Christmas Letter

December 2008
Dear Family and Friends,

Another year has come and gone, and we are excited to share some of the year’s joys with you this holiday season:

Hannah celebrated her first birthday this March. It was a great time to be one, because Mommy fully expected Hannah to eat the cake all by herself. Hannah has since demonstrated a profound love o f all that is sweet, topping it all off by being a Daddy’s girl. Hannah is now almost 2, and is a walking, talking, singing, dancing fool. Her favorites? Well, let’s look at them together…

· Food? Pizza, String Cheese, Bananas
· Drink? Water
· TV show? Basketball games with Daddy.
· Song? Twinkle
· Christmas Song? Silent Night
· Primary Song? I am a Child of God
· Activity? Read books, love the Kitty, go on walks. Did we mention read books?
· Favorite Quirk? Hannah has become adept at taking off her clothes during bedtime and will sleep naked in her crib, until she pees on herself.

Hannah is enjoying her very long hair; it goes mid way down her back. She is also a never-ending energy machine. She loves books, music, strollers, trains, and teddy bears. Nanna, as we like to call her, amazes us all the time with her growing knowledge. She can count to ten, sing songs, and carry on very cute conversations. We sure love her lots!

Cary is doing very well. She does a great job making sure everything runs well. Between her calling as Laurel advisor, being a mom and social butterfly, she finds herself very busy. She was called to be on the Brighton Girls Camp Executive Committee this year, and enjoyed planning firesides for Brighton, as well as chairing the music committee at the girls camp. Her first year was a lot of fun for the family, and we did quite a few hikes up in the mountains. Cary learned that Hannah can sit still for more than 15 seconds if she is strapped to Cary’s back for a hike in the mountains. The biggest thing in Cary’s life right now is her growing belly. Although her husband cannot see it, Cary feels our next son growing big and strong in her tummy. We’re all very excited to welcome him to our home, due the end of May 2009.

Keven has been busy too. In June, he was offered a job with a different company in order to help them get an insulation division off the ground. Four months later, he moved back to Superior Insulation in order to help them get a drywall division off the ground. He loves the challenge and even in this down economy sees growth coming to the company through his efforts. We are excited to see where this new adventure will lead us. He is also going to school, and serving as 2nd Counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency. Besides work, Keven finds odd things for himself to do. He is known throughout the family as the ultimate wheeler and dealer, always finding a way to do some little project he wants. His latest have been building his own dream computer, and now he is trying to fix an HDTV that he got for free.

In conclusion, life continues to move onward. We are grateful for all we have, and recognize that many of you have been instrumental in making these blessings possible in our lives. We pray that during this special time of year we can all grow stronger together and stronger in our convictions of truth.

May we end this letter by saying GO UTAH! BCS BUSTERS x2 !!! Merry Christmas!

A Quick Story

My cute husband will probably kill me for sharing this story but it is too funny to not share!

Keven has a habit of talking in his sleep. He doesn't do it often, just everyone now and then. Well the other night he woke me up in the middle of the night and proceeded to tell me that he needed to find a special place to put the remote control to the T.V. I thought this was such a funny thing that I just laughed at him and turned over to go back to sleep, wishing him well in his pursuit for a special place for the remote control. That was 3 days ago........and since then we cannot find the remote control anywhere! We have looked and looked but to no avail. So apparently he found a VERY special place for the remote! So special, we can't find it!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, I think it is hilarious! And I love to tease Keven! So, if anyone knows any "special" places for remote controls let us know!

It's A......

B O Y !!!!!!!!

We are still in slight awe at the fact that this Wall family is getting a boy! You see, all the grandchildren on Keven's side of the family are girls so having a boy is a new thing for us. Keven and I both suspected it was a boy but we were too afraid to voice much of our thoughts because in the Wall Family you usually get girls. Girls are great -- we love Hannah to pieces! -- but we are very excited to have a boy!

To answer a few questions -

1. Hannah is still grasping the idea of a new baby but she says she is happy for a brother. When asked what we could name him she said "Boobi".

2. We have no idea what we are going to name him. In fact, we are totally up for suggestions if you feel the need to share!!!

And thanks again to our cousin Heather who is a super great ultrasound tech! Thanks for the sneak peek!!

November Update....without the Pictures

Wow! Is everyone shocked?? I am blogging two days in a row! Shocker, I know.

I decided that since I cannot get my pictures to upload I am going to try to share our latest highlights with words. So as Hannah says --- "Ready, Set, Go!"

*We have decided that Hannah does not know how to say YES. Don't you worry, she can say no, but we do not think she knows the word YES. We are working on that one!

*A few weeks ago I attended a shower for Katy Merrell Blommer. My sister-in-laws and I made an awesome diaper cake! It looked so cute! I will have to post that picture when I am able to!

*Hannah has started undressing herself after we put her to bed. We never know what state we will find her in in the morning. This makes for an exciting start of the day! My personal favorite is when she is stark naked with no diaper on.

*We had a shower for an old neighborhood friend a few weeks ago. It was like an old 10th ward reunion! Loved seeing friends and past Young Women leaders!

*UTAH smashed BYU!!!! Oh my, that was truly lovely! We got Hannah decked out in red and enjoyed watching Aunt Jamie eat humble pie!! Go Utes!!!

*Thanksgiving was great! I am always up for a turkey dinner! Keven made an awesome chocolate strawberry cheesecake. It was super good, and this coming from a person who does not typically enjoy cheesecake.

*We went and saw the lights at Thanksgiving Point. Hannah was mesmerized!

*We find out what we are having in just a few days! Get excited my friends, we certainly are!!!

Stupid Computers!!

Okay, I have been trying to upload some pictures for the last hour and it isn't working. Stupid computers! And stupid Windows Vista! Oh well, just know that SOMETIME in the near future I will hopefully get our cute November pictures up!

To Answer a Question.......

So...for the past 6 months or so I have found that I am asked the same question over and over again -- "Hannah is getting big, when is the next baby coming?!"

I am usually weary of asking people questions like this because you never know who may actually be trying to get pregnant or who is having issues in this regard.  

I am not bothered when people tease me about it.  I think it is just the Mormon culture we live in to assume that when a child reaches a year or more you can expect an announcement of another baby to arrive.

So....to answer a question that EVERYONE seems to be asking ----  YES - we are pregnant! 

 It's funny how everyone guesses things before you say something.  When we told our families we were pregnant I swear no one was shocked.  Most people we have told were expecting this announcement from us.  How funny, I guess we are very predictable.

So to answer some more questions...

1.  We are due May 18th.

2.  Hannah will be 2 years and 2 months when the next baby is born.

3.  We would love to have a boy, but we would also love to have a girl.  We really just want a healthy baby!

4.  Yes, we are super excited to welcome another child into our home!

Halloween 2008!

Can you believe it??  I am blogging again in just a matter of days!  Go me!

Ta da....here we have Hannah in her cute costume!!  She really liked getting dressed up, except for the wig.  Thanks again to our neighbor, Becca, who made the costume!

We took Hannah into my Mom's work to do a little trick or treating and she was a big fan.  I honestly think Hannah has had more candy in the last few days then she has had in her entire life!

Here is our treat spread for the evening.  We have a tradition of making homemade rootbeer and cookies.  Gotta love that!

 Hannah held her own pretty well when it came to trick-or-treating.  She walked a few streets on her own while the other kids her age were in strollers.  

This is Hannah and her counter part, Caleb.  Super cute!

Bad Blogger!!!

So, I have officially been a horrible blogger.  I have also been a horrible blog checker.  But I really am going to try and be better.  Everyone has such cute posts and fun things on their blogs, it inspires me to be better.  I really am not an artsy person.  For example, I hate scrap booking - which I must state reminds me of blogging in a way.  I am not saying I hate blogging, just that I enjoy taking a walk or reading a book better.  BUT I am going to be better!  Just you wait!

Here is  a taste of the things we have been up to the past few months:

The Garden..

Things went quite well for our first year at gardening.  We had more than enough Zucchini to share.  The green peppers were good.  Our tomatoes were REALLY small.  The rest of the things we planted didn't really turn out as we are pretty sure we didn't water enough.  Better luck next year!!

Keven's Projects.....

Keven is a superman!  Here is our new kitchen floor done by the creative Keven.  Also, the bread you see down below is Keven's latest hobby.  Sometimes his cooking skills really put me to shame.  But I am okay to admit that cooking is probably not one of my strong points.

Our Cute Hannah Banana...

What can we say, Hannah is so cute!  She is constantly making us laugh and surprising us with her expounding knowledge.  She can say anything!  Lately I have been able to get her to smile at the camera too!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween to everyone!  We are super excited to take Hannah treat-or-tricking!  I will post pictures of her cute costume soon - thanks to Becca!  And don't be shocked, I will probably post tomorrow or in the next few days so get excited!!

Picture-less

***The following message from Cary has a correction by Keven-the editor in chief***

It is a rare occurrence that a post needs correction, but that speaks to it's importance.  Be it known that Cary's camera is not in Keven's car but in Cary's car.  Cary will verify this fact with all who care to investigate the facts.  Thank you-  Keven (Editor-in-Chief)

I have been trying to remember to get our camera from the place that eats things:  that would be Keven's car.  Whenever an item goes in there I may not see it for a long time, and that is my story for this picture-less post.  I keep forgetting to get the camera from Keven so I can update our last couple of weeks.  So, here are some highlights without lovely pictures.

**Hannah was found ringing her fleece pants in the toilet.

**Dinner with the Romney's.  Yahoo for the never-ending pasta bowl at the Olive Garden!

**Hannah tells us that EVERYTHING is loud.  

**The Canyon Rim GNO was great!  

**Ward Volleyball - love it, love it!

**Keven finishing our kitchen floor!  

**Hannah asks me to sing all throughout the day.

**Cookie making with Grandma, aunts, and cousins.

**Hannah got tackled by our neighbor, Mitchell.  It was hilarious!

**The General Relief Society Meeting.

**Hannah saying "Hi Mommy" and "Love you Daddy".

Hannah's Fashion Tips

Lately Hannah has been super into dressing herself.  She continually pulls her clothes out of her dresser and tries to put them on.  It is now typical throughout the day to hear Hannah yell out in frustration and come into her room to find her tangled up in a shirt or struggling to put Keven's socks on.  

I thought I would give you some of the fashion statements that Hannah is pursuing quite frequently these days!

I took this a few weeks ago and had to post it because I think it is so cute!  I can never get Hannah to hold still for the camera so pictures with her smiling and looking at the camera are rare and few.

This is Keven as he is working on a little kitchen project of laying new tile.  I am hoping that this little project is done before the Canyon Rim GNO!  Hopefully giving Keven a deadline will encourage a timely finish! 

Here is another catch-up post with the latest of our activities!

We spent Labor Day weekend with the Wall Family at Payson Lake.  We had a great time, but have found that camping with kids makes you super dirty!  Hannah loved playing in the dirt, I think that really was the favorite activity for her and all the cousins!  Here is Hannah in the stroller with cousin Madison.  

Cousin Kaden was super nice to share his ball and play with Hannah.

Can you see the dirt???  It seemed the kids just rolled in the dirt!

Cute Madison!

What a super cute family!!

Grandma and Grandpa Wall

This is the parents attempt to get a picture of all the little cousins.  It was pretty funny trying to get them to hold still and look our direction for a simple picture.

Hannah and Lily playing ring around the rosies!

WELCOME TO ELLENIE MAE LESKO!!!!  She was born 5 weeks early, weighing in at 5lbs and 110zs.  Elle is a super trooper, as are her proud family - Sean, Jamie, and Maleia.  What a crazy surprise that has definitely had some ups and downs. But baby Elle is now at home and doing great!

We were able to go to Wheeler Farm with Whitney and the cousins.  I took Hannah and Maleia to see the cows and they were not big fans.  A certain cow kept mooing at them as loud as he could and they both cried.

Maleia was able to play at our house for a few days last week while Mommy was with Baby Elle.  They are such funny playmates.

And here are some family pictures from a bridal shower for my cousin, Kaydrielle.  Here are Mom, Kelly, and Aunt Cindy.

Kaydrielle, the beautiful bride!

Erin, Stacy, Baby Liliana, and Aunt Gloria

And finally, Keven and I recently celebrated our 3rd anniversary!  Crazy, it seems like we have been married forever!  Keven makes fun of me when I say this because he thinks I mean being married to him has been too much work, but that is far from the case!  It just seems so natural to be married and I have a hard time remembering differently!  Yahoo for 3 years and many more great ones to come!

We were able to make a quick getaway trip to St. George for the weekend where we also saw Les Mis at Tuacahn Ampitheater.  It was incredible!!!

Little addition by Keven:  If anybody hasn't seen Les Miserables, (or has seen it somewhere else) it is worth the trip to St. George to see it amidst the red rocks.  Besides, they did an awesome job!  I want to go back...the only bad part about the whole trip was a blocked extra point...

Once again, more pictures!

Once again, it's been a long time since I have blogged.  I guess that is what happens in the summer for me!

Here is me with my cute friend, Taco.  She was my camper when I was a counselor at Brighton Girls Camp several years ago.  She was a counselor up there this past summer and did a great job!

Yahoo for Breakfast at Chicks!!  These are my Heber breakfast pals!  Once again, we missed you Heather and Nicky!!

This is my cute family up in American Fork canyon where we went camping for the weekend.

Here is Hannah, she loved the water jug.

So, this is a typical picture of Hannah during the day.  The first thing she does after breakfast and getting dressed is "read" through her books.  It is super cute!

Keven and I got the opportunity to go backpacking with the Scouts in our ward this past weekend.  I have never hiked Mt. Timp before and let me tell you it was a good workout!  Here is Keven and I at the top in the shack we slept in.

This is a view of the mountainside.

Here is Keven and I with our packs on the way down.  And I must say that I have done a good deal of hiking in my day but my calfs have never been as sore as they are from this backpacking trip!

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures!

Sorry all, bear with me. It's been such a long time since I have posted and there have been lots of fun Wall events!

First, here is Hannah on her first ride on the Merry-go-round at Lagoon. She was a big fan!
Matt, Bradley, and Mom on the train
Lydia and Ray
Yahoo for good friends! We were able to get together with some of our Soriety/Institute gang for a barbecue. It's been SO long since we have been together, there are several out of state, but we had a great time! Heather and Nicki, we missed ya! And Christian too!
Hannah and cute Tate had a great time playing in the pool. And they were good at giving loves.
Here is Hannah and I on one of our hike adventures. Hannah is a great hiker and I love getting out in the mountains I love.

Cute Aunt Strings has been a great hiking buddy with us.
Lake Mary, one of my favorite hiking spots.
Hannah and our trusty pack! She never sits still, but she loves to hike in this thing. Gotta love it!

And now for the Days of 47 Rodeo! I had never been to a Rodeo before and but I enjoyed it.
Thanks to Russ for the tickets, the YW leaders who let me skip out to go, and for fun family to go with!
Keven and I hosted the 2nd annual block party we have for the 24th of July. We had a great turn out last year and this year was the same! This is Hannah's friend Chloe, who is such a good pal to her.

Missy and Missie
Keven, Mr. Dahl, and our lovely next door neighbor, Aletha.
Karlene, Kelly, and Kylie

And now, the latest adventure, Girls camp!! Here is Jolene, our handy and wonderful Camp Director!
Getting ready to leave - Missie, Amelia, and I.

Learning our camp theme song.
Swimming in Park City.
Sky ride in Park City.

Gotta love skits!
These gals are sporting the lovely bones they found on our hike.
Amy and Tamarra helping make dinner. Straight up!

Bishop Bradshaw being a great sport by wearing our one of the birthday/dinner hats.
Courtney spiced up her hat just a little.
Go Canyon Rim Ward Women of Worth!!!

These are my fabulous Youth Leaders! They were a great help to me!
Brother Skoubye and Bishop Elkins were so great to be with us the entire trip!
Getting ready to go home! Do we look dirty? or tired?

Thanks to the awesome YW leaders I was able to work and spend time with. You ladies are grand! Thanks for such a great trip and all the learning that came with it! Sure love you gals!

Last but not least, Brighton Date night. Keven and I were able to get a babysitter(Thanks Amy!) and go play with our Committe and Brighton friends. This is Keven doing a rope event called the Perch.
Yahoo for Ribbit! This is us by the NEW bunk beds up at camp! Yes all you past Brighton staffers you are seeing and reading correctly, ALL the cabins at Brighton got new bunk beds this year! They are amazing!
Here is my ending picture. How beautiful, I love the outdoors!