Girl's Day Out

In jr. high and high school, my group of B.F.F.s included Chrystal, Amber, and Shantell. We've actually stayed fairly close over the last decade and were all going to be in Utah around Christmas this year. After several weeks of planning and working around all of our schedules, we were finally able to work out a time and place where all "the girls" could meet up. Amber, Chrystal, and I headed up to Gardner's Village, a group of old houses that have been turned into boutiques, yesterday to meet Shantell for some hot chocolate and shopping.

Sadly, Shantell called just as we were about to meet her to let us know that she couldn't make it. Her purse had just been stolen out of her car, and she had to take care of all the mess that goes along with that.

Since we were almost to the Village anyway, the three of us decided to go on with our plans. We shopped around and stopped at the Bakery for some yummy hot chocolate and other snacks. We were able to catch up and reminisce like we were young again. How fun to have a day just for the girls!

Finally!

The third time truly was a charm today, as Liz and Jon were finally able to make the trip down to dear, old A.F. We planned to spend last Tuesday together, but the snowstorm prevented that trip from happening. They were also going to drive down on Friday, but it snowed again. Luckily, the weather cooperated and we were able to see each other, exchange gifts, and go out to lunch. We planned to go to Texas Roadhouse, but found out that it wasn't open for lunch on weekdays. There was a Carino's around the corner, which was a good substitution. We also made a trip to Cabela's to let Kyle see all the animals. He loved the fish and bears. We played a little Phase Ten and they had to be on their way. Thank goodness we were finally able to get them out of the snow in Logan and down to our neck of the woods!

Silly Stories

Someone really loves iPhones! Kyle has had some practice using Dad's and Uncle Brandon's, so when he saw an ad for an iPhone in the paper, he recognized it at once. The funny thing about this was that he also tried to make the paper version work like a real one. He pretended to push the buttons and slide to unlock the screen. Silly.


While Auntie Deb was here, she and Kyle made up a pretty funny game that only required one paper plate and a silly boy. Here's how it went: First, she put the plate on Kyle's head like a hat. Then, he tried to shake it off. Last, everyone had to laugh! Silly.

One more silly story involves a big tv, an awful football game, a snowball fight, and a missing ring. It all started yesterday when we went to Bryan and Lacie's house to watch the Dallas game (slaughter) on their new big-screen tv. After the embarassment of a football game, Brandon and Stephen were having a short snowball fight outside in the parking lot. The snowballs stopped flying and everyone was walking around, searching for something.
I went to see what was up and found out that Stephen's Aggie Ring had flown off his finger and was now missing somewhere in the snow. The only clues we had to go off were where he was standing when he threw the snowball, the direction of the throw, and that there was a distinct "dink!" signaling that the ring hit something when it came off. (Those of you who are Aggies know why this is so bad. Those of you who aren't, let's just say that an Aggie Ring is a BIG DEAL. Losing one is NOT GOOD.)
We looked everywhere: under and on top of cars, in the snow, throughout the parking lot. We had the neighbors move their cars and come out to help. It started to get dark, so we pulled out flashlights. You would have thought it was CSI Lehi, the way we were processing the scene. Finally, we decided to give up and borrow Jules' friend's metal detector and come back. (By the way, this was the second time this week that the Boulters needed a metal detector. We were out looking for Bryan's keys in the snow on Christmas!) Anyway, just as we were heading back to the car, Brandon turned his flashlight to a mound of snow across the parking lot from where Stephen had thrown his snowball. His beam of light landed directly on a spot that shone back with a golden glow. Brandon had found the missing ring!!! We all heaved a sigh of relief, went back to Granna and Grandpa's house, and enjoyed a happy Sunday dinner.
I can say this whole thing is silly only because the ring has been found. I was in anything but a silly mood when the ring was lost, and Stephen may have been more concerned about my reaction to his losing his ring than about actually losing his ring. After it was found, he even said, "Brandon, you saved me from a major butt-chewing." Silly.

Start Your Engines

One of Kyle's cool Christmas gifts is the Countdown Racer. It plays music, counts in eight languages, and also does a countdown to revving up the engine and driving forward and backward. Kyle has learned to make the car drive under the couch and let then come back to him. He will also put his hands up and pretend to drive his own car while the racer is driving away.

Be Still, My Soul

Here we are, dressed for church. Kyle wore some of his new Christmas clothes, looking quite GQ. Good thing he's cute because his attitude was less than stellar. The bishop welcomed the visitors and, right on cue, Kyle's screaming began. He did get himself under control during the special musical number, "Be Still, My Soul," as sung by the Boulter siblings. My mom asked for all of us to sing together for her Christmas present, and our voices blending together even brought tears to her eyes!

Boxing Day

It snowed again today, so we decided to take Kyle on his first sledding adventure. A local park has a pretty good hill and isn't too far away. Grandpa originally said to just let him go down by himself, but Granna strongly objected. I took him down the first time and then everyone else took turns sledding down the hill with Kyle as the copilot.

Here's Kyle and Grandpa:




Granna turned around backwards and watched in the direction they'd already been the whole time they slid down the hill.

Climbing back up is always so fun.


Here's Kyle and his dad:


Auntie Em had fun, too!


"On your mark, get set, Go!" We also had a few races. I beat Emmy down the hill one time and she beat me a second. Stephen won our race, even though he got an early start.


We did eventually let Kyle have a solo run. There was a smaller hill that was just the right size for a 17-month old to sled down by himself. Granna said her heart could only take one trip like that, though!

After such a fun sledding adventure, we all came home to enjoy a wonderful mug of hot chocolate. Happy Boxing Day!

White Christmas

We woke up early on Christmas morning to more snow! It would be a waste to let a truly white Christmas go ignored, so Kyle suited up and played in the snow while Grandpa, Aunt Jules, and I shoveled the sidewalks and driveway (again.)

While we were working, it started to snow again and kept snowing for most of the morning.

Everyone came over around 9:00 for a wonderful breakfast, and then the opening of presents began. Amazingly enough, Santa was able to find Kyle up here in Utah, so we started by letting the little buddy open his presents first. (We also needed to get his part finished as quickly as possible so we could put him down for a nap. Waking up at 4:30 really messed up his schedule. He was not feeling the joy of the day because he was too tired.)

After Kyle realized that some of those presents were cool toys for him, his mind was momentarily taken away from its tired state. He opened an awesome countdown racer that counts and plays music. His stash also contained a Mr. Potato Head, some cool books, more cars, some blocks, clothes, a frog backpack, and a bus that sings "The Wheels on the Bus go 'Round and 'Round" when you push its buttons or turn the wheels.



Santa was VERY good to Kyle this year. Thanks, Santa, (and everyone else) for letting him stay on the "Nice List." He had a wonderful Christmas.

Here's a couple of pictures of the siblings (and spouses) and Grandpa and Granna. (Kyle was still taking a nap, so he didn't make these pictures. Sorry.)


We were able to get him to pose with Granna and Grama Sue after he woke up.

Auntie Deb gave Grandpa and Granna and the whole fam a Wii, so we had a great time playing. Even Grama Sue got in on the action and kicked our BUTTS on bowling. She bowled a 204!

The action only stopped for dinner and when we took a break to go help Uncle Bryan try to find his keys. (He thinks they fell down in the snow while he was trying to help some people get their cars unstuck from the snow. By the time he realized the keys were missing, the street where he suspects he lost them had been plowed! So, we all went out with our rakes and shovels and tried to sift through the piles with no luck. If only we had a metal detector.....)

Right now we are waiting for Uncle Matt (Elder Boulter) to call from Guatemala, where he is serving a mission for our church. Once we get to talk to him, the whole family Christmas experience will be complete!


What a wonderful, white Christmas we had this year! How grateful we are for family and friends and the love we share at this time and throughout the year. Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Eve

Everyone made it home for Christmas! Grandpa, Granna, Uncle Brandon, Aunt Jules, and Aunt Emmalee drove back from Disneyland. Grama Sue and Auntie Deb arrived from Texas. Everyone but Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lacie were here to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner.

Then, according to tradition, Kyle got to open one present: a new, silky blanket!

He thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention. It's so much more fun when there's more people around to play with than just Mom and Dad.

Kyle LOVES to play with the iPhone.

He didn't feel quite the same way about the piano last night. He made it through "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," but we knew it was bedtime when he had a meltdown halfway through "Away in a Manger."

Kyle's 1st Haircut

The mullet is so out! Yesterday it was finally time to end the "party in the back" hairdo Kyle had going on. I did pretty well for my first time to give a haircut and didn't mess things up too badly! Kyle is now ready for his Christmas debut.

Let it Snow

Brrrr! We bundled Kyle up so he could play in the snow while we shoveled the driveway. He wasn't quite sure how to walk in all those layers and became a little frustrated whenever he fell face-first into the cold, icy, white stuff. He did seem to have a good time sliding around on our makeshift "sled," though. It's actually starting to feel a lot like Christmas, thanks to the snow.

We Need a Little Christmas

Kyle had been admiring the presents under the tree for so long without unwrapping any of them, so we thought it was time to reward his patience. We celebrated our first Christmas of the season on Sunday, with Grandpa and Grandma Cooper.

Kyle got the hang of opening presents right away. There wasn't much of a learning curve once he realized that what was hiding inside all of those brightly wrapped presents was mostly for him! (It's GOOD to be the only grandchild....he's really going to wonder what happened when he's not the only center of attention!)

Kyle received a plethora of new clothes and shoes, some awesome books, some Aggie blocks and a matching hat, and a few new toys from Santa and Grandma and Grandpa....Santa can take special requests and arrive a few days early for some V.I.P.'s.

We got him a new singing Brobee, which he loved.

We also got him one more thing...something that reminds Stephen of his childhood. Something Stephen pushed and pulled all over his backyard....

A TONKA TRUCK!!!!!

Like father, like son. Kyle was filling the back of that truck with his sippy cup, toys, and anything else he could use for cargo and pushing it all over the room. We've decided it will have to live downstairs, so we don't have to worry as much of it tumbling down, down, down the stairs.

We also had a wonderful first Christmas of 2008. Stephen got a bunch of much-needed school supplies....scrubs, socks, shoes.....a new calendar, and some AWESOME gift certificates to various restaurants. I got some kitchen stuff, lotion, some much-needed new clothes, and a gift card for new bras. (Yes!) We also both got "matching" Polo shirts!

Thanks, Grandma Lou and Grandpa Steve-o, for a wonderful "Little Christmas" and for making it out to Florida to visit us. We had a great time.