Well I figured since it is now February...it is just about time to do my December post! We of course had a very busy, but very fun month. The month started out with a visit from our friend Tod and his girlfriend Betsy for the weekend. It was fun but short. We went to the Suns game Friday night and then to the Sugar Bowl...it was a hit!
Brandon even managed to catch not one but two Suns shirts...as you can see we were in the "party zone."
Tod is so amazing that he even helped Brandon put up our Christmas lights on Saturday...what a good friend. We also went to a late lunch at the Olive Garden and that night went to Castles and Coasters and went mini golfing and on some rides. Hope you guys come back soon!
Here's Ty lining up his cars which he loves to do...what a little cutie!
Then I had this little surprise to show Brandon...yep that's 2 pink lines! Due in August which is the absolute worst, but we are excited anyway. :)
For Christmas my whole family was here with the exception of Andrew's family. :( They had a new baby girl...plus it is very expensive flying a family of 5. They were greatly missed. My mom had a schedule for the entire week of all of the activities we had planned. It was exhausting but worth it. We had a girls lunch at the Wrigley Mansion and then some shopping. That night my parents got us a party bus to go see all of the Christmas lights. Yes it was complete with stripper poles and all.
We had tons of Christmas goodies, Christmas tunes, and had a blast going all over the city (my parents had mapped out all of the hot spots in advance). Here we are at the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge looking at the amazing Wonka factory made out of all chocolate and candy...so cool!
Christmas Eve morning Brandon and I took Ty to the zoo for the first time. No one was there and we had tons of fun.
Ty LOVED petting all of the "doggies"...he thought most of the animals were doggies.
By the end Ty was just lounging in his stroller eating snacks while
we looked at the animals. We bought a membership so we'll be back!
Christmas Eve was at my parents' house with all of the relatives in town. We had an Italian feast. Of course I waited until the very end of the night (way past bedtime) to get a family picture. This was as good as we could get.
Of course we did the usual acting out of the nativity...many of the actors are far too young to cooperate much. Ty was baby Jesus last year and this year was a shepherd. He wandered all over the "stage" with his staff throughout the story.
It was of course hilarious to watch. Look at Milly the angel, spread eagle. :)
Here is our Christmas tree...our first real one. We loved it, but they are quite messy!
Christmas morning we opened presents with our little family. Ty really raked it in this year. He would have been pleased with just his new sippy cups from his stocking.
Here are Ty's gifts just from our house! Santa brought him a table and chairs and many of the other gifts are from his Wheeler grandparents. He is so spoiled!
Then it was off to my parents for an amazing brunch and then more presents! My parents got 2 of these plasma cars for the grandkids and they were a hit.
I made my parents a calendar with family pictures and important dates...one of those dates was the due date for Wheeler Baby #2. They didn't see it the first time through, but were very excited to hear the news!
Aunt Myhoa and Uncle Dayne are so generous and gave Ty this beloved cozy coup.
This is how he can be found every day now...LOVES it is an understatement.
Christmas went by so fast. I had to go back to work on Monday. :( But after work I met all of the adults plus Gabe for pizza and laser tag, SWEET! We had a blast and dominated the second round once we got a strategy down.
Then Tuesday after work we all met up at the Landmark in Mesa for a scrumptious dinner! Thanks mom and dad for all of the fun.
Dayne and Myhoa had to leave the next day and Em a few days later. It is always great being together as a family and I can't wait for the next time. We are truly blessed and had a wonderful Christmas.
Aaahhh the magic of dum dums. He cooperated much better once he had a sucker in his hands!
Afterward he looked so much older...I guess he really is a little boy now and not a baby. Stop growing up immediately!
Brandon even managed to catch not one but two Suns shirts...as you can see we were in the "party zone."
Tod is so amazing that he even helped Brandon put up our Christmas lights on Saturday...what a good friend. We also went to a late lunch at the Olive Garden and that night went to Castles and Coasters and went mini golfing and on some rides. Hope you guys come back soon!
Then I had this little surprise to show Brandon...yep that's 2 pink lines! Due in August which is the absolute worst, but we are excited anyway. :)
For Christmas my whole family was here with the exception of Andrew's family. :( They had a new baby girl...plus it is very expensive flying a family of 5. They were greatly missed. My mom had a schedule for the entire week of all of the activities we had planned. It was exhausting but worth it. We had a girls lunch at the Wrigley Mansion and then some shopping. That night my parents got us a party bus to go see all of the Christmas lights. Yes it was complete with stripper poles and all. 
Christmas Eve morning Brandon and I took Ty to the zoo for the first time. No one was there and we had tons of fun.
Ty LOVED petting all of the "doggies"...he thought most of the animals were doggies.
By the end Ty was just lounging in his stroller eating snacks while we looked at the animals. We bought a membership so we'll be back!
Of course we did the usual acting out of the nativity...many of the actors are far too young to cooperate much. Ty was baby Jesus last year and this year was a shepherd. He wandered all over the "stage" with his staff throughout the story.
It was of course hilarious to watch. Look at Milly the angel, spread eagle. :)
Here is our Christmas tree...our first real one. We loved it, but they are quite messy!
Then it was off to my parents for an amazing brunch and then more presents! My parents got 2 of these plasma cars for the grandkids and they were a hit.
I made my parents a calendar with family pictures and important dates...one of those dates was the due date for Wheeler Baby #2. They didn't see it the first time through, but were very excited to hear the news!
Aunt Myhoa and Uncle Dayne are so generous and gave Ty this beloved cozy coup.
Christmas went by so fast. I had to go back to work on Monday. :( But after work I met all of the adults plus Gabe for pizza and laser tag, SWEET! We had a blast and dominated the second round once we got a strategy down.
I loved the detail of the chair. It sits in our formal living room, which is currently also known as the play room. :) We also did a little makeover of the bathroom which I will post sometime.
I love getting pictures of people eating. :)
Ty was in heaven and was eating with a spoon in one hand and a fork in the other for much of the meal.
After dinner Ty had to catch up on his texts while Gabe played the Gameboy (as always). The day before Thanksgiving I was able to spend time with Em watching Oprah's Favorite Things and shopping (although we did much more wishing than buying).
Ty with Grandpa. We played lots of games while there including Killer Uno, Apples to Apples and Michigan Rummy. On Saturday we went to Nauvoo in the afternoon.
We were able to see the beautiful temple and some of the other sights like the Cultural Hall, Bakery and graves of Joseph Smith and some of his family members. It was great to be there but we needed lots more time.
Ty talking on the phone (he always holds it behind his head on his neck). Sunday morning we left on a train at 6am! to go to Chicago. We stayed at the Felix Hotel right downtown which was fabulous. BUT, our room was pretty small, so Ty got to sleep in the bathroom some of the time. Unfortunately for him this was not the first time. Emily, do you think it's worse to sleep in a drawer or in such close proximity to a toilet?
Sunday afternoon we went down to Michigan Avenue and met our friends Sam and Ashley and their little boys Parker and Lincoln. Why don't I have a picture of them?! After walking around the shops we spent way too long trying to get to the zoo via subway. We got there right around when the zoo normally closes, but shortly thereafter the lights came on and we spent a few hours in the cold seeing the zoo lights and some of the indoor animals like monkeys, lions and penguins.
This is going into the zoo. If you are ever in Chicago check out the zoo...it is free! Then we took a much easier bus ride back and went to Gino's East for some deep dish pizza. Yum! The next morning we had big plans! We had from 8-12 to see the city. Ty was going to nap from 12-2, then we had to head off to the airport. Well apparently the city sleeps in, which meant our plans were ruined. We took a subway to Willis Tower...closed until 10. So we walked to the art museum (Becky had lent us her season passes)...closed until 10:30. Well now we have wasted half of our time just trying to get to these places and then not even seeing them! Grrr! So we took a cab to Navy Pier...everything there was closed too but we still walked down the pier and looked at the city from the water.
Then we took a cab back to the art museum and had seriously 30 minutes to spend there. We went straight to the French Impressionists...Degas and Monet are my favorites. Then we had to run back to the Willis Tower. (Drives me crazy that they changed the name. You can't just go changing names like that! Like from BOB to Chase Field...boo).
It was pretty cool at the top...and they have made some little overhangs at the top which are quite scary.
After that we had to rush back to the hotel for Ty's short nap and then made it to the airport on a couple of subways. We were quite the site with one large suitcase, 2 small suitcases, a stroller, a car-seat, a baby, a backpack and a tote bag. We were glad to make it home...and Ty puked on Brandon again on the flight back. This time I couldn't stop laughing/crying and I think the lady next to me must have thought I was a terrible mother. If she only knew how many times he has puked on Brandon, I'm sure she would have laughed too. :)
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