Phin's first snowshoe

After shotgun shooting and brunch we headed out to snowshoe on the freshly fallen snow.  This was Phin's first snowshoe adventure and he was a trooper.  

I love his expression in the picture below.

Phin was awake for most of our hike and jibber jabbered for a good portion.  The video of him chatting away is below...forgive me I shot it in portrait mode and couldn't figure out how to rotate it upright.

He finally fell asleep near the end of the trip when we reached the second dam up Logan canyon.

Meet the Cousins

Phin is blessed to have two cousins on each side of the family born within months of him.  Here is a picture from last May of the three pregnant moms...this photo was taken just about a week before Phin arrived...I look huge.  

While we were in Cache Valley we got to meet Emmaline who was born in October.  We decided it would be a good time to get a picture of the three babies together.  We put Phin in the middle and pinned his arms down under his cousins heads.  Emmaline is pictured on the left and Eliza is on the right.  

We also got a picture of the three with their cousin still in utero and due in June.  Tawnya and Jami are going to be awesome parents.

Hopefully by the time their little one arrives, Phin will have learned not to palm his cousins' heads.

Shootin' the breeze

While we were up in Cache Valley we were able to go shotgun shooting at Jamie and Jotham's house.  

Their horses were still the in the pasture even when we attempted to scare them back to the barn.

So the first annual horse roundup commenced.  It was fun to see everyone time to round the horses up.

Phin and I spent quite a bit of time by the fire trying to stay warm.  We had some awfully cute company.

Seth stayed busy shooting and flinging the clay pigeons.

Our newest niece Emmaline stayed warm in her daddy Bret's jacket.

Seth even flung a few squash...we thought they might explode when they were hit...they either didn't explode...or they weren't hit...it is up for debate.

Eliza and Beth also joined the action.

I was able to catch this picture of Seth with all of his sisters...these ladies are quite tough.

After shooting we came inside to warm up with a lovely brunch.  While we were waiting for the prayer Phin got his first ride on a horse.

Parade of Gingerbread Homes

This spent this past weekend up in Cache Valley with Seth's family.  Seth took Friday off of work so we headed up early in the day.  After unloading our car full of gear...Phin got his first taste at Grandma Jo's castle building blocks.  

Seth built a few towers and Phin was right there to knock them down.

We enjoyed lunch at my favorite Mexican place in Logan and then came back to watch a couple of Redbox movies.

Later that evening we headed to Downtown Logan for the Parade of Gingerbread Homes.  We bundled Phin up in his coat and blankets.

There were some pretty spectacular gingerbread homes.

This one had some Swedish fish ice fishing going on.  I loved the bridge and the cobblestone details.

This one was made completely of fondant and had a few mermaids.

There was also a Wizard of Oz themed house complete with an Emerald City.

This theater gingerbread house was pretty cool.

We stopped for a photo in front of City Hall.

Then we found my favorite... a Victorian House.

We even walked by the creche next to the tabernacle.  I seem to remember a much older creche the last time I was in Logan.  I think they must have replaced it recently.

A huge castle was next up...

...followed by a barn...

followed by a few minions.

We had a great time on this Parade of Homes and hope to make it a holiday tradition.

Christmas Lights

On Monday night we headed down to see the lights on temple square.  We bundled Phin up in his winter jacket and hat.  He looked a little like Randy from A Christmas Story all bundled up.

Our first stop of the night was the North Visitors Center to see the Christus Statue.  Phin had pretty big eyes the entire time.  

Then we headed out to see the lights.  Some of my favorite lights are in the area between the Assembly Hall and the Tabernacle.  

Seth brought some 3-D glasses that turn all of the lights into snowmen.  They were pretty trippy.

As you can tell in the picture below Phin was pretty enchanted by all of the lights.

Here is a picture of Phin looking a little more like Ralphie when we put the 3D glasses on him.

We were lucky enough to convince my brother Scott to join us.  We also just happened to run into Beth, Philip and Eliza down there as well.

Seth also took Phin on a little 3-Wheeling adventure on the snow in front of the temple.

It was a delightful night and I am extremely grateful for a husband that will venture out in the cold with me just for the sake of  "tradition."