We wish you a warm and fuzzy Christmas

~Christmas Vacation~

 "Clark, Audrey's frozen from the waist down."

"That's all part of the experience honey."

You know how you get an image, idea or fantasy in your head about how you want an event to turn out. Sometimes often the reality of those ideas morph into an event that isn't quite what you were hoping for. The weekend before Christmas we didn't do anything wintry, holiday-ish or "Christmasy". I can't even remember if we were sick, lazy, busy or all of the above. I realized with having small children who are beginning to form long term memories of our holiday traditions, I needed to plan something fun!

Did I mention I was also starting to feel guilty for not having a picture of both kids with Santa? Eliza, Grandma Doris and I went to the Festival of Trees and had breakfast with Santa but only ended up with one quick picture:

I mean it when I say quick. There were about 100 other kids waiting to meet the big jolly guy and I was afraid to get a picture behind the BSU tree so I kept moving us to find the perfect background. The line to sit and tell Santa what you wanted was an hour long. No thanks. Big mistake as Eliza kept reminding me afterwards that she didn't get to tell Santa what she wanted because the line was too long.

Enter: guilt

So....I needed to mend her poor childhood and find Santa. Two days before Christmas. I thought our local Botanical Garden Light Exhibit would be perfect! It is a huge beautiful display, free hot drinks & cookies, fire pits, a train exhibit (what Eliza wanted for Christmas) and of course a chance to sit down with Santa. Lucas even said yes immediately when I pitched the idea. Perfect!

Well, except for the weather. It was averaging 17 degrees at night with not a drop of snow. Flippin' cold. I thought it might keep the people away but I was wrong. Traffic was backed up several miles away to the garden and then line to pay took almost 25 minutes. Did I tell you it was 17 degrees out?

Are you ready for our adventure? Here we go:



One quick picture of a light display. The only one I got because it was so cold I didn't want to take my hands out of my gloves. Unlike Anderson who insisted on NOT wearing anything over his hands.



Anderson lost his patience while we were waiting in line to pay. Once we got in, began searching for Santa and then had to wait in another line to talk to white bearded wonder, Anderson was certainly done. He only wanted to walk around by himself and cry.



But wait! It was finally time to see Santa! Well, Anderson was still crying and it had nothing to do with being fearful of Santa. He was cold and ticked off. Despite Lucas and the others telling me to forget it, I was determined to get my photo of the kids with Santa. I tossed the camera to Lucas and marched up to dump my kids on the lap.

This photo opportunity lasted exactly 4 seconds...

as Anderson bawled and slid his way to the ground.

After making it to Santa so Eliza could enthusiastically tell Santa she hoped and dreamed for a train set, I felt it was time for the next big event! The Train! We couldn't find it. I searched up high and low around the garden and then we navigated our way through the crowds until my mom finally stopped to ask directions. Don't forget it was 17 degrees and we have a crying toddler on our hands.  We finally made it though to the train! Eliza takes one disappointed look at it and says "I thought you could ride on it Mommy!" Dear god help us.

After watching the train go round and round we decided quickly it was time to go. Didn't it seem like we just got there? I thought about all the cute family pictures people had been posting on facebook from the visit to the garden lights. Darn it. I was determined to drag these people around and take some pictures now. We got Anderson to stop crying for 2 seconds to take this picture. Even though it looks like Eliza has a condom on her head it doesn't look too bad.

Oh, these two sweet people (my mom and Larry) were the best sports to hang out with us. They were even silly enough to say they had a good time.

Before we marched back out I did negotiate a stop by the hot cider and cookie stand. With the warm drinks taking the stress and edge off the evening and the cookies freezing in our hands until we shoved them into our mouths, we headed back to our cars. Filled with warm memories of course.

Every handsome boy...

...should have a deer sweater in their wardrobe.

Happy 5 month day to you my "dear"!!!

Easter, Toddler Party and Baby Watch-28 weeks

Hello, hello!
Tis about time I got back to this finishing this post! This last month has been about completing the "Big Baby To Do List". Mostly so I can sleep soundly at night and not stress about all the things I need to do. In the meantime, we celebrated Easter and had a toddler birthday party with our friends. Doing a group birthday party is the best idea ever! My friend Emily has the best backyard and we all pitched in with food and drinks. I think this could be our new spring ritual.

The Birthday Girls: Eliza, Grace, Luciya and Maryn


Easter Egg Hunt Playgroup. Eliza has finally taken to the swings at the park. She didn't want to get out of this one so I referred to it as the "Toddler Bjorn".

Coloring Easter Eggs

Brunch and Easter Egg Hunt at Shelley's

Eliza's legs look so long in this picture! Everyone keeps telling me how tall she is...maybe so??

She is definitely getting the hang of the egg hunt

Easter Dinner with family at our house

After Easter Dinner....just kidding:)

Family Fun in the Fall

The Babin family loves Fall! Mr. Babin of course is practically in heat over the fact it is hunting season and my heart skips a beat when the cinnamon pine cones and pumpkin flavored treats hit the stores.

Now don't go by the picture below, this entry really does end well. I started the "Halloween Costume in Training" program in March after our trip to Disneyland. I was so excited to buy a cute fairy costume with my free Disneyland birthday money for Eliza. Well, she wasn't as excited. She wouldn't go near the thing and cried every time I brought it out. Finally about a month before Halloween I was able to get it on. Here is the result:

O.K.... next option? We ended up with a cozy giraffe costume for $10 at Costco. Every time we ran by the Zoo this summer at Stroller Strides Eliza would get so excited to see the giraffe so it was a good fit. I don't even want to start thinking about costumes for next year.

Eliza and I spent a wonderful weekend in Twin Falls with my mom and Larry. I absolutely love staying there and we have started some traditions such as making soup and pies. Eliza really enjoyed helping to make the pies too.

Pumpkin carving. The seeds are always the best part. Mmmmm.


It is so fun to take the same picture each year with your child and see how they have grown. It also make me realize how much cuter people are with hair.

If you own a pumpkin patch/maze this time of the year you are making some serious money. Every family I know goes to one each year. They really are a fun family thing to do.

Look at how tall my little pumpkin is!

Stuffed into the cow train

She pet her first big animal!!! Yay!!! She is my child after all!

Waiting for the pig races to start. Actually Lucas was checking the score for the Vandal game on his phone:)

We finally made it to the actual Halloween holiday and spent most of it traveling to see all of our family. Since Eliza couldn't wear the costume in her car seat we had to take it on and off at least 4 times that night. We used the "overly enthusiastic" strategy of giving her tic-tacs everytime we wanted her to put it on. Notice I am avoiding the word "bribe" since that would be rewarding someone to stop a negative behavior:)

Great Grandma Sue was first on the list and is always such a joy to see.


Great Grandma Doris fed us dinner and gave Eliza the cutest clothes.

Learning the ways of Trick or Treating at my Dad and Karen's.

Dad and Karen have the perfect neighborhood for trick or treating. We all had a great time going to see all of their neighbors and watching Eliza master the art of begging for candy. We finished the night by driving down the famous Harrison Boulevard to look at the decked out houses. The best part was being able to see the "Thriller" performance at one of the homes. Eliza was clapping as they were dancing and was so sad when the music ended. It was a late night but thank goodness we gained that extra hour.

4th of July Celebration

Aaahhhh. You have to love a relaxing summer celebration. We spent this last weekend with my mom and Larry at their place in Twin Falls. They went to a lot of work to plan an old fashioned 4th of July celebration for family and neighbors. Larry's two daughters and two of his grandkids stayed the weekend too. Everytime we stay there I always wish I had the opportunity to do 4H as a kid. He has the sweetest sheep that graze around the house, I love it! There are so many fun and outdoor things for the kids to do too.

Emma and Andy out at the tree house

Mom loves to sing "Summertime" to anyone in the hammock. Eliza is obsessed with her "Awe-me" and wouldn't let her out of her sight.

Eliza helping mom prepare all the food

Larry had an old friend of his perform patriotic songs using several different instruments. It was so much fun!

Emma, Marnie and Al who lives on the property with Mom and Larry

Shelley is the only one of us with a beautiful singing voice

Andy played back singer as well with a kazoo

I guess you are still inspired to dance when you have only been married for 2 years:)

Horseshoes in the sheep pasture

Larry had an old tent set up in the yard for the kids to play in

The grand finale with a small child friendly fireworks show.