Christmas 2009

We spent Christmas in Idaho with Jake's family this year. To make traveling easier and to avoid inclement weather we decided to fly. Upon arriving at the airport on Wednesday we were notified that our plane was delayed about 2 hours. That was super. Especially when we discovered that it was to wait for a connecting flight. I don't know about you but I have never had a plane wait 5 minutes for me, let alone 2 hours. That was annoying, but we got over it quick. It was so good to be at Jake's home again. We hadn't been there in a year, so it was about time.

The next day was Christmas Eve. At 5pm Jake's little brother Brandon got home from his mission in Chile! It was fun being able to be at the airport to greet him with the whole family. He hasn't changed at all. Well....only 2 main things have changed: He has a strong Latin accent and a tan. After we all picked him up from the airport we had to go home and get ready for their big family Christmas Eve party. Every Christmas Eve the Pollard side of the family get's together for dinner, games, and a white elephant gift exchange. It was fun to see everyone again and to see the looks on their faces when they saw Brandon was home. He wanted to surprise the extended family, so they didn't know he would be home on Christmas Eve. Hannah was shy at first, but within 20 minutes she was running around the house touching and smiling at everything and everyone. Jake's sister Aubrey and her family came over on Christmas Eve to stay the night with us all in the basement. It's a tradition that probably won't be able to continue much longer with 4 kids and counting, but it is still fun.

Christmas morning consisted of Santa Clause, opening presents, and eating scones. Jake, Hannah and I made out like bandits. I won't go into details about everything we got but the main thing was a new digital camera. Not just any digital camera. A SWEET one :-) A Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP to be exact. Our digital camera started taking blurry pictures around Hannah's birthday, so it was a very needed and greatly appreciated gift. Thank you Santa (aka Mimi and Papa). One other gift that I am very excited about is something Jake got me. A 1 hour massage! He knows me so well :-) For Christmas dinner we had the traditional and yummy turkey feast.

The next day was Saturday and Jake's sister and I decided to use our Macy's gift card's (Thanks Lanette) to go do some fun after Christmas shopping. I bought 2 really cute skirts and Aubrey found some adorable jean's with bling for button's and some sweater's. We only had an hour to shop before dinner so it got a tad hectic. Next time we will plan a bigger block of time for shopping. We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with the whole family sans our nieces and nephews. It was fun to hear Brandon talk to the waitress from Peru for a while. She told us that he speaks really well and doesn't sound Gringo. After dinner we went home and watched some movies. We watched Up and Star Trek. I was pleasantly surprised with both films.

On Sunday was Brandon's homecoming talk. He gave a wonderful talk on the 3 main gifts we have received as member's of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: The restoration of the Gospel, The gift of the Holy Ghost, and the most important gift is Jesus Christ. He read some letter's from people he converted to the church and referred to them as gifts he received on his mission. It was an excellent talk and it is so good to have him home again. Following church they had a big family/friend dinner to welcome Brandon home. After dinner we all played games and hung out as a family. We said our goodbyes that night because we had a 6 am flight the next morning. It is always so fun to go home for the Holiday's. Thanks Jerry and Lanette for a wonderful Christmas!

Hannah checking out her gift from Santa Clause on Christmas morning. This Winnie the Pooh ride on/pusher/airplane was a big hit with Hannah and all her cousins.
Papa wearing his new socks as earmuff's. I think he started a new trend.Hannah showing off her "cheesy smile".
Papa sport'n his new zebra print Snuggie.
Hannah loves the Tigger and Pooh board books we got her. She sat and flipped through the pages of one book and would quickly toss it and pull out the next book to read.
We found out she loves candy canes.
Uncle Brandon makes a pretty good looking present.
Cousin Macy making Hannah laugh.
Uncle Mike aka cupcake holding Hannah.
The Pollard brother's being silly.
Hannah wearing the Pancho that Uncle Brandon brought back for her from Chile.
Mimi getting snuggles.
This is a pretty picture of both of them.
Papa and Hannah.
Jake tested out the new camera on me.
Hannah and Uncle Brandon.
Aunt Aubrey and Hannah.
Macy and Hannah reading next to each other.
Cousin Katelyn and Hannah reading next to each other.
Hannah hanging out with Uncle Mike and her cousins.
Mimi with her grand-daughter's.
Hannah and Katelyn. Katelyn is 1 month older than Hannah. They are going to be best friend's.

Hannah sharing her cheerio's with Katelyn.
Katelyn pushing Hannah on the Pooh ride.

Thanksgiving 2009

I know I know, Thanksgiving was a month ago. Things have been pretty busy and my blog has been neglected. Before I post about Christmas I need to do one on Thanksgiving. We had a lovely Thanksgiving in California with my family. We got in on Wednesday afternoon and went to lunch at Mimi's Cafe before driving the 90 miles from the airport to our home town. It was soooo good to be home. We hadn't been there in a whole year. My parent's remodeled the house a bit, so it was fun to see the beautiful improvements. I hope to aspire to be as good of an interior decorator as my mom. She is very talented.

The next day was Thanksgiving. Which can be described in one word: Yum. I LOVE Thanksgiving. Especially my moms cooking. Between her turkey stuffing and my dad's cranberry salad I was more stuffed than the turkey. Justin and his family joined us for the feast, it is always fun to get together with his cute little family. After dinner we just talked and vegged out. Can't get much better than that. Later that night Jake and David and I went to see New Moon. And no it wasn't my first time :-) I was one of the crazy mom's out and about for the midnight showing with a bunch of girlfriend's. It was fun to see it again. David loved it. Jake hates to admit it but I know he enjoyed it too. He just didn't like how many shirtless men were in the movie. Which is understandable. Jacob Black's shirtless physique just happens to be one of the top reason's I thoroughly enjoyed the film :-)

Friday was the day of yummy left over's. Jake and I took advantage of the more than willing babysitter's to see another movie: The Blind Side. Which if you haven't seen it you need to. It is such a good and inspirational true story. It is so reassuring to know that there are still wonderful people in the world, who go out of their comfort zones and give those around them a helping hand. Great movie.

On Saturday Jake and I did some Christmas and Birthday shopping for Hannah. We celebrated her birthday while we were there since her birthday was less than a week away. (See previous post for more details on her Birthday Celebrations.) On Sunday we went to church and it was wonderful to say hi to everyone in my old home ward. After dinner we went to my brother Justin's place to tour his new home and say goodbye to his family until next time. That night we left for Sacramento to stay the night before our early 5am flight home on Monday morning. That was fun. Please remind me to do that again.

It was so wonderful to be home again and surrounded by family. We wish we lived closer so that get togethers weren't so few and far between.

Here are a few pictures from the long weekend over Thanksgiving:

Hannah looking out the glass doors in my parent's living room. Yes, that is our backyard. I didn't quite appreciate how beautiful their view is until I moved away. Hannah enjoyed the view too.

Hannah and her cousin's playing with daddy. The oldest is Emma and the younger one is Elissa. They are so adorable.
Elissa giving Hannah kisses. How sweet is she.
Uncle David and Elissa.
Hannah and her cousins. This is such a cute picture. I especially love Hannah's "cheesy smile".

I love this picture. All you need is a broken cell phone to keep a 1 year old entertained.
Hannah loved Grandma's Christmas tree.
Jake being attacked from all angles by the children. He is such a good sport.
This picture cracks me up. Notice Hannah in the bottom left. She is currently falling to the ground in an aggressive baby snuggle. Jake is also obviously enjoying the attention :-)
I love these kiddos. Yes David, you are still a kiddo :-)
My sister-in-law Deena with her girls and Hannah.
Justin persistenly tried to win Hannah over by luring her with Pooh Bear and Eeyore. Unfortunately it didn't work. Hopefully next time Hannah will warm up more to Uncle Justin.
Hannah playing in the leaves in my parent's front yard. It was in the high 60's and gorgeous. I love Paradise.

Birthday Celebrations

Hannah's 1st birthday was full of family, friends, traveling and parties. We spent Thanksgiving in California with my family (More about Thanksgiving will come in a later post). Since Thanksgiving was 1 week before her birthday we decided to celebrate it early with my family. We went out to dinner for Hannah's birthday at Olive Garden (yum) with my parent's and my brother Justin and his family. Hannah enjoyed eating spaghetti and some of my Minestrone soup. We sang Happy Birthday to her and placed a huge round cake in front of her to go to town on. Unfortunately she ate too much spaghetti and was content just poking the cake. Which was fine because I knew she would get a second chance. She also opened some presents. The sad thing is that we lost the birthday presents that were given to her in California. We took them on the plane as a carry on and in our rush to get off we left them in the upper storage compartment. We've been hoping to hear back from the airline, but still have yet to hear anything. Even if they don't get returned, we are grateful for the time we had to spend with family and the fact that Hannah won't remember the missing gifts :-) Here are some pictures from her first 1st birthday party:


Mommy and HannahDaddy and Hannah (like father like daughter) :-)
Hannah with her cousin's Emma and Elissa.
Our sweet little birthday girl.
I think she was taken a back by our "awesome" singing voices.
Proof that she simply poked her cake.

Our second celebration was at our house a couple of days after her birthday. Mimi and Papa were able to drive here from Idaho to celebrate it with us. On Friday night we met them in Salt Lake City to go out to dinner and see the lights at Temple Square.

Hannah, Jake and I in front of the reflection pond.
Hannah all bundled up. She was a good sport considering how cold it was.
The beautiful Salt Lake temple and nativity.
Hannah and her baby.
The whole fam in front of the lights at the temple.
Here are some pictures from her birthday party:

Mommy decorating the birthday cake. My talented sister-in-law Rashell helped me decorate the cake. And by "help" I mean she did most of it :-)

We were very happy with the finished product. It turned out perfect.

Last Saturday was her official birthday party. Here are her friend's that made it to the party.
Mommy and daddy with the birthday girl.
Mimi and Papa with the birthday girl.
Hannah enjoying her cake.
Opening her presents.

What a wonderful 1st Birthday for an amazing little girl. :-)