I wore a short sleeved shirt today and Santa!

Gracie finally saw Santa today at the mall in Stockton. She did not know what to make of it but she did not cry! Now we are in Dad's office being computer nerds. Hope everyone's holiday is going well!

Gracie's B-day Revisited

We have made it to California after two days of traveling by car and staying at the Holiday Inn in Barstow. We visited Janice's Grandpa on the way to Janice's Dad's. Janet made cupcakes with a number one candle for Gracie. We were hoping to finally have a messy picture but alas no. I guess our girl is not into cake. Gracie got a Little People Ark which she totally loves. Grandpa has lots of carpet and Gracie has been to almost every nook and cranny already.

Christmas Celebrations

December has been a very busy month with shopping, parties and Gracie's milestones. Gracie is finally crawling forward and is all over the place and into everything. We enjoyed celebrating an early Christmas with Joe's family. We are now at Janice's Dad's for the holidays.

Thanks for My Pretty Dress, Grandma & Grandpa

Gracie got a beautiful Christmas dress for her birthday along with matching bows!

Exploring

Instead of sitting in her bouncy chair Gracie likes to explore under it and anything else she can squeeze under. Some of her favorite things to do are to go under chairs and play with people's shoelaces.

It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want to!

We were so excited to see what Gracie would do with her own cake. She cracked under the pressure of having too many people watching her. She licked a little bit of the frosting and then cried to get out of the high chair. We are going to have a private retry. Stay tuned for hopefully messy pictures.

Opening Presents!

Gracie loves the books that she got the most. Once she got a hold of one of them she didn't want to open any other presents. She cried when we took her books away from her and got happy when we gave them back.

Sporting her Hat

Nov. 28,2008 8:35 am

We thought it would be fun to take a picture of Gracie at the exact time she turned one. Does she look any different?

Turkey Turkey Turkey!

We had two Thanksgiving dinners this year. We went to Preston on Wednesday for Janice's family. There was lots of good food and fun. We went to Joe's parents on Thursday. Gracie enjoyed watching Grandma feed the ducks that hang around the golf course. Gracie did not enjoy seeing Mama hold her Baby cousin, Shaylee. She had the most heartbroken look on her face. How could Mama be holding someone else?

Joe's Very Own Not Shared Birthday

Joe refused to share his birthday with Gracie even though their birthdays are three days apart. I decided that making him his own cake would be good practice for making Gracie's cake. We put sparkler candles on his cake which we tried to creatively light. Mom and Dad Clayton did not have matches like we thought. We tried a cigarette lighter from a car and even a toaster oven (Don't worry, we didn't burn the house down.) We ended up borrowing a lighter from the neighbors. We had a great light show in the end due to the numerous candles that represented Joe's age.

Gracie Counting her Loot

Halloween Fun

Sorry for the sideways pictures. We hope they don't hurt your neck. We had a lot of great fun on Halloween. We went to Aunt Kristen's house and had homemade rootbeer, pizza and monster brains. Gracie went trick or treating with her cousins. Dad inspected her candy thoroughly. Gracie kept saying "Ooh" at all of the lights she saw.

Gracie is now a two pony tailed girl. You can see her cool hairdo when her pony tails are taken out. We call her the "Koala"!

Mom's Birthday

Mom would be 59 years old today. Every year we eat Chinese food and bridge mix in her honor (Two of her favorite foods.) It's been three and a half years since she died. I miss her more and more every day.

Trying to catch up

We have not added to the blog in a while due to procrastination and being really busy (mostly Joe). Joe is taking four classes this semester and is the new vice president of the SHRM (Society of Human Resource Managers) chapter at Weber State University. Janice is trying to keep up with Gracie and working full time. Gracie is busy just being Gracie.

October so far

I told Joe to get Gracie something for October and he got her this pumpkin sweatsuit. He insists it is not a costume but simply a sweatsuit. Gracie's favorite toys are boxes and paper. She could play with them all day. This year we are the Flinstones for Halloween. Gracie makes a perfect Pebbles. Gracie had one of her first experiences with jello at her Grandpa's birthday at Golden Corral. She got it all over herself but none in her mouth. This past week two of her teeth have surfaced and she is not as fond of solids at the moment.

Kyle's Baptism and Gracie's First Plane Ride

We went to our nephew Kyle's baptism in September. We were really glad to be there. Gracie went on her first airplane ride from Salt Lake to Seattle.

September

Staying Warm, Gracie's First Ride on a carousel and Labor Day with a bowl hat.

More out of order pics

Gracie also met her Uncle Jacob while we were in California. She was introduced to motorcycles, the Jelly Belly Factory(Joe is wearing his hat from there) and her favorite pastime of eating everyone's ice cream.

Pics Out of Order

We enjoyed visiting family in Washington and California in July. Gracie was a good traveler in the car and in a backpack. She got to meet her Great Grandpa Bert when we were in California.