And the Winner is Audrey. . . .

. . . . .because Andrew is Walking!!
On Andrew's first birthday (October 5th) I had everyone guess when they thought Andrew would walk. At first it was just a casual question, but then I offered a 'personal prize' and it became more official. I wrote down everyone's guess so that I could keep track. Audrey, my eight-year-old neice, happened to be in town a few days later and saw the list. She asked what it was and I told her that she could make a guess too, so she did. Audrey- you must have some experience with the little ones because you WON! I wished Audrey could have been here in person to see him, she cried tears of joy when her youngest brother Chase took his first steps. Audrey guessed November 28th, and yes he did take two steps in a row on that day, but today, November 29th he took up to 17 in a row- but who's counting (:



I know that it's only exciting for the parents when a little one takes off, but I'm LOVING getting to do this again. It is so precious to watch them learn and gain independence. His little chub legs doing this wide-stance waddle with the cutest little tongue sticking out showing us his concentration and effort. All the while, he is being cheered on by Benson yelling, "go Andrew, walk to us, you're doing good, go Andrew!" Then Benson will tell us it's his turn and even though he's a little old for this game, we let him and get just as excited. After all, he can't remember how excited we were for him to walk for the first time.

Name	Walk Date
Mary Lynne	Nov 23rd
Kimball	Nov 26th
Audrey	Nov 28th
Erica	Dec 2nd
Nate	Dec 5th
Andi	Dec 25th
Carlie	Dec 28th
Dan	Jan 4th
Louise	Jan 11th
Laura	Jan 18th
Darryl	Feb 11th
Grandma Knights	Feb 14th

Thanksgiving

We were lucky this year- we got to spend time with both families. We had dinner at Grandma Knights with Kimball's family. It was delicious and we got to see some family that we haven't seen in awhile. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed all the light as we ate in the solarium at Grandma's house. This was not technically Andrew's first Thanksgiving, however, it was his first taste of Thanksgiving, and let's just say that he liked ALL of it!

On to round two at the Jones home. We also do it buffet style since there are two tables. I love the tradition of name places- with candy, yams with marshmallows, the layered jello, real whip cream on pumpkin pie, and everything else about Thanksgiving. I found myself asking, why do we only eat some of these dishes once a year, they are so yummy. I guess that's just one reason we all look forward to Thanksgiving.

Andrew wasn't wasting any time. He's getting faster and faster at shoving the food in. He loved the rolls and the yams.

This is the famous layered jello that we've had every year since I can remember. It's a definite must have for Thanksgiving. It is seriously a burst in your mouth, but takes hours to make and lots of patience. Thanks mom for all those years, didn't know what a pain it was til Laura had to make it(: The cute little pilgrim hats are made by Jenn. It's a grasshopper cookie with a marshmallow on top, dipped in chocolate, with black licorice and a rolled out Starburst for the details. Yummy and cute, also a bit of a pain to make according to Jenn, so we'll see if they make it next year.

On to the dishes, Thanks Kimball for all the help, and for Andrew who unloaded at least one dish for every three you put in. He thinks he's helping.

And this is us rummaging through the paper to find the 'deals.' I was resisting the late night shopping until Kimball talked me in to going to Park City. Really glad that we went because it turned out to be a lot of fun, and productive, but I'm still recovering from the lost hours of sleep. On top of that I woke up early Friday to go to Target with Jenn, which wasn't really worth it, but now I believe it when people tell me that the crowds are crazy.

It's been another great year, full of blessings. I'm grateful for all of the people in my life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for wonderful health. I try not to take the common things for granted, but I love the Holidays, because it reminds me of what's important and how blessed we are.

Four Years

We celebrated our 4th anniversary on November 12th. We came home from Portland the day before, after being gone for a week, and I felt like we hadn't planned anything. I had accepted an invitation to be a presenter at a Stake meeting that evening, which I was really excited to do, but hadn't realized the overlap when I accepted the invitation- so sorry Kimball.

We were able to fit in an early dinner at The Olive Garden with our boys. Kimball surprised me with a bundle of beautiful orange and hot pink flowers. We had a great time together and the boys were well-behaved. I then went on to my meeting, and as embarrassing as this is to admit, Kimball went to a movie by himself about a mountain bike race. Later we had dessert and talked about how my meeting went and he told me all about this inspiring movie. It wasn't the picture perfect anniversary (in Italy, or Hawaii...), but I feel like we celebrate marriage everyday. Looking back at 'our story,' it is very obvious that we are meant to be together, and we're very lucky and grateful that we are. When we look at the past four years, we can't believe how much has happened, and yet at the same time how it's flown by.

Slow down, because we're really enjoying ourselves.

Potty Trained

Day 1- 8 pair of underwear. We won't give up that easy. (Monday, October 19th)Lots of water and a timer so that I could get an idea of how often.

Day 2- 5 pair of underwear. Definately signs of hope. However, I doubted that he was really ready, thinking that maybe his bladder wasn't big enough yet. He's 31 months, that's probably old enough, but I still wondered. However, my doubts dissolved when the next morning he had a DRY diaper.

Day 3- 2 pair of underwear. Could it have been that easy?

Are we getting close?

Day 4- 3 pair of underwear

Day 5- peed his pants while at a friends house- we've gotta run faster!

Day 6- pretty good kid!

Day 7- 4 pair. What in the world happened there?

Day 8- 1 pair. It's a new week!

Day 9- Benson you are SO AWESOME!!

Day 10- This potty thing is sticking!

Day 11- Poop in his pants??!! Wow-I didn't know that I could get this frustrated with him. He peed his pants at the library- I guess I couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough. Then twenty minutes later, when we're checking out with our books, he left a huge puddle on the counter as it dripped down his leg. Don't forget I have Andrew and a stack of books, and a really embarassed look on my face. Oh, and I did not have the diaper bag. I spotted some lysol wipes behind the counter and casually asked the librarian if I could have one. That mess was done, now on to Benson. Benson apologized over and over through his tears. I had to tell myself, 'he's learning, he's little, he's doing great' as I took off his shoes, to take off his wet pants to wipe off wet legs, to replace wet with clean and dry- all while in the backseat of the van. I thought- we're good now, so I decided to stop at Smith's to pick up some pictures. Benson sounded the alarm and we went straight to the bathroom. Before I gave him the okay, he was not aimed correctly and peed all over me. Kimball received a text saying something like, 'I give up, I'm going back to diapers, they are so much easier.' Later that night I found myself giving him lots of hugs and encouragement, feeling bad for being so hard on him. It's common to hear him saying, "I'm doing great! I'm a big boy. I don't pee in my pants, I don't." He went poo the very first day we attempted to train him and Kimball and I had already decided that we were going to make it a really BIG deal, since we'd heard that can be an obstacle. We gave him popcorn and a movie AND a treat. Now when he goes to the bathroom he'll say, 'I get a treat, and a movie, and popcorn (and with even wider eyes) and a treat." (oh now we're up to two treats? (:) It's really adorable, but can't be an everyday thing. Now, he gets to blow out a candle. Kimball came up with that one, and he loves it. Originally, I was just letting him flush the toilet since I hadn't ever let him do that before. It totally worked, along with lots of clapping, excitement, and cheering.

Day......It's now been a whole month and NO accidents for almost two weeks with greeting the morning with a dry diaper 80% of the time. He even went for 6 hours travelling to Portland without a potty break. It all started when I told him he was a big boy at church and then he said, "I want to wear big boy pants now." The next day was our first attempt, even though I was not ready. I was in no hurry and love the convenience of not having to know where the restrooms are located everywhere we go. Diapers were great for me- at least for a few more months.

I have to say that Benson really gets all the credit for potty training. He is such a good boy and so motivated to please us. I'll admit that the first time I saw him in big boy pants my heart just sank as I realized that he is growing up and just moving right through stages and onto the next. Kimball thought that I was a tiny bit silly, until he came into the kitchen and Kimball took a look at him. He immediately felt the same way. It amazes me that he can do hard things. I'm really proud of him!

***update (November 25th) He is doing GREAT! Now when he says he's 'gotta go', he can hold it longer and I don't feel in a panicked rush. Really, he is awesome!!

Portland

While Kimball was out of town on business, I decided to travel with my parents to Portland to see family on my father's side and celebrate at a surprise party for my Uncle's 65th birthday. Turns out that Kimball called me the morning of the party and said, "what would you say if I told you that I was driving to Portland today?" I said, "You're not going to make it for the party." Sadly, he then told me that his grandfather had suffered a stroke the night before and was on life support. He later passed away that afternoon. Kimball and his family traveled to Portland via motorhome and I met up with them and spent three more days with Kimball's family.

UNCLE DON'S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY

My Uncle Don- the initial reason I went to Portland. We celebrated his 65th birthday with a surprise party given by his children. He had no idea what had been planned or who was there. We all hid in the bonus room and were very quiet until he opened the door. We scared him when we all yelled "SURPRISE!!!" His wife Janet had no idea, and was just as surprised. We ate wonderful food, sang, listened to fun memories we all wrote, played a game on how well we know him, and then had german chocolate cake with sparkling cider. More than anything we spent time with each other catching up while the kids played. I especially loved getting to see the Lyman's house since they are selling it in January. She has four boys, and most of the house is pink- it is really so adorable!

What a great family get together- It was so wonderful to see everyone!!!

Ruby Dawn, Alex

Alison, Uncle Don, Rachel

This picture was taken after we all attacked the food.

Made by Ruby Dawn- So yummy!

The kids were so well behaved. I think they thought they were having their own little party. Thanks to all the Lyman boys, Alex, Scott, Kyle, and Porter for keeping them happy, and being the greatest role models of all time.

Andrew loved all the unfamiliar toys and crawled around and begged for food.

LAVENDER'S BABY BLESSING

Richard and Lavender on her blessing day.

This is Lavender in her beautiful blessing dress. I think she was getting hungry.

This isn't the 'finished' picture of Lavender's quilt, but it's only missing the binding. It turned out really cute. I'll have to make another (: I decided to add one square of lavender material just to personalize it.

ON THE TOWN

Kimball and I snuck away to go to lunch, (thanks to Carlie for entertaining the kids) at a fabulous restaurant in Portland called Papa Haydn's. It was a splurge, but worth it! I got pumpkin filled ravioli and Kimball ordered halibut. Neither disappointed. Better than the food was the company. Roger and Ruby Dawn, and Alison and Lavender, spent some of their precious afternoon time to dine with us out-of-towners. It was such a great time to laugh and talk about our family, the new baby, and an upcoming adventure in Tokyo. Papa Haydn's is located on a yuppy little street with unique shops and old victorian homes. We quickly visited a few shops in the rain and admired the fun environment.

Papa Haydn's famous dessert. It looks amazing, and actually tastes better than it looks!

Our favorite shop was this little hat shop. This fedora Kimball has on is really growing on me, but we didn't get it. I personally wish that hats were more common, I just love them.

REMEMBERING HUGH HIGH

Carlie, Andrew, Kimball, Erica, Andrea, Carter, Nathan, Michael, Sheila, Cameron

Louise, Benson, Darryl, Lorraine, Ashley, (Alyssa below), Susan, Jay

This is a family picture of Darryl's side of the family. We're missing Jeffrey, and Emily and her family, and Grandpa High... Darryl's father. He passed away on November 7th, after suffering a cerebral hemmorage (stroke). He'd been living in Portland for the last few years. I actually wanted to take the boys to see him on Saturday after the surprise party. We had a beautiful memorial service in Susan and Jay's home. Despite Andrew being wiggly and loud, it was wonderful to hear memories of his life. They had a military service for him on November 17th.

from this to that

Andrew was definately busting out of his infant car seat, but he liked it. When he turned ONE he got a new carseat and he really likes this one. I seriously thought I was going to get into an accident the first couple days he was forward facing because every time I turned around he would giggle. I couldn't help but keep turning around. I LOVED seeing him be able to see the world from a different vantage point. His new carseat also means that he can see the kid movies. He will grunt and ahhh and point to the video screen. When i look to the back of the car it feels more like I have two kids, and less like I have one kid and one baby.