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!