All About Alyson

Age: 16 months
Alyson changed our lives when she arrived. Never have I know a little girl that can be so girlie and yet so tomboy. She loves shoes, dressing up, having her hair done, lotion, and necklaces, but equally loves GI Joe, sword fighting, playing in the mud, climbing EVERYTHING, wrestling, and paling around with her brother. She is almost always full of smiles but when she is not, watch out world. She is very active and busy, and keeps up with her brother and his mischief without blinking an eye. She is also a huge bookworm and loves to get mom or dad out of bed at the wee hours of the morning just to read to her. We love this little girl that came into our lives and turned our world upside down!

All About Coulson

Age: 3 3/4 years old

Coulson is such a joy in our lives. He is always keeping us on our toes and continues to be very busy and active. He is attending preschool and is constantly learning new things. He is always amazing me at what he picks up from everywhere. He also has an amazing memory and can repeat songs, full books, and just about anything else. He has a heart of gold and loves to help people, he is truly my little helper with his sister and around the house. He loves reading, singing, and playing all kinds of games, and wrestling with his dad. He also loves dinosaurs and playing with his swords. One of the things he is best at is being daddy's little helper around the house with fixing things, taking out the garbage, and entertaining his little sister. I can honestly say that this little boy LOVES life and lives it to the very fullest. I never realized how much he would change my life but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world - the good days and the bad days I'll take them all just to continue to have this blessing named Coulson in my life.

For Your Veiwing Pleasure

Wild Child

For Christmas Uncle Scott gave the kids tickets to a bouncing place called Wild Child. They had so much fun, especially since Uncle Scott came too!

Christmas and New Years Eve

The month of December was one full of everything fun! We started it off by spending a Saturday with Bret's family. We all (excluding Sean and Emily who were missed) met at Gardner's Village for several hours of shopping, walking around, and getting to see all the wonderful little elves who live there during the Christmas season. All of the cousins had so much fun running around with each other, and Grams and Opa spoiled them rotten all day. After we left the village we headed to the Chuck O'Rama in Salt Lake for some yummy dinner. When the caught trax and headed up to see the beautiful lights the decorated Temple Square. It was beautiful. As we stood by the reflection pond we also got to witness about 20 engagements in a matter of 20 minutes. What a busy night at the temple for love birds! After seeing the lights we ended with some yummy hot cocoa and a whole bunch of good byes.

The kids didn't' get naps so they grabbed a quick one on the drive to Salt Lake

All the cousins on the Parrish side

Some beautful pictures taken by my amazing husband, Bret

A couple of days later Coulson had his preschool field trip to go and meet with Mrs. Clause. It was an incredibly cold day but he had a great time and patiently waited in line for his turn to tell Mrs. Clause what he wanted for Christmas ; His request was a T-Rex for him and his friend Porter. He was so excited for her to tell Santa! I love this age!

Deep in contemplation as to what he wants for Christmas

Aly wanted nothing to do with Mrs. Clause no matter what she offered!

For Christmas this year we spent it here with our very own little family. We had so much fun with old traditions from both families and making our own new ones. Bret and I took the kids to the store on Christmas Eve day and allowed them to pick out whatever cereal they both wanted to eat whenever and however they wanted. I used to do this as a little girl and it was the only time we ever got sugary cereal so it was a BIG deal. We then got the kids dressed in their Christmas pj's, read our Christmas stories, including the ones poppa read to them on skype, did some other fun stuff and put them to bed. The next morning the kids each made haul, but sadly I can't seem to find any of the pictures. Cole got a variety of things including books, a laptop, a dinosaur, cowboys and indians, a monster puppet that you make yourself, and some other items. Alyson got a new chair like her brothers, and lots and lots of dolls and accessories for them, books, and some other items. Bret and myself also got some great gifts that included Wicked tickets for me, and a watch for Bret. It was such a wonderful day for us. We are so thankful for family and loved ones that help us to share the true meaning of Christmas.

Alyson LOVES fruit and recently received the name Aly Appleton because she ate a whole apple uncut by herself. The funny thing is that she only has her two front and bottom teeth and neither set is all the way in!!

All dressed up for church.

How can you not just love those little faces!

My own sweet dolly with her dollies.

My handsome little man playing with his toys from Tia

The loot on Christmas morning

I also got a suprise from my mom and sister - tickets for my and the kids to fly out and spend new years eve with them! Keri's foster kids were being prepped to go back to their mom and her little boy, Evan, wanted more than anything to see Coulson again. They had become VERY good friends over the past year of visits. So off we went, sadly leaving Bret behind because he had to work. No worries he was able to go to his families house for the New Year holiday. We had so much fun with my family and Keri's kids. We went to the zoo and just spent time with family and playing lots of games. I can't post any pictures because they all have Evan and Alex in them and I can't post pictures of them on the internet but just know that we had so much fun the week we were there. It was also nice to see my little niece again. Aly was quite the bully to little Audrey and was found sitting on her and pinning her many times but before too long Audrey with be the same size as Aly and I'm sure they will be the best of friends.