Snow... again :)

Lena insisted again on going outside... she must still think we are in Arizona or something and that it really isn't as cold as it is. :P Well anyway, we thought again to ourselves "I guess that's what warm clothes are for right?" and bundled her up in the snow suit we bought her before she was born. Randy put her right to work, as you can tell. :)

Lena has this obsession with pushing things so I'm sure she just BEGGED Randy to let her help shovel the snow. :) She is always wanting to push the shopping cart at the store too!

She wasn't SUPER thrilled about the snow but was excited to be able to walk around outside.

"On" "Off" "On" "Off"

As of a month or so ago Lena can reach the light switch by the stairs AND say "On" and "Off" while switching it on and off. This has become one of her favorite pass times. She will be playing in the living room, walk up to me so that her face is in my face and wave into my face saying "Bye" and then she will run over to the light switch. :)

And I just wanted to post this happy face. :)

Best Eleven of 2011

I saw a friend do this and thought it was a good idea. I can't believe it (as usual) but another year has passed us. I think that the year 2011 went by faster than any other year so far!

Here is a list of the top eleven happenings in 2011 (in no particular order):

1. Lena turned one.
2. We had our fence put in
3. Randy started taking classes again
4. Olga got an "A" in her anatomy class
5. We were able to take a trip to Arizona to see Grandma and Grandpa Grape
6. Randy was called to be Scout Master
7. Olga ran her first half marathon
8. Olga got hit by a car (in the hand)
9. Randy found out there is nothing wrong with his knees :) yay!
10. Lena started talking
11. We lost the Charger and got the Toyota to replace it.

Putting Two Words Together

Just this last week Lena has started putting two words together! I'm so amazed at how smart she is to make these logical connections! :) I think I always just assumed this wouldn't happen so soon. Here are some of the new word combinations she's been saying:

-Jimmy sag (Jimmy's sad)
-Mommy sleeping... shhhhhh
-Nonna sleeping... shhhhh
-Fire gone
-Cactus ouchy (made sure to teach her this at the very beginning so she wouldn't get near the cacti)
-Daddy gone

Arizona :)

Ever since I was born my family made the two day car ride to my grandparents house in Arizona. Until last year (Christmas of 2010) I had NEVER seen snow on Christmas and was perfectly fine with it. :) Last year we weren't able to travel to Arizona because we were afraid to travel with a fairly new baby. This year we were able to figure things out so that we could make the trip down to good old Tucson, Arizona. It was so good to be able to see my grandparents and to show Lena all of the fun things I enjoyed in Arizona when I was a kid. :) The weather was amazing and we took lots of opportunities to go outside with sandals, shorts and T-shirts... a nice break from the cold in Utah. Lena loved being outside again (since she hasn't had much opportunity in Utah lately) and had so much fun following Jimmy around. :)

Here are just a couple... well no.. a LOT of the fun pictures taken in the sunny state. :)

Lena and Jimmy drinking their bottles together on the first night we were there. It was fun to be in the same house with my family for a week. :)

Alex with his awesome "Nerd Herd" shirt... totally want one of those! :)

Randy helped get my grandparents set up with a much needed new computer. He was excited to be able to help with something. :)

Rosie and Alex bathing the babies with their AWESOME matching "Chuck" T-shirts. :)

I remember doing the same thing in this chair when I was a kid. :) It was so much fun to show them around my grandparents' house. :)

Cute Rosie with Jimmy Pie sticking his cute little tongue out, he he. :)

Lena isn't even looking at the camera in this picture, but I had to post it because if you look closely... Jimmy did an AWESOME job of photo bombing our picture. :)

Us lovin' the warm. :)

Alex with Jimmy :)

I thought this picture with Lena and Randy looking at each other was so cute. :) I can't resist posting such a cute daddy-daughter moment.

Lena being cute...

This was the car we got for our rental. Pretty ugly on the outside but fairly roomy on the inside (for a "compact" car). Sorry to those of you who like the look of the outside... I will hold nothing against you.

We had to get the classic picture by the palm trees in front of my grandparents' house... we have been doing this since I was a kid.

I love this picture of Rosie, Jimmy and Alex by the "wash". The "wash" was one of our very favorite places to play as kids. :) We would run down one side and up the other down the whole thing. It was fun to do it with Lena this year and see how much she liked it as well. :)

Lena and Jimmy found a whole with dirt in it... of course they had to explore. :)

Rosie and Alex running up the "wash" with Jimmy.

I wanted really badly to get a picture of Lena that also had a palm tree in it. This one makes it look like it's growing our of her head, but hey, I'm no photographer.

This is the VERY FIRST picture taken of Jimmy while saying "cheese" I must say that it turned out pretty perfect... pose and all... even for someone who's not a professional photographer. :)

This swing set is another thing we played on as kids... I made sure to remind Alex how old it was as he swung on it and how it looks like it's going to fall apart while he swings on it... he thanked me for calming his nerves. ;)

And yes, I let Lena join him in this dangerous adventure... maybe not the best choice. ;)

Lena and Jimmy playing with some old toys on my grandparents' patio, again, it was SO much fun to put Lena in shorts again... oh how I love warm weather.

Lena in her Sunday best. :)

Another irresistible daddy-daughter moment. :)

I just really like this picture. It's so much fun dressing Lena up for church.

She actually looked at the camera AND smiled (well kind of) for me. :)

Oh now this "Budah" has a very funny story to go along with it. The moment my mom saw this thing she was completely disgusted... she thought it was the grossest and creepiest looking thing for some reason... it just rubbed her the wrong way... well, the fact that it was bald and partially nude, Jimmy and Lena thought it was a baby and fell in love with it... they would hug it and kiss it and rock it... we got them to go around the house chanting "Budah" (their new favorite word) and it drove my mom CRAZY!!! She finally threw it in the garbage. Someone, we're still not sure who, found it in the garbage and brought it back out... Alex told Jimmy to show it to "Nonna" (my mom) and she squeeled! "I thought I threw that creepy thing away!"... oh man, it was so fun to tease her with that... part of us wants to order a big box of them and have them shipped to her house... oh we are so mean. ;)

Lena modeling my Grandma's shoes. :)

It is a tradition every Christmas to work on a puzzle at my grandparents' house. Okay, so this particular puzzle took us TWO YEARS to complete!!! It is the hardest freaking puzzle we've ever seen, with weirdo shaped pieces. My mom spent a lot of her time on this puzzle and was determined to get it finished before we left this year... well... SUCCESS. :) Here is my mom next to the finished masterpiece. We were all VERY surprised that after two years of sitting out, all of the pieces were still present.

Rosie put the very last piece in. :) The ONLY piece she put in. Although, she did contribute a LOT to this puzzle because she played with the kiddos so I could help work on it. So really I think she did more of the work, in return for her greatness we let her put the last piece in. :)

And there she goes. :) (Notice how thrilled my Grandpa is ;) )

We had spaghetti one night and it was a hit with the kids!!! Not only did Lena eat TONS... but Jimmy did too!!! Now that is a rare occurrence .... most of the time Jimmy spits any "real" food out before he can taste it... it was a big deal that he ate so much. :)

I was really so impressed that Lena already understands how to "slurp" spaghetti... it was so fun to watch her look so experienced with the dish... True Italian she is. :)

Lena had a lot of fun combing Randy's hair. :) I liked how she leaned on the bed as she did it. That totally matches her name! ha.. ha... ha ;)

She takes after me in her love for chocolate. :)

Alex dancing with the kiddos. :)

Jimmy running up onto the sidewalk... these slanted sidewalks make the BEST ground for remote control cars! One of our favorite presents as kids. :)

Lena playing in the neighbors yard.

Picking up rocks is one of her major hobbies.

Running!

Happy Lena and Happy Daddy, who could ask for more?

A sweet picture of my grandma holding Lena... it was really so good to be able to spend some time with them. :) They loved watching the kids.

My cute Grandpa. :)

Getting ready to leave :(

Lena helping Nonna deflate her bed. :)

Neighbor Christmas Gifts

Here is a picture of SOME of the neighbor gifts we received during Christmas time. I have been so impressed with the friendliness of this neighborhood and feel so blessed to be around such kind people who remember me and my family during the busy time of the Christmas season. Growing up I never remembered having people drop by fun treats during the Christmas season so this was very new to me and helped me to feel more of the Christmas spirit.