Utah Christmas (12/20-12/30)

This year was our year to travel to Utah.  We enjoy spending the time with both our families but I don't call it a relaxing vacation...I guess most vacations probably aren't relaxing as you usually need a staycation after a vacation just for some relaxation...anyway it was a shorter trip this year with 4 days driving and 5 days bouncing back and forth between both our families but we had a great time nonetheless.  We arrived in SLC on Friday evening to see Doug, Lori, Brian, Lexie & Falon and then we all traveled down to Hurricane the following day.

Saturday Evening we spend at George & Brittney's house (Jeff's brother).  Ethan had a great time playing with cousins Avery & Taylee.  He was not so fond of baby Kaden, who is 5 1/2 months old, but he warmed up to him eventually.

 If this picture doesn't say it all....

Kaden is such a happy baby, I only heard him cry a couple of times the whole time we were there.  He is going to be a heart breaker.

 A couple hours later and no one else to play with at the moment...now they are good friends.


Monday afternoon we had the Berg Family pictures taken at Snow Canyon.  I don't have the disc yet but the pictures turned out awesome, and you can view some of them at carlygracephoto.com
 (The Berg Family, 12/29/13). 

(Kristina, Newell, Jacob & Ellie, Doug & Kiara, Dad & Mom, Ethan, Kate & Jeff)

 Snow Canyon, what a beautiful sight.  We used to spend a lot of time here and I learned to rock climb here as well with Jeff 18+years ago.

Christmas Eve - My family has always had the tradition of taco dinner & then making and frosting homemade sugar cookies...which I thoroughly love...Jeff and I carried that tradition over to our own little family and do it on the years that we don't go to Utah as well.  Lots of laughs, good food & games, and new pj's.

Christmas morning with the Hadley's...

 Santa was very busy and there were a lot of smiles

 Ethan was extremely excited about his Hersey's bar that is close to his size.

And was even more excited about Disney Infinity.  Overall, it was a great day and we then went to my parent's house in the afternoon to open presents with the Bergs.
 

Thursday afternoon we had Hadley Family pictures.  We don't have any of those back yet so hopefully in the next week or so.  

 Cousin love...Avery & Ethan.

Then we made a mad dash for the shooting range before it got dark as that was our last evening there.  Jeff, George, Brian, Lexie, Brittney, Dad and myself doing our best to blast some brass.

 Kate & Newell (my first best friend in life)

Friday morning we then left for home taking a new route and stopping overnight in Reno to visit Jeff's bff, Jed.  Traveling along what is named the Loneliest Highway in America, Hwy 50, we traveled to Reno and came across the shoe tree just outside of Fallon, NV.  I love Ethan's questioning look.

 Ethan and Napoleon.

We finally made it home on 12/29.  Ethan was excited to use one of his Christmas gifts, a hot dog cutter, for dinner. 

 And Finally New Year's Eve....growing up my family also had the tradition of having fondue.  Our picky eater was very leery of trying the cheese with his hotdog but eventually he gave in a tried it and tried it and tried it....maybe someday he will like more than 5 items.

So long 2013...We look forward to all the adventures to come in 2014!!!

Fillings.....dang it

I was really hoping that we could have avoided fillings, however, Ethan and I are going to be more diligent with flossing nightly so we can prevent any further time in the dentist chair. 

The day before we left for Christmas vacation Ethan had his first dental experience with getting fillings and sealants.  He had to get 2 fillings in baby teeth and sealants on his 6 yr molars on the right side.  He will have to go back for 2 additional fillings and sealants on the left side in February, but hopefully we can avoid it after that. 

Merry Christmas!!!

We decided that between lack of spare time to get the to-do list done before we leave for Christmas vacation, as well as the ever-increasing cost of postage, we would mail out only a handful of Christmas cards to those who don't have facebook, email, or read the blog and the rest could view our card online. 

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and look forward to what 2014 will bring!

Top 5 Events for 2013    

1.  We had a week-long family vacation to Yellowstone.

2.  Ethan had his first ER visit and 2 stitches in his lip.

3.  We embarked on our new hobby…kayaking.

4.  We remodeling our kitchen and got a new roof.

5.  Ethan is in 1^st grade, has learned how to read, and likes math and crossword puzzles.

 With Love, 

The Hadley's

September to December....wow, time has flown by

Apparently time has really flown by since school started for Ethan in September and I haven't had much free time to update my blog so this will be a long update with lots of pictures.....

On September 14, we took Ethan on his first kayaking adventure along with Jeff's co-worker, Sarah, along the Willamette river.

9/21/13:  My co-worker & Friend, Amy, aka Feebs, ran/walked the Kiss Me Dirty 5k mud run.  We only have a before picture as we didn't ask anyone to take an after photo.

On September 24, about 2 minutes after Daddy walked in the door for the evening, Ethan proved that he cannot be in the circus, as he was standing on the dogs tennis ball over the metal grate in the floor while holding his kindle and fell with his face meeting his kindle straight up.  He had to have 2 stitches and has a tiny scar to prove it. 

 Such sad eyes.

I attended a couple great summer concerts at the Sleep Country Ampitheater in Battle Ground, Washington.  The first (9/13/13) was Zac Brown Band with Desi and the second (9/26/13) was Thomas Rhett, Jake Owen & Jason Aldean with Nicole.  

Nicole and I also put in a massive quantity of school volunteer hours to co-host the St. Therese 2013 Jog-A-Thon.  While it did have plenty of hiccups, overall, it was a great success and we look forward to doing it again next year. 

 Ethan and his classmates...not sure about the smile.

E&P

 10/13/13 - Pumpkin patching @ Lee Farms...apparently my boy is just like me and will constantly need to wear sunglasses or all picture will have squint eyes. 

10/22/13 - Birthday 37 for myself.  It was a beautiful day and Ethan and I went to the park for pictures in the leaves.  He also got me a beautiful flower arrangement and singing card and Jeff bought me a new car stereo and speakers.

 

My friend Amy, aka Feebs, also made me this scarf...and the Red Sox won the world series!!!

10/31/13 - Halloween and Spiderman...

11/3/13 - First snow on Mt. Hood so we made an adventure out of the day.  What a beautiful sight and cold but a lot of fun. 

11/14-11/18  Uncle Doug came to visit. 

 Duck store before the U of U vs. Oregon Ducks football game. Jeff is an alum of U of U and we will always been U fans, however, we have lived in Oregon for 14 1/2 years so we root for both teams.

 

 

 

And that brings us to December.....my favorite holiday month and looking forward to what it will bring.