New House!

WOW!!!!! For Santa.... he sure knew just what Audrey wanted. Santa had her new house all set up and ready for play when Audrey came down the stairs. She ran down and paused when she saw it. She didn't really know what to say.... but it didn't take long for her to run to it and start playing and playing and playing. Needless to say from watching movies, playing tea party, and sleeping in it we haven't been able to get her out of it. We are excited to add in all of the cute furniture that you can buy.

Sweet Girl!

What an angel. Audrey asked Santa for a new necklace because the one that her aunt Janielle gave to her was broken. So... she was thrilled to have the new one and wanted to put it on right away!

Presents!

Oh... the joy of Christmas through a child's eyes. Audrey loved opening all of the wonderful gifts that she got. Here in the first picture she is excited to give daddy his present that was from her. A toy motorcycle.... of course. Next she got her present from her cousin Lily from Seattle who had her name and it was equally well recieved. The puppy instantly became one with all of the other puppies in her collection.

Decorating!

Audrey had a wonderful time decorating the tree. We definantly have a 'kid zone'. We had to explain after a little while that the ornaments needed to go all over the tree. She did an excellent job. We had a ton of fun and we are very pleased with the height and width of our tree. And not to mention that it smells absolutley delicious.

Oh Christmas Tree!

It was a wonderful day for getting our christmas tree. We had Ryan all to ourselves all day long and we spent the day getting our tree. The Sunny Hill Farm is where we went to pick it out and they were very nice people. They let us use a sled to get the tree and Audrey loved riding along. Eventually she got cold and we hurried and picked out a tree.

A Griswald Christmas!

That is right.... We cut down our own tree this year. No shotgun!!!!! Then we stuffed it into the trunk of our car, because..... Ryan accidently left his truck key in the 'on position' so we here we are with the car. It was hanging out of the trunk and we drove a little slowly.

Let it Snow!

Here is our home in NY! We had quite the snow storm. Although any of you who are looking at these pictures from Utah.... I know it isn't a whole lot, but for here it is and they shut everything down. Seriously... the other day all the weather man had to do is 'say' that the storm was coming and they shut down the schools.

Baby Tummy!

Five months next week and here is the tummy. I feel as though I got big really fast at the first and then I have slowed down, but it is still fun. I am enjoying every minute of the pregnancy and have only to say that it is going by so fast! For all of those who don't know what we are having...... well it is..... A BOY! Hurray. I felt as though it was a boy all along and am very pleased to have the little guy on the way.

Here Comes Santa!

We were able to go to the hospital Christmas party. We had a ton of fun. It was really kid friendly and obviously Audrey was "so excited" to see santa. That is her " so excited" face. Of course she told santa that she wanted a car, with keys, that she can drive. She also.... said HO HO HO into the microphone. She wasn't as shy as we thought she would be. At the party they gave all of the doctors that came a present as well. And of course they gave Ryan a Tractor.

Snow Angel!

Our first snow angel! Audrey didn't hesitate to get right down in the snow and do her snow angel. The only problem that we had was..... she had to lay down in the shade of the tree, because she wanted to be able to open her eyes.

SNOW!

She loves to smile. I was shoveling the walkway and Audrey had a day out in the snow. She loved it. I was also glad that her snow outfit from last year still fit!

Before and After... here are some pictures of our house. I painted the room to a lighter color and Lisa helped re-arrange the furniture. I spray painted the fireplace black with high heat spray paint.

Before & After

Can you see the lovely wallpaper. I had a time of it getting it off of the walls, but I think the final color was worth it. I wasn't exactly 'hip' on the blue, but Lisa talked me into it and I am glad that she did. I think that it is beautiful.... I understand that some would see it as maybe not the color they would pick, but I like it.

After and Before.... sorry they were put in the wrong order. On the far left is the before and on the right is the after. We love the color and the arrangement of the furniture.

OH BABY! Sitting with my kids. Here I am finally posting pictures of 'our kids'. And to show everyone my tummy!

I love Chocolate! Oh my sweet girl! We love chocolate.... YUM YUM YUM! Audrey decided to 'paint' her face like an Indian with chocolate!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We had a 'quiet' thanksgiving with the three of us! We had a fun time with Cliff & Lisa here helping with the house. And so... we did our own Thanksgiving at our house. The first holiday that we have spent as the Ryan Peterson Family.

Happy Halloween! Audrey was Belle for Halloween. We had a great time. She was able to 'trick or treat' at the library and do a 'parade' with the other children.

BOO AT THE ZOO!

Audrey was able to attend boo at the zoo.... she played games, had her face painted, and a petting zoo. It was a little cold, but we had a great time. She had a crown painted on her fore-head! What a princess!

Audrey had a wonderful time doing all of the activities at the ZOO! She even touched the goat! HURRAY!

FHE 'chore chart' activity. What a doll she is.... she loved getting her 'chore chart' and did a wonderful job with it!

Okay everyone! I am going to tell the story of how I told Ryan we were pregnant. I am sorry that some of you are hearing this for the first time, but we were a little busy either crying or laughing about the good news that I didn't get to tell the tale. So... first of all Audrey is holding a 'chore chart'. Ryan and I had previously decided that we were going to do a FHE for Audrey and learn about the importance of working. So there was a movie that she wanted and we decided that she would use her chore chart and work towards it. So..... when I found out that I was pregnant I decided to tie it into our FHE. I made Audrey's chore chart then blew up balloons and filled the balloons with little papers. She was able to go around and find the balloons that had papers in them and pop the balloon to find out what her 'chores' would be. So.... we had a fun time doing that. After we were finished with that activity I had previously wrapped a large box up and put it in the middle of the room with a big bow on it. Then when Audrey was done with her activity I said, "Now let's find out what dad's 'chores' will be. Ryan was halarious he just looked at me like, 'I don't have chores' so I encourged him to open the present. What he found inside was..... newborn diapers. At first he thought it meant that he had to take care of Audrey's potty training or something like that. Then he saw the size and just looked at me and said 'WHAT'..... I just nodded my head and he said 'WHAT' and I just nodded my head..... and anyway you get the idea. It took him a while to get it, I think it was still a couple of days later before he really believed me. It was a lot of fun.

Audrey Lynn Peterson

Our year in travel is finally coming to a close. We have touched the east coast to the west coast. From Virginia Beach to Seattle. Audrey is a well traveled young lady. She just recently turned three and is an angel. We are anxiously awaiting more fun to come in the NY sun!