Zerin Matthew Lindsey

The day after Christmas brought a late present for our family... a sweet new little baby! Although we knew he/she was coming, we had no idea he'd come so early (I was due Jan. 13th). I was extremely shocked to wake up at 2am the morning after Christmas with my water breaking. Just a few short hours later at 4:47am Zerin Matthew Lindsey blessed the world with his presence. To say we are thrilled to have him here would be an understatement. We adore this little guy! (More details will follow shortly for those who care...)

We were all surprised to find out he weighed 8lbs and was 22" long since he was almost 3 weeks early!

Zerin with our amazing Midwife, Coleen. There were 3 midwifes at our birth and I love them all. I don't know how women do it without such amazing women by their side.

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas 2010!  We had a fun Christmas day and an exciting Christmas season.  The day started bright and early, as always!  Santa brought boxes of cold cereal in the stockings for an early breakfast until we made yummy crepes with Uncle Roger a few hours later.  I love to drag out opening the gifts, only this year was a little extreme.  We started opening gifts and didn't get too far when Roger showed up for breakfast.  We stopped opening (we open one at a time) and while I made breakfast the kids played with their Santa gifts.  The time flew by playing new Wii games and basketball with a nice new indoor hoop that before we knew it it was 3:00 and time to head to our friend's for dinner and games.
We stayed at our friend's until after 9:30 and when we got home the kids of course insisted on opening the rest of the gifts.  By the time we finished it was after 10:30pm!

While I was working at the office on Christmas Eve morning, Hyrum asked Jon how he could grow a goatee.  Being the trickster that he is, Jon had fun with that one.  He told Hyrum he first had to put toothpaste on his chin, then mix and drink a concoction of vinegar, lemon juice, and pepper.  Hyrum must have really wanted to grow a goatee because he did it!  Poor boy!  I think Dad might have lost a little trust after this one.

Santa brought Lydia a huge doll house!

Santa brought Hyrum a dart gun, new winter coat, and a Wii game.

A few of the dolls Lydia got for Christmas.  She well over doubled her barbie collection.  I never really had barbies growing up; I always played at Karena's house with her barbies.  I guess, according to Karena, my brothers broke whatever barbies I did have.  Now I think I'm trying to live vicariously through Lydia.  At least I'm aware of the fact so I can try to resist my urge to buy her everything I wished I had :)

Hyrum and Jon both got new Fruitland sweatshirts and Hyrum's friend gave him this orange and black scarf-- perfect for supporting the Grizzlies!

Just to note it, Jon bought me new dishes and silverware for Christmas.  We currently have a mix match of stuff picked up along the way.  It'll be nice to have matching dishes and nice silverware!  After 10 years of marriage we're moving up in the world :)  Jon's big gift was a GPS (for hunting, not driving).

These are the last family photos before Zerin joined us (only hours later).

An early Christmas

My Mom came for a quick visit last weekend and brought Christmas presents for us. She decided that since we open so many on Christmas we might as well spread it out and open hers while she was here. The kids enjoyed that and have enjoyed playing with the gifts she gave them over the last week. So, when Howard and Gloria's gifts came from Alaska today I decided the kids might as well open those as well.

The kids showing off their new hats, jackets, and toys. They love them, thanks Gloria!

I guarantee that if Jon had to make a list of his top 5 favorite things kisses from his kids would be on the list!

Chirstmas party, McCall, and more snow!

Our ward held a "Polar Express" pajama party for the kids the day before the big ward party. The kids had a great time and got to see Santa. Lydia missed sitting on his lap though, I guess she got lost in the crowd. Thankfully, she wasn't too bummed about it.

This is the next night at the ward dinner/party. These pictures are what I get when I ask my kids to smile...

This last week we spent Wednesday night through Sunday morning in McCall at our timeshare. Of course we had to spend some time at our favorite hot springs, Gold Fork. The weather was chilly with lots of snow but the water was nice and warm. These belly shots are for Jon he really wanted them on the blog. 36 weeks and counting!

Lydia is our little fish and LOVES to swim. We barely managed to pry her out of the water after hours of swimming!

Jon took Hyrum skiing one afternoon/evening at The Little Ski Hill there in McCall. Despite the cold they had a great time!

Hyrum's snowman that's taller than he is. Way to be bud! We arrived home to snowy conditions and it snowed pretty much all evening. How beautiful and appropriate for Christmas which is fast approaching... Hooray!

Second Haircut...

...done by the Missy herself! A few months ago Lydia took the scissors to her hair and I thought that would be the one and only. I once again underestimated this little free spirit of mine! Unfortunately, this cut is going to be a little harder to disguise...

Our tree was a little tricky this year. Jon and the kids picked up a tree Saturday and that night the kids and I decorated it. Sunday night Jon and I decided the tree looked a little too dead for such a "new" tree. I like to keep my trees up until the new year and I knew there was no way that one would make it. So, Monday the kids and I undecorated the tree and that night Jon exchanged it and brought the new one in. I spent an hour or so that night cleaning up the mess that comes with hauling a tree out and then a new one in and then next morning the kids and I redecorated. As I was cleaning Monday night the thought came to me that it's kind of strange that we haul living trees into our homes. Nonetheless, I LOVE real Christmas trees and the scent they bring to my home! Definitely worth the work!

Hyrum really wanted me to take this picture of him stabbing a candy cane with his leatherman. Like a good Mom I snapped the photo and put it on the blog for him. I'm convinced I never understand the male species!

Let it Snow!

We have been blessed with a ton of snow! In the 4 1/2 years we've been here Fruitland has never canceled school due to snow, but they did the other day. I think we got around 12-14". Absolutely wonderful! My pictures don't do justice to how much snow there really is.

By the way, in preparation for a third child joining our family, we bought a van! Happy day for me :) We bought it the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to be able to drive it down to Nevada. It's a 2007 Honda Odyssey and only had 35k miles when we bought it. It's nice to have right now, but I know once the baby comes I'll REALLY be grateful for it!

Nice and dirty after the trek to Nevada and back.

With all this snow there's got to be sledding! Jon hooked up the sleds to the 4wheeler and took the kids out a couple different times. No doubt they loved it!

Lydia has grown quite fond of the projects at Home Depot that they offer the 1st Saturday of every month so when we're in town we try to get the kids there. This time Hyrum made a football holder and Lydia made a picture frame.