Brace yourself...

For a lot of catching up! I've got Thanksgiving pictures right up to yesterday, and not in chronological order :) But first, I've got a lot of things that I'm really excited about that I need to get out:
-CHRISTMAS season is here! I know 90% of you feel the same way, but I'm still going to say it: I LOVE Christmas! Music, lights, stockings, get togethers, service, ....everything!
-How bout that University of Utah volleyball team! For those who don't keep up, they are headed to the Sweet 16 this weekend in Seattle. Good luck ladies!
- This weekend is our annual Morrill Christmas Weekend in Salt Lake. Every year since I was little, we head to Salt Lake for a weekend in December to shop, swim, eat, and be together. I can't wait!

That's all I can think of for now. On to the pictures!

In no particular order...

Cole has gotten some cute clothes lately, like this little camo number from Grandma Lisa: (and notice how good he's getting at sitting up! He didn't even fall over on this one)
This is Cole and Will, the little boy I get to watch twice a week in the mornings. This day, he didn't answer to Will, only Santa Claus! He is so much fun, and likes helping with Cole as you can tell. Will is 3 and Cole's 6 months, and they look about the same size :)Cole got to be Santa for a little bit.

It snowed earlier this week! Cole and I got bundled up and went outside to experience snow for the first time. He was mesmerized by this white stuff falling out of the sky, it was so cute to just watch him learn.

We ended up getting about 2 inches, with a ton more on it's way this weekend.

We got our Christmas tree up this week too! Here's Tyler, the master of Christmas lights.

The final product! Be-e-a-utiful. And smells sooo good too.

2 of my favorite ornaments: Tyler and my first year ornaments from 1982! Isn't it funny that we both have the exact same one? I love it.
Some lit garland going down the banister, and our stockings!

The boys relaxing after a hard night of decorating.
Cole got an early Christmas present, a high chair! I love this one and how it sits on our dining table chairs instead of taking up more space. Cole looks like such a big boy in it!Cole feeling applesauce for the first time. Food is so fun.

Thanksgiving! We loved having Rod, Lisa, Jackson, and Jessica over from Oregon. We were so glad to have them here and really sad to see them go. Cole having fun with Grandma.

The boys took on a big project of fixing our neighbor's side panel to her deck that blew off in a windstorm a week back, they spent half their weekend nailing, cutting, lifting, measuring, and just being really helpful. Way to go guys! The big meal.

No, I do not own a gravy boat. Yes, I do own a big glass measuring cup.

Can we eat yet.

My multi-talented son, he can pick and suck at the same time!

Cole loves to flip around on his bouncer and kiss the giraffe. My favorite thing he does with me lately is grab my face with both his hands and pull me in for a big slobbery kiss. SO cute! He's so affectionate and cuddly.

Just cute.

Proud to Bleed RED

Well it goes without saying that Saturday was truly an amazing day for any Ute fan - you just can't beat winning 2 MWC championships in one day! Cole and I headed to the volleyball game to see if our blockin Utes could claim a championship by beating CSU, whom they lost to earlier in the year. They won in 4! It was some terrific volleyball. And then to have the football team kick some Cougar booty, what a perfect day. But even better than that was being with my wonderful friends who I don't get to see nearly enough. Taryn and Kim were the other two seniors that came through the program with me, and I love them so much. We were roommates together and just went through the whole experience of college and vball together. Anyways, we got some great shots of us at the game. Kim lives in Nebraska and is visiting for a week, and her little (maybe little isn't the right adjective :) boy is named Tyson.

Celebrating after the W.

Uh-oh, Tyson looks like he's up to something...poor Cole doesn't even see it coming. And he gets blindsided! Tyson loved reaching out for Cole, and he has a pretty strong grip, but my little guy is still a little slow on the reflexes :) Our friend took the picture right as we were separating the two.

It was cute watching them (closely) together though. Hmmm, I wonder what he tastes like...Don't worry, we were able to leave the game with all our limbs still attached! :)
Kim's wonderful dad Papa Turner also took a turn with the little one. So good to see you Robin! And Linda we missed you a lot!
What a cute, sweet boy!!!
This is one of my all-time favorite pictures. Definitely a black-mail for later, Kimmy.

Thankful Fridge

Just wanted to share this fun idea I stole from my good friend Shanna. For her first family home evening in November, they have a lesson on gratitude and giving thanks, then she puts up a long piece of butcher paper (just one of the many perks of being a teacher: access to the work room) on a wall in her family room and puts out markers, crayons, and die-cut leaves. Then, throughout the month they write or draw things that they are thankful for. She also invites friends that come over to add to it, that's how I saw the idea. I thought it was a great way to express thanks, so I put a poster up on the fridge with markers nearby and we add something when we want to. Both moms have also added to it, and it's been a fun way to see what everyone is thinking about. I'm planning on saving it to look at and compare with next year's.

TP's Terrific Turkey Tri

Tyler did his triathlon for the year on Saturday, and it can be said it probably didn't go as planned (more on that later). He and our good friend Ben have been doing the Turkey Tri together for 3 years now, and Tyler is a great athlete but not a big fan of running, or biking very much either actually. But he endures those to get to his true love: swimming. Anyway, here they are the morning of, right before lining up to start the race (can you believe that beard! He talked me into letting him keep it for his camping trip with the scouts this weekend, but then it's gone for good. I guess we'll see :) :

Joining the masses at the starting line. It was about 35 degrees, but not as cold as we had expected.

We were so blessed to have Grandma Lisa in from Oregon for the weekend. Here's Cole sporting the Halloween-costume-that-doubles-as-a-warm-coverup. It worked great and he loved being warm while in the cold outside.Here he is catching a snooze before daddy runs by. Tyler has this fun tradition to stop and give me a kiss while we're cheering as he goes by, so this time Cole got one too! And that was the end of the cozy nap.
So they did great on the run and were making good time. They transitioned onto bikes, and we headed into the pool to get a good spot to record some video from. We were assuming about 20-30 minutes for them to finish the bike. Well, athletes started coming in, the really fast ones, and we kept watch. Still no Tyler or Ben. Time passes, and we start wondering if something happened on the bike, like a flat or something. Still not coming. By now the really slow or old people are entering the pool, and it looks like it's nearing the end. Ben's wife Jen went out to see if they were by the bikes, and all of a sudden there they came, hopped in the pool and started swimming. Tyler did his usual swim really fast and pass everyone and make record time getting through that leg and finished strong. It turns out that Ben and Tyler had just started the bike when they spotted a lady stranded off to the side with a flat. They pulled over to help her out, which was why they were delayed. We were really proud of our good samaritan guys!! Thanks for setting a great example sweetie.

It's your choice

As the huge decision was made Tuesday night that Barack Obama would the next president of the United States, I had a million thoughts, questions, and worries on my mind. My biggest concern, now as it is with most anything, is the kind of consequences that this decision will have on my child and future children. Although he was not the man I voted for, as a citizen of this country, he will soon be my president whether I support him or not. I am validly concerned about many of the actions he wants to take in office, such as the pulling our troops out early and his views of healthcare, just to name two. And I am very opposed to many of his opinions with moral issues like abortion and homosexuality. Now that I am clear on that, I feel the need to tell you about the other feelings I had Tuesday night. Feelings of pride in a country where a boy who is only a few generations removed from slavery could grow up to be president of the greatest country on earth. Only America can offer that kind of hope. I also loved watching Senator Obama with his wife and girls. He so obviously cares for his wife and family, as I've noticed throughout the campaign. I was really touched as Michelle came out to join him on the stage at Grant Park, and I imagined all the weeks of separation, huge amout of stress and worry, and wide range of emotions that this couple has been through during this campaign. Now I need to restate, I don't support democratic views and I am very much a conservative, traditional person. But, I don't feel that just because I don't agree with this man that I can't appreciate the signifigance of this outcome and share in the moment. I choose to be optimistic, positive, and have faith that the future of our nation is not in Barack Obama's hands, but in a higher power. Someday I'll talk about this with Cole and tell him where I was and what I was doing when the first African-American was elected president, and I don't want my comments to him to be laced with hate or disrespect. Although our views disagree, we get to choose if we feel fear or faith. I always want Cole to choose faith.

Baby Cole's First Halloween

This post is coming in late, but here it is! Halloween was great this year, I debated about whether to get Cole a costume or not for a few reasons: a) we weren't going to go trick-or-treating, I'd feel a little silly collecting candy only Tyler and I could eat, b) not much $ in the budget for a costume, and c) did I mention we didn't want to spend a lot of money? And most of the cute ones are a little pricey and I definitely can't sew one? Anyway, with all that in mind we were shopping at Costco and mom spotted this cute cover-up for winter. And it happened to have little ears on the hood and paw prints on the feet! So, we could use it for Halloween AND bundling up in the winter!! Score. I bought it and waited excitedly for the big day.

So here we are, Halloween night! I added a nose and a few whiskers and we had ourselves an adorable little bear.

Getting all ready!

Practicing our growl.

Wassup ladies. I know I'm cute.

So our big activity for the night after getting dressed up was to go to Costco! Tyler worked until 9, so we headed over to show off the little guy.

It feels so good to get that thing off!
I also was able to dress up for school. Our students didn't have school on Halloween, so we had our big parade and party the day before. I went as a biker! NOT a biker babe, just a biker. I definitely didn't want to come across as scandalous, which is hard to do when you're wearing a lot of leather :) This looks conservative enough for first grade, right? It was really fun, and my kids thought it was "sweet, Mrs. Petersen". Thanks for braiding my hair and drawing my tattoo honey!

Daddy's Day Off

Tyler works really hard and only gets 2 days off a week, one is usually Sunday and the other one he usually uses for a day he has some scout/YM activity. But this past week, he had Wednesday off and no obligations, so we made the most of it.


I left for work at school arond 11:30, and when I got home a little after 4 this is what I saw:


Tyler had gone to Home Depot, got supplies, built shelves in our storage shed in the backyard and organized everything! He continues to amaze me.



Here's the handyman himself. Did you notice the beard? If you know Tyler, you'll know he has no issues with growing facial hair. He shaves in the morning and is a little scruffy by night, starting a beard the next day. This is about a week's worth. I thought I'd get a couple shots since he's shaving it this weekend (right, honey? :) He thought about being Al from Home Improvement for Halloween, but he didn't have suspenders.



As soon as the shed supplies were put away, we ran down to Gardner Village, one of our favorite places to walk around. If you've never heard of it, Archibald Gardner was one of the first settlers in Utah. After moving here from Scotland and coming over with the pioneers, he worked farmland, and opened a flour mill. He also accepted the practice of plural marriage and eventually had 11 wives. He built separate homes for each of them, and all these buildings which used to belong to the Gardner family have been converted into a restaurant and lots of cute little shops and boutiques. They go all out for the holidays, and going at fall is something we make sure and do each year because everything is so festive.

Here's our first picture, by the house with pumpkin walls.


One fun thing about it at Halloween time is that they have these human-or-bigger-sized witches doing funny things all over the village, and if you want to you can get a list and go on a witch hunt to find them all. Here's one sitting on a bench that we liked. Cole just kept looking at her, it was so funny. I think because she looks like me so much. haha.




He really wanted to touch her face.


He finally gave up on that and went for the pumpkin instead.


This was my favorite witch, Witchy-Poo, she was in an outhouse behind a shop. It's amazing how much detail they go into. I am sounding like a Gardner Village advertisement, they should link to my blog from their webpage :) Or at least pay me a little for good publicity.

Witches playing baseball! How funny!Crossing the pumpkin-light bridge.

Cole loves going for walks in his stroller! This reminds me of a picture I took on one of our first walks together, look how much he's grown from this picture to the next!

There's nothing better in the world than spending time with my two boys! I love you both.