Jackson Christmas

We took a 6 am flight from San Diego to Utah to have another Christmas morning with the Jacksons. Jared and his family were there as well as Jane Anne and Colby. We got home just in time to eat some yummy breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls and fruit. Then we got to go see what Santa brought! Livy struck gold with Santa, she must have been very good this year. She got some phones, lots of clothes, a picture Book of Mormon, some movies, puzzles, and potato heads. She just stood there looking at everything in amazement. She didn't know where to begin. 

 I absolutely loved being a mom this year for Christmas, I truly discovered the joy in giving instead of just receiving. Livy was lucky enough to get a flip phone and a smartphone!

 Livy started out her Disney movie collection strong this Christmas. I'm excited for her to start watching them and actually enjoy them. 

 One of my favorite things that I did for Ryan for Christmas was frame our Marathon medal, completion certificates and bib numbers. I wanted to make sure we remembered all of that hard work, and amazing experience.

 We spent the rest of the day, taking naps, had a big turkey dinner, and played lots of games. It was fun to be with family, relax, and enjoy one another's company. What a perfect Christmas holiday.

Christmas in San Diego

We took advantage of the whole Farnsworth clan being together and got some great family pictures on the beach. It was such a beautiful day, not much of a breeze, and a perfect temp. I am really excited for these pictures, they turned out so cute. I can't wait to show them off once I get them! In the meantime here are a few I snapped with my phone.  

The best thing about our vacation was that we all slept under the same roof - which meant late night hot tubbing parties while all the kiddos were awake, and early morning cereal parties when the kiddos woke up nice and early. One morning we decorated the Christmas tree, played some Christmas tunes and made little snow-globe ornaments. 

That we also made some gingerbread (graham cracker) houses - which has become an annual Farnsworth tradition. But I must say, this was probably the most successful year, and I have to say it was all because of my awesome glue-frosting!! Seriously, I'll brag about it for the rest of my life too. 

2 lbs. powdered sugar

6 egg whites

1 tsp. cream of tartar

We didn't have an electric mixer so we had to whisk it by hand, and even though it was tiring, I think it's what made the difference. 

I whisked the eggs for about 2 minutes. Then whisked in the cream of tartar. Add the powdered sugar very slowly (like a few tablespoons at a time - very slowly). Whisk until it is nice and thick and has a little bit of shine to it. Immediately bag it up in little baggies for each person, and refrigerate until you use them. Snip the corner of the bag and you're good to go!

One morning we headed out to Seaport Village, walked around all of the shops, visited Santa, and went on a 100-year old Carousel. I was skeptical to whether Livy would enjoy this or not, and she didn't fuss the entire time. She didn't giggle with excitement either, but I think it was a success. Kenna, Lucy and Addie all rode too, Addie didn't have quite the same experience. 

 On Christmas Eve, my brother Ryan read to us 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' with assistance from his cute little Kenna. Then we also read Luke 2 with some Christmas Hymns within reading the verses. It was a great program. It was so nice to take time and remember the true meaning of Christmas and to remember the of our Savior Jesus Christ. All the girls got to open their Christmas Eve jammies.

 Christmas day was full of present opening, a big brunch, a great church service filled with great music, and family time. Oh and lots of NBA basketball. 

 It was such a perfect Christmas. I loved being with my whole family, there really is nothing like family. You can be yourself, enjoy company, develop friendships, and reminisce on old times. I can't wait for the time we can all be together again!

Sea World

For Christmas this year we were lucky enough to go to Sunny San Diego with my family. Every one was there. My parents, all 5 kids and their spouses, and 5 little girls under the age of three. We stayed in a beautiful home in Point Loma just a few minutes from the airport. We had a great view of the harbor - which made for some beautiful sunsets. 

We figured all the girls were a little too young to fully enjoy Disneyland, so we went to SeaWorld, and it was such a blast. Livy started out the day happy - little did she know what she was in for. 

First off we went into the huge aquarium. Livy was wide-eyed just trying to take it all in. The fish and Livy had a love-hate relationship. One second she'd be giggling and pointing and loving the fish, then she would turn around with a scowl on her face and whine and cry. It was so fun to see her watching these fish with such awe!

Then we headed over to Shamu Stadium. Livy loved walking with grandpa. I think this is definitely one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I love her cheesy smile. 

 

 Livy did not like Shamu. She watched as the trainers did their little song and dance, but as soon as the whales would jump out of the water she would start to cry. I think a big part of it was the squeals and cheers from the crowd. Regardless, the show wasn't her favorite part of the day.

 Then we went to get some expensive food for lunch, while Livy took a nice long nap in her cousin Lucy's stroller. While she slept we went and saw the hundred of funny little penguins, and the big scary sharks. Livy woke up just in time to see the Sea Lion and Otter show. Once again, not the biggest fan of animals jumping out of water.

It was such a fun day. We were so lucky to be there with my whole family, and everyone had a great time. Thank you mom and dad for such a wonderful day! Hopefully next time Livy will be more excited :)

Bad Hair Day

This is one of my favorite times of the day. Take out the hair elastics, and laugh at Livy's crazy hair. 

Bad Bug

Be glad you haven't been at our this week. First the baby. Then the Mommy. Now the Daddy. This evil 24 hour bug has made the last 72 hours so awful and miserable. Lots of hours curled up in fetal positions. Lots of moaning and groaning. Lots of Sprite. Not many happy-thoughts. Hopefully we'll wake up in the morning all bright and bushy-tailed ready for Christmas in sunny San Diego!

Dear Santa

Last weekend we went for a little stroll around Riverwoods to look at the lights, do a little shopping, get a caramel apple and visit Santa. 

Livy got to meet Santa for the first time, since last year she was just a few months old. She didn't quite know what to think of him. He was a nice, cheery, old-man, but she wasn't having any of his holiday cheer. He asked if she wanted books, gave her a candy cane, and that seemed to settle her for a moment. Then he said, "How about we try again next year?" :) This picture is priceless: 

Until next year Santa!

Big Steps

Another video of Livy taking lots of steps. She is getting more and more confident every day. She still needs some encouraging though. She's figured out how to crawl pretty fast, and she likes to just sit down once she realizes that she's standing on her own. But we're making big progress. Love her. 

Growing Girl

We were finally able to get a few little stumbling steps on video! We even had a minor tantrum, and Livy showing up her beauty skills. We are absolutely loving this cute curly hair too. 

BYU vs. Oregon

We got to go up to the Energy Solutions Arena for the BYU vs. Oregon game last Saturday. We had pretty good tickets, the Cougs played really well, and Livy had lots of fun! We were sitting next to a cute family that had 2 little girls, Livy kept trying to hold their little girls hand. Livy loved the big lights, the action of the game, the loud cheering - she also likes to clap (usually for the other team). She even got to give Cosmo a high-five! 

 Livy has such a good daddy. He reached out over the 10 year-old boys in front of us to get Livy a ball. She is so happy with her new ball.

The only bad thing about the game was that it was at 2:00 in the afternoon = no afternoon nap. Livy was so good even though she was sooo sleepy. She only lasted a few seconds before she fell right asleep once we got in the car. It was fun to then come home, with In-N-Out in hand, and watch the Football Cougs dominate. It was a great day to be a cougar fan.

Oh, and my brother is now a published sports writer...kind of a big deal :) Nice work Ryan!

 

http://bleacherreport.com/byu-football

Sherpa the Cat

We all know how much Livy loves Sarge. But we all have not met Uncle Josh's cat Sherpa. He's an outside cat. But he comes up to the porch every morning and evening to eat. Liv loves watching him. The other morning, I looked over and saw this:

She was there for a good 15 minutes! The only thing she needs to learn now is that cats "meow", and not "rarrr". 

Park City with the Farnsworths

All of the Jackson's left Park City a day early, so we decided to stay and have my family come up. We all met at the outlets, for a bit more shopping. Grabbed some pizza, watched more football and let all the little kiddos keep up entertained. We then watched a movie (Super 8 - we thought it was way weird), played some boggle and went to bed.

 We had another bad night with Livy. Except this was even worse. Probably the worst night of parenthood we've had yet. She woke up around 2:00 am, still feeling really sick, but this time she could not stop crying. We couldn't get her to calm down. Finally around 4:30 am we gave her more medicine, and a blessing, and she finally fell asleep in my arms by the fireplace. Needless to say Saturday was filled with nice long naps. Saturday morning before we checked out, we had another breakfast feast, and walked up and down Main Street, enjoying the beautiful warm weather. Livy really really wanted this hat, she loved the soft fur - but it wasn't $75 we were willing to spend.

It was such a great weekend, it made us even that much more excited for Christmas!!!

Park City with the Jacksons

For Thanksgiving Weekend we went up to Park City, relaxed, spent good quality family time, and relaxed a little more. It was a much needed little vacation. It was so nice to have Ryan , away from work, and able to spend all day with him! We drove up Wednesday, and had some yummy pizza at Main Street Pizza & Noodle. We loved walking up and down Main Street, looking in all of the fun little shops, and enjoying the Christmas lights everywhere. 

Livy absolutely LOVES fire. She would have sat by this fire all night if we would have let her. She is just so fascinated with the flames. This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and was also Ryan's birthday. My parents gave him the new Elder Oaks book, "Life Lessons Learned", movie tickets, and candy. I gave him some Brian Regan tickets for January - we're excited! Then he had a birthday breakfast feast with scones, eggs, and sausage. Being away from home was no excuse to cook a turkey, cook a pie, and have a fabulous feast!! 

The rest of the day consisted of napping, relaxing, playing with iPads, watching football, and playing Five Crowns/Scrabble.

 It's been a tradition to go shopping at the Park City outlets for Black Friday. Thankfully this year they opened at 10:00 pm rather than midnight! So we were able to get all of our shopping done and be back in our room by midnight, it was wonderful. Livy got $260 worth of clothing for $94! We also did some Christmas shopping, Ry's pretty much done shopping for me already!

 Josh was nice enough to stay in the condo so that Livy could sleep while we were gone. We came home late, got ready for bed, and then Livy woke up crying, runny nose, and coughing. It was a bad cough. We think she had croup, and Bob and Sue said that cold air really helps with those bad colds - weird I know, but worked! We got all bundled up, went outside at 2:00 am to try and help Livy. She did go to sleep, but it was a short night. The next morning she discovered blackberries for the first time. Boy did she love them! (The picture didn't do justice for what a mess she was).

 Over the last few weeks Livy has learned what and where her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, teeth and hair are. But Friday morning, she figured out her tongue. It was so funny to see her pulling on her tongue, sticking it out and laughing. Silly Livy.

 We had such a great time. It was so much fun to spend time with Bob, Sue, Josh, Janie and Colby. It was a perfect Thanksgiving!!