Hess Family Christmas Party

The day after Christmas, we traveled up to Ogden again to attend the annual Hess Family Christmas party. They hold this party every year with Nathan's dad's family. This is no small little party and has to be held at the church because there are about 60 people there. Nobody in the room could even name everyone. They played a fun dice game called House of Fire and it was fun to watch everyone participate.

Christmas Day

We had a marathon Christmas Day celebration. We went to my mom's house with my sister and her husband and had brunch and presents. There, Tate received a new wardrobe courtesy of my sister, mom and dad (and Crazy 8) and Taters got a tricycle, which he loved! It was a great time!

Then, we headed to Ogden to spend time with Nathan's family. His parents were in town so it was great to be able to spend Christmas with them as well (and also Ryan, Darren, Julie, Brandon, Calli and all the kids). Tate was very excited about seeing his cousins and playing Darren and Julie's basketball hoop arcade game. We had a delicious dinner and just a great time.

It was a long day, but it was filled with fun and family! :)

Christmas Morning

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve having a ham dinner with my family. Then, Nathan, Tate and I had our little Christmas morning together. Tate was very excited about the presents, but he didn't quite get it on his own. With some prompting, he realized that cool toys were in the packages. He sure was cute to watch play with all his toys and eat A LOT of chocolate. We took a lot of photos and videos, so brace yourself:

Christmas Concert

My mom took my sister and I to the MoTab/Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas concert a few weeks ago. Natalie Cole was the featured performer and it was amazing! I have always loved her, and it was great to watch her sing the Christmas classics. Thanks, Mom!

An Announcement..

In case you haven't heard, we are expecting a baby!! This is a picture of our little jelly bean from our appointment last week. The baby is due around July 9, so I am about 11 weeks along. It hasn't been too tough a pregnancy so far. We are just glad all is well so far. Tate doesn't quite get it and often yells, "No brother! No sister!" So, let's see how he handles this come July. :)

Let it Snow!

I am going to see how many posts can be titled with Christmas songs...

Anways, we have had quite a bit of snow here in the past few days and Tate is always begging to "walk in the snow" and play in the snow. So, this morning, we all bundled up and went to play in the snow (as well as shovel). Tate was not a fan of having gloves on (he was wearing one of those gloves/shirts thing that my grandma gave him- so awesome!), but he stayed warm and had a lot of fun. Snow is always fun at first, so we will enjoy it while we can. I am sure I will start complaining about it in January...

Christmas Time is Here!

We spent th day after Thanksgiving decorating the inside and outside of the house for Christmas. It was a lot of fun this year because Tate was really into it and loved helping with the "Chripas." I love this time of year!!!

Here is the unveiling of our outside lights (so far). Nathan works so hard on them and it is so much fun!! We plan on adding a little each year!

Christmas Boutique

My friend Taylor and I are doing another boutique this week. The last one was really fun and they had some cute stuff and delicious treats!!

Our Thanksgiving

We had a great and relaxing Thanksgiving this year. We went to my mom's house, ate great food, watched the Cowboys, and played games. Tate loved all of the food!!

Random Photos

I haven't posted in awhile, but I had to put up these photos from the last few weeks (before I get into the holiday stuff).

Cousins- We got together with a lot of Hesses awhile ago and it was cute to see all the cousins play. This was 12 out of the 16 Hess cousins, I believe...

TWILIGHT- My mom, sister and I went to see New Moon on opening night. It was everything I had hoped for and so much more..We took Taters to the Bean Museum the toher day for some free fun. He was most interested in the buttons on the doors and the drinking fountains.

Tate-isms

The older Tate gets, the funnier he gets. He has such a little personality and it is hilarious to watch it come out more every day. I wanted to make sure that I documented some things that he does so that we never forget them and can tell them to him and his girlfriends when he gets older. Here are some crazy things we love about our Taters:

1) Bitika- I don't know if I have posted about this before, but Tate uses the word "bitika" for everything. I have no idea what it means or where it came from. He says it before any word. In the last hour he has said, "bitika stuff", "bitika ball", and "bitika dada." He also says bitika over and over again very fast like a tiny crazy person. So funny...

2) I NEED- Lately, Tate has been saying he "needs" everything. He says it in a way that is so intense. He says, "I NEED help," "I NEED hold you", "I NEED candy." Who doesn't?

3) Dancing- This is nothing new, but this kid loves to dance. Last week, he started some new moves- break dancing. Here is the video:

Fun Times in Spanish Fork

The weather here has been beautiful lately, so we took advantage of it and went fishing at the Spanish Fork reservoir. It was a great day!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween yesterday! Tate, my mom and I all dressed up as 50's characters (Nathan did not dress up). We took Tate trick or treating for the first time and he loved it! He didn't quite get it at first and tried to eat every piece of candy after he got it (instead of putting it in his bucket). But, towards the end, he was a pro. He was so sweet and said thank you and bye to everyone. He even told two older ladies to lock their doors. :) We did have some major candy highs afterwards, but that made it all the more fun. We had a great day and hope everyone else did too! Here are some photos and videos.

Tate Update

Blogging hasn't been happening for us a lot lately. However, here are some photos of Tate helping me with dinner last night. I know that isn't necessarily a big deal, but it almost made me cry because he is such a big boy. He helped me tear up the tortillas and put in the cheese-and ate it- for King Ranch Chicken (remember this, roomies? I make it all the time- thanks Christy!). Also, note that Tate has on a Cincinnati Bengals shirt. My grandmother got it for him and he is obsessed with it. He has insisted on wearing it for the past three days... At least the Bengals don't COMPLETELY stink this year, so we aren't too embarassed to have him wear that. :)

Also, here is a video of Tate I took yesterday morning. He loves to sing and play his piano. He, of course, stopped doing it as soon as I turned on the camera and was just being goofy.

Craft Show- Battlecreek Boutique

For those of you in Utah, my friend Taylor and I will be doing the Battlecreek Boutique in Pleasant Grove this week. I am not sure how it will go, but I am excited for it. I am excited to see the other booths as well. I love this kind of stuff.

Tate's Two Year Old Shoot

We took pictures today at a park. Such a big boy!!

Tate is Two!!

My baby turned two on Tuesday, Oct 6! We spent the day playing with him and watching videos from his life. He is such a big boy and I am so grateful for the little person that he is. He is hilarious and has such a crazy little personality. He loves to perform whether it is with music (more dance!) or sports. But, he is also such a little sweetheart and loves to give hugs and kisses and snuggle. Can it get any better than that combo?? I don't think so!

On his birthday, we went to lunch (chicken and french fries) with him and played in the play area. We then had dinner (pizza) and a little tiny party with cake and presents. Tate loved all of his presents from his mom/dad, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles. He definitely is a loved little boy! We decorated the house in Elmo and had an Elmo cake and lots of balloons. It was one wild night!

Here are some photos and videos of the big day, as well as the inviation for the scrapbook!