Mr. H's trip + a trip of our own

As I shared previously, Mr. H went out of town this past week for a conference at Harvard.  

I dropped him off Wednesday morning, and he was so excited!

Wednesday was rather uneventful, but C and I did go snag a free meal at IHOP for dinner.  

During dinner I realized how C can't really carry a conversation, but man can he throw crayons.  We came home and skyped with Mr. H for the first time. C was so funny---he tried to touch him, but realized that didn't work, and ended up scowling a lot at the screen because it was so weird.  Ha.  

That night some girls from the ward came over and watched "Father of the Bride".  It was fun.

Thursday, C and I headed into Centerville.  I did not want to spend the whole week alone- I get lonely too easily. We had a great time hanging out with my mom and family when they got home that night.

Friday we did a bunch of crafting! First, we took C on a walk and tried to see some animals at the Lagoon Trails.  There was so much ice everywhere, and C LOVED sliding around on it.  

We bought flowers, felt and then went home to make some Valentine decorations.  It was really fun.

That night, Grandma T and Grandpa W took us out for dinner to Rumbi.  It was really good, and it was so nice of them to do that.  We filled them in on Mr. H's excursions and enjoyed the dinner. *Sorry I didn't get a picture! *

Saturday, we got to hang out a bunch and then my family went to Frozen. (Thanks H family for watching C!!!!)  It was super cute again.  

That night, we made cream puffs and played some games.  

It was so nice to spend some good time with my family.  C loved all the attention.  He also learned to say 'grandma', 'grandpa', 'love you' and started climbing up all the furniture.  

THANKS mom and dad for letting us stay with you and taking care of us!!!!

Sunday we got to go pick up Mr. H.  We were so excited to see him!!!  

We had a great rest of our day just hanging out with him.

It was really hard on me having Mr. H gone.  The 2nd night we skyped, I just started bawling.  (ha...it was an emotional week).  But I am grateful that I have a great husband and friend that I miss!  

Mr. H had a great time at the conference.  He fell in love with Boston, did a great job with his presentation and made some friends.  He enjoyed being on his own, but he did say he really missed us.  

C and I are getting adjusted to being back home.  

He's getting into getting his picture taken, and then he wants to see what it looks like.

Also--goodbye high chair and hello booster seat.  He loves it! :)

^^^His Camera smile.                                              

Well, onto another week.  And the end of JANUARY! :)

Martin Luther King JR Day

Hooray for long weekends!!!

Friday I tried to do a racquetball date night, but the gym was closed.  So it turned out to be a "Just Dance" date night instead.  (Mr. H was thrilled.... ha)

Saturday Mr. H played some church basketball, and we got to organize a closet.  I seriously don't know why we haven't organized more in our marriage.  It's the BEST.

We also were able to have a fun primary presidency dinner.  

We made homemade calzones, which were delicious.

Sunday was a little stressful, as C was just not having it.

The first hour was rough.

As soon as Mr. H got off the stand, and was holding C, he was totally fine.

We were able to see some old friends that night, and it was really fun chatting and laughing together.

We also squeezed in another episode of Downton Abbey.  

Monday started with homework for Mr. H and grocery shopping for C and I.  Luckily, homework didn't take all day, and we got to go to a movie that night.  

I had been begging Mr. H to go and see "Frozen" for forever.  So we did. :)

I LOVED IT.  

I know I sound like a cliche Disney movie lover, 

but man.  It was so so so good.

From the opening scene, I was hooked.  

I cried during the first five minutes.

I LOVED the messages.

I loved the music.

I loved the whole feel.

It truly was magical.  I came out wanting to dance around, say "frozen" in a whispery voice, and smiled from ear to ear.  

If you haven't seen it, I think you will really enjoy it.  I think Disney nailed this one.

Anyway.  

It was a great long weekend, and Mr. H heads out tomorrow for his conference.

p.s. I thought this was a great idea to celebrate MLK day.  

Christmas

So I'm a couple of posts behind.

But I didn't want to forget about Christmas!!!!

I learned a couple of things this year. 

1. I procrastinated everything till the week of, and that was a really bad idea. I learned that there is true wisdom in getting everything done early so that you can feel the spirit of the season.  Sometimes I guess you just have to learn the hard way.

2. 1 1/2 year olds don't need a lot of presents.  Mr. H and I went a little overboard this year for baby C, and then everyone was so generous as well. It was so sweet of everyone!  But I think the lesson I learned was that they can be happy with one or two things.  

3.  Wrap presents BEFORE Christmas eve.  Ha. :)

MOVING on to the big days:

Christmas eve was a lot of fun.  We went up to Mr. H's family's and the boys sledded for about ten minutes and then we tried to put baby C down for a nap, which would not happen.  So we all hung out together.  I love chatting with the H's and seeing all the cousins together.  My brother S on his mission called at one, and so the three of us ran down to my house to skype with him.  He is doing so good, and is such a cutie.  He was so happy and sweet.  Talking to him was a good reminder of what is truly important about Christmastime.  

We then ran back up to the H's, and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  Then came the annual Christmas talent show, which is always a lot of fun.  Our little family attempted to get baby C to perform 'Once there was a Snowman', and we enjoyed giggling and enjoying everyone's talents.  

Baby C finally went down for a nap!  and we got to chat some more, especially with Mr. H's Grandma D.  She is a lot of fun, and it was nice to relax.

We headed down to my family's around four, and we enjoyed hanging out there.  It is fun to have L and J in town for the holidays.  We got chinese take-out for dinner, which was super good.  We played some games, and then did our annual christmas carol sing-a-long.  It was so nice this year: Brother A played his violin and brother O played his trumpet and it was beautiful.  We enjoyed a beautiful evening together.

Mr. H and I got home and put the babe to bed.  We then set out to wrap all the presents.  We always enjoy doing this.  We  are still kids at heart, and wrap each other's presents in private.  We then do each other stockings and set out a present from Santa on the couch.  We cover it up with a blanket, and the last person leaving the room takes the blanket off without looking so the next morning we can both be surprised. :)  

We got to bed late that night, and were both so excited for the  morning.  

We were so excited, we didn't sleep a wink.  Silly us.  We enjoyed our Christmas morning together.  Mr. H gave me a map of the world to start marking off our adventures, Taylor Swift's "RED" CD, pajamas (first ones since I was TEN!) and some cute earrings.  Thanks to my mom, I gave him a tee-shirt quilt of a ton of his shirts he had kept throughout the years.  He really liked that. :)  

We then woke up baby C.  I don't think he appreciated us waking him up, but he got excited when he saw his toys.

We headed into Centerville to the H's house.  We opened presents all together.  It was so fun.  Baby C started getting really good at knowing if you tear up some paper, great things are in store. :)  

We then hung out and enjoyed playing with the presents together.  

After lunch we headed down to the G's house.  It was fun opening presents with my family.  Baby C loved all the attention.  My uncle J came over and we played games, had a delicious dinner and hung out.  It was great.  

After bedtime, Mr. H and I went and saw "Saving Mr. Banks" with the H's.  It was AMAZING.  I had done some background research on PL Travers, and the movie wasn't really accurate, but if you get over that, you will LOVE it.  Such a beautiful story.  I loved how it taught us to live in the present, and not be limited by our pasts.  I loved what it taught us about forgiveness.  I also thought it was powerful to see such a wonderful man destroyed by an addiction, and how addictions can make us lose the most beautiful things in the world: our family.  But I also thought it was powerful to see that (most) sometimes the best of people have addictions, and it is our job to love them and help them.
Anyway--go see it if you can!

We slept over at the G's house.  Baby C had a rough night, so we all ended up on the floor.  One of my tenderest moments from the season happened this night, however.  C was so scared, and it was the most beautiful thing to see Mr. H calming him down.  He was so soft and loving, and I couldn't help but think how lucky our kids will be to have him as a father.  Baby C fell asleep holding Mr. H's hand through the rails.  

We were so grateful for everyone's kindness this season.  It was a wonderful Christmas.

Birthday party and a good Movie

We had a delightful birthday for Mr. H.  

We picked him up from school early (it was six ha :)) and drove up emigration canyon.  

The colors were gorgeous!!!!

We went to Ruth's Diner for dinner.  It was so fun!!!! It's an old train car that's just in the canyon and the food was AMAZING.  Baby C did better than expected and we had a ton of fun oooing and awwing over his french fry dipping abilities. 

Laughing at everything Mr. H does :)

We came home, and Mr. H opened presents and ate blackberry pie.  We played his new game for the rest of the night.  We had so much fun taking a break with him, and it was fun to see him so much more relaxed!!!

Last year :)

This year :)

The cute cute boys!  Mr. H even wore the same shirt! :)  

We had considered going out with baby C, but Mr. H wanted him to come along.  I'm so glad he did.  We had such a good day as a little family. :)

On a random note-Mr. H and I watched this great movie last night.  He had to watch it for his psychology class, but it was about a father and son, in which the son had experienced some severe brain damage, and they use his old records to help regain memories. Different songs contained different memories.  It was beautiful.  It reminded me of how much music can speak to our souls.  I have my own songs that I can tell you specific memories of when I heard it.  Like "Ticket to Ride" by Karen Carpenter: I remember being in my dad's old shirt as my nightgown running up and down the halls, singing this song to the old CD player.  Or the first time I heard "Wheels on a Dream" from the musical Ragtime and knew that I wanted to study American History.  Or driving down the canyon, with the top down and being so happy listening to Styx with Mr. H.  Music tells a story.  

I loved this quote from the movie:

                                                "They don't just play the notes on the page."

                                                "No, they play what's in the air, you know?"