2012 in Review

We sure feel very blessed for the year we have had. There has been so many wonderful things that have happened this year and I can't express how grateful I am for it all. Here are some of the highlights we have had this year:

· Seeing our new little babe on the ultrasound for the first time ...and all the times after that!

· Watching Kyler grow and learn more and more.

· Finding out our baby was a boy! And getting ready for him to arrive.

· Celebrating 3 years of marriage.

· Kyler's 2nd Birthday.

· Sharon turning 23.

· Getting to go to the Zoo, Aquarium, Temple Square, and lots of parks in the spring.

· Colton coming home from his mission, and Derek leaving on his.

· Welcoming Xander Stephen into the world!

· Finding out we got our house. Moving into it. And starting to fill it up with memories.

· Going to the Brigham City Temple Open House as a family. Also me and JJ going to the dedication together.

· Xander being blessed. And having all our family come and enjoying the day.

· Watching Kyler enjoy playing in our yard.

· JJ turning 26.

· Having Kyler pick out our Halloween costumes and dressing up and taking both boys Trick-or-Treating.

· Seeing the boys begin to play with each other and the love that they already have for each other.

· Enjoying Thanksgiving with our families and Xander trying food for the first time.

· Decorating our house for Christmas, and seeing Kyler get all excited when he saw the lights on the house.

· Doing all the fun things on our Christmas Bucketlist, especially our trip to Salt Lake. Having the boys see Santa and get pictures of it. Watching Kyler playing in the snow and all the other things we have done.

· Starting New Traditions for Christmas.

· Seeing both boys so excited Christmas morning and how excited they were opening their presents. Watching them play together. Skyping with Derek and just spending time as a family.


Like I said before we have had such a wonderful year! Having Xander join our family as been such a blessing and we love him so much. Kyler has grown up so much and I can't believe what a little boy he is turning into. Having our house as been so nice and we love having a place of our own. We feel so very blessed! We know 2013 will bring with it many new experiences for us and we hope to be able to make it a great year for our boys.


Happy New Years To You All and May It Be Filled With Everything Wonderful!

Christmas 2012

What a Christmas it was! It's been the most fun one yet!! It was so fun seeing both boys open their gifts. I couldn't believe how Xander reacted opening his gifts with J.J. he would get all excited and start laughing. Kyler at first didn't really want to open his gifts but once we got him started he loved it! I'll explain more of our day with the pictures.

Kyler opening presents....

Xander opening presents....

JJ opening presents....

My presents, I didn't find the I.O.U until last night. "Santa" had hid it clear in the very bottom of my stocking. I'm so very excited and grateful for all I got!

We then headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Abplanalp's togive and open presents.

Once we were done there we came home and had breakfast, which were homemade cinnamon rolls. This was my first time making them and they turned out really well:)

Then the kids got to play with some of thier toys for a few minutes.

We then got ready for the day and headed down to my aunt's for dinner. It was delicious! I have a few cousins around Kyler and Xander's ages and it was fun to see them all play and to get to catch up with everyone! One of the best things of the day though was getting to Skype with my brother Derek who is serving a mission in Mexico. It was so good to see him! Kyler loved seeing and talking to him to! We still have 3 more Christmas' before our family will be all together for Christmas since Rhett will go out when Derek gets back. Can't wait till we will all be together!

We then headed back to Tremonton to go to Grandpa and Grandma Harris'. They had gotten a little tykes basketball hoop and Kyler was in love with it! It was nice to spend sometime over there as well. After that we came home got in our jammies and snuggled up in our bed and watched a couple movies on our new tv until we all fell asleep!!

This picture was just of us in our Christmas shirts since we didn't get one all together.


It was such a great day! We all enjoy all the gifts we got but the best part was just being together, enjoying our families, and remembering the real reason for the holiday. It made me smile watching Kyler helping Xander play with his toys and them laughing together. I don't think there's anything much better than that! I'm so grateful and feel so blessed to have my little family and all the joy they bring me! We are looking forward to spending lots of time together since JJ has clear until the 5th off. It was nice just to relax and watch movies together today and watch the kids play. I just love times like the last few days! We even had a snowball fight tonight when we were shoveling. It was started by Kyler even though he had never had one before. All he did was laugh when he would get hit by the snow or when he would throw it at us. He also sledded down our front stairs. Luckily there was enough snow it didn't hurt him and he just giggled.

We hope all of our family and friends had a very Merry Christmas and a safe one at that!!
Now to enjoy the last few days of 2012 and reflect on all this year has brought and to look forward to what 2013 will bring!!

For journaling purposes....
JJ's gifts: TV, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Spiderman, Big Bang Theory and Happy Endings Seasons, 49er's hat, pj's, candy, Christmas t-shirt, money, Aeropostale and Maddox giftcards,
Sharon's gifts: I.O.U for Camera, Pitch Perfect, Dark Night Rises, Grey's Anatomy season, shoes, Christmas t-shirt, earrings, Kohl's giftcard, vest, money, Quote picture, Holiday Barbie, pj's.
Kyler's gifts: Construction set, Guitar, Leaptag Junior and books, Leapfrog Count and Write, Leapfrog Sribble and Draw, Leapfrog Text and Learn, Hotwheels wall track and cars, punching bag, soccer ball chair, stampset, Avengers dress-up set, doctor set, bounce-on ball, basketball and scoreboard set, trucks, candy, blanket and sheets, Christmas shirt and holiday bear.
Xander's gifts: Dino ballpopper, Laugh and Learn puppy, soothing monkey, tool rattle set, balls, books, chair, squirt and Scout clickers, Links, Plush Squirt, rattles, stacking cups, Christmas outfit, monkey pillow, clothes, bibs, socks, wobbles, sippies, holiday bear.

Christmas Eve 2012

This was our Christmas Eve!

When we woke up we found Noelle Sparkle for the last time this year. She had left us some presents topen tonight and a key so Santa could get in since we don't have a chimney.

After that I finished up all the wrapping! We are very spoiled.
I then made dinner...we had turkey steaks, cheesey potatoes, and peas...as you can see Kyler of course enjoyed it. We are looking forward to when Xander can eat with us.
We then read the Nativity Story.
After the story we made Gingerbread Nativities. Kyler actually did better with these than the Gingerbread Houses.
These were the results....
We then opened our gifts from Noelle Sparkle....we all got new Jammies!
When Kyler opened his he said, "Oh Dang It." *SMH*
Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Abplanalp's for the fish pond...
With some of their treasures
We then drove around to see the lights..Kyler fell asleep while we were driving around. So this will have to do as the picture of them in their jammies together. It made me a little sad Xander is now in sizes so him and Kyler can match, he's growing to fast!
Xander wasn't to sure about the reindeer on his feet.
After both boys were asleep Santa came!! He didn't finish all the cookies though:)

Today was so much fun and I'm sure tomorrow will be as well. I just can't believe Christmas is here already, it came so quick!

The Last Week With Our Elf

We still have tomorrow but I'll post that with our Christmas Eve activities. Noelle Sparkle pulled her last prank today. I can't believe how fast it had gone by, but here are the things she did this week...

Day 22:

Day 23:

Day 24:

Day 25:

Day 26:

Day 27:

Day 28:

It's been such a fun little activity to do for Kyler this year, I'm excited to see if Xander will get into it next year! I just can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I'm very excited for what we have planned and especially Christmas morning!

Xander at 5 Months

Xander is now 5 months as of Monday! I can't believe he's that old already.

Xander at 5 Months:

Is 17 pounds 4 ounces

28 inches tall

Is teething! I forgot how miserable teething can be. He's right front tooth has broken through so hopefully the others will come in soon.

Favorite food is bananas.

Rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time yesterday!

Likes the jumperoo, and perfers it over the swing now.

Still coos and grawls all the time.

Likes to play with his feet and hands and always has them in his mouth.

Has been a great little sleeper lately and will go to bed around 10pm and wake up at 6am to eat and then will go back down for awhile.

Doesn't mind being in his carseat anymore.

Adores his big brother and always laughs and coos over anything Kyler does.

Here are some pictures of my cute little guy. Kyler decided to hide our camera so they are just off my phone. He sure makes an adorable snowman and reindeer!!

With the events of this past month and having a couple friends lose their babies to early and with the shooting in Connecticut last week I can't help but feel so blessed, grateful, and lucky to have my boys!! Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost their little ones and loved ones!

Week 3 with Our Elf

Here's what Noelle Sparkle was upto this week...

Day 15:

Day 16:

Day 17:

Day 18:

Day 19:

Day 20:

Day 21:

This week we have been pretty busy so I wasn't able to get pictures of Kyler seeing them all because when he saw them we were usually heading out the door. I can't believe we only have about a week with her left its crazy Christmas is almost here!!

Christmas Bucketlist Completions Part 2

Just some more of the things we have crossed off our bucketlist recently......

These are the countdowns we are doing this year. The mitten one has a scripture and tells Kyler where he can find a treat for each day. The other one you glue on a cotton ball to Santa's beard each day.

We've had a couple crafts days but still need to have another to do a couple more projects we have. But he really liked painting with the shaving cream and laughed the whole time I painted his foot for the plate.

We made a gingerbread house last week but he was more into eating all the candy then decorating it. We did get some candy on the house at least!

Our Christmas Card this year we have been slow getting them out this year but hopefully everyone will get one.

Going to Temple Square and Zoolights

Christmas Party for the littles

Kyler loves the snow even though when he first saw it he said,"Oh No!"