Preschool Christmas Program

Today Savannah had her preschool Christmas program. The children all did a great job singing for their parents. Singing is one of Savannah's favorite things to do so she was very excited for this day to come. She sang and did all the actions beautifully. All the kids dressed up as the Nativity and Savannah got to be a shepard. At the end of the program Santa appeared! Savannah got to sit on his lap and tell him what she wants... "a barbie doll who is getting married"... check! On a side note, when we were getting ready this morning I got Savannah's hair all curled and put the big bow in her hair and then she burst into tears saying she looked like a boy!

We put Justin on Santa's lap to save ourselves a trip to the mall, and to my suprise, he loved it! Justin was all smiles with Santa.

Here is a little video clip of Savannah singing one of the songs in the performance. I believe it is "Christmas Times A Comin'". The girl standing to the right is Savannah's good friend Olivia.

When we left the Christmas Program it was snowing again, for the third time this week. Come on! How am I supposed to train for a marathon in this? Notice that nicely shoveled drive way... yep, that is MY handywork! You're welcome, Craig.

And he's off...

Justin officially has a new trick. He's walking. I couldn't even keep up with him crawling so now what am I going to do??? At least he won't get any more holes in the knees of his jeans (at least for a few years). Who has ever heard of a 12 month old getting a hole in brand new jeans because they crawled too much?

Other November Happenings...

Fun with Dad

I love catching my kids sleeping in this position. It looks so incredibly uncomfortable.

Craig participated in another triathlon. This was the Telos Tri in Orem. Craig was happy because he had his best time ever and even beat his brother Chad by 12 seconds. Isn't it obvious who the most macho Colyar brother is!

The best part of the Telos Tri was that Craig's mom participated too! It was her very first triathlon and she not only finished... she won third place for her age division! I am so proud of her!

The double mint twins racing to the pool.

After the tri I talked Craig into hanging our Christmas lights. Didn't he do a good job?

Justin's latest hobby... pushing this bike around the house to get where he needs to go.

We spent Thanksgiving at my sister Lynne's house. We had a delicious feast. Here Justin is taking his first bite of his first Thanksgiving.

Our little beauty. If she keeps this up Craig might have to invest in a shotgun.

Happy Birthday to Justin!

Justin had his first birthday on Thanksgiving this year. It was fun to take time out from stuffing our faces to celebrate Justin. I can't believe he is already a year. I'm sad I no longer have a "baby" but look forward to what his life will bring. He is my little happy boy.

Craig's Return to Mexico City

Our first apartment and killer black PT Crusier

On top of the presumed Hill Cumora of BoM times - Tuxtla Santiago



Olmeca Head at anthropology museum in Xalapa, Veracruz

I am in Mexico City right now and wanted to make a brief post. Most of you know that Kristi and I lived in Mexico City for about 2 1/2 years between 2000 and 2003. This experience was quite an adventure for us and ultimately left us with many fond memories of this incredible country and its people. Mexico City is a crazy place....25 million people, cars everywhere, smog, stink, beggars, you name it, this city has it. But, there's something I love about it. Being here again has been such a cool experience. I went to one of me and Kristi's favorite restaurants last night and filled myself to the brim with tacos al pastor, chicharron de queso, cebollitas, frijoles charros, and bottled "Coca Light" (much better than Diet Coke). I have also spent my day here in the TNI office where I put in some real blood, sweat, and tears back in the day. The whole thing has been positively nostalgic. The last thing I want to mention is how much I appreciate Kristi for having such a great attitude about all of my travels and for allowing me to have these experiences without making me feel like a bum of a husband and father! (I'm beginning to wonder if she prefers it when I'm out of the house!) The photos above are from when Kristi and I lived in Mexico.

Let It Snow...

This morning we woke up in a winter wonderland. When Savannah saw the snow she asked,"Is it Christmas today?" I was so excited to get the kids outside but since this was our first snowfall of the year it took me a while to find all the snow clothes, especially for Justin since I can't exactly rerun the stuff he wore last year. In the end Savannah had a great time, until she got cold, which was about 45 minutes. Justin hated it from the beginning. Probably because it was naptime, he didn't have any gloves and he was wearing pink and purple boots.

Halloween

Halloween turned out to be a fun day for me and the kids. Craig flew out to San Francisco that morning so I don't know how "fun" it was for him. We started off the day by going to Craig's mom's school, where she teaches, to join the costume parade. Savannah had so much fun seeing all the other kids in costume and getting special attention from the "big girls" in Cheryl's 5th grade class. Then Savannah went to preschool where they had a Halloween party. She came home with some scary projects she had made along with a bunch of goodies and stickers. Then finally... trick or treating!!! We went over to my sister Tori's house to go trick or treating with her family. I thought it would be cute to have just Savannah and Justin standing at their door when it was answered. I propped Justin up on the step in front of the door and just as I rang the doorbell he begins to throw up. It is shooting straight out of his mouth, hitting the door in front of him, and then sliding down to the step. As I'm frantically grabbing him and setting him in the grass to finish his business, Steve answers the door to a doorstep covered in throw up... not quite the "cute" factor I was hoping for. But in the end I got the doorstep and Justin cleaned off and we went out trick or treating. About a half hour later it started to rain and then Savannah's "glass slipper" broke in half so she was barefoot... BUT we still had a great time. All in all Savannah said her favorite part of the whole day was handing out the candy to the kids who came to our house. I'll try to remember that next year!

Cinderella

Savannah with her Mother Goose group.

Justin the Bat

Ready for trick or treating.

I'm alive!

Well... Thanks to Craig for putting up a post and motivating me to do one. It has been on my "to do" list for quite some time but just hasn't happened. Here are some of the things that went on in October...

• My mom came down from Alaska to visit.


• Lynne and kids came down from Idaho to visit.


• Lynne took family photos (which Craig put on his last post).


• My running partner, Carina, ran the St. George marathon.


• Craig goes to scout camp in Gobblin Valley.


• Savannah can recognize all 26 letters.


• Craig goes to San Francisco for work.


• We got flu shots.


• I signed up to run the Salt Lake City marathon in April of 2009.


• Halloween!

Here are the best photos of the month...

A post for a post's sake

I figured since nothing has been put on this blog for a month, I may as well throw up some new photos that we have. Much thanks to Kristi's sister Lynne for taking our family photos while she was here for a visit. We have been well, but apparently very busy. I was in San Francisco this weekend during Halloween and Kristi was not happy about that . . . Justin puked all night and Savannah's shoe broke while she was out trick or treating and had to walk barefoot. Such fun things happen while I'm away. I had fun walking the streets of SF and seeing a crazy town be even more crazy!! Kristi will get the Halloween pics up soon.

Heber Valley Century

On Saturday Craig, Chad, Steve, and Casey rode in the Heber Valley Century. Their goal was to finish the 100 miles in under 6 hours. Chad, Steve and Casey accomplished the goal. Craig was unable to finish because his tube and tire blew out at mile 94. He had a back up tube but not a back up tire. So Craig enjoyed an"escort" to the finish in the SAG wagon. Overall Craig liked the ride, beautiful and very well organized, and is looking forward to participating next year.

"I've never seen so much coming and going!" - Glenda

So the main thing that has been going on around here has been a bunch of coming and going. First on September 19th Craig's brother Casey came home from his mission. It was so fun to be at the airport and meet him again after two years. He is such an awesome guy and I am so happy he can now be a part of my children's lives.

Then Sunday, September 21st my sister Tori and husband Steve had there 4th child. (Tori has naturally had all of her babies on their due dates.) We welcomed a baby girl named Sierra Kate West. She is the 20th grandchild on my side of the family. I am so happy to live nearby so I can make frequent visits and try to help out where I can. Here she is 3 days old.

And hopefully to end all the coming and going, Craig's brother Dan and wife Jessica moved to Minnesota on Tuesday September 23rd. We are so sad to see them go but wish them luck with their new careers.

Happy Birthday to Savannah!

We had a combo birthday party for Craig and Savannah this year. It was fun to take Savannah to the party store and watch her pick out princess items for herself and pick football plates and napkins for Craig. This year she was really excited for her birthday party and for the first time really understood what it meant. We invited over all her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandma that live nearby. I loved seeing her so excited and having so much fun.

Super excited to take birthday treats to preschool.

The castle cake took me 2 1/2 hours to decorate... but was completely worth it with her reaction. Her eyes were no smaller than golf balls when she saw the pink castle. I wish I had the time and energy to do fun things like this for her everyday.

Savannah and her cousins who came to the party.

Savannah beating the tiara pinata to death. Does something sound wrong about that?

Craig brought her this flamenco dancer dress from Spain. It would be an understatement to say that she loves it!

First Day of Preschool

The day after I got home from my trip Savannah had her first day of preschool. She was super excited and was so bummed she had to wait until after lunch to go. She got ready really fast and then wore her back pack all morning. Finally when it is time to go Savannah tells me, "Mom, I don't want to be big anymore. I want to be little so I can stay home with you." But she got brave and went to her first day and came home loving it. Now each morning the first words out of her mouth are "Do I get to go to preschool today?"