Update to yesterday

I hadn't taken any photos the other day when I spent time with my brother Donovan. Thankfully Melissa (Donovan's girlfriend) took some on her phone... which are pretty impressive for a phone camera.

my brother Donovan

Me and Donovan

Sunny Holiday Visits

Sunday morning we drove down to the Phoenix valley. We stayed the night in Maricopa with Dirk's brother Evan and his wife Paula. We hung out with them as well as Luke and Sarah.

Hayden and Aunt Paula

Yesterday we met up with my brother, Donovan and his girlfriend Melissa. We walked around Mill Avenue near ASU and have fun catching up on things. Then we drove up to Peoria to stay the night with my Grandma Wilson and her tiny little dog, Lucy.

We watched a pretty sunset

Hayden quickly learned these were "big owies"

We had fun watching the wild bunnies and quails run through Grandma's yard in the evening and morning.

We picked fresh tangerines and oranges. The tangerine tree was full and ripe. I wish I could capture the scent of it in a photograph. Standing underneath it was so sweet and refreshing. I loved it. Hayden thought picking the fruit off the trees was really neat. It occurred to me, this is the first time he's really seen fruit on a tree before... what a random thing we're so used to, but Hayden thought was just amazing.

Hayden liked the orange tree so much he decided to climb it. He's never attempted to climb a tree before, and the few trees I've put him in, he's absolutely hated and cried. I was very proud of him as he climbed the tree today. We're big tree climbers in our family and this felt like such a big milestone ;)

Christmas Week

It's been a long, busy, and fun week spent with Dirk's family in Arizona, packed with family dinners. We had a birthday party dinner, 2 Christmas dinners, a post-temple dinner and a saladmaster cooking supplies "please buy our product" dinner. We spent lots of time with lots of relatives. Some I'm not sure if I can remember names of the extended relatives, but mostly it was just Dirk's siblings and all Hayden's cousins.

We had a gift exchange with Dirk's brothers and sisters on Christmas Eve. Hayden got a "hulky-pokey hulk" which sings and dances and is a little scary to him. He also got a really cute jedi and we got a fun and humorous family activities book from Dirk's brother Luke and Sarah.

We woke up Christmas morning to lots of snow falling. There was a fresh new layer on the ground, and the snow was coming down in clumps. It looked real pretty, until we went outside and saw how wet it was. It made for a beautiful Christmas morning inside. Hayden was excited to watch the snow falling through the window. He also had fun passing out presents to everyone.

After Christmas Day presents, Dirk, Hayden and I decided to try and make some snowmen. The snow was quickly getting soggy from the wet snow that eventually turned to rain. The snow packed a little too easily and was really wet and heavy. We made snowmen and then I showed Hayden how to make a snow angel. It was really cute watching him struggle to move his legs correctly.


We had Christmas dinner with all the Neill kids and grandkids. Hayden is loving running around and playing with his cousins. They all have so much fun together.

Neill cousins: Brianna, Hayden, Rilee, Shannin, Chloe, June, Bryce, Patrik

We spent Christmas night and the next 3 days with Dirk's sister Carol, Steven, and their girls Chloe and June. Friday morning, we were able to go to the temple with Dirk's mom so she could go through and receive her endowments. It was such a neat experience to get to be a part of that wonderful day. Hayden had lots of fun playing while we were gone. That night he found that Uncle Steven is really good at rough-housing and playing rodeo.

Uncle Luke, Hayden, and Chloe

Chloe and June bug

I found Dirk in the girls' room helping Chloe with her doll clothes. It was so cute!

Chloe, Uncle Steven, and Hayden

Yesterday we drove 2 1/2 hours to Phoenix. More on that later.

*sorry so choppy and long... I was getting really lazy about posting something, but I had so many pictures to share... thanks Sarah and Paula for the pics I stole off your blogs ;)

Winter Wonderland

We got about 15 inches of snow last night, so we woke up to lots and lots of whiteness! I helped clean off the cars and the driveway this morning, then Hayden wanted to come out and play. It was a bit windy and really deep, but he still wanted to stay out and play all morning! Grandma came out to try and help him build a snowman, but the snow wasn't packing, so we'll have to try later. It's an awful lot of snow, but we still aren't getting the super cold and windy conditions the rest of the country seems to be getting. For that I am grateful. I hope you all are keeping warm and safe.

Hayden fell asleep on Grandpa Neill's lap last night. It was so cute!

Grandma Neill and Hayden playing in the snow!

Hayden is constantly begging to go play with the puppy dogs. He's really good at bossing them around, telling them to "cut it out" and "stop it now" and "come on puppy dog".

Here's my puppy, Stanley.