.