This is what I looked like the first time around.

This is what I looked like the second time around.

I wonder what I am going to look like this time around.

Skiing

Rick has been wanting to teach Athen how to ski for a long time. He wanted to teach him last year but I thought he was a little too young. He had just turned 2. Now that he has just turned 3 I think he is old enough. They headed up to the canyons and he did a good job. He did it all by himself. At the end of the day Rick decided to go up to the bigger slope with Athen. He skiied down with him in between his legs. It was a real work out for Rick but Athen loved it. When ever Rick needed to take a break Athen would say "let's keep going, faster faster."

These pictures melt my heart. My cute little boy skiing down the hill. He's going to be good like his father.

 Rick made a snowman with the boys. They used coal for the eyes, a carrot for the nose and Athen wanted a tongue so they used a red piece of material. They had so much fun.

Christmas

 Here is Athen decorating our little Christmas tree. We bought a small fake tree this year because Crew likes to get into every thing. We knew we had to put it up on the table so he couldn't reach it. We used our lighted ribbon garland to add a little fun to it. We use all the kid ornaments and the ornaments that I had growing up to decorate it. It was perfect for the kids.

 Our Christmas books all wrapped up with string and brown paper bags. We read a story each night before bed.

 Rick, his mustache and the boys.

 Christmas morning when the boys came out.

 After we had Christmas morning we headed to Utah. There was lots of snow so we sled down the front yard at the Binghams. The kids loved it.

Buns

This picture makes me laugh. Gotta love those buns. Athen needed to go to the bathroom really bad when we were on our way to my dad's house in San Jose. He was dancing in his seat wanting to go to the bathroom.

We pulled over and tried to get him to go but he HATES going anywhere other then the toilet. He will not go on the tree, in the snow or anywhere else outside. We stood there for a while with no luck. We put him back in the car and he danced in his seat until we got to my dad's house. Luckily, he doesn't like wet pants (or any wet clothes for that matter) so he will hold it until he gets to a toilet. He has only peed his pants a few times in the last year since we potty trained him.

Athen's birthday

Athen turned 3 in the beginning of December. This year I decided not to go all out for a birthday party. There is just too much going on in life right now. I think the may reason is, I don't want to have people over to our place for a party. We live in this small old gross apartment that drives me crazy and the thought of entertaining people there just doesn't appeal to me.

A few days before his birthday his friends Hailey and Brady had a birthday party so for the next several days he kept on saying "when my friends come to my party and sing happy birthday to me". I thought maybe he would forget but of course no. So on the day of his birthday still with no plans of a party I tried to make it a special day. After we went to the gym in the morning we walked across the street to the new bakery and I let him pick out what ever birthday treat he wanted. He picked out a blueberry corn muffin.

After the gym we made cupcakes together. He wanted cupcakes (not cake) with yellow frosting and marshmallows and sprinkles on top, so that is exactly what we made. He carefully placed one mini marshmallow on top of each cupcake. He did not take one single bite of his birthday cupcakes because he doesn't like cake or sweets for that matter but he still wanted it.

That evening Rick came home a little early and suggested we go to Chuck e Cheese for his birthday. It was a perfect idea. Our little family headed over to Chuck e Cheese with our yellow cupcakes and ordered pepperoni pizza. We ate pizza, played lots of games, got lots of prizes and sang happy birthday while he blew out his candles. It ended up being a fun and memorable birthday for him. Thanks to Rick for saving the day.

Crew is the wild child so of course he was climbing up on all the games.

This is Athen and Crew dancing with Chuckee to the music.

My big boy blowing out his candles.

Athen is a good big brother. He loves Crew and calls him his best friend. I asked him who he plays with in nursery and he said "Crew, he's my best friend". It melted my heart. He is a smart boy and learns quickly. He knows his ABC's, 123's, shapes, colors, and is learning his sounds. He is like a little sponge, absorbing everything we say and do. He loves chicken tikka masala, naan and shrimp. He has a very sophisticated palate for his age. He likes calamari, steak, vegetables, seafood, thai, chinese, indian, mexican and eating out at nice restaurants. He doesn't like sweets much and still only takes two licks of his lollipop and then hands it over. He loves riding his balance bike and doesn't like his pedal bike much. We hope to work on that more when we finally get our house. He has managed to change our living room into a parcourse by jumping from the couch to the trunk, to the chair, to the end table with out touching the ground.

This kid is a great little boy and we love him to pieces.

Family

My friend Janelle has taken our family pictures several times now. Here is our most recent session. She has recently started her own photography business. You can find her website at: http://www.janelle-evansphoto.com

Thanksgiving

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving. We spent about 10 days or so there. I didn't take many pictures while we were there, but we had a great time.

My little sister Lauren, her boyfriend Joe, brother in law Mats, and twin sister Mariah and then of course Ricky, his beard and I at the bottom.

We went to temple square to see the Christmas lights and we brought David & Caitlyn (Rick's little sister and husband), Lauren & Joe, and Mariah with us. 

My sister's and I (twin Mariah on the left and little sister Lauren in the middle.)