California

One of the perks of Evan's job are his "business" trips. His boss makes sure I know I'm invited to go wherever Evan goes, every time. I opted to head to Cali in the middle of December with P, simply for a little warm vacation with my boy.
We stayed in Pismo Beach, and played in San Luis Obispo, which I LOVED! Why do I live in Utah? The weather was so nice and warm, and all in all, it was great to get away. Some things we did while there were:

Play at the park

Porter did his baby jobs of untidying everything he could

And we watched the Pelicans just outside the Hotel, no less! It was pretty exciting!

Then we went home. Goodbye warm California, hello snowy Utah. I wish the two of you would get acquainted!

Go Cougars!

We LOVE BYU football. Is there anything more patriotic? We have had season tickets since we met, and we will ALWAYS have season tickets! (I guess our kids will be cougar fans by default!?!!) I look forward to all the games. Except-the only game I don't look forward to is the Utah game-but only when it's on our home turf. I don't like bundling up to go, and I don't like how mean the fans can get (on both sides). I especially dreaded taking P this year. (Those of you with Toddlers know just what I mean). We decided to go early and enjoy the crowds and excitement by the stadium before the game. P loved the marching band, and enjoyed their little "parade". Here we are at the game.

On a side note, I have a little boy who loves to dress up. He knows right where the necklaces go, and loves to wear our shoes. One sunday morning, I came out of my bedroom to find this:

He is a boy in every other sense of the word! I love this little guy!

Park City

As our construction project was under-way, we went to Park City for the week. We stayed at the Westgate resort and almost had the place to ourselves. I guess no one is vacationing the week before Thanksgiving! It was a much needed family together time, after Evan spent 2 months working on his dissertation without getting to see us much. I carefully planned out our meals in advance and had everything chopped up, frozen, in bags, or quickly assembleable. I didn't want to spend our vacation cooking, and eating out is, well, not so much fun with a toddler (especially in PC where there are no childrens' playplaces!) The only problem? I had 3 wonderful crockpot meals ready to go, and I forgot my crockpot! The stove worked just fine. We worked out everyday, swam everyday, and I even got a pedicure! It was a great week!

Here Porter got to:

Play

Learn to drive

swim

And watch his favorite TV show (Super Why)!

Many changes...

Just to start, our computer has been "hybernating" for the last month at least. That's why I'm so behind. (Really it was just a really, really, good excuse. until...I realized my pictures are still on my camera. sigh.) Here goes:

In November we decided to do a home-improvement project by opening up the wall that separates our kitchen and front room. Since we didn't have the time to do it ourselves, we hired an awesome contractor from our ward to come do it. We figured since it was a small job, we'd give him more to do: tile the bathrooms, and install a new vanity and mirror in one of those. There was a little hesitation about opening up the wall, since we didn't know what was in it. There were drain and water pipes from the unit above us, so we settled for picture windows. We still love it, and it serves its purpose, allowing me to see P from the kitchen. We went out of town for the week while he did this, and our house magically transformed from this:

Kitchen:

Bathroom #1

Bathroom #2

To this:

Kitchen

bathroom #1

bathroom #2

Just like daddy

Porter is obsessed with his dad. I have never seen another child act like that with a father. Its kinda like Daddy's boy meets obsessed stalker. He LOVES to do what dad does. The only time P will watch TV is if he's sitting with dad, and it's Super Y cartoons. (I have no idea either). He mimics everything. We were putting together a shelfing unit, and Porter grabs the hammer and starts hammering, just like daddy. When P broke the CD drive in the PC, Evan took it apart and fixed it. P grabbed the screwdriver and went to town, just like daddy. He puts on his shoes, and wears his hats, and brushes his teeth, just like daddy. Evan found a little kid's educational game online, and P just sits there and stares. Just like daddy. If there were anyone to emulate, he's my first pick too! Way to be a positive influence daddy!

Fixing the CD ROM

Watching the game

Playing on the computer

Boys will be boys

The other night. I was changing P for bed. He was playing with our Catch Phrase game when I heard a "bonk". He fussed a little, and I kissed his forehead, cause after all, isn't that where he always hits his head? Nope. A minute later I noticed this...Yep, he chipped his tooth! I feel terrible, but I also know it won't be the last, and many more scarrings are yet to follow. Sad!
In fact, the other day at church, he struggled out of my grasp just in time to fall and hit his head on the corner of the hymn book holder. He let out one of those silent screams, where only the pain is masked for a quiet moment and Evan whisked him out where he could be heard screaming down the hall. I panicked thinking he hit his mouth, or his nose. Nope, just skinned his chin. Poor guy is too adventurous for his own good!

What does a Giraffe say?

Porter was a Giraffe for Halloween. Maybe I should start at the beginning.

Evan's sister Laura is nuts about Pumpkins. It could be due to the fact that her birthday is on Halloween, or that she was raised in a pumpkin patch, I'm not sure. Every year during the week of Halloween, she spends literally days carving, planning, gutting, and caring for her pumpkins. I love it! Her planning starts Nov. 1 of every year for the next Halloween. To be quite honest, she's really good at it, and has a following which is growing each year. If you saw her house in person, you'd understand. It's amazing! Here's a few that I carved myself from the Harry Potter series: Voldemort, Serious Black, and Dumbledore. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. To see the rest of the 64 masterpieces, click here-http://www.blogger.com/www.pumpkinslayers.com

My parents came down to be with P and go "trick or treating" with us. We took them to Cafe Rio first, then off to the neighborhood. Here's how Grandma and Grandpa always leave P when he eats with them! YUM!!! They were fun to have around, and we hope they enjoyed their visit.

P didn't really know what was going on, but loved playing with the big kids and LOVED dressing up. The next morning, he came tearing out of his room holding his costume up, really excited. It was so cute!