Savanna has always liked the snow and of course being out in it! I got her a snow suit and turned her loose. She has a blast trudging through the snow and making snow balls, but the funniest part was when she would kneel down, plant her face in the snow and take a bite! What a weirdo!
We had a wonderful Christmas as always, although the whole season has seemed to just fly by. We had a lot of fun leading up to Christmas attending all the parties and family fun. We went to the Lindon City tree lighting and hot chocolate at Nana’s, the Spanish Fork Christmas Light Parade, a Christmas story time at our library, our annual party with our friends, and two times to the mall to ride the train. Savanna was too scared to actually see Santa, but that’s alright! My mom came over on Christmas Eve and gave Savanna her new kitchen! She also got new food and dishes for it and has a ton of fun! Everything was great and now I am looking forward to resting for a spell!
I wanted to post some pictures of the kids all dressed up for church. I thought they looked very sharp together. Miles wouldn’t smile and when I asked Savanna to give Miles a kiss for one of the pictures, she smothered him! But at least you can see her cute hair that took me awhile and a lot of “hold still!” comments from me. I also wanted to share an experience we had the previous day. We attend the baptism of Austin Anderson, his dad Ben has been James’ best friend since they were kids. First of all it makes me feel very old that someone I went to high school with has a child old enough to be baptized! But secondly, it just goes to show how far we come in life and how quickly it goes by. The baptism was wonderful and Austin seemed very happy and proud to be baptized. He is such a nice kid and he loves little kids and tried to talk to and play with Savanna, of course she was putting on her I’m shy act, but it was cute anyway. It was a stake baptism, so of course there were several children being baptized. Their stake primary president (or counselor, I’m not sure) gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. To my surprise Savanna must have been listening because she said to me, what’s that mom? I said, the Holy Ghost? Yeah, she says. So I told her that when you get older and dad baptizes you, you will get the gift of the Holy Ghost to help you feel safe and happy. She looked at me for a minute and said, no, I don’t want that. Oh well, I tried!
We had a pretty good Halloween this year. We went to my moms’ work party for lunch. It was pretty much an excuse for all the employees to show off their kids and grandkids, but it was fun. Later on we went to the trunk or treat at our church which we have never done before. It was really fun! Now that I am in primary and starting to get to know some of the kids it was fun to see all the different costumes. Also, people were very generous handing out handfuls of candy at each car! Then we went home and got James and went out Trick-or-Treating! We cheated and drove out of the ghetto to a nicer neighbor hood and got some more loot. Savanna was being really funny, at first she would not say trick or treat or thank you. Finally I told her she had to at least say thank you for the candy or else I would eat it all. That worked! Then eventually she said trick or treat. After trick-or-treat we came home and made nachos and stuffed our faces! It was a pretty good night! I can’t wait for next year when they are both a bit older and get more into it.
I took Savanna and Miles to Pumpkinland today. Every October Vineyard Nursery in Orem opens Pumpkinland for children to explore. They have a corn maze, a selection of farm animals to see, a playground, a kid friendly spook house, and of course, the pumpkin patch. We went last year and really had fun, so we went again. This time Savanna and I actually found our way through the maze instead of cheating and taking the shortcut, hence the victory picture of Savanna at the exit. She had a blast and got filthy and we all got to enjoy some fresh air on a beautiful fall day. FYI, the reason Miles isn’t in any of the pictures is because he was asleep in the front carrier the whole time, making the experience that
much easier! Next year will be awesome because they will both be able to run around and play together. Happy Hallowee
n everyone! 
James made this marble works for Savanna’s birthday last year. I had a request to post a picture of it, so here you go! It is very cool and even though it’s almost been year since she got it, Savanna plays with it everyday. The house is covered in marbles as a result, but it’s worth it. James is already talking about building a new one for Miles. 
Savanna had her first ever dental check-up today! I was very nervous that the experience would be just awful. James prepared me by saying, you know she’s not going to be okay with some stranger messing with her face. However she surprised me! She did great! She did everything she was asked and didn’t cry or protest at all! The office we went to was a pediatric dental office so they were prepared. There had TV screens on the ceiling and she watched Cars as she had her teeth cleaned and while the dentist looked at them. Best part of all,
NO CAVITIES! YEA! The only concern was she has a very slight overbite caused by sucking her thumb. The dentist showed me some torture devices she could wear to stop the sucking, but he said that because she’s still young she will probably just grow out of it and we should help her along all we can. Amanda do you have any suggestions how to get her to stop? Anyway, it went well and I’m happy!
I just wanted to post some cute pics of the kids! Enjoy!
One of my friends made this blanket for Savanna when she was born. It has since become her favorite possession. Known as “big blankie”, it goes everywhere with her and is almost a part of the family. I catch myself referring to the blanket at “her”. Whenever I wash big blankie it is a big deal and Savanna has to check the dryer a few times to make sure she is okay. One thing she started doing awhile ago was putting the corner of the blanket in her nose while she sucks her thumb, the ultimate comfort for my daughter. Recently, though it has become even weirder. She now has a specific corner she prefers for her nose, referred to as “the right corner”. I have been awakened several time in the night to her crying saying she needs the right corner. I hand her each corner and like a blind person touching someone’s face to see what they look like, she carefully examines each corner until 
she has found the right one, puts it in her nose, her thumb in her mouth and goes back to sleep. You know, this has just become a part of life at our house, but now that I am writing it down, oh boy!
Miles had his 2 month checkup yesterday and is doing great. He weighs 13.5 pounds and is in the 90th percentile for height and weight! Dr. Clayton said he has very good eye contact for a baby his age and is very healthy. He wailed quite a lot when he got his shots and has been pretty grumpy since then, but he still smiled for the camera! A funny side note, when the doctor opened Miles’ diaper to check his “boy parts” he peed on Savanna! It was pretty funny!