Best of Friends

Evan and Cougar really are the best of friends. They do everything together (much to his mother's dismay sometimes-luckily he washes well). Sometimes Cougar stays in the crib to sleep a little longer. When Evan finds him a little later he gets the biggest smile on his face and gives that Cougar a huge squeeze!

They like to get together with all their friends in their fort (Buzz, Woody, Kermit, his puppy, and Santa are all in there!)

Evan even changes Cougar's diaper!

And these are my new favorite pictures of this boy

This little face just kills me!

Haircut

Last night we gave Evan a haircut. But this time we decided to try using the clippers since the last haircut with scissors did not turn out as well as we had hoped. Oops. We were pretty nervous about how he'd react to the clippers. But our good friend, Amanda, gave us a tip from her mom to tell Evan that the clippers just tickle. Worked like a charm!

 Apparently we were too slow or he was unhappy with where things were going

PS-Reed just finished defending his thesis...and he passed! A few minor changes and he will be free of that thesis by March 18! We're so proud of him!

Best Job Ever

Today was one of those days that I remember I really do have the greatest job ever. Me and Ev were pretty busy today 

(not all of these pics were taken today, but we did all of it today)

We vacuumed the house and emptied the dishwasher...busted

 We played with Play Doh
(Evan is holding up our rendition of Bolt-he has been loving that movie lately)

We water painted for the first time

And we made homemade bread and potato soup for dinner. We also got to squeeze in some good snuggle time while watching Toy Story 3 together.

And I got to do it all in my sweats...doesn't get much better than this!

Weird

There's something weird about this picture...

...Reed is sitting with us at a BYU volleyball game! It was really weird and I miss watching him play, but we're loving the extra time he has at home since he's not traveling. The #3 Cougars swept #6 UCI both nights! We sure miss these guys...and the Wife's Club!

And this is how we were hoping Evan's first day in nursery would go

But it went a little more like this

We'll have to work on that I guess.

And this is what we get when we ask Evan to show us his happy face

Love this little guy!

January

Nothing too exciting going on here lately, but here's what we've been up to lately...

Reed started a new internship at an engineering office in Orem and is really enjoying it. He also really enjoyed watching SDSU get Jimmered last night.

Evan got a new cousin a couple weeks ago! Congrats to Kristi and her little family in welcoming Connor Samuel to the Miller family! He's so cute!

Evan tries his best to stay warm

 And sometimes we get a little time in the not so very warm sun to run around a bit...is it summer yet? We're getting a little stir crazy around here...

Oh-and Evan officially starts nursery this Sunday! We're gonna miss this cute little distraction in Sunday School for sure! 

Aunt Marie's Wedding

On December 22 we were able to attend Marie's (Reed's little sister) sealing at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was a little rainy outside after the sealing, so we didn't get very many pictures outside the temple. So here's a picture highlight from the luncheon at the church.

Here's the beautiful bride with Evan and all his cousins. Grandma made all of the cute little dresses for the girls. Seriously, so cute!

All of the kids loved the little wands...can you tell they were all a little hyper and excited to be together?

Boys will be boys

Marie and her big brothers

Evan eating applesauce at the kid table

So silly

We looked a little washed out, but here we are

 Evan snuggling Grandma and checking out her flowers

The whole gang...pretty good lookin' group! Welcome to the fam, Taylor!

Our White Christmas

This is where we spent Christmas (and a few days before) with ALL of Reed's family

 And this was our view out of those big windows

Our time up at Aspen Grove was full of sledding, eating, and moments of complete chaos (8 kids ranging in ages from 3 weeks to 7 years). And every second of it was so much FUN!

 The kids loved playing on the loft. The girls especially liked putting sheets on their head and letting that "Rapunzel hair" flow down.

Evan enjoyed playing on the stairs and scaring Grandma into thinking his head was stuck

The cousins loved coloring with Grandpa

And then Christmas came...and this is what Christmas with 20 people in one house looks like from the loft

 (Notice the huge pile of gifts in the corner? Huge mess and we're only getting started!)

 (Here we are after we'd made it through the huge pile)

Evan and Dad reading a new book

 Evan and Cougar trying to figure out what is going on

(Notice the Rapunzel wig replacing the sheets? She wore that wig all day!)

We had lots of fun and miss all of those cousins already

A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for putting this all together for us. And to Marie and Taylor for getting married to give everyone the perfect excuse to come out (we'll save that for another post).

We are so grateful for this time of the year that brings us together with our family and helps us to reflect on the birth of our Savior. We hope you all had a safe and merry Christmas!