Happy Thanksgiving & Trip re-cap

We're Back!

And I forgot our camera when we left for Utah, so we didn't take many pictures. Hopefully we'll get some from relatives soon.



So back to the trip re-cap. Unfortunately, a violent stomach bug held a dark cloud over the trip. It started with me and bounced through my whole family, and is on to my extended family. (Sorry guys!)

But we still managed to have a good time anyway.

We did some shopping at the outlets.

We got to see extended family from both sides.

We ate a lot.

We met Gary.

We played games. (although not as many as I would have liked)

We visited Gardener Mill.

We had lots of pie.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast.

Zoe played with cousins.

Zoe learned to ride the rocking horse all by herself.

We scored BIG on Black Friday.

Ryan attended the "Holy War" (BYU vs. U of U game)

We watched the snow fall.

We laughed.



Overall it was a great trip. My parents new house is Highland has a great view of the mountains. It was lovely to wake up to that landscape every morning. We got to see antelope run through the backyard, too. Zoe got to see horses outside every day.



We're glad to be home though. My package from Studio Calico came and I just held all the pretty stuff. I can't wait to use it.

Thanks to my in-laws for babysitting Campbell, she's a handful, I really appreciate it.



As tomorrow starts December, I'm hoping to get up some Christmas decorations tonight and get our tree up before the weekend. I have high hopes for my decorating this year as well as family pictures. I have Zoe's Christmas dress picked out already, now I just need a matching tie for Ryan and we're golden. We haven't ever sent out Christmas cards, but maybe I'll get to it this year.



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

I'm a Winner!

Today I am a winner. I won the entire Home Front scrapbooking line from Studio Calico. I was welcome into Wednesday with that awesome news!

Unfortunately, it will arrive while we are in Utah, so I'll have to wait until I get home to play with it.



Zoe went to the Dr. today. She got 2 shots, but her ears are clear and she is doing much better. I'm really grateful that her ears are better, considering we are going to be on a plane this weekend.



Since it doesn't get very cold here but we are travelling to Utah, we got Zoe some winter clothes. This is my most favorite item of clothing she currently owns. I made her wear it this morning just so I could take a picture. It has matching mittens :)

well my to-do list is calling....

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Sun behind the Clouds

So here we are finally coming out of the cave.

Zoe has been sick the past few days, and I mean sick. She had the flu and now she has an ear infection. I think we're up to 4 in the past 5 months. Her Dr. says if she has 8 in a year we'll need to look into getting her tubes. We're hoping that won't be the route we have to go.

Before she got sick, Ryan made some snickerdoodles and Zoe got to lick her first beater.

Ryan and I got a chance to sneak away and do some Christmas shopping. Here's a sneak at some of Zoe's presents...



This is a shirt that we got for Zoe and I just fell in love with the design. I want to make Christmas cards out of this. I just love it!



We're all a little tired, a little cranky and ready for our holiday break next week. Utah here we come! I'm so excited to see snow again. I'm hoping to get some cute pictures of Zoe playing in the snow. Lots of food, fun, and family! Hooray!



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

cutie tootie!

As a result of some yucky diapers yesterday, Zoe took several baths yesterday.



But at least I got some cute tub pictures of her...



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Sweet 16

#16 showed it's face today. Now Zoe officially has a full mouth of teeth. Nights without the binky are going well, occasionally she wakes up, but she takes all her naps without it no problem. She's been starting to feed herself with utensils and here's how well she did with yogurt this morning.



A few weeks back we were at the Humbert's house and I saw this beautiful desk by the front door. Grandma Julie mentioned they were getting rid of it and I feel in love. We spent the majority of the day today rearranging the desks and my scrapbooking stuff to all fit in this desk. It has all sort of drawers and slots and it fits my green cutting mat perfectly! (Can you tell I just love this??!)







This evening we were all getting a little stir crazy, so we took a little trip to Coldstone for a treat. OH my goodness. They have a bunch of new holiday flavors. WE got the following concoction and I would totally recommend it. 2 scoops Pumpkin ice cream + 1 scoop cinnamon ice cream + graham cracker pie crust = holiday heaven! We also went to Barnes and Noble, and walked around looking for some new books for Zoe. She/We are ready for some new books in the rotation so we took a look. I'm thinking she'll be getting some new Dr. Suess books for Christmas.



I am working on some Christmas presents this weekend, trying to get them ready before Thanksgiving, since we'll be out of town. And when we get back, it will be a whirlwind, and then it will be Christmas eve, so I'm trying to get it all done now. So far, so good.



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

turtles and shares

The other day we were looking through one of Zoe's books about pets and she pointed and said "Turtle," and she was right! It's amazing how much more she says now that she's rid (mostly) of that binky.



The weather here has been so warm. I'm just dying for some rain or snow or even fog. It's supposed to get colder this weekend, but I doubt it's going to be coat weather :( I'm really loving the whole plaid trend right now. I know it's a little mountain man, but its so soft and comfy.





Ok, sorry about babbling. Here's some scrap pages I've been working on, featuring Z's bff E.





I'm hoping to finish up a cool sewing project, with pattern in the next week. For all of you moms who need a bigger bag...this is the bag for you.



Hopefully we'll be enjoying cooler weather this weekend, which will result in a lot of comfort food and snuggles.



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Bye Bye Binky

I am so excited this morning!!!

As Zoe has been getting her last couple of teeth, her dependence on her binky has become worse and so had her attitude. So we've been trying to get rid of the binky to hopefully cure that. Slowly and slowly we've been trying to hide it more. I even cut one up on front of her and said "broken" That worked for a little while. Well, yesterday she went ALL day without it at daycare. Then when we came home, she didn't even ask for it....Then bedtime came.....



And she didn't ask for it! I got nervous, but I laid her down in bed and read her a story and sang her a song, preparing for a meltdown when I shut the down. But it didn't come. Sure, a little crying but not the monsoon that I was expecting.



She woke up a few times in the next couple hours, so I went in, laid her back down, sang her songs and put her back to bed. I was anticipating this would go on all night.....not so.



After 9pm, she slept ALL night without her BINKY!!!! I am so happy that I not only got a full night's sleep, but that so did she. I'm thinking it might take a few nights of the ups and downs for the first few hours but now I am fully confident that she doesn't need her binky.



I'm going to take a couple pictures for her scrapbook and then throw all the binkies away.



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Nursery Try Out

Zoe turns 17 months this week, so we got to start visiting nursery.

She did surprisingly well, we probably could have snuck out and she would have been fine. She even sat at the table most of the lesson and colored a picture. It was a positive experience and we're hopeful that after a few more weeks, she'll have no problem transitioning.



Our Ward Halloween Party was last night. It went smoothly and I was home by 8:15. We didn't dress Zoe up, she was too cranky and tired, but there were so many great costumes.



We also celebrated Grandpa Humbert's birthday with a yummy dinner at Buca di Beppo before the ward party.



Wow, we've been so busy this week it's been hard to keep up.



XOXO,

Holly & Co.