President's Day weekend in snow country

 Tyler and Nicole invited us to Tyler's parents for the weekend to enjoy the snow. We bundled up Evelyn and headed out. 

 This was a long hill for tubing, it was fun and no one crashed into any trees. 

Tube train. 

 Aunt Nicole and Evelyn. Kaden wasn't feeling good, so he stayed at his Grandma's house. 

 Tyler and his family have gotten this down to an art. Tow someone behind the four wheeler on skis,  

make sure you're heading for the mound of piled up snow, 

 and fly over the top of it. Easy. 

 Ben liked trying to capture Tyler's brief flight through the air at different angles. You can see the snow cave he helped build at the bottom of the picture. 

 Tyler wanted to sleep in the snow cave. Nicole wasn't so fond of the idea. I was too claustrophobic to go inside. I'm always afraid I'll be suffocated if it caves in. 

Nicole towing Evelyn around in her abominable snowman suit. She had 4 or 5 different layers on I think. 

The weekend we were here was the coldest place we've ever been. The wind howled and the snow blew the first night we were there, and it was said the wind chill got down to at least -30 degrees. A lot of pipes froze and heaters went out, so it saw Tyler's dad (an HVAC repairman), on a lot of repair calls the next day. This was also the trip where we figured out Ben has a cat allergy. We stayed in a room where the family cat had been, and Ben felt like he couldn't breathe all weekend. When he got home, he took an allergy pill, and the reaction went away, so we figured it was the cat and the guess has been proven correct a number of times since. 

Growing up

 These teeth cut through during the Christmas break, and Evelyn wasn't cranky about them, just very vocal. One Sunday in Sacrament Meeting I had to leave the chapel because she was squealing and talking quite loudly. It was awfully cute, but really loud as well. 

 Figuring out the high chair toys are not as cool as she once thought.

 Being a good eater. Still spitting up though. 

 Solidly sitting up at six months. She loved being a bit more vertical on her own. 

Such a cute girl. 

 Hiding in the couch. 

 Daddy tried to get her to wear the Red Sox hat, but she wasn't having any of it. 

 By seven months, she was scooting around and leaving her blanketed play zone. 

It was a lot of work trying to rip that book off the shelf though.

  Push-ups aren't an easy thing to do when you can't crawl yet!

 Hanging out with Dad. Poor kid, her cheeks were chapped from the dry winter air. 

 She found a ping pong ball one day, which I eventually took away, but not before I took pictures of her. 

 Going back for more. 

 Here she is, figuring out how to make her crib more fun to play in. Stinker. 

Prunes are yummy! She was a little constipated, so she got a daily dose of pureed prunes. 

Merry Christmas and New Year's in Idaho

 The little Christmas tree we left in our apartment. It was the only Christmas tree we had for the first 7 years of our married life I think. 

 We had Christmas dinner in the almost finished home of Tom and Patricia, who had recently moved from California to Idaho. 

Grandma Cluff and Ben making sure pie is served. 

 Christmas morning Halloween themed pajamas. Ben and I had gotten our pairs from the Gibbons grandparents, and Michelle already had hers. Grandma Cluff thought we were strange. 

 Evelyn trying to eat the soft puppets she was given. She was teething and everything went into her mouth at this point. 

 Eating the wrapping paper was good enough for her. 

 Reading one of the books Uncle Dan gave Evelyn. 

Movies and video games, favored gifts of Cluff men. 

 Auntie Chelle and Evie getting their mohawks on. 

 "Egg Baby," as I called this position. She was munching on her toes. 

 A visit to Grandma's favorite hair salon got Mom a new hair cut and Evelyn a chance to sit in the spinny chair. She was really good for the whole appointment. 

 Visiting with our friends, the Rowleys, later in the day. 

 Evelyn loved to watch me make faces in the mirror and laugh at them. 

 Dan, Ben, and Grandpa playing video games together. They pulled an all-nighter to beat Halo together. 

Evelyn eating the exercise ball and getting a snuggle from Uncle Dan. 

 Evelyn got toys that kept her occupied in the high chair at Grandma's house. 

 One afternoon the young adults took off to McCall to go tubing. Grandma and Grandpa watched Evelyn for us. 

It was a lot of fun, and one of the first times I'd been tubing since I was a young teenager. 

 We tried to take a family picture in the basement, but it didn't work out so well. This is the best one we got with Dan's awesome mustache.

 Evelyn figured out how to sit up in the bassinet portion of her portable crib and play with the toys at Grandma's house. In just a few more weeks time, I had to put her down on the floor of it because she was trying to stand up in it.

December

Evelyn being cute in her dress.  

Evelyn rolling over to eat Maggie. 

 For some reason I don't remember, Grandma Cluff was in town during the first part of the month and helped Evelyn do some of her first cereal feedings. 

Dressed in her fleece suit from Grandma Gibbons, ready to go out on a walk with Mom. I love her expression and flailing arms.  

 Dressed up at the Hafen Family Christmas party. 

We headed to Washington before Christmas to visit the Gibbons family.  

Eating a Christmas Eve Eve dinner.  

Ben helping Kaden find his Christmas present.   

 Aunt Nicole playing with Evelyn. 

 Kaden watching Evelyn eat her Christmas present. 

Family shot before heading back to Idaho for Christmas.