Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Even though it wasn't the most pleasant experience being 9 months pregnant during the most family party oriented holiday, and the time of the year where the most pictures are taken.... I have to say I can look back on this Christmas and smile.
It was are first Christmas in our new house and I loved watching Jacob opening his gifts under the tree. He is the most dainty gift opener, it takes him forever to open one gift.
We went over to the Glassfords for Christmas breakfast and to exchange gifts. My parents, like always, surprised us with a great gift... a huge barbecue. Now Dan has to learn how to use it.
Jacob ate bacon! that is right, he ate meat willingly! Jacob ( the child that will eat broccoli and lima beans over chicken nuggets ate bacon! )
This year I wanted to give my parents something that I know they would really love and that I don't think they would do themselfs. I turned their wonderful blog into a book. This was truly a labor of love, but I am so glad that I did it. I did tons of resurch concerning 'blog to book' websites and found nowhere I was satisfied with. So I decided to format and publish the book through a book publishing and printing company. It turned out great, and now my parents have a family journal/scrapbook.
This was at the Astin's Christmas Party, jacob had a lot of fun playing with his cousins!Here is the Family Christmas picture, It turned out good, especially considering my hugeness and Jacob freezing.
We also took family photos this weekend. I am hoping that the next one could be in the warm months and without me being pregnant. Angie and Chad better come down for a vacation TOGETHER in the summer months, none of these separate vacations. I want a family photo with that has flowers and grass in the background.
Jacob was a good trooper, he was cold which made it difficult to get him to smile.

Christmas Time

It is the Christmas Season! Sadly because of a difficult pregnancy I have had to cut back on traditions and fun Christmas activities. Luckily I was able to take part in my family's traditional gingerbread house decorating competition ( even though some think that it was the gingerbread that put me on temporary bed rest, it was worth it) I love doing things with the family this time of year!
Daniel's Dad was Santa again this year, so I took Jacob over to their house to get a picture of Jacob with Santa. Lets just say he wasn't fond of the idea. He thought he was going to get to see and play with Grandpa, instead he found a guy in a red suit with an abnormally white beard, Santa. He stopped right in his tracks. It took a lot of coaxing to get him near Santa let alone on his lap. We couldn't get him to smile, but I still think the pictures are still cute.
Me and Jacob wearing festive hats, while Jacob holds on to his candy cane ( the bribe we gave him for sitting on Santa's Lap)

Dan's Vacation

Dan was lucky enough to go on a cruise with his extended family last week. Sadly, because I am with child, I was unable to go. Poor Dan had to go to the western Caribbean without me. This is a picture of the formal night on the cruise ship with his siblings and significant others.
The first excursion the went to Progresso Mexico. They had to ride in a bus for 2 hours each way to see the Mayan ruins, in Chichen-itza, and only got to stay for about an hour. This is a Mayan pyramid, it was a tribute to the gods and had lots of snake carvings all over it. The Mayans worshiped snakes, Dan wouldn't have made a good Mayan. See the large snake heads! Since there time was limited they couldn't learn a lot about all of the Mayan structures, but this specific building was used for human sacrifices.
A lot of the buildings had carvings on the stonework. Here is a picture of what appears to be a guy in a head dress with elf shoes on. The ancient version of basketball. Throw the ball in this small little hole and win! Loose and you die. On their second excursion Dan went to Cozumel to snorkel and see fish, but I haven't gotten the pictures developed yet. They rented Jeeps and drove around the whole island; they toured an old lighthouse, chilled near the beach and saw crocodiles.

This is Daniel pointing to a large lizard sitting on a rock.
While driving around the island they found the Three Amigos Cantina, and couldn't help taking a picture. Dan had a great time, but I am glad to have him home and safe.

Pumpkin Patch

When I was a kid my parents always took me to the Vineyard Nursery to pick out a pumpkin. Because I loved going as a child, I have done the same thing with Jacob. This year my parents came with us. Even though I had to waddle through a corn maze and pumpkin patch, it was fun to watch Jacob play and enjoy the same things I did when I was his age.

This is a picture of my dad and Jacob in the corn maze.

This is Jacob running through the corn after leaving my Dad in the dust.

Jacob picked out his pumpkins and pulled them around in the red wagon. I am just glad he didn't want me to pull him around in the red wagon!

Jacob is 2!

Jacob turned two on the 10th of October. Daniel and I got him an ice cream cone and let him get messy. Ice cream ended up getting everywhere, which is why it is a special occasion when he gets an ice cream cone.
I love this picture not only because I think my son is adorable, but because of the poster in the background.
Jacob blew out his own candles this year! He wanted to play with the toy animals on the cake so bad that he wouldn't smile until the giraffe was in his hands.
My parents got him a huge dinosaur floor puzzle, I think my Dad and Richie where more excited about the puzzle then Jacob! Dan and Jacob ( mostly Dan) put the puzzle together about every other night, and Jacob will sit there and point out the different dinosaurs.
Jacob is getting so big! It is weird to think he is going to be the older brother soon, my baby is becoming a little boy! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated his birthday with us.

UPS Softball Tournament

Dan and a bunch of his fellow UPS drivers got together for their annual softball charity event in Salt Lake. It was a bunch of fun watching Dan play. Dan's team did extremely well, until the pitcher's 2 year old daughter got hit in the head with a fly ball. She is ok, but at the time the only thing anyone cared about was getting her to the hospital. Jacob had a fun time playing with all of the softballs and watching his Dad play.

More pictures in Grandparents backyard

Jacob picking some apples, he loves to eat the ones he picks himself.

Jacob feeding the turkey a piece of lettuce

Jacob was chasing down the turkeys and ducks trying to feed them the apples he picked.

Digging up Potatoes

Jacob loves being outside. We go to the park or let him play in the backyard almost everyday and let him run around. Though his favorite place is my parents backyard, and I don't blame him. Between the chickens, ducks, turkeys, dogs and garden; getting to hang out with his grandparents, Richie and Heather he has a blast out there. Jacob liked harvesting a lot of the fruit in the yard, so we decided to let him help Grandpa dig up the potatoes. It was funny to watch, because Jacob is not a huge fan of getting dirt on his hands. But he did well. It is fun to watch him explore and learn new things. It will be hard in the winter when I can't just take him outside to burn off some of that energy!

Fun at the Cabin

Early in August we went up to my Grandparents cabin. It was lots of fun and I am glad that the Scotts got to come up with us. Because I was not feeling well, my Aunt Kim and I got to hang out a lot in the cabin. It was fun just relaxing. Jacob had a blast hanging out with Dan. Especially when he got to go on the 4-wheeler. He looked slightly concerned when he was on the 4-wheeler, but the minute we would take him off he would want to get back on. Jacob had fun playing drums with my Dad and gathering sticks with my Mom (who knew an orange bucket could make the coolest toy ever!) One of the main activities at the cabin are the horseshoe competitions. Here is Rachel throwing a horseshoe while her hubby is softening the dirt in the other horseshoe pit.

Daniel and Jim where a force to be reconed with, they have horseshoe skills. They were TEAM VICTORY!