Computer Issues = End of Year Sum up

So I'm really behind on my blogging since I started up my own Mary Kay business.  I was about to create a bunch of posts to catch up, but then I remembered that my computer crashed on New Years Day, and so there are some pictures (and probably some videos) that I think we lost.  The last time the computer was backed up was in October, and not all the images were left on the camera...So let me sum up with a few things:

For Halloween, Canon dressed up as a dinosaur- a stegosaurus costume borrowed from his Aunt Tiffany (which I still have yet to return to her- ugh!).  Cadence was dressed up as a polar bear- a white fleece outer-wear zipper thing for infants.  We did a trunk-or-treat that another ward invited our ward to.  Canon didn't get a HUGE HAUL, but he got enough candy to last all 3 of us for long enough.  He seemed happy with it, so that's all that really matters! :)  One cute thing to note- several times when Canon was requesting candy, he would ask us if we wanted some, or he would offer to share without us asking for it.  Such a sweet little guy!

For Canon's birthday he requested a green Batman cake.  Hmm...do green and Batman go together?  Well, Mark baked a white cake and dyed it green. I frosted it to look like a Gotham City skyline with a Bat Signal shining off the roof of one of the buildings.  I think it didn't turn out the way I pictured it, but I was in a real rush to get it done, and you can tell what I intended...so it was fine.  We had the family gathered at Mark's parents' house for the occasion.  Canon got a some fun presents- a really nifty dinosaur from his Grandma Dahl that shoots these arrow things and has a rider on a platform, and a hand-me-down train table.


Thanksgiving was spent with the Dahl family at Mark's Aunt Colette's house.  I was surprised at the service project that we did...but I thought it was a fun idea.  We decorated boxes to give to the Utah Food Bank. I didn't even know that was something that people did!!  We each had a box of markers and were charged to decorate a total of 50 boxes.  That was pretty fun...sorry no pictures to show you!

Christmas is a season with many festivities for most people.  Our little family went to downtown Ogden to see the light display there.  They had a little village set-up in the park, concert at the amphitheater, and just so much Christmas cheer.  We ventured there just the four of us one evening, but it was raining harder than we thought, and we didn't want to keep the kids out in that wet cold without an umbrella. So we invited Mark's parents to join us for the lights on a different night.  Canon loved having them up for a visit, the train that he got to ride around, and the hot chocolate we drank after we got home.  Cadence was such a trooper in that cold weather.  I tried really hard to keep her warm, but after an hour, the only way to keep the cold off her face was to give her kisses repeatedly on both cheeks.  (She thought that was fun!)

having fun with Grandma

Look at the cold little nose!

Proof that Grandma and Grandpa were present! :)

Canon moving too much as he says "cheese"

Our cute little family amid the lights

Really had to see because it was so dark, but this is Canon riding on the train.

I took Canon to see Santa at the mall.  He brought his letter to Santa with him...much faster delivery than putting it in the mailbox!  I thought it was very good of Canon to want to give it to him directly. His letter stated that he would be potty-trained that year, and Santa was very encouraging- letting him know that Santa tries very hard to get kids what they want and ask for, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.  (Sorry, no pictures were allowed unless you bought their package, and I wasn't going to pay for that!)

Later in December, we decided to celebrate our little family Christmas Morning at Mark's parents' house.  With driving back and forth from Ogden to Draper for family parties, we really didn't think it was worth it to drive home JUST to be alone for Christmas Morning.  I told Canon that I emailed Santa to let him know where we were going to be.  Santa did not disappoint!

Cadence got some "new" outfits from Santa, a monkey toy from Canon, chew rings from Santa, a giraffe from Mommy and Daddy, and some fun toys from the "Christ Child"

Canon got a race track with 2 shake 'n go cars, a Spiderman action figure, a basketball  hoop, some dinosaurs and a monster truck from Santa, some puppets from Mommy and Daddy, a camel from Nana and Papa Brown, and a Lincoln Logs Set and a Fire Station Set from the "Christ Child"

Mark got work-out clothes from Me and the latest Batman movie from Canon

I got a really awesome KithenAid blender from Mark, a cookbook and PartyLite stuff from my mom, and lovely fashion jewelry from the kids

So, about "the Christ Child"...the Saturday night before Christmas we found a bag at our front door.  There was a gift for each of the kids and a note stating it was from the Christ Child.  Inside I also found an envelope with a $25 gift card to IHOP, $25 gift card to Pizza Hut, and $200 gift card to Walmart. I could tell it was someone who knew us because the gifts were for the perfect ages of our kids.  Also, it must have been one of my friends because they wrote "to Kat's family" not "the Dahls" or "Mark and Kat and family!"  We couldn't believe it!  Someone was very generous, and I just couldn't figure out who it could possibly be.  (A friend of mine later confessed, but she doesn't want anyone else to know about it...)  She received this as an anonymous gift to her, and she decided to forward it on to some of her friends since she felt that she didn't really need it. It was a very thoughtful and special gift for us. Thank you, Christ Child!

Also, Mark's family got together to open gifts to each other on Christmas Eve.  Mark's parents really like to spoil us and were truly generous to us this year.  A few things they got us were SOOOOOooo appreciated. I was super excited for them:  floor mats to my Toyota Sienna (can you believe it didn't already have them in there?), a beautiful framed picture of the Nauvoo Temple, tickets to see Les Miserables at the theater in May, and a few fun things for the kids.  I love spending Christmas with family...seeing them open the gifts you bought them, anticipating their reaction.  It's so fun to show our love and to just spend time together.

Thank you so much to all of my family everywhere for all you do for us.  I hope you know how much you mean to me.