Pony Sleepover

 One night while Alan was gone, Faye and I had a slumber party!  We made popcorn, snuggled up on the couch and watched "My Little Pony," and even found a place to design your own ponies!

Faye the Pegasus pony. She's still just a filly, so no cutie mark for her just yet. 

Alan the other Pegasus pony.  He has what is probably the most common cutie mark for bronies, luckily he's a dad an can get away with having a pony avatar.

And a Hannah earth pony!  With some spunk and a cupcake, of course.  What a fun night we had.

Christmas Morning

Alan and I are still enjoying waking up at 7:00 on Christmas morning.  Faye woke up as her cheery little self, but was rather confused as to why there were boxes piled around her tree.  After the first few gifts, Faye began to understand the opening of wrapping paper concept, though still at a timid speed.   We are so lucky to have had so many presents from grandparents for Faye this year. 

She loves her new dishes.

And her Little People version of Ariel's castle.  She was so excited to play with everything.

Batman was lucky enough to go for a ride with Ariel. 

We Skyped with Alan's family.  Faye was so excited to see "Bampa" on Daddy's phone.  

After a round of presents at our home we headed over to spend time with my family.   Faye recieved so many fun things from Grandma, aunts and uncles.  She got so excited to see her new toys. 

It's funny how some years Christmas presents seem to have a theme.  This year the theme was "The Little Mermaid." In addition to Ariel's castle, Faye also received a ballerina Ariel, an 18" doll of Ariel, as well as a singing necklace which includes the song Ariel sings before Ursula steals her voice. It seemed appropriate to watch the "Little Mermaid" for some quite time after the morning excitement. 

Here she is in the action of the moment singing along with Ariel. 

Alan had to work Christmas evening- one of his last nights with Fairchild- so he returned home to sleep before his shift.  Faye and I stayed with my family and enjoyed visiting the Calvert Clan, a very loud and competitive round of Wii Bowling, and some down time.  It was so nice to enjoy a relaxing Christmas day.  I'm grateful we got to spend some time with Alan's family and share some of the Christmas fun with them.

Daily Happenings Update

Faye and I have managed to keep busy during the days, especially since we typically have Viv to keep us company.  Here's a bit of what we've been up to.

I've made a habit of writing Faye's name out frequently: every time we color, with play-dough, on her Christmas Tree.  She sometimes will say the letters with me as we spell it out.

Since our apartment is a bit small, we decided not to set up our Christmas Tree this year.  Instead I cut out a felt tree for Faye to enjoy.  

 I love seeing Faye explore and figure things out for herself.  She definitely found a more fashionable way to wear a stethoscope!

Faye's learned how to drag chairs to the counters to reach items further back on the counter top.  For instance, today, it the time it took me to take Viv out of the bouncer, Faye dragged over a chair, climbed up, opened and poured out an entire bottle of sprinkles on the stove and floor.  She then proceeded to stuff as many as she could into her mouth before I could clean everything up.

Here Princess Faye has pulled up a stool to Grandma Lisa's sink and is giving Barbie a bath. Cracks me up.  

Faye's getting quite tall.  She is at 38.5 inches already!  This picture makes her look even longer. 

Holiday Spirit

It's that time of year again.  I can't believe how quickly the holiday season has popped up and now is nearly past.  Again, we are having another meager Christmas this year, but we have been blessed so much I truly am naught but grateful for all we have.  I am so grateful for the generosity of a neighborhood Santa who graciously left a $100 gift card to Walmart on our doorstep.  I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's answer to our prayers by helping Alan find a better job! I am grateful for family members who continue to help us with Faye while we juggle our many jobs and who have helped us buy presents this year.  I'm grateful for Alan's family who have been so kind as to share their extra vehicle with us. I am grateful for our friends with young kids who let us come play frequently.  Thank you to all who help us through this life.

Above all, I am grateful for the Savior and his sacrifice.  I am forever baffled by his generosity, mercy, and love.  My deepest wish is to help my Faye to know Jesus and to know of his love.  

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Santa Sitting

Santa and Mrs. Clause came to visit at Grandma Lisa's House this morning!  I love seeing them ride up in a red Corvette.  Faye is still quite cautious around Santa.  There were no tears, but she was very insistent on not getting too close to him.  We'd try to put her on his lap and she'd exclaim, "Woah! Woah woah woah woah woah!"  So cute.

 This is as close as Faye got to Santa, and is trying her best to get away gracefully. 

Santa and Mrs. Clause came with a bag of gifts!  Faye was lucky enough to receive a Mrs. Potato Head while Viv was given a stacking tower.  It was so fun to spend some personal time with the Clauses!  What a fun way to kick off Dino's Birthday Party.

Faye's Slight Obsession

It all started on Faye's birthday.  We gave her a stack of books with facts about different subjects: bugs, big cats, science, mythology.  The book she favors from this stack is about sharks.

We read the shark book several times a day.  Faye can even say "sark" and will growl and chomp her teeth while we look at the pictures. (I assume sharks growl, but that may be Jaws talking).

 

On a trip to Thanksgiving Point's museum of awesome, Faye picked out a stuffed animal shark from the gift shop to take home with us.  Since then, Sharky and Faye are inseparable.

They eat meals together.

 This time T-rex joined them.  Such a polite bunch.

Sleep together.

They even watch movies together.  Currently Faye's favorite movie is The Little Mermaid.  While watching it for the first time, she giggled with excitement when the shark came on screen.

If Faye finds a toy fish laying about, she will feed it to Sharky.  We often brush Sharky's teeth when it's bedtime, sing the theme song from Jaws while chasing each other around the house with Sharky, dress Sharky up in bows and tutus, and give him many kisses. 

Christmas Preperations.

We helped my mom set up her Christmas Tree this weekend.  Faye was much more interested in the big empty box than the beautifully lit Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving Photo 2013

Annual Dudley Thanksgiving Photo!  Best picture taking weather we've had in years for the Thanksgiving picture.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Johnsons!

Thankful Half

 A few months back, Camille asked for me to run a Thanksgiving Day half marathon with her.  Unfortunately, my pain levels have been so intense that running down the driveway brought tears, running 13.1 miles was out of the question.  However, I didn't want to miss out on the fun!  Thankfully Annette could join Camille in running the race, and they both put up with my loud cheers while they ran.  The race was at Thanksgiving point and on a gorgeous morning for late November.  The Johnson ladies ran wonderfully!  Camille even PRed!  The surprise of the day was Kelly driving down to meet his girls at the finish line. 

 Half a mile from the finish! 

Keeping strong!  I watched as Annette and Camille passed several runners in the final stretch.  It's so exciting just to be at a race, even if I can't be in the race.  

Kelly and his girls!  The refreshment table for the runners included the usual bananas, Gatorade, and water but also included some Turkey Day treats including Pumpkin Pie and frozen turkeys for the runners to take home!  So much fun.  Way to go, Annette and Camille!  Hopefully I can join in the fun next time.

Little Cuties

 After a year of being consumed with cake decorating, I remembered how much I liked taking pictures!  We took Faye and Miss P to Wheeler Farm for a friend photoshoot.  Unfortunately, I'm rusty, but hopefully the pictures turn out fantastic next time.

So much personality in such a tiny body.

Luckily the girls didn't mind if the pictures turned out fantastically or not, they were more interested in the farm animals.

Trick-or-Treat Practice

 Faye is still not talking much, and I'm hoping we can teach her to say "Trick or Treat" by Halloween.  Miss P and Holli joined us for a practice round of Trick-or-Treating today up at the District.  Luckily we had Miss P's cute voice to win over all the store employees.

Holli made Miss P the cutest pumpkin dress!  I still can't get over how adorable the whole getup is.

I have yet to dig out Faye's costume for this year.  So, as an improvisation, Faye was a scarecrow today.

Break time to check out their loot!

We ended our Trick-or-Treating spree at Marble Slab to find our sweet Tilly ready to play!  The girls had a blast chasing each other around in circles and eating some tasty ice cream.

After ice cream and a bit of candy, the girls were on a bit of a sugar high.  We took them to a park to work off their extra energy.  Miss P enjoyed pushing sticks through the holes of the playground stairs.

Faye loves to climb up to the biggest slide at any playground, but then is content to sit up high instead of enjoying the slide.  

Luckily we still have a week to work on saying "Trick-or-Treat."  Hopefully Faye will get it down by the big day.

Birthday Get-Away

 Alan's request for his birthday was to spend time at the Stratford Family Cabin.  Luckily his birthday was the same week as fall break, so we happily trekked northward for some down time.

We stopped at the local market for supplies.  Logically, as we saw the giant pile of pumpkins, we suck out baby in the middle of them.  

It's always a good day at the cabin.  We are grateful to have had the chance to stay. The weather was perfectly crisp and plenty of leaves were on the ground to crunch.  Even better, we were joined by Samm, Amy, and their wee lass.

Faye and Kaylee happily coloring together while the grown ups played games.

 The girls loved playing in all the leaves.

After Samm and Amy's clan left we enjoyed some family time together.  We went for a walk to check out the neighboring cabins/houses.  Faye did so well running up all the hills! 

Of course, after a good walk what's better than some ice cream.  Alan taught Faye the proper way to dish out dessert.

Even though we only spent two nights at the cabin, we had a blast!  Faye was worn out from all the fun.  Luckily Woody was willing to snuggle her on the car ride home.