Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We had what I would call our first big snowstorm of the year. It started snowing last night around 9pm. When we woke up it was still snowing. It snowed all day and has not stopped. Now don't get me wrong, it has been lighter at some times in the day, but nonetheless snowing nonstop for 24 hours.
Dave and Courtney decided they would go out early this morning and shovel the snow. Dave realized that he could have just waited until tomorrow morning, since the snow piled up as he shoveled. Him and Courtney had a good time anyway.
Courtney decided, after being hit with a few snowballs by her dad, that she would get him back. She kept going to spots with the least amount of snow to try to make snowballs. Not only that, she usually ended up throwing the snow at herself. She has yet to figure out how to move around with so much clothing on and especially her mittens. It is very pretty to look at but truth be told, I would rather be with the Youngs(our friends) in Arizona right now, soaking up 70 degree weather. At least Dave and Courtney had a good time.

Thanksgiving

A tradition that started long before we had kids, has no evolved. We have always enjoyed getting together to make gingerbread houses. Although every year comes with the disappointment that we are not professionals at it, we have a good time anyway. As kids have joined us, they get their own little house to decorate. Courtney had such a good time doing hers this year, although she didn't know why she had to put the candy on the house and not eat it. She definitely takes after her dad, artistically speaking. She is much better at decorating than a two year old should be. Unlike my other family members, who put their houses out on display the whole Christmas season, ours don't last nearly that long. With two in the house that never pass up sugar, it didn't take long for Courtney's to be completely eaten, glue and all. And you can see what is left of my poor house. I guess it's better for them to get eaten than to go to waste.

Ok, so I'm a little late with this one. I still wanted everyone to see our thanksgiving day. It was a lot of fun because all of my family was in attendance except for one brother and sister-in-law. They had a good excuse. My sister-in-law, Kristen ,had a baby on November 19. Congratulations to them! While it is fun to get together, there are way too many kids running around under foot. We had seven there, 3 of them being 2 year olds. As you can see, Courtney and her cousin, Abbie, got very worn out. Amazingly, they both feel asleep together.


While the kids were sleeping we had the opportunity to play games together, which is tradition. We love it and have a great time. We have much to be thankful for and are always happy to have this day to reflect on the blessings that have been given to us by our Father in Heaven.

Trip to Guatemala

We went to a city named Tikal, which is where most of the recovered Mayan temples are. We had to take a small plane early in the morning to get there but it was worth it. We got to hike around and see all of the temples, and also some that were still being uncovered. Highlights of the day trip were: Bob being pooped on by a monkey, seeing a new animal called a coatamunde(which isn't spelled right but that's how it sounds), and our tour guide telling us that some of Star Wars was filmed here. In Tikal, we stayed at the Jungle Lodge, which has no power after 10pm and also turns off every so often in the daytime. Our room was even equipped with mosquito nets. There was also no hot water, so it was basically glorified camping. Also in Tikal, the boys talked us into a canopy tour. It consisted of eight different ziplines above the jungle trees. Needless to say, Danielle(my sister-in-law) and I weren't too thrilled to do it at all. We soon got the hang of it though and even smiled on the last line(due to the fact that it was over). It was a fun experience for us all. We also visited a place called Lake Attilan. We stayed in a hotel right next to the lake and took a boat across it to go shopping. We were told that this lake is what they believe to be the Waters of Mormon, so that was neat. What wasn't neat were the waves on the boatride back to the hotel. I was sure we would capsize and be lost forever in the lake. We made it back relatively in one piece but we were very wet. We also had the opportunity on our last day there to visit the Temple there. It was very beautiful but very small. The endowment room had a few rows of pews in it and if we had not been there going through, there would have only been 5 people total in the last session of the day, which is at 4:30. It was a wonderful experience to be in the Celestial room together as a family. We were also lucky enough to get to meet with Brian's(Dave's brother) mission president and wife. They were such great people and love Brian so much. They have some children attending BYU so we are hoping to get to see them again. We also went to were Brian served and it was neat to meet the people that love him so much. We attended church in one of his old wards and it was great. They were doing their primary program that day, so it proved to be very entertaining. We had a great time and would highly recommend the trip to anyone looking for a good adventure and humble, loving people.

Disney On Ice

Courtney's new favorite thing to do is paint her nails and put on makeup. She asks me to paint her nails all the time. This has been exciting for me because she has never let me up to this point. It is a fun activity for us to do together. She will put on gallons of lip gloss if I'm not careful.
Next week, unfortunately, we will not be able to post anything. We will be in Guatamala. We are going for a week with the Bollards. Dave's younger brother, Brian, recently returned from a mission there and will guide us around. Courtney had her suitcase packed on Sunday(even though we aren't leaving until Wednesday). She's not coming with us though. She gets to stay here with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. She brings her suitcase with her everywhere she goes, throughout the house and can't wait to go.


Dave recently made rails for Courtney's new bed and got it all put together. During the day, she loves her bed. She wants to look at it and tells everyone how her Dad fixed it. Night, is a whole other story. She asks for her crib constantly. She hasn't been sleeping as well as she used to, so we're hoping she gets used to it or else the crib is going back up(and we really don't want to do that).




We had a great time at Disney on Ice. Courtney has know that we were going for over a month now and has asked if we were going every single day. Time is a hard concept for her, everything is "two days" away. She was a little disappointed that Mickey didn't stay out on the ice the whole time, but she enjoyed it.

Happy Halloween! I have to admit that just like some certain friends that we know(I won't name names), we didn't carve our pumpkins until Monday night. In our defense, we did have our pumpkins already. Courtney and Dave weren't big fans of cleaning the pumpkins out. As usual, it fell on Candace to do it. Dave did a great job of drawing and carving the faces. Courtney stuck her hand in one time and had to quickly wash her hands. That didn't stop her from thinking she was helping. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house for dinner and treat-or-treated with cousins, Brayden and Lauryn. It got pretty cold once the sun went down, but at least it wasn't snowing on us.
Courtney is still trying to figure out the whole dressing herself thing. She came running up to me like this saying, "I can't do it mom." She was happy though and lets me help her when she knows she can't.
On Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch/corn maze with some friends from the ward. It was a lot of fun. We ended up staying for over two hours. Courtney's favorite part was the huge Tigger blow up and just had to get a picture with one of her favorite characters.

Last weekend Dave's mom and dad were in town. It's always fun for Courtney to have her grandma and grandpa here to spoil her. We went to Thanksgiving Point to what is called Barnyard Boo. Courtney had so much fun (and Dave did too!) Of course, her favorite part was riding the pony. She asks to go and ride every single day. She also got a tattoo, made a sticker page, and decorated a cookie. Before we left, she had to pick out a pumpkin to bring home.

This week was also Dave's birthday. He turned 31 on Tuesday. His wishes were that we just stay home and enjoy being together as a family. I made his favorite dinner, Waikiki Meatballs and Courtney picked out some Finding Nemo cupcakes for him. We had to sing "Happy Birthday" two days in a row because Courtney kept wanting 'another happy birthday' for her daddy. As you can see from the picture, Courtney had a hard time keeping her fingers out of the cupcakes.
We also had our first snowfall of the season on Wednesday. It flurried off and on for most of the day but by evening, there was a light dusting of snow covering everything. Courtney can't remember last year, so she thought the snow was great. She can't wait for it to snow again. I'm glad that it's been in the 60's again and hope our next snow isn't until December.

Courtney has recently discovered how to dress herself. She came into my room this morning and said, "Mom, I did it. I dressed." Although I was very proud of her, I have to lay out what goes together for her now.

We recently got back from a trip from Galveston, Texas. It is actually an island right off of Texas. The funny thing about this place is that there is a single bridge into this place. So when ever there is a Hurricane there is only one way in and one way out.

Courtney loved being at the beach, even though it was not as good as California beaches. She has never really been to the ocean and she had a wonderful time.