Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we got together with the four other families in the cul-de-sac who were staying for Christmas. We all had dinner at our place and very much enjoyed the evening. The food was delicious and of course the company was wonderful-thanks for a great night you guys!

Jon, Shandra, Richard, Chuck, Shay

Braden and Nikki

Tom and Jamie


Marshall opening his Christmas pajamas!

Leake Family Christmas pajamas picture-I just love Marshall's Batman flannel pajamas!

After we put Marshall to bed we got everything set up for Christmas morning-it was SO much fun and probably the highlight of my Christmas! Christmas is so much fun when you have kids-talk about anticipation and excitement-can't wait for next year!

This is what Richard had the privilege of setting up for Marshall on Christmas Eve. My parents got this for Marshall and during the whole assembling process I think Richard was regretting the approval of this present. :) I simply reminded him that this would be the first of many Christmas Eve frustrations. But, once all was said and done and now that Marshall loves to play on it, Richard is glad he stuck with it and got it all put together.
Note for my mom: The balls that came with the set needed to be inflated and once they are inflated will be fairly big and hard. So, we decided not to use them until we can take them outside lest Marshall throw them in the living room giving me cause to cut them up. :) For now, we will just use these smaller, softer BYU balls-less damage can be done!

Utah Trip-Part 2

The last night Marshall and I were in Utah we had the annual Yancey Family Christmas Eve dinner and program a couple of nights early. This has been a long-standing tradition with my mom's side of the family and my Grandma Yancey's highlight of the year.

This tradition began with young grandchildren playing simple Christmas songs on my grandma's piano and it probably lasted all of ten minutes. Over the years the talents have grown to include other instruments and singing. This year was perhaps the biggest and best year ever. We had solo and group singing, piano solos, guitars, trombones, saxaphones, book reading, dance videos, and from the great-grandkids, a welcome, letter identification, rattle-shaking, and dancing.

It was such a great evening and there were so many participants we actually had to split it into two acts-what a night! It was a fantastic way to conclude my Utah trip-the food was yummy, the talents were inspiring, and the company was wonderful. Thanks everybody-I love you all!

I wasn't able to get pictures of all the talent acts, but here's what I have...










Enjoying a cracker from the cracker drawer.


The kiddos takin' a break from all the performances, the cracker drawer proves to be much more enticing for these little ones. :)

Utah Trip-Part 1

Marshall and I were lucky enough to spend a week in Utah just before Christmas. We had a fantastic time and enjoyed seeing family and friends, here are the highlights...

Marshall had endless entertainment from his fun-filled uncles, thanks for all the laughs you guys!

Marshall and I were able to spend a day with the Leakes while we were in Utah and we had such a fun time. We had a filling lunch at Tucanos and Marshall got to spend some quality time with his cute little cousin, Katelin. After lunch we took the kids to the children's museum and let them run wild-it was great!

I just love this expression on Marshall's face-he loved these windy tubes!

Cute Katelin-love those eyes!

Marshall and Katelin did not enjoy the horse...at all!

Thanks for a fun day Leakes! It was wonderful to see all of you!

What do you think this little guy is thinking about?! He definitely gets these expressions from his dad!

Anyway, Marshall and I were able to make a few visits to my grandparents' home so they could experience some Marshall fun.

My grandparents have always had a cracker drawer that the grandkids loved and now the great-grandkids are enjoying it. My grandpa showed Marshall where it was soon after we walked in the door and Marshall proved to be a quick learner. He enjoyed many crackers from that drawer during our visits!

Marshall found this vibrating neck pillow in a cupboard; he loved it!

Marshall was fascinated with great-grandma's cane, what a silly guy. :)
















Marshall also got lots of quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Toney, they're just great and love him to pieces!

Lunch time with Grandpa Toney/G. Toney/Grandpa Du. My parents still haven't decided what their official grandparent names are going to be! :)

Marshall also got to meet his new cousin, Benson. They are just about one year apart and Benson is Marshall's first boy cousin; these two are going to be great little buddies!

Marshall was able to have his first Temple Square experience; I think he was less than thrilled. It was a pretty cold night and he wasn't really liking his stroller. So, we made a quick pass through all the lights, but did pause for a quick picture by my favorite spot-the back corner behind the Assembly Hall-always gorgeous!

And to wrap it up, at least for now, here are a few other random happenings...

Uncle Kevin and his 3-D glasses, what a stud!







Jordan's gingerbread house disaster. He was almost done and all just started caving in. Many rescue attempts were made, but there was nothing we could do but laugh, and laugh we did! Thanks for being such a good sport Jordan!





And my cute little gingerbread men for Danny. :)









And of course I have to wrap this up with a cute Marshall video-this kid just loves to dance!

Can't get enough of this

Post from Richard: I am never around anymore, so I thought I would share this with anyone that wants to see it as it is great:

Santa Claus

We had our branch Christmas party on Saturday night and Marshall had his first experience with Santa Claus, it did not go well. :)

Our good neighbor and friend, Tim, who Marshall loves, was Santa, but the suit had Marshall completely fooled-he screamed the whole time. Better luck next year!

Random Update

I know its been a little while since I've put up recent pictures and videos of Marshall, so here's a hodge-podge of our latest happenings...

A trip to the Betty-Brinn Children's Museum

Marshall and I, along with friends Mindy and Harry, had a morning out to this fun place. As you can tell from the picture, Marshall had a great time.

Marshall and Harry were always on the move, so no pictures of them together, but I can assure you, a fun time was had by all.

And, here is a great picture of Marshall...

He was watching some older kids play in a little theatre complete with a curtain. The kids were opening and closing the curtain and coming in and out of it and Marshall was completely enthralled! The following picture is my favorite!

Thanksgiving

Richard had to work on Thanksgiving morning so Marshall and I killed some time by playing with the camera. I snapped this very grown-up shot of him-what a big boy!

Now on to our feast...

We ate an incredible Thanksgiving dinner with these three wonderful couples and friends.

The food was delicious and the company was even better. Between the four families we have seven kids three and under, so there were definitely some loud and chaotic moments, but our meal itself was very calm and relaxing. The older kids played downstairs, Marshall and Duncan took their naps, and the youngest two were just content to sit in their carseats. It was great! Here are some other pictures from the day...

Setting up the Christmas tree

Marshall loves our Christmas tree, as you will be able to tell from the following pictures. We only put up non-breakable ornaments and it has proved to be a good thing!

And now for the videos...

Just a bunch of cute Marshall moments, enjoy!