She did it!

Sadie started crawling last Sunday. She finally figured out that she had to move her hands and her knees so that she wouldn't faceplant. She has become a lot better this week and is still not too fast, but she can get around.

Sadie has also started to pull herself up on things which is not my favorite stage of development. They usually get hurt or get into something they shouldn't. I love that Sadie is crawling, I just wish she was happy with that for a while.

Draper Temple Openhouse

We went to the open house for the Draper Temple yesterday and it is beautiful. It was really fun to take the girls through it and look at all the beautiful rooms. For both Nate and I, going through the Denver Temple is one of our earliest memories from when we were little. We hope that Katelyn will remember this as well. She loved the baptismal font with the oxen and the bridal room.
We parked at a nearby church and they had us take a bus up to the temple.

After walking through the temple, we went to the church next door. I thought this was really cool. They showed pictures of lots of different temples and a map of where all the temples are located in the world.

I really enjoyed doing this with our family. The most special moment was standing in the sealing room with our family and looking at the mirrors. I remember doing this when Nate and I got married and it was really cool to do it now holding our two girls. I feel so grateful that we can be together as a family forever. It felt so right to add them to this memory of our wedding day. Even though it has not been dedicated yet, there was still such a special spirit there that is hard to find anywhere else.

The church has made a cool website that tells about each of the temples here. They tell all about each one and you can even find the dedicatory prayers.

The day before I watched Anna Belle while Megan and Ross closed on their house. Very sad that they are leaving by the way. They will still be living in Lehi though, so I guess I will live. It was fun to see all three girls playing together. Katelyn always has so much fun when friends come over. I guess I should invite them over more often.

Vacation Part One

We had a great time this holiday season visiting our family. We went to Colorado a couple of days before Christmas to be with my family for Christmas.

In our nativity Christmas eve, Anya was Mary and my dad was the donkey. He's a really good sport. Katelyn was an angel and Sadie was a lamb.

Henri and I watching.

Sadie liked opening presents Christmas morning. We had to make sure she had per pacifier in so she would open the presents instead of eat the paper. Later we went to Sarah's house for dinner and more presents.

Grandma Thompson, Dad, Mom, and Henri

Jared, Anya, Carra, and Sarah

Scott also shares a birthday with Jesus so we had more presents and cake. This cake was sooooo good, but not very pretty (sorry Sarah). It would not stay together so it ended up in a bowl as a trifle. Katelyn had a good time playing with her cousins. Carra and Katelyn set up shop in Sarah's closet. They had a great time, but Sarah was the unfortunate one to find random toys in shoes and other things for weeks later. Needless to say they were banned from playing in the closet the next time we came over.

Sadie went for days where every time I pulled out the camera she would make this face. So cute! It is just soooo bright mom!

That's better!

One of the things we did while in Colorado was take Katelyn to the WOW Children's Museum. She had a great time. We did too.

Nate pretending to work at the bank.

Katelyn grocery shopping at Sunflower with 'papa'.

Katelyn selling tickets at the train station.

Sadie playing the piano.

Hanging out in the Dinosaur egg.

Trying out every stamp.

My snowflake.

Making things fly in the wind room.

Bubbles!!!

We enjoyed some time at Nate's mom's house as well. Katelyn had a great time playing with Grandma P. Nate had to leave us and go back to work. We spent the next week playing, watching movies, and Christmas clearance shopping. We got gingerbread cookie sets and had fun making our people.

My cute girly gingerbread girl.
Good ol' dad.

Katelyn eating her clown gingerbread man. She went crazy with the sprinkles. No surprise there.

Jared had these great glasses that Katelyn loved to wear. Twitch anyone?

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and this was my first project a smock/apron.

So that was the finally of our part one Colorado trip. Texas will be in part two to come.

Happy New Year!

This last year has brought our family a lot of blessings. Here is our count down:

5. Katelyn is the proud owner of underwear. She did such a good job with potty training. I think it's because we did not push her and we let her set her own pace to learn. Treats also helped. It's nice to not have to change her diaper, but it would also be nice not to have to see what every stores bathroom looks like.

4. We paid off Nate's car and I got to get some wheels. It has been so nice not to be stuck at home all day. We love to go to story time and even grocery shopping. We had only one car for three years and it is such a blessing that we could afford to get another. I love my car.

3. Nate finished school last December, but he walked in April. It was fun to see him graduate. He started his first real job one year ago. We are grateful for the experiences that he is getting from it. The hours may be long and some times boring, but we love that it pays our bills and makes me feel secure.

2. Katelyn this last year, ate something green. For a long time if she would see anything green, she would refuse to eat it no matter what it was. One day we were eating spinach salad and she picked a piece up and said "hey I like this". She has eaten salad from then on. For a while she would only eat it if I folded it up into little packages, but now she eats it any way.

1. Sadie being born into our family was the biggest blessing of the year. She has brought so much happiness to our home. I really like having two little girls. I wasn't so happy about being pregnant for so long with her. 11 days late was a very long time. Now looking back, she was well worth it. I love her bashful cuddles and gummy grins. I love seeing Katelyn talk and entertain her. I hope that they become the best of friends. Nate and I are so grateful for Katelyn and Sadie.

2008 was full of happiness for our family. I know that 2009 will bring more challenges and with that always seems to bring blessings and joy. Happy New Year to all of you!