December

We started out the month with a new car! I was sad to give up my old Accord, I had it for almost 10 years!! But Dave is (obviously) thrilled with our new Honda Odyssey. Don't worry- this picture made it on the dealership website. 

 Dave had a lot of free work days to use up by the end of the year. It was nice to have him home. My pregnancy has been brutal with contractions on/off all day and night. This was one afternoon at Jump Around Utah where the kids (and their dad) played hard!

Gifts of the Heart Evening with the Baumans.

 Sledding  and hot tubbing in Midway with Grandma and Grandpa Bauman. Allison despised the sledding, she cried in our arms the entire time refusing to even watch people risk their lives going down the hill.  

 We had 4 extended family Christmas Parties. Baumans, Hawkins, Nichols and Shields. This was the Hawkins party where we did a photo booth, bingo, candy guessing games and chimes. 

 We saw the lights on temple square (brrr!) with the new candy window displays. We had a surprise dinner with the Shields family. Becca had 2 fun sleepovers with all of her cousins and grandparents.

 Allison LOVED the idea of Santa, but feared for her life once she sat on his lap! We did lots of service too! Becca scraped the snow off Dad's car one morning before work  and we decorated signs for different yard displays that we liked in the neighborhood. 

Christmas Morning was a success! The girls were giddy and so were the parents. What a magical day. 

 After assessing our gifts, the Grandma's and Santa were all on the same page this year. Games/activities for the girls to do. With a new baby coming this winter, we're going to need them! 

November

 Allison got her first hair cut. More like a trim. Actually it was just a snip! We documented this moment with Becca, so we had to celebrate this one too. No middle child neglect at this household! (yet!) 

Cute girls in their holiday outfits one Sunday evening. 

 For Thanksgiving, I have NO pictures! Totally embarrassing. My pregnant brain forgot to bring the camera! We had a delicious meal with the Bauman side, and it was fun to hang out with all the cousins. Here is Dave heading off to his annual Turkey Bowl with the Bauman Family. 

We spent Dave's Birthday weekend in Midway. It was nice to get away for 3 days and relax! We went to the International Creche Exhibit at The Homestead. They also had Swiss Christmas going on with dancers, and singing groups and lots of booths. The girls got their faces painted. 

At the Homestead they had dress ups for your family to act out the Nativity. Becca insisted on being Mary (even though I'm the pregnant one) and Allison loved the baby Jesus and wouldn't leave the scene after we got our pictures taken. She was so sweet. 

Becca had her first dance recital at Festival of Trees. They danced to Suzy Snowflake and she nailed it! She's quite the performer! 

 We celebrated all the November/December  birthdays at Tepanyaki with the Shields Clan. Happy 28th Dave! You're wise beyond your years! 

October

 We started out the month with Becca's Birthday! She chose to have cupcakes at Trafalga. Brett and Teresa's Family met us there and we all played hard. We love having a smart, kind, opinionated and sassy 4 year old in the house. We love you, Becca! 

 Halloween activities were going on left and right. The girls loved getting in their costumes. 

• We have been working up a storm on the basement bedroom. It's PINK (of course!) It's got a new ceiling, paint and carpet.

• We had a fun Family Home Evening Lesson on the Armor of God.

• I took a weekend getaway with my girlfriends from Utah State. We went to Boise and talked and talked and TALKED. Literally my voice was sore from talking so much!

One gorgeous fall afternoon we stopped the car on 19th E (just east of Highland High) and played in the leaves. The entire street was glowing and the girls had a blast running around in them.

 Our first big snow storm came and the girls were ecstatic to get their snow gear on. I spy 2 right gloves, classic! 

We had a Halloween Party with the Shields Fam. Donuts on a string and Don't Eat Pete.

Dave and I are slowly mastering the "don't have to change your actual clothes, but you look dressed up" type of a costume. My Cat in the Hat is guaranteed to be a stand-by costume for many years to come. .. but poor Dave struggled with the rubix cube hat I made him! (we already tossed it out!) There's always next year! 

The Bauman Clan. We did our traditional Glow Stick Dance party and dinner together. 

It was a busy month, but Oh SO fun!

September happenings....

Over Labor Day weekend we attended the Brigham City Temple Open House. Becca was THRILLED with the idea of going inside the temple. Afterwards we ate lunch at Old Grist Mill, got some chocolates at Idle Isle, and grabbed a box of peaches.

Then we had our annual fall drive up Emigration Canyon to see the beautiful leaves.

We also did some DIY projects around the house, (more pictures to come.....)  we hit the zoo a bunch of times (the crowds are gone and the weather is perfect!) took evening walks around the block or to the park, and Becca and I had endless amounts of afternoon crafts during Allison's naps.

\

A first for everything!

Allison enjoyed every last drip of her first frosty this month. She's been so stubborn about getting her own things lately! One hot September afternoon, I caved and let her do it just the way she wanted. She smeared it all over her body and was perfectly satisfied! 

 Then off to the bath!

Rebecca started her first Dance class! She takes tap and ballet and literally counts down the days until she gets to go (starting when we leave dance the prior week) She's in 3 year old tutu heaven! 

It's a.....

GIRL!

3rd ANNUAL YouTube Party

We had another fun Party this summer! It was the last weekend before Marcus and Natalie moved away! We're going to miss them! 

The party this year was really fun for the kids! They were shouting out clips they enjoy. The day of the party Dave and I commented that we literally didn't know any new clips that we liked! Fortunately our guests came with some zest and they knew all the funny things to watch! Thanks again to Blair and Charlotte for bringing all the equipment. 

18 months

Our sweet Allison got her very own 18 month, oatmeal splattered photo shoot. She LOVES feeding herself, and she LOVES her oatmeal every morning. I can't get enough of her facial expressions! We were so excited for Alli to start nursery, but she hates it! Ugh~! She loves to be with the people she knows best and getting thrown into a room with 20 wild kids is not her ideal. Right now she loves to climb on things, color on things, eat everything, and moan, groan and whine. We can't get her to use REAL words, but she grunts and groans until she gets exactly what she wants. WE LOVE YOU ALLISON!

Wedding Day!

August 16th was a perfect wedding day! Elder Samuelson married Colton and Megan in the late afternoon and then we took pictures and headed to Orem for a gorgeous backyard reception!

Wedding Shower and Dinner

 Colton and Megan got married in August! We had a family bridal shower here at our house, complete with yummy food and embarrassing games. Don't you love their faces in the picture below? SOOOO in love!! 

The night before the wedding we had a dinner at JSMB. It was in the Empire room and we all had a blast! I made table numbers with photos of them at each age. They were both SOOOO cute growing up! (they still are!) 

Shields Reunion

 We had a Shields Family Reunion this summer. We went to an awesome campground up Hobblecreek Canyon. It was right by the river, tons of grass, a huge pavilion and even swings for the kiddos! We all camped out, ate yummy food, hiked, watched movies on a projector, had a dunking tank and talked, talked, talked! The aunts planned a kids olympics, they split up in teams and competed in different games. There was plenty of football, napping, and yard games. Even Becca went in the dunking tank! (she bawled after she got dunked because she didn't want water in her eyes!) What a fun way to catch up with all the cousins! 

Bauman Boating Weekend!

We had our August Boating weekend with Dave's Family. Friday night we had dinner and attended the Heber Valley Rodeo and then on Saturday we went boating at Deer Creek followed by a dinner at Timp Freeze. We loved spending time with all the cousins!