Remind me again what month it is? If my calendar is right it is the middle of January. I first apologize to all of you who are back East and freezing while we are here in Arizona wondering where our winter is. Here are some of our activities from Monday.
It started out at the park with a bunch of ladies and kids from our ward. Hollie loved playing with her friends and Ethan enjoyed crawling/walking around and playing in the sand.
Being outside was what we did all day. It was so warm that even I, in the middle of January, went and put shorts and a short sleve shirt on.
The neighborhood kids were out and it seemed as though they ended up at our house. They wanted to play in the water, so they decided to wash my car for me, thanks guys.
My sweet baby girl even wanted to participate and she did a great job!
And then we were off to the backyard to play in the splashpad and eat popsicles. What!?! In the middle of January, that is what we do in the summer. I have to say the kids all had a blast and the water was cold, I thought.
Although it was out of the norm, we had a great day and LOTS of fun. 
My baby Ethan is growing way to fast for me. I so want him to stay little but at the same time I want him to grow and achieve all the milestones, learn and turn into a boy. Oh my goodness, what does a mom do? Well, I take in every moment I can and treasure the times he wants me to hold him and cuddle him, I help him learn how to do new things, I sing to him and read him books. I guess all I can do is ENJOY him LOTS now before this moment in time passes.
As I have been watching him grow and develop he is starting to get busier and busier by the moment. Everyday he is discovering something new he can do and something new he can get into. He amazes me. His adorable sister was NEVER as busy as he is at 10 1/2 months!! He has the walking thing down and is getting very fast. He loves getting into cupboards, pulling everything out and making LOTS of noise. He has just figured out how to climb UP on things. Yesterday I found him up on our fireplace, he climbs up under our coffee table, he climbed inside of a drawer in our entertainment center, he is starting to climb on everything and I know from talking to friends that this is just what boys do, Holy Cow!! My little guy is only 10 1/2 months and is doing all this. He is going to be climbing up on top of the entertainment center before I know it. Ethan LOVES being outside crawling, walking and swinging. Rocks and sand have become a favorite of his. He enjoys the freedom he has outside and as long as mom is there he can roam where he wants as long as it's safe. He LOVES making messes and pulling things down. Hollie has a cute little table in her room and a flower pot with (fake) flowers sits on top of it and Ethan loves knocking it over, watching it fall and making a mess. (yes we have sinced moved it to a different location, up high) Once that's done he is quickly onto the next thing. Hollie get's a little bit frustrated with him, and she is slowly learning that we need to teach him not to touch things and help him learn. This is a learning experience for ALL of us and now I know why I don't get much done, but that's the JOY of being a mommy and I so excited I get to experience it!! 
Christmas Eve. We were up at the cabin in Heber with the Skousen family. All I can say is that we had a blast. We listened to the story of the Polar Express, did our own Nativity, and sang Christams songs while my dad and Tyler played the guitar. It was great!! Hollie and Ethan had their matching Christmas jammies and were told that Santa would only come if they had on their "special" jammies, it was cute. Hollie was so excited about Santa and prayed every night that Santa would come and bring her presents.
Christmas morning. The long awaited morning finally came and after we were all worried Santa wouldn't find us because we weren't at our homes, it was good to see that he did. Boy, we must have ALL been good this year because I think we all got what we asked for. It was a wonderful Christmas morning and enjoyed being with our family. After opening presents we were on our way to the Homestead for a yummy brunch. We filled up on lots of food, went back to the cabin and the girls/kids took naps while the men went off-roading in the snow. It was a wondeful day and we LOVED being with our family.
Hollie got a hairstyling kit for Christmas and she LOVES doing hair. Now she can curl and blow dry it without cords attached, just batteries....Hooray!!!! Daddy is a very good sport. 
Ryan and Hollie built the cutest snowman and Hollie was very proud to show him off. "Snowman so cute mommy," she would say. What a cute girl.
New Years Eve we spent at my aunts house and enjoyed relaxing and watching the guys play golf on the wii, let's just say it was very entertaining. Ethan was showing off his new steps, walking, and Hollie and cousin Stockton, were having a blast together and just being so cute!
Hollie LOVED the snow and LOVED sledding with daddy. Don't mind Ryan in his shorts, he is CRAZY. It was freezing cold outside, people are bundled in jackets and pants and here is my cute husband wearing shorts!! Oh my goodness.
Later that evening we decorated the tree and Hollie was a great helper and did a great job at decorating her half of the tree. Only half of our tree could be decorated this year because of a busy little boy whose name is Ethan LOVES to get into and touch EVERYTHING!!! It was very much a kid proof tree and it still was pretty and cute.
SANTA
While kids were busy saying "hi" to Santa and telling him what they want Bishop had a big suprise for them when they were finished. At the other end of the cultural hall were two huge jump houses!!! One for the big kids and one for the little ones. Everyone had a blast and big "thanks" to Bishop.
HOLLIE
The next morning we woke up and like always I go check on the kids and here I find her curled up in her moses basket again!! I don't know how long she slept in there, but she must have been pretty comfortable. My cute girl, I just LOVE her to pieces.
