Just because

Just because I think my daughter is cute, I thought I'd share some of the candid pictures we took while we were gone.

All ready for church in her Christmas dress. Alysha did a great job with the ringlets in her hair. We've decided she looks like Shirley Temple.

Cambrie playing with the giant exercise ball.

She was loving the petifores we made for Dantley's farewell. We're lucky she limited herself to two of the hundred we made. Delicious.Wrestling with Papa.We went caroling at the Delta Center. This is the only picture I took all night-whoops. I can't quite understand what is going on here. Cambrie picked up "Jingle Bells" pretty quickly and has been singing it since.A jetted tub with bubbles. What little girl doesn't love that?Our last night we went out to eat at Johnny Carino's. Despite the look, Cambrie was very well behaved that night.

Dantley's farewell

Jeremy's brother, Dantley, is headed to Peru on his mission. He leaves January 13th but was able to give his farewell address while we were in Utah on Sunday. He did a great job and I know he'll be a fantastic missionary. There were a ton of people there to support him, which meant a huge farewell party at the house. Aunt Lynette made a book for everyone there to sign as a memento. It was the Mormon missionary version of "Green Eggs and Ham." The words are really cute, especially when read by Dantley.

Good luck D. We know you will be awesome!

Remember when we went ice-skating in Grandpa's basement?

My parents are currently building a new house in Smithfield, right above Sky View High School. When it is finished it will have a great little hill on the side yard that will be perfect for sledding or teaching toddlers how to ski. We decided to test it out last time we went out to visit. Weee!Because of the snowstorms and melting spells, the basement of the house was covered with a layer of ice. Cambrie likes to pretend she’s skating at home and will slide her feet along the carpet, well this was much better. As long as Jeremy had a good hold on her, she loved it. She also thought that a framed house was a perfect place to play pretend. This is her in her little house where she was throwing a party (that room will eventually hold a shower.) Ah, good times.

Christmas with the Johnsons

We had a lot of Christmas celebrations this year. I don’t know what we’re going to do next year when Santa only comes once. Christmas at my parents’ house was pretty low key, it was just nice to be with family and spend some time with Alan’s new wife. Cambrie wanted to help open everything.She makes a pretty good present herself huh?Cambrie got a lot of books, which is great. She also got some dress-up dolls, a Utah State shirt, and a new tea party set. Hannah made the blanket for baby sister. Jeremy and I forgot to take pictures of our loot, but we walked away with a Utah State visor for Jer, a cake stand/vegetable tray/punch bowl, new games, pakoozie skillets, and I got a necklace. You know I’m becoming way to “mommish” when I am super excited about all of the kitchen gadgets I received. How old am I? It was a good Christmas in Logan. Thanks mom and dad.

Christmas at the Rogers

We spent Christmas Eve at the Rogers’ house this year. We baked cookies for Santa, opened our new PJ’s, and read a Christmas story. The boys had a race opening their PJ’s and Jeremy totally dominated, it was fun to watch. Cambrie went crazy opening presents the next morning. She wanted to open everyone gifts and kept asking for more. Eee gads, next year I'm just going to wrap empty boxes so she can tear apart the wrapping paper. Here she is in the middle of the carnage.She received two Zhu-Zhu pets (toy hamsters), and they were quickly her favorite toy of the day. Alysha's dog, Nikita, also thought they were great. Kita kept sniffing them, and trying to grab them. She couldn't figure out what those fuzzy yellow things were doing in her house.Dantley helping Cambrie with one of her new games, Elefun. They were catching butterflies from the elephant's trunk.They look like they're pretty into it.That's one way to use the butterfly nets...As only Dantley could do, he wrapped all of his gifts in baby gift bags leftover from Cambrie's baby shower.Baby sister also received a gift. Doesn't Jer look good in pink?Jeremy was getting a little too excited as he was opening gifts and ripped the book cover right off the book...oops.Ta-da! Cambrie with her miles of train track (thank you Santa), princess book, and assorted games. She totally scored this year.Me and Jer with our goodies. I can't wait to use our new tent when it warms up outside. Very Merry Christmas everyone!

Zoo Lights

It was another successful trip to see the Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo. It was lightly snowing and a lot warmer than last year, beautiful. To top it off, Cambrie loved seeing all of the animals, those that were just lights as well as the ones brave enough to face the snow.

Here is a family shot-minus Bruce who was taking the picture.This could have been our Christmas card this year. Welcome to our little home!Riding the rhino, awesome.Alysha and her fiance, Brody. Don't they look cute? We told them to nuzzle like the giraffes, but they weren't having any of that.We finished off the night laughing as Dantley decided to ride the giant, wet, sculpture ball near the entrance. Yes, he fell off. It was great!

Breakfast with Santa

It was another successful year at Breakfast with Santa. After we had a fantastic breakfast of muffins, eggs, hash browns, and chocolate milk (yum), Santa came! He read “The Night Before Christmas,” and then brought each kid up to his knee to ask what they wanted for Christmas. Cambrie has pretty consistently been asking for a train and train tracks…good thing Santa is a good listener. This year was so much better than last as far as “Santa fear” goes. Last year he terrified her, this year she couldn’t wait to see the jolly man in red. Can you tell? Once Santa left it was time for the cousin gift exchange. Chalyse gave Cambrie her present this year. Before…After… And Cambrie gave Landon his gift. Before…After…It was a Star Wars LEGO kit. Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas Rogers Family.

Hardware Ranch

Up Blacksmith Fork Canyon, past Hyrum, is an elk preserve named Hardware Ranch. It is a safe haven for elk all year, and during the winter months it is a great place for them to get food. For people it is a great place to learn about elk and get the chance to see them up close. I have memories as a little girl getting to ride in the wagon and seeing elk for the first time, so when my mom suggested we take Cambrie up I thought it was a great idea. We bundled up, loaded ourselves onto the wagon, and went to check out the elk. Cambrie was most interested in the fact that only a couple of the elk had their racks. She couldn’t figure out why only some had them and it really bothered her. We got to hear the elk bugle and that was pretty neat. I guess I expected a sound that was more…tough? It’s a pretty mellow sound when they are calmly munching on their hay. It was a pretty evening and I’m glad we got to go.

Holly Faire

The American West Heritage Center was having their Holly Faire Festival before Christmas, so my mom, Cambrie and I decided to check it out. There were horse and wagon rides, pony rides, pictures with St. Nicholas, and a living nativity. We didn’t have a chance to stay very long, but we still had a good time. Cambrie loved the pony ride. Her pony was named Candy and she thought it was awesome to hold on to the saddle and ride a horse that was “Cambrie-size.” The activity she enjoyed the most was probably the living nativity. Basically animals were out in their pens that are associated with the manger scene, an ox, sheep, a cow, and a donkey. These animals were fearless. As soon as we approached the fence they stuck their heads through to get as close as possible to Cambrie. The cow was so funny. He kept trying to lick Cambrie! His tongue was ridiculously long and he got pretty close a number of times. Cambrie thought it was hysterical and that the cow was so silly. Then here is just a cute shot of Cambrie. Too bad we don't have a little cow-girl hat for her.