Over the river and through the woods....to Grandmother's house we go!

We got to go and visit Grandma and Grandpa Goodell this last weekend. It was so much fun to have quality, personal time with them. This was the first time they got to see Ruth in person. It was so much fun to have Grandma hold her and be filled with joy knowing that Ruth was named after her mother.

We had so much fun playing card games, watching movies and staying up late 'till 1:00 am talking each night. We were always doing something fun! Grandpa had to sneak a nap in wherever he could!

John brought Grandpa a fun engineering t-shirt from BYU. Grandpa was part of the first BYU graduating class in engineering. He spent many years studying in the Clyde Building which is where John studies now. When they get together, they have a lot of fun talking about engineering. It is really special for John to have that connection. Grandpa proudly wore that t-shirt all day!

Millie had an extra special time each day as Grandma and Grandpa would take turns reading books to her. Millie loved to pick out each story with Grandma downstairs.

Grandpa would ask Millie if he could read a book to her. It was really sweet. They became good friends.

Millie and Ruth even got to relax in Grandma's coveted reading chair!

Overall, it was a blast! After four fun days, we were sad to leave. What a special time for our family. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the WONDERFUL memories!!! We Love You!!!

Well, I can't believe that it is already 2012. We sure had a wonderful year! It ended with an amazing Christmas holiday filled with family and friends. Here are some of the highlights from the end of 2011.

OCTOBER

Happy Halloween! We had a great time trick 0' treating with Grandpa Guymon. All of John's local siblings were doing their own thing this year, except for Ricky and Mindy. So, Millie and Gracie got to be the center of Grandpa's attention while walking around the neighborhood. They had a blast together and could not believe all the candy they received! I don't know of any two girls who love candy more than Millie and Gracie!

In October, we also help my parents winterize their back yard. Millie got to help Grandpa Barlow

pick grapes and Ruth got to relax with Grandma. After the work was done, Millie got to swing on the "big kid" swing. She was so happy to finally be old enough to try it. She loved it!!

NOVEMBER

We blessed Ruth on Nov. 6th. Both of our families came to support us. Because other family had to rush off to their Church meetings afterwards, I only have this one picture. John gave a beautiful blessing. I am so grateful for the priesthood that he holds and honors. It was a very special day. We took Ruth to get her picture taken wearing her blessing dress. They turned out great! Sorry about the writing on the picture, I don't have a scanner and only had this electronic version to post. Isn't she a cutie! It took about 45 shots to get Millie smiling in her picture. This was Ruth's second shot. She is such a smiley baby! We love her!

We celebrated John's 27th birthday on the 18th. He had a great birthday weekend, if I do say so myself. John knew nothing and it was all full or surprises! We had a big family surprise birthday party at his parents house on Thursday night. I made two different soups and Mom made rolls. Afterwards, we had peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. I cooked all day and couldn't wait for John to get home.

On Friday, I made him Eggs Benedict for Breakfast. Later that day, Millie and I surprised him at School with muffins and juice during one of his meetings. His Professor and fellow grad students sang him Happy Birthday as I walked in the door because they knew in advance that I was coming. That night we went to Tucanos for dinner and then we went to Trafalga and played miniature golf with Millie.

Saturday morning, I made him another great breakfast. He then waited all morning for the mail to come. He would walk outside and just stare at the road. It was like he was 6 years old again waiting for Santa to come fly through the sky.He knew that his birthday present was coming!!! I got him a Motorola XOOM. He was so excited!!! I think that he played through all the levels of Plants vs. Zombies (AGAIN) the following 2 days. He loved it! He had to go to his school for a couple of hours, but then he came home and we played games all day.

Sunday, it was back to Bishopric duties and then Monday, normal school life. We had a great weekend! John said that it was his favorite birthday! Success!!

I know that Thanksgiving should be coming next, but somehow I managed to go through a whole Thanksgiving morning football game and dinner with my family and a whole night of pie and games with John's family without taking a single picture. Shame on me. Thanksgiving was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with both families.

DECEMBER

We began the holiday season by playing our shoes by the front door for St. Nicholas to fill. This is a fun tradition that we have started with Millie and Ruth. Growing up my parents honored this as well because it is a Dutch tradition. My father's mother was from the Netherlands and my Dad ended up serving his mission their too. We had dutch shoes to fill growing up. Obviously it is a European tradition because while on a mission in Poland they did this for the children as well as in Germany where John served his mission. John's experience in Germany is why he wanted to start observing this holiday. We had a lot of fun shopping forgoodies and Millie could not wait to see what would be in her show the next morning.

The idea of St. Nicholas filling her shoe with goodies got Millie's mind grasping the concept of Santa Clause. We taught her that we celebrated Christmas in honor of the Savior's birth and that He is why we celebrate Christmas. Slowly, however, thoughts of Santa Clause coming soon took over and the excitement began! We took Millie to go see Santa at the mall. I thought for sure she would be scared of him, but she hopped right on his lap and said, "Hi Santa!". He asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She promptly said, "A new Kitchen". "I will see what I can do", Santa said winking at John. "Anything else?" Millie was quick to say, "Candy". Santa then gave her a treat and wished her a Merry Christmas. As she got off his lap and started walking away, Millie turned to say, "Bye Santa. See you on Christmas". Istood a far off so that I could take pictures. Sitting on Santa's lap was free, but to have your picture taken with him was somewhere around an arm and a leg. So, I stood outside Santa's workshop and inconspicuously took some pictures. They are a little blurry because I didn't want to use the flash. I was also talking with Kimmie on the phone who happened to have just had her baby at American Fork hospital. Millie had a wonderful time! When we got home, Millie made a snow angel with the snow that had fallen while we were in the mall. She is so cute! I don't know if there is anyone in this world who is more anxious to get snow than Millie is. Except for maybe John, of course. ;)

Christmas Eve day/dinner was spent at my parents house. Several of my siblings came over and played games. After games we had a lovely dinner and watched a Christmas Nativity movie that John and I put together for my parents. We had all of the 43 grandchildren tell the Christmas story in parts. It was really special. We then had more siblings come over to visit and sing carols. We had a magical time! After the eggnog, John and I left for home so that we could have the rest of Christmas Eve all to ourselves. Once back in Provo, we drove around to see the Christmas lights. Our neighbors put on quite a show. Then we went home and opened our Christmas pajamas. We read a new Christmas story every Christmas eve. John and I have a lot of fun going to Deseret Book and picking one out. We will soon have quite the collection! After reading with the girls it was time for bed so that Santa's elves could come out and get everything ready. Once Millie and Ruth fell asleep, John started putting Millie's kitchen together and I prepped the breakfast casserole.

Once everything was set up, we went to sleep knowing that for sure Millie would not wake up before 9:00 am. Boy were we wrong. She sure got the Christmas excitement early because she was up almost every hour asking if Santa had come yet. After telling her to go back to sleep countless times, we gave up and at 6:00 am we opened presents. We had a WONDERFUL Christmas morning! After opening presents we got ready for Church and headed off to John's parents ward. Their sacrament meeting was beautiful! I loved the choir music. Afterwards, Millie gave an impromptu performance at the Guymon family Christmas piano recital. We had a wonderful Christmas day filled with games, family visiting, a walk around the neighborhood and great food. Christmas was WONDERFUL!!!

We have had a wonderful year. I will miss the memories but I look forward to making new ones. I am excited to embark on a new year filled with so many unknowns and changes for our little family. Welcome 2012!!!

Sisters!

Last night, John and I took the girls to see the "Festival of Trees"up in Salt Lake. We went with Ricky and Mindy and their little girl Gracie. Together, we had a wonderful time. The trees were beautiful and the atmosphere was full of Christmas joy! When the children were letting us know it was time to go home, we braved the cold air and hopped in the car. After buckling up, we headed back home to Provo. Ten minutes into our journey home, however, Ruth began to cry. Knowing that she was warm and recently fed, I just reached back and stroked her hair to try and calm her down. After several minutes of listening to Ruth cry, I could hear Millie yelling something in the back seat. I stopped to listen to what she was saying and couldn't help from laughing. She was saying as loudly as she could, "MOM! The baby is driving me nuts!" John also began to laugh as he knew she was referring to Ruth crying in the car seat next to her. After a while, Ruth stopped crying so all was well. When Ruth began to cry again, however, Millie exclaimed in an even louder voice, "Mom! She is driving me nuts again!". In Ruth's defense, I am sure that she tries to say the same thing as Millie pokes her, tickles her, kisses and squishes her face, and attacks her with love. Sisters are so fun! I just know that they are going to be best friends! Until then, I can't wait until Ruth is old enough to play with Millie and not drive her nuts all the time. ;)