January Quilt Square

The local quilt shop has a monthly Saturday Sampler quilt square that Alisa and I participate in. After paying the $15 joining fee and the first month kit fee of $7.50, as long as you complete the square and bring it back the following month, you receive the next kit for free! So if you keep up, you can get all 12 squares for $22.50. It's a great deal! Tonight I finished my next block.

January's Quilt Square - "Pickle Star"

Best Christmas Present Ever!

Steve made me this awesome shelf for all of my quilting fabric! I love it! It will be so nice to be able to see what I have when I'm choosing fabric and it will be very inspirational having it on display. I even let Alisa put her fabric on the bottom two shelves :) It's a very exciting addition to my sewing studio!

Christmas Morning

Christmas was so much fun this year watching Alaric open his presents!

Look what Santa brought Alaric - a balance bike and he loves it!

Alisa's favorite gift this year was a charger for the PlayStation controllers from Braxton. They go dead so much faster when you also use them for a TV remote. Steve also got one from Braxton.

Alaric got a flashlight from Great Grandma Peterson. I think he'll wear out the switch before the batteries or the bulb die. He walked around with it turning it on and off and on and off and on and off.

I was completely shocked with the Roomba vacuum that Steve, Braxton, and Alisa gave me! I've wanted one for quite awhile and I'm so excited to have less dirt on the floor :) I've already set it up to run during Alaric's nap time every day!

Alaric also got a train from Braxton and Alisa that he loves!

Great Grandma Smith gave Alaric a bear hat and a book. He wore the hat around all day :) And he needed it since it's been so cold this year!

Great Grandma Kimball sent money toward a bookshelf for Alaric. I think it's being repurposed into money for part of the toy box Steve is building for him.

Braxton got a few new movies and a tactical flashlight. And Braxton and Steve both got electronic headphones for shooting. It was a great day!

Alaric is already learning to do pop-a-wheelies :)

We ended the day with a nice turkey dinner and homemade rolls. We had a new member of our ward join us. He's from Nigeria and just recently moved here but his wife isn't able to come for a few more months when she can get a visa. He loved the rolls - he must have eaten 5 or 6 :) So we sent him home with some as well.

As this Christmas season comes to a close, we acknowledge our love for the Savior and for His sacrifice.

Christmas Tree in Reflection

It's Christmas Eve and time for a photo of the tree with the wrapped presents under it. We've had to keep the wrapped presents in the other room this year since Alaric knows that wrapped presents contain toys :)

Christmas Photo Shoot

Apparently Steve's friend wanted to take Christmas photos and we misunderstood. So he came back over tonight and took some more Christmas photos.

This is my favorite!

It was Alaric's bedtime so bribery with a cookie was in order :) He's wearing his new Christmas jammies I bought him. Now to wrap them so he can open them on Christmas Eve.

Ema is Finally Here!

After being a week overdue and approximately 30 hours of labor, Sariah and Quade finally have their baby girl here! Ema Moira Peterson, named after Sariah's grandmother, Ema. She weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Ema Moira Peterson

Sariah looks so happy to finally be a mom!

Quade said he loves her so much already :)

I can't wait until I can meet her :)

Outdoors Photo Shoot

Steve has a friend that is getting into photography and wanted to come take our photos.

So Steve and I finally had our picture taken - it's been forever since we've had one of just us :) But of course we had to include the dog, Sabre.

And I've always wanted a photo of me and my cow! This is Bella, my miniature Jersey.

One of Alaric's favorite things to do is drive the tractor with Grandpa. Grandpa loves taking him too :)

So about this time, Alaric was done having his picture taken. Not sure if you can tell, but he is crying. I still love this photo though.

Grandpa walking with Alaric :)

Braxton pushing Alaric on the swing.

Playing in the Snow for the First Time

Alaric hasn't even played in snow before and he loved it! The cold didn't bother him at all and he cried and cried when he had to come back inside.

Alisa, Alaric, and Braxton

The snowball he is holding had a piece of grass in it and he carried it around like a ball on a string :)

Braxton made him a BIG snowball to play with

Braxton and Alaric made a really little snowman :)

Alaric even rolled around in the snow and still didn't complain about getting cold

So much fun!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

There was about 2 inches of snow on the ground this morning! Awesome! So I went for a walk and took LOTS of photos since we haven't had this much snow in the last 20 years here :)

The barn and chicken coops

Our house and the barn

Our driveway heading out to the street

Ice on the gate

The street

 

More ice on the gate

Our gate

Our driveway heading in to the house

Steve's snow covered car

I still had peppers growing in my garden! But now the plants will die since they froze.

Snow in Texas?!!

It actually snowed here! And it stuck to the ground! Steve said he hasn't seen me so excited in years :) We were in the car when it started to snow and by the time we got home it had stopped. I checked the weather and it said it would start snowing again after midnight, so I stayed up until 1:30 am to take photos! I ended up being so excited, that I couldn't sleep at all and was still awake in the morning.