Christmas in Idaho

This year Christmas was bitter sweet. It was the first time that I spent Christmas in Idaho that I didn't see Grandma and Grandpa Warner. I grew up going to their house every year and having Ham balls and Hot chicken salad. We would read the Christmas story and play Christmas songs on bells. It was something I grew to love. This year with both of them gone, it was time for change. Someone told me at Grandpa's funeral that it was now my turn to be the aunt and that it was my parents turn to be the Grandparents. The generations are changing and it is exciting. So to remember Christmas eve at Grandma and Grandpa Warner's house, my mom made Ham balls and Hot chicken salad. We did not play the bells, but we had a great lesson about the Savior taught to us by my Dad. It is so great to sit around as a family and hear the testimonies of my parents. I look forward to our new traditions. It was a great Christmas and it was so much fun to be with family. We missed Kim and David and Mark, Jenni, Payton, and Sadie. Hopefully next time we can all be together!
Lily loves her Grandpas - both of them. She enjoyed spending time with Grandpa Warner. She would smile and coo at him, which of course made him smile right back.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great Christmas! We love you very much! It was fun to see you guys and spend time together.

Lily had fun with her cousin Zoey. Zoey gives kisses and this is her giving Lily kisses! How sweet!

Lily with Uncle Stevie! She stared at him until she fell asleep on the way up to Idaho. She love all her aunts and uncles!

Our cute Christmas presents! I got the best present this year, Lily! The gift of a healthy, happy, and beautiful little girl! I am so blessed to get to be the mom to one of Heavenly Fathers choice daughter! I don't know how I got so lucky, but I am glad I did!

She is so adorable in her new Christmas PJ's. I love that she is sticking out her tongue! She has decided that her tongue is a lot of fun to play with!

Uncle Bri Bri holding Lily. It has been a while since they got to spend time together, but bother were super excited to be reunited!

Mom holding her adorable Christmas present! The best kind to get! Having Lily with me this year helped me understand Christmas a little more. It is because of the birth of a babe in Bethlehem that allows me to be an eternal family with my babe! How blessed we all are by the birth of our Savior!

Our cute little family in our Christmas PJ's on Christmas eve! I love my family so much!

Lily is enjoying her gift from "Santa" or Grandma and Grandpa Warner! She was spoiled by both of her Grandparents!

For Christmas my mom wanted to make dresses for her Granddaughers. They turned our so cute! We put Lily and Zoey in them for a photo shoot with Grandma. We wish that Sadie would have been there to be in them too. I think it is so great to recieve gifts with so much thought and love put into them!

Lily and Grandma Warner. Thanks Grandma for the adorable drss and shoes to match! We cant wait to wear them to Church!

Lily's First Christmas

So this year we decided to have a family Christmas here in Denver before we went to Idaho for Christmas with my family. This way we didn't have to pack a lot of stuff with us. It was fun to make a Christmas dinner and to open presents with our little family. Lily didn't know what was going on, but it was still so much fun to have her with us this Christmas!
Lily's first present - a Giraffe ring toy! She does enjoy eating the rings.

We have started a tradition of adding an ornament every year. This year Lily got her first one.

Doesn't she look so cute sitting on top of the presents? I just love her dress! Thanks Heidi!

All dressed and ready for Christmas Sunday! She loved all the singing. She sang right along with them. It is fun to see her talk and she loves to talk during Sacrament meeting!

Proud dad holding is cute little girl!

All Dressed Up

We got all dressed up on December 13th for TJ's company party. We were able to take Lily with us so she too got all dressed up. Lily was a big hit at the party. She made eyes at the men and talked to them as well. She had a hold of one of them and wouldn't let go. She loves to socialize. It was a lot of fun and much better weather than last year.

She is so adorable all dressed up in her Christmas dress.

TOO CUTE NOT TO SHARE!

Call me bias, but I think she is a very pretty baby. I put her in this outfit the other day and thought she was too adorable not to take her picture and so I did. She is so much fun now. She talks like crazy - okay she coos like crazy! I love every minute of being a mom. Lily is so much fun and such a good baby! I am so blessed to be her mom!

This one I think is my favorite!

WOW she is already 2 months old!

Lily had her two month check-up on Tuesday! She is doing so great! She is 11 lbs 15 oz - 79% and she is 23in long - 83%. The doctor said she is doing just great! She is a slender baby, especially for being a bigger baby when she was born. She also got her first shots :( but she did just fine. She cried for a minute and then she was okay once I picked her up. I thought it would have been more traumatic, but we both made it through just fine! She has completely come alive over the past few weeks. Now she smiles every time she sees mom or dad and then starts to talk! I just melt ever time I see that big smile across her face and here her cute little coos!
This is Lily's new toy! She really enjoys sitting in it and talking to the little monkey that moves back and forth. It is nice to have a place to set her while she is awake and happy and I need to get something done!

These two pictures are of Lily wearing my old pajamas! My mom brought them for me when she came out the last time. It was fun to put Lily in the same outfit that I wore when I was a baby. Of course Lily looks so cute in them! She would smile as I told her that they were her moms pajamas!

So just about every time I find Lily asleep she has her binky in the same place. It is hard to tell in this picture, but the Binky is tucked under her cheek where she can still feel it with her cheek. I will move it and then come back later only to find it in the same place. What a silly kid!

Thanksgiving Vacation

So I absolutely love Thanksgiving. I think it is the perfect way to start the Christmas Holiday. I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter. We all have our health and we are happy. We have a great job and I am able to stay at home and take care of our daughter. We both have college degrees and many wonderful experiences associated with our college years. I am thankful for Wisconsin, since that is where I met my wonderful husband. I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for a wonderful family. I am thankful for a time of year that we recognize that we are thankful. It makes me a little sad that Thanksgiving gets overlooked because giving thanks is such a wonderful blessing we are given. There is often too much emphasis on Black Friday and Christmas that Thanksgiving has just become a day you eat a big meal and get the day off from work. Well I am thankful for the opportunity that I get to be thankful and that the day isn't just another day to me. I love starting the Christmas season with Thanksgiving and I plan to always make it a special day for my family. Anyways now that you know a few of the things I am thankful for here is our Thanksgiving weekend that we spent in Utah!
Since Lily is only two months old this was of course her first plane trip. She did fabulous. She was able to sit in her car seat on the plane without even paying for a seat. The plane wasn't full so they let us take it on for free! This meant that she slept most of the time on the plane. There were kids around us going to Utah that cried, but not Lily! Hopefully she does just as good in a few weeks when we fly for Christmas!

Lily enjoying her first flight! Doesn't she look comfy!

This is TJ with our nephew Wyatt. He liked TJ or at least his hat! They had a great time together. They enjoyed playing peak-a-boo with TJ's hat.

The two cute Gray cousins. Wyatt is about six months older than Lily. One day soon they will enjoy playing together.

Proud Grandpa Gray holding his two grand kids! They love their Grandpa!

Aunt Cassie (TJ's sister) holding her niece and nephew.

Aunt Kimmy (Megan's sister) holding Lily for the first time. She is expecting her first in January and then Lily will have another Warner cousin to play with!

This is Lily with her cousin Zoey that is about 8 months older than her. They will have some fun times playing with their other Warner cousins as they get older!

Proud Grandpa Warner feeding Lily. They have a great time together! Lily can't wait to go for a ride in the tractor with her Grandpa!

AIR FORCE GAME

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to attend a BYU football game in Colorado Springs on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy. The boy scout troop from our ward organized an effort to present the Wounded Warriors Foundation with letters of appreciation from people around the country. During halftime, the boy scouts presented these letters to members of the service academies on the field. As a result, a bunch of members of our ward all got together to go to the game. We tailgated beforehand and then enjoyed the game. Here is a picture of our cute, little family prior to kickoff.


My mom always told me that she really enjoyed going to games at the Academy because of how cool it is to see all the cadets. After going to the game, I would have to agree. I got emotional a few times seeing all the young men and women who serve our country. I can honestly say that the whole atmosphere of the stadium is worth attending a game here, even if you don't even like football.

This picture is of the band that leads all the cadets onto the field. Prior to the game, all the cadets march into the stadium in formation. It is quite a sight to see.


The cadets in formation covered the entire football field.


After being dismissed, the cadets rush to their seats. Following Air Force scores, the first 10 rows or so of cadets storm the field to do push-ups.


Still in the pregame, they had a group of parachuters who carried various flags and banners and landed at midfield. They did all kinds of tricks in the air prior to landing.


What would an Air Force game be without a flyover. These jets were flying in the "missing man" formation in honor of a fallen comrade.


Once the game started, this is how Lily enjoyed it. She was content to just ride around on Dad's chest the entire day.



The boy scouts making their presentation at halftime.


At the conclusion of the game, all the players for the Academy join the other cadets for the singing of the alma matter. I thought it was a good show of support and sportsmanship that the BYU players joined them to show their appreciation for all that these men and women mean to our country.

I would love to go back to the Academy and take a tour. To be honest, even if BYU would have lost, this game would have been well worth the trip. The experience of a game at Falcon Stadium is something everyone should have the opportunity to do at least once in their life. You are all welcome to join us two years from now when BYU comes back to Colorado Springs or anytime you would like prior to that.

T.J.

Just because she is CUTE!

So I am posting more pictures of Lily taken over the last two weeks because she is so cute and because I am a proud mom that wants to brag about how adorable her little girl is! I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do. Oh and by the way, Lily has slept for 8 hours the last three nights! I went from 3 oz. every 3 hours to 4 oz. every 4 hours and it was magic! We will see if this is a new habit or if we will go back to waking up more, but for now I am enjoying my sleep once again! Okay well I still wake up to check on her, but I know that will soon fade!
Lily enjoying a little tummy time. Some days she likes it a lot, others not so much.

She was talking to mom in this picture. She is really starting to respond to TJ and me as we talk to her. She is so fun to play with! I love to see her smile and talk.

Ready for Church!

Talking to dad and giving him big smiles. She sure loves her dad. They get to spend quality time at night while mom relaxes.

After a bath we put her in this adorable duck robe. She liked it because it helped her get warm. She is too CUTE! WE LOVE OUR LITTLE GIRL!!!