Teddy Bears and Carousels

On Sunday before going to church, I snapped a few pictures of the kids with their teddy bears. So cute. On Monday, Mark and I took the kids to the zoo. One nice thing about Hogle Zoo being small is that you can visit the entire zoo in a relatively short time, which is perfect for the winter season. We finally convinced Matthew to ride the carousel - he had panicked last May when we first tried. He ended up riding a ladybug and Hannah rode a giraffe. Matthew simply loved it.

Matthew's first ride on a carousel

Hannah's first ride on a carousel

More again?

The German Festival

On Saturday, Mark got a message from his sister Anna that she was at the German Festival in Ogden. We decided to go check it out; it's always nice to see family. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, Anna had already left. We went inside anyway, and remembered that Mark and I aren't big fans of festivals. The food was good, but when you add in the admission fee, it was a very expensive dinner. Matthew was fascinated by the band and by a display with a model train. He refused to leave it, and wouldn't even turn round to have our picture taken. I've decided that this year, I want us to do lots of family outings to see all the local points of interest, so I guess I can check off going to a festival. 

Exercising with Matthew

Mark would just shake his head that I'm posting this video, but I think it's super cute. This is how Mark has to do all his pushups at the house.

January fun

With the holidays over, I've decided to take it easy in January. We haven't done too much, but I wanted to post some random pictures. After having Jonah here for a week, Miss Hannah has decided that she wants to learn to do all the things he could do. She has learned to clap, sit up, crawl on all fours, pull herself to a stand and climb the stairs. We had purchased new couches, but there was a big mix-up and we received the wrong couches. I had to drive all the way down to Draper to sort it all out, and made a quick stop at Aunt Christine's house (or as Matthew says, Jovi's house - their new dog). Mostly, I've just been spending January reading as much as possible. I also joined a women's indoor soccer team, which is so much fun.

Pretty Miss Hannah

Trapped!

Lexi and Hannah

Makenna and Matthew

Kaelyn and Hannah

Matthew

Mark and Matthew

Matthew and I

Matthew and Hannah

What a coy smile

Aw Waw Waw

Hannah's latest trick

Hut, Hut, Hike!

Matthew playing football. You can't really see it in this video, but when he does his "Hut, Hut, Hike!" he throws the football amazingly well. Doesn't quite spiral, but he throws it perfectly straight.

Boys will be Boys

Matthew and Ayden playing with their drills.

The Big Goodbye

You know how you mean to take tons of pictures throughout the week, and then realize you didn't. Well, that always happens to me, so right before Jaclyn left we took tons of pictures.

Jaclyn and Hannah

Hannah, Matthew and Jonah

Jonah's first time in the snow

Steve and Jonah

Jaclyn, Steve and Jonah

Jonah and I

Jaclyn and Matthew

Jaclyn, Steve, Matthew and Hannah

Jonah, Hannah and I

Jaclyn with Hannah and Jonah

Jaclyn and Jonah

Mom and Jonah

Mom with Matthew and Jonah

Mom with Hannah and Jonah

Mom with all three

Jaclyn and I

Family pictures

Since this was one of those rare occurrences when all of us where together, my dad decided he wanted to take family pictures. It's great having a photographer in the family, and Jess did an excellent job. She hasn't finished editing the large group photo. I'm surprised we got a picture of Matthew smiling. He is very against having his picture taken lately. We bribed him with marshmallows the whole time to even be in front of the camera. After the pictures, my mom took all the girls out for pedicures, which was lots of fun. 

The boys

The girls

The babies

The unhappy grandchildren

The Robisons

My immediate family

Christmas

The festivities began at our house on Christmas Eve. Jaclyn's flight arrived around noon, and I picked them up at the airport. I got to meet Jonah for the first time. He sure is cute. He's much bigger than my little Hannah. And he had just started walking a few days previous. It was fun to see the difference between Jonah and Hannah with just the six week age gape. Jonah reminded me of Matthew at that age - standing and walking and voicing his opinion. Hannah is a bit more reserved, though she likes to squawk whenever one of the boys annoyed her. I guess that's the difference between the oldest and the second child. Jonah sure was fun to have around. The babies got along great, and Jonah loved watching Matthew and Ayden play. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were basically just all of us hanging out eating some good food. I just love spending time with my family.

Jess and Jonah

Jaclyn and Steve

Melissa and Hannah

Hannah's ornament

Matthew's Shamu ornament

Waking up Benjamin

Jonah

"Give Hannah a hug"

Jonah and Hannah

Jonah

Miss Hannah

Hannah and I

Me, Hannah, Mark and Matthew

Matthew

Jonah

Mark got me pearl earrings

Hannah having fun upside down

Mom, Matthew, Hannah and Ayden

Aunt Christine and Hannah

Matthew, Jonah and Hannah