Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

Since we were flying out to San Diego on Christmas Eve morning, we got to spend Christmas Eve-Eve with the Hardcastles. 

Owen checking out his loot!  Look at those cute Christmas jammies from Grammy & Papa.  Also, if you look closely you can see a shiner starting to form on his right eye.  We were at Brad's aunt & uncles that night for our annual family Christmas party, and Owen tripped and fell on a toy truck.  It immediately started turning black & blue.  Poor guy! 

 Owen wasn't too sure about his horsey that night, but he has since warmed up to it.  He loves riding "Rocky" and also loves giving him hugs & kisses.

 Our little bookworm got lots of books for Christmas.  He loves 'em!

 And you can all be jealous of my blank check for a Silhouette machine from Brad.  Woohoo!

(The routing numbers are our anniversary and Owen's birthday... that's my man!)

 On Christmas Day (in San Diego now) we went to church then came home and opened our gifts.  The Christmas program my parent's ward presented was absolutely beautiful.  I kind of wish we could go to church every Christmas morning!  It just sets the right tone for the day.

Look how handsome my little man looked in his church outfit!

 Our family on Christmas morning.  (Why do I look so tired??)

 We opened most of our presents early in Utah, but Owen still had a few things waiting for him on Christmas.   He loves to watch Sesame Street, so this was the perfect book!

 Christmas dinner at my grandparent's house and some sparklers rounded out the day.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Visit to Santa

I was nervous that this year's Santa experience would be very different from last year's, since Owen was older and probably wouldn't love the whole Santa thing.  But, my people-loving-never-met-a-stranger-he-didn't-like baby proved me wrong!  Such a cutie!

Lights at Temple Square

Last weekend we ventured up town to visit the lights at Temple Square.  We went last year but of course Owen was too young to know what was going on.  In fact, I think he slept the whole time.   So I was excited to see his reaction to all the bright lights and colors this year.  Plus, it is absolutely beautiful and an excuse to get all bundled up and enjoy some family time.  Brad was a little less than thrilled to be headed outside in 20 degree weather, but after some bribing with some hot chocolate he was in. 

Owen's newest discovery... lovely.

With all his layers on, Owen barely fit in the stroller.  He was definitely a little unsure about what we were getting him into, but once we were outside and walking around, he was mesmerized with the lights & the people.

It was pretty cold, but with a little hot chocolate and some timely visits to the Visitor's Center we stayed warm enough. 

I hope this can be a yearly tradition for our family! 

Random November Happenings...

Brad started a new job a few weeks ago.  So far, so good!  He is working in compliance for a company in the health industry and really enjoying the standard hours and short commute!  His company sent him to Cleveland for a week, so I took the opportunity to do some traveling myself.

 

Owen and I flew to San Diego for a week and completely surprised my mom!  She had no idea we were coming and we had a great time.  Owen loved the warm weather and feeding the horses with Great Grandpa Fox.  He also loved exploring new territory and picking flowers for Grandma.

Not sure if the flower made it into the house in one piece, but he was sure proud of himself!

 Brad and Owen had a few "guys night" where they ate dinner and watched sports together in the family room.    

Owen sported some Fox family pride on Thanksgiving with the Hardcastles

And we have officially entered the tantrum stage.  Fun!  Luckily they are few and far between.  Mostly it is when I won't give him any more snacks after his 3rd snacktime of the day.  The boy loves his snacks!

This little boy of ours...

Is pretty special.  Is my best bud.  Is so handsome.  Is the sweetest little boy, always giving us hugs & kisses.  Is funny.  Is so smart.  Is the best thing that ever happened to us!

We love you baby Owen! 

Happy Halloween!

 Last Wednesday was a Halloween themed mutual.  Since Brad and I are both in YM/YW right now (my last week for me... I'm so sad to go!) Owen got to come along with us.  We decided to whip out a family themed costume.  We could only get Owen to keep the hat on long enough for this picture, but don't we look good! 

I was bummed that Owen got a little cold Saturday that kept us from a friend's Halloween party... our costumes would have taken 1st prize.  Right, Nicki?!

Yesterday, we went to Brad's work and did some trick or treating office to office.  It was sweet!  He got more candy in 15 minutes than we would have gotten in 2+ hours of walking house to house.  Since he's still so little, we called it good and didn't do anymore trick or treating that night.  Probably our last year of ever getting away with that!

Last weekend we met up with some friends and went to the "Boo at the Zoo".  Basically everyone dresses up, walks around & looks at animals, and trick or treats at different vendor spots along the way.  It was pretty fun!  Of course, Owen had to sport a zoo-appropriate costume for that, so he was a cute little monkey.

 Cutest little monkey I've ever seen!

Special Visitors

We were lucky enough to have my Grandpa Fox & Dad visit us the last couple weeks.  Of course, they were a little more interested in a certain little boy than Brad & I... but who can blame them?!  It is always fun to have visitors, and since we only get to see my family a few times each year these quick visits were extra special!

Labor Day Fun in the Mountains

For Ron's birthday, we decided to head up to the mountains and camp for a couple of days. His birthday always falls around Labor Day, so it was perfect timing. Owen also celebrated his official birthday while we were there too.   

I guess we can't begin a camping trip with the Hardcastles without some sort of excitement.  Last time it was the river, this time it was a moose that was a little too close for comfort.  Ross, Ron and Owen saw it on their walk when we first got to camp.  Luckily, we never saw it come around again.

We camped up Big Cottonwood Canyon at the Spruces Campground.  It is only about 45 minutes from our house, which made it nice to be close if we needed to head back and get something or if Owen got sick, etc.  But it was absolutely beautiful!  Just as pretty as some of the places we've camped 2+ hours away. 

We had quite the group to celebrate Ron's birthday.  I think we consistently had about 16-20 people sleeping onsite, and for dinner one night we had 25 people!

Owen had fun being outside and checking out the trees, water, noises, etc.  We were a little underprepared for how cold it would get at night (in the 20s) so he didn't sleep that well, and ended up sleeping with us most nights.

On Saturday, Owen's actual birthday we went on a hike to Donut Falls.  Our good friends let us borrow their backpack, which made carrying Owen so nice.  The water was pretty cold, but Owen didn't seem to mind.  He enjoyed walking exploring it for a bit. 

(Nevermind the walking stick I'm holding... I have no idea where it came from)

That night we tried our luck with birthday cake #2, but Owen still wanted nothing to do with eating it.  He just enjoyed poking at it for a few minutes.  Silly boy!

On our last day, Brad & Chris took Owen up to "The Rock", a place they hiked to when they were little kids.  The same swingset is still there that they would play on 15+ years ago. 

As you can see, Owen loved swinging with Uncle Chris.  I think Uncle Chris had a pretty fun time too...

One year pictures

Yesterday Brad and I thought we would take a shot at our budding photography skills and try to get some pictures taken for Owen's 12 month photos.  I usually take him to a studio, but I really wanted to get some pictures that matched our outdoor family pictures.  Despite not totally knowing what we were doing or how to work the fancy camera we are "camera-sitting" for my brother, I think they turned out really well!