It Is a Whole Month...

I was terrible about posting during December so this is going to be a very long post. With getting sick, working on Christmas present crafts, going to Christmas parties, etc. the month was busy as usual and posting got put off.

Here are some of the happenings:

During the first weekend of December we met up with Melissa, Nate and Andrew by the Provo Tabernacle and walked around looking at the lights on University Ave. Sadly Derrick, Zach and I never made it up to the lights at Temple Square this year so these had to substitute. The lights were pretty but it was so cold that we didn't last too long. I think the highlight for Zach was that a performance of the nativity finished just before we passed the tabernacle so we got to stop at the mini petting zoo set up outside.


Several months ago my mom bought matching outfits for Zach and his cousin Andrew. We finally got them matching together since Zach was starting to grow out of his. Getting Zach to cooperate for the pictures didn't work too well. This is one of the better ones. I love the facial expressions.


Zach had his first experience tromping around in the snow. He kept wanting to go outside but as you can see from the video, it was a bit of a traumatic experience for him. He's now played in it enough that it doesn't scare him anymore.

Before leaving to spend Christmas with Derrick's family in Grand Junction, we opened presents from my parents and set it up so they could watch us over Skype. Zach would help open presents once we ripped enough for him to see there was something cool inside. I don't think he ever really got the concept though. We started helping him to open the biggest box last and his reaction was to climb on it.


It took us awhile to get him off of the box to see what the present was.


Once we got it open he's played with the farm every chance he can get. He loves to make the different animal noises (He does all but the cat. He still doesn't believe me that it isn't a dog), line them up on the roof of the barn or a lego box, and hold the farmer out towards me staring me down until I sing Old Macdonald to him. He'll hand me the different animals in the order he wants them to be in the song.


The night we got to Grand Junction, we went to a ward Christmas party, Zach ran in circles for awhile because he was so excited to have space (our apt is tiny), and we got the tour of the remodel that's been going on. A few days later, Derrick and Mom Bowen introduced me to the making of gingerbread houses using gingerbread rather than graham crackers. It smelled so good! We decorated our gingerbread house during Zach's nap. Luckily we got the finished picture when we did since the grandsons (and probably Tyson) had fun picking off and eating the candy.



The construction people were working long hours on the remodel for the first several days after we arrived. (They needed to get the new bathroom working before everyone else arrived so 11 adults didn't need to share 1 shower.) Since there weren't doors blocking entrance to the newly added basement or the extended laundry room and master bedroom, we had to come up with a more creative way to keep Zach out. The basement which had no railing to the stairs had a particular draw for him. This broken pack-n-play worked perfectly to block Zach from all the work. He was able to climb in on the broken side but couldn't get over the other one. Zach put lots of toys inside and was often found playing there. Here he is trying to put Mr. Potato Head glasses on a Homer Simpson.


All of the Bowen siblings and siblings-in-law were able to make the trip out. Once they got there, there was a lot Wii playing. The most played game was the "New Super Mario Brothers Wii" game.



On Christmas morning we ate the traditional red and green breakfast and then after waiting for Mom Bowen to do the dishes we opened presents. There were so many people that Zach lost interest before it was his turn again so I always had to drag him back into the room to open another one. We didn't get any pictures after the present opening started but these show Zach's and my Christmas jammies. Derrick got some too but we never got around to getting a family picture. People were very generous and spoiled the three of us with some great presents. One of the last presents to the family from Jamon and Jean involved pickles and ice cream and the announcement that Jean is going to have her first baby in July! We're so excited for them.



Over half of the people went skiing/snowboarding twice. Derrick went the first time. During the second trip I took Zach sledding with Grandma in the backyard. Zach knew how to work the system and got to ride up the hill in the sled every time. He'd get pretty cold but would also have a meltdown whenever I tried to get him to go inside.


Zach got into everything he could while at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He figured out how to open their doors (thankfully he hasn't figured out the twisty door knobs yet). Several Christmas decorations got dragged all over the place and a few got broken. Zach threw a candle and later an ornament on the hard floor. The poor advent calendar only had numbers on about 4 of the squares by the time Zach was done with it. Thankfully none of these things was worth much or had sentimental value to it.


Zach liked trying to walk around in other peoples' shoes.


Near the end of the trip we got a babysitter and went to see Sherlock Holmes while another group went to see The Blind Side. The other car got back before we did and when Zach saw Aunt Meesa and Uncle Andrew he got really excited and started doing the sign (ASL) for "friend". We called them his friends instead of his aunt and uncle for the rest of the trip. Out of nowhere Zach got really into signing while we were in Grand Junction. He'd ask to watch his signing dvds and stare at them like he was studying them. Zach would watch for a bit, show me the sign while trying to say the word, and then get really excited with himself. Because of this he's been so much more communicative and I love it. I also love that he's still so happy about it.

We spent New Year's in Provo with my parents at Melissa and Nate's house. Zach fell asleep early in a pack-n-play set up in a spare room while the rest of us watched a movie, played games, and ate food until midnight. At midnight we did my family's traditional "toast to love" and then packed things up to go home and to bed. Zach didn't sleep well in Grand Junction so staying up any later was not appealing. Happy New Year everyone!

And that my friends is the end of this December post.