More Adorableness

Just wanted to post these pictures we took at my family's Christmas and before church Sunday! It's no wonder I am so in love with her.

Tradition, Tradition

I thought I would share some great holiday traditions that Jake and I do, or have started and plan to keep as traditions this year. In the comment box, leave some of your traditions too!

1. As I have shared before, each year Jake and I make goodies and take them around to neighbors, friends and relatives that live near by. We carol a song of two, and usually they invite us in. Sometimes it takes us two or three nights to get to everyone because we always stay and visit.
2. That tradition was spawned from Jake's family tradition of making treats and caroling. We also do this with his family when we got to Fresno for the holidays. Something unique about this is that they have a song I believe they made up that they sing at every house, something like" a caroling, a caroling, a caroling we go, hearts filled with music and cheeks a glow..." I think I have finally learned all the words.
3. Secret Santa- A lot of families do this, and this tradition spawned from my family's tradition of doing this growing up. We pick a family we know who could use a little extra Christmas and pick out a gift for each person as well as some food. I can remember doing this as a little kid and drawing pictures to go in the boxes. The best part is the doorbell ditching and running so you are not seen.
4. I don't love tons and tons of Christmas decor, but I do like nutcrackers. Each year I buy one that matches the year... for example last year when we moved to Heber I got a cowboy- this year I actually bought two. The first was just a short squaty one because I couldn't find a baby and he was baby-ish, but then I found a blonde girl in a red dress and bought it- because this year we had Kate. My mom did this growing up buying ornaments to match the year.
5. This tradition I made up this year. We get some store bought goodies- since the people receiving won't know us and may not want to each something strangers bring them, then we drive around the town trying to find the house who has decorated better than any other. Then we knock on their door and present to them the Freeman Family Christmas Spirit Award, a certificate and the goodies. Doesn't this sound like fun.

What a week! We started the week on Sunday with my brother Craig's mission farewell- he is headed to Tawain in three weeks! I just liked this picture of Craig and my sister Ali with Kate and wanted to post it.

As you can see from the other picture- Kate is learning new things everyday. For example, last night she learned how to sleep for 7 hours. This is one of the first times in 8 months I have got more than 6 hours of sleep! Kate did not wake until 6:oo am. She is adding words to her vocab each day. Although I still think she only knows what she is saying when she says "dog" and "dad". She loves to clap, and last night clapped through the ward Christmas program! She is slowly taking steps with the furniture for support, has learned how to take off her pants (great), pull all the books from the shelves, open the cupboards, and just when we thought I might stand a chance in this wrestling match, she learned how to climb the stairs! All this in one week! I can't wait to see what the next week brings- at this rate she'll probally be driving by the next time I post.... it is fun to watch her grow, but a little sad she has gone from baby to toddler so quickly.

Peek-a-boo, I see My Present

Kate is a very curious little girl, and very active. She is always climbing and crawling and standing on everything. Last week Jake and I bought this walker/ car for Kate for Christmas. I had it behind a chair in our living room, slightly hidden and still in the bag, and not suprisingly Kate discovered it and started trying to get the bag off, I think what she wanted was the bag though not the toy inside...not that it matters since she still doesn't know what it is or will remember seeing it, but I thought it was very funny. I took a picture and based on the face she is giving me, it looks as if she knows she is up to no good.

Christmas Top Ten

Everyone loves the holidays, but here are the top reasons why I do.

1.Getting the mail. During the holidays there is always a card or a package. No other time, except maybe when you have a baby, does the getting the mail always seem to result in your favor.
2. Christmas Caroling. Each year since we wed, Jake and I, just the two of us-will rehearse a song or two, make some goodies and head off to visit those we appreciate and love. We usually hit five or six families in the ward, as well as relatives that live nearby. I have to say that it is a tough call what is better, my treats or the singing!
3. On that note, the treats I make. White chocolate and peppermint popcorn, peanutbutter balls, and this year portable smores and joined the ranks! Not only do I like to eat these, I like to share them, mostly because I get rave reviews- I know that is silly!
4. Grandma's stockings. My Grandma Elaine has made each of her children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren these wonderful handcrafted stockings. She gave me Kate's at Thanksgiving and I am excited to have them hung up for the holidays.
5. Getting together with those I don't see often. I think this is one of everyone's favorite things about the holidays. This year we plan on spending about a week with Jake's family!
6. No work! Jake will have off for about a week at once and I will get him all to myself.
7. Decorating my tree. Jake and I have never had a real tree in five years. Why? well they are costly, and were too big for our old home, not very "green", a hassle, a fire hazard, we are usually not even home on Christmas, and this year, well Kate is my excuse. Really I might like a real tree, but it just seems more convient to keep making excuses. I decorate little fake ones usually instead. This takes some creativity. I have an assortment of mismatched ornaments that people have given me or I have made, but my misfit, fake tree usually turns out nice. It is easy to make a real tree look great with matching store bought decor, but my way is much more challenging.
8. Shopping. I love the hustle and bustle, the crowds, the music and decor. It is really a exciting experience to me, and I know not everyone feels this way.
9.Finding that perfect present. In general I think shopping for gifts is costly, stressful, and a lot of pressure to find something that somebody will really like. But when you find that perfect present there is nothing better. I am done with my shopping this year and I feel as though every gift is a homerun.
10. Remembering Christ's birth as well as his life and death. How grateful I am for a season to truly celebrate him and all he has done for me.

New Pictures... we just can't get enough!

Snapped these during bath time. Kate in the sink waiting for me to fill the tub, and after wrapped up. i thought the blue towel looked so cute with her blue eyes. Oh we just love her so much!

It's a Hit!

Dodgeball seems to have made leaps and bounds in the sports popularity contest since the movie a few years ago. Jake participated in Spanish Fork's Thanksgiving tournament yesterday with some friends in the ward. They won some and lost some, and our team actually ended up leaving the tournament before we were offically out because it was after nine and we had to wait two games just to see if we got to play for 4th place or something. As you can see from the team picture, we were a team of dads with young kids in the stands impatiently hoping to go home so we decided is was not worth it. It was a fun new thing to do though.

Let it Snow?

After some early snow storms in October, we have failed to have another. Ski resorts are SUPPOSE TO open this weekend, but with out snow this anticipated event is unlikely. I had to make these ornaments for a party a friend is having next week. Perhaps my choice of snowflakes is some kind of subliminal desire. Being in Roberts with all the trees and decor did make me want to decorate for the holidays but I am going to make myself wait until it is Decemeber. Hopefully their will be some snow then to help it feel more like Christmas!

Finally, a Haircut!

Cola had been neglected there is no question since Kate joined our home. I tried to shave her during the summer twice with some dog sheers but twice failed, and she was so horrible looking that i finally caved and took her to a groomer. There is a groomer in Daniel, near us, so I decided Kate and I would walk to drop her off, one long cold 40 minute walk later, we chose to drive to pick her up. It was much further than I had anticipated. After the haircut I realize that Cola is more robust then I last remember- it was not all hair. I think this picture is funny, she looks like a sausage!

commercial music

So apparently i watch a lot more televion than I listen to the radio. They songs playing on the blog are some recent favorite songs.... where do they come from. Two are ingrid michaelson- one is from Grey's Anatomy and the other is from the Old Navy commercial. The other is Feist- 1,2,3,4 from the IPOD Commercial. I have liked Feist before this commercial at least. But Michaelson is somebody I only know about from televison.

So my post lately have been a little lame, perhaps it is because my camera is even lamer and I have had trouble getting it to work. Sorry to those who check my blog religiously, only to find nothing worth their time.

The BabyBug Booth

So I have been making these little girl and baby hair accessories for Kate, friends, as gifts and trying to sell them on Ebay. A friend tipped me on to this Etsy site, which is like Ebay only for homeade goods. I have made a site. Please visit and tell your family and friends!

www.thebabybugbooth.etsy.com

Yesterday was Election Day, and as always Jake and I went together to vote. The thing about voting is, I am not sure how accurate it really is. In the last two years Jake and I have encountered errors with our voting, and I am sure others have found the same. Last year I voted under my new address at our new home in Heber, however my mom stated I was also registered at her address, as she saw me listed under her name, and I can only guess i was also still registered in Provo under our old address as our move had been very recent. This means had I wished to spend all day running around, and I did not fear the criminal punishment associated with casting illegal votes, i could have cast my vote thrice. Yesterday our voting experience was similarly flawed. Nobody asked to check our IDs we just walked in, signed under our name and were given those new credit card like voting cards. I voted than waited patiently for Jake to finish. He seemed to be confused and taking a while. When he joined me, I asked him how he voted, not only had we not voted the same, our ballots were different. They had different names, different referendums. Further discussion lead us to believe that my ballot was correct, but Jake's ballot was for a neighboring city. Are you kidding me? I know the people are volunteers at the voting polls, but I think this is a little absurd. What do you think? Have you any interesting voting stories from yesterday or years past?

What a Fan

Kate attended her first BYU football game on Saturday, unbelievably I failed to bring the camera. Booooo!. The game was so fun. Our ward bought tickets and had about 70 people come out. We had a tailgate party before then a large section in the upper seats together. Kate was layered up as the day before it was freezing. We put her in ther polar bear pj's and said it was a cougar. She feel asleep the first quarter, and we left as we were falling asleep into the 4th quarter as BYU was way up. Good job Cougars!

Peer Pressure....Ugggh

I have been peer pressured into this silly game. Where you list six new things about yourself and try to get six friends to do the same.

The player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves - try to find 6 you haven't already posted about! This should also be easy for me as I usually just post about Kate. Scott tagged both Jake and I, and seeing as how I know Jake will never ever do this... Perhaps I will do his as well.

Crystal's Six New Facts
Fact 1. I am a very good cleaner, my house may not always be clean, but if I have unexpected company I can get it presentable in a matter of minutes. On this note i am also somewhat obsessed with swiffer products.
Fact 2. I absolutley must take a shower first thing in the morning, before I eat breakfast or even go downstairs or else I will be a zombie until I do.
Fact 3. When I was a kid one of my favorite toys were these McDonalds happy meal food transformers... its a cheesburger... no its a alien fighter!
Fact 4. Although I have some musical talent, i have tried unsuccessfully to take up the guitar about five times in my life and have failed to learn more than a handful of songs. Is it possible my hands are just too small?
Fact 5. I really, really, really still like to listen to Whitney Houston... especially "I want to dance with somebody!" Although normally I think I have more of a socially acceptable taste in music.
Fact 6. As a young adult or teen I was convinced that I was not that artistically talented, hence one reason i became a social worker, although my dream job would be to be something artistic, a wedding planner, photographer, or having a boutique for children's clothing.

Jake's New Facts... as told by Crys
Fact 1. Jake was once held up at knife point by a drunk man.... and through compliments actually got the man to give him the knife. He IS a Sweet talker!
Fact 2. Jake takes about twice as long to get ready for bed than he does to get ready in the morning.
Fact 3. Jake absolutley hates hot things, they make him sick sometimes even. Hot tubs, hot chocolate...even really hot sun. He likes hot dogs though.
Fact 4. Jake is named after his grandfather, whose name was not Jake, but Joseph Calvin, people just shortened Joseph Calvin to Jake. But in Jake's case Jake is short for Jacob.
Fact 5. When we married Jake was a better cook than me I think. He still makes better fried chicken, egg sandwiches,rice and perfect tiered cakes.
Fact 6. Jake is one of the only people I know who did not have a cell phone until last year when his work gave cell phones to all their employees.

Sorry in advance to those I tag. Really if you don't do it I will not be offended. I refuse to peer pressure people to post things about themselves. But to follow through, I will tag Sis Amy, and Jeff Carpenter while I am at it, Natalie, Craig (though I know he will never do it)Errin and Janene(who is great at blogging).

HaLLoWEen fUN!!!

The First Snow

The first snow came this week. And it stuck. I snapped a picture of the house in the first snow. It is October 19, 2007. I can hardly remember a year we had snow that stayed before Halloween. We had two storms this weekend as well. The news was saying we had about an inch Saturday, but I could look outside and see that it was more like 4 inches. The fall just never lasts long enough.

Halloween ride

Jake and I went on a date last weekend. Just the two of us. no Kate. We went on the Haunted Heber Creeper Ride. The ride was not scary but we had never ridden this local train so it was a fun adventure.

Also I thought I would point out the puffy vest I am wearing. It is one of two I own. Jake and I are obsessed with wearing puffy vests. Sometimes when we get ready to go out independently of one another we will both we wearing one. We joke that we look like tourists.

Kate and Lisa

Jake's parents were in town for General Conference, and his sister Lisa came up for a day as well. I snapped this cute pict of Lisa and Kate together and thought I would share it.

"Patchy"

Yes Patchy is what Jake and I have been calling me since Thursday. Because as you can see in the picture below, I am wearing a patch on my eye.... no I am not trying to relive Jake's third year of life, I under went some eye surgery of my own on Thursday at the Moran Eye Center in SLC. For what? Well I had some unnamed problem with my eyelashes, poking me in the eye and scratching my lens blurring my vision. The whole experience was very interesting, they mildly sedated me, but I could see the whole thing as they cut off the lower section of my upper eyelid and reattached it. I talked to the surgeon and his students who were watching for the majority of the time. What do you talk about while your eye is being cut open you ask? Well we talked about where was good to eat around the hospital, as I was forbidden to eat anthing for the previous 18 hours, I talked to the interns about Grey's Anatomy, and then when Dr. Weinberg was doing some cutting he asked me...." Have you ever done any international travel to a 3rd world country" Why yes I replied, then listed several countries he might be interested in hearing about....Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Malaysia, China, Thailand.... as he stopped me to tell me he had found the problem with me eye. I apparently likely aquired a bacterial infection while traveling abroad and had a mild case of Trichiasis. Which he explains is the leading cause of blindness in 3rd world countires.....but can be treated- before you get to the point I was at by taking three little pills of a certain antibiotic, which he perscribed to me to take to be sure the problem will not return. Aparently some bacteria gets in your eye and creates some scar tissue pushing your lashes every which way including into your eye. Well it has been an adventure. I joke that I am going to be a pirate for Halloween. Also it has been a lesson in confidence, or finding I have more than I may have thought, as I am not self conscious in the least that i look like a modern day pirate. I would have included a pict of the actual eye, but I am afraid it is a little gross for some blogosphere readers.

Halloween Costumes

Yes I like Halloween- but no I did not buy all of these for Kate. They were gifts from various friends. You can cast your vote for the one you love most in the poll on the site.

My thoughts are

Pumpkin- is this a little overdone?

Polar Bear- a cute picture, not as cute of a costume, but if we say it is the Polar Bear from Lost it makes it awsome and

Ladybug- a little more hard to manage with the wings and boots, but I think it is what I am leaning towards.

You may notice I took the poll off. I am not sure what happened but all the votes got erased, though I think when I last checked 9 people had voted for the Ladybug, 3 for the Polar Bear and 8 for the Pumpkin. Congradulations Lady Bug Kate for winning the poll.... too bad the poll turned lame and got erased early. Oh well it will be a fun Halloween!

100 % Purebred Fan

I have mentioned in a previous post how were are conditioning Kate to be a BYU fan from birth. We had tickets for the BYU vs. Air Force game and were all ready to go in our white and blue last weekend. Then thunder clouds appeared on the horizon- so Kate stayed at Grandma Anderson's house while Jake and I went alone. It was a good game and we did not get soaked by the rain until the last quarter. We have tickets again for Nov 3rd, but I am sure Kate will not get to go to this one either as it will likely be 30 degrees outside. Too bad- she was in her BYU tennis dress and everything.

Last week I did not have much work, so I got a little bored and decided to do some sewing. I made several big blankets for Kate and then with some scraps made her this cute yellow hat. It took a few tries- she has a pretty big head. I thought this was a decent new picture of her.

Fall Top Ten

Fall is my favorite time of year- if it is not yours, here are some reasons to reconsider.

1. How every picture you take looks like it belongs in a calander- (ie, pict to the left)

2. Eating anything that is Pumpkin and Spice to include but not limited to Spice Muffins, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Bread, Chocolate Pumpking Bread, Choclate Zucchini Bread (not a pumpkin but in the squash family); and Halloween candy- also not Pumpkin but whose wouldn't list it.

3. The way it smells old outside, and like Pumpkin and Spice baked goods inside.

4. Taking a nap on the couch cuddled with Kate in the afternoon as I listen to the wind outside russle the leaves and bang the gate back and forth.

5. Halloween, my favorite holiday, costumes, candy, parties, decor, we love it all. Kate's costume is already ready to go.

6. How I can now use things, that I use all year including in the summer because i am always cold, but somehow now seem moderatle more approriate now that the temperature has dropped below 70 degrees.(ie, quilts, hoodies, the car heater, hot chocolate)

7. The Return of real primetime programming. (Prison Break, The Biggest Loser, Grey's Anatomy-thank goodness), and along with this guilt free television watching, now that it is too cold to do something outside.

8. My motivation to excersize outside increases now that it is not soooo hot.

9. College Football. Well okay only BYU football, but my husband I think is glad I have at least some interest in SOME team and SOME sport for SOME period of time.

10. Fall brings back good memories, memories of good changes, of starting school, of falling in love.

Little Trip- Big Trees

We just got back from California for our summer trip. It was Kate's first time on an airplane! One day we went with all the Fresno Freemans to the Grand Sequia National Forest to see the big trees. We had a fun trip- and saw the 2nd tallest tree in the world

Kate had fun playing with her cousins Ellie and Melissa, and seeing Uncle Dave and Mark, Aunt Emily and Elisabeth and Grandma and Grandpa Freeman. What a great long Labor Day Weekend!

We thought it only appropriate that one of Kate's first foods be prunes (Jake grew up on a prune farm). She seemed to enjoy them and of course we let her make a mess. Her Grandpa Freeman will be so proud she likes the family fruit!

The Freeman's- do do do da do do do da dododo do

Here is Jake, Crys and Kate all Simpsonized. So Kate is a little big, I couldn't figure out how to shrink her to her real size. I think it is pretty funny. To make you own go to http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/. If you do make one be sure to email it to me.... I want to see.

sun valley, idaho

BICYCLE LIMOUSINE

We went to Sun Valley, Idaho for a legal conference this month. Jake was in classes till 12:30 but after that is was just a vacation. We had a condo Jake's work rented that we shared with another small family from his work. It was fun. We went swimming, played games and explored the town. It was a lot like Park City so it was a little funny we drove all that way. The whole town is built for skiing in the winter and biking in the summer. We rented a tandum bike- the ones with two seats and then attached a kids trailer for Kate. We rode around for a little over three hours on the many bike trails all over the area. The guy at the bike shop had never attached a trailer to a tandum bike, it was quite long and to turn around we had to get off- we called it the bicycle limousine. Yeah for vacation! It is so much fun going to new places and doing new things!

Here is Kate and Crystal in one of the pools. Kate's first attempt at swimming.

down by the river

As always, Jake planned a wonderful birthday suprise for me, and took me Kayaking down the Provo River. We had never been before and found it so much fun we hope it might be our new hobby. I didn't want to take the camera with us on the river so we did not get a pict of the kayak. Provo River was no River Wild (the movie that inspired this interest for rafting in the first place) but well worth the $30 rental fee.

See, really all we do is look at Kate. This month we are going on vacation, so hopefully I will take lots of pictures and have something different to post about.

4 years

We are celebrating our 4th Wedding Anniversary this month. Two homes, two more college degrees, two more jobs each and one baby later. How great it is to wake up four years later and find I wouldn't trade a day of it.

Kate out of the bath. She likes to take baths, but not get her hair washed. She also likes to look at herself in the mirror all the time.

Here are some new picts of our precious Kate. She is now three months old. I would post something else other than pictures of her, but really all we do anymore is look at her and try to make her laugh.

Her daddy sure loves her!

Here is Kate... Waiting for Grandma to call.

" Rise and Shout- Our Cheers will ring out, we're Alma Mater's Son's and Daughters"... Yes her parents are already brainwashing her into a BYU fan, so much so that she chooses to sleep giving us a "Y" every day!

Kate Marie Freeman
Born April 9, 2007 @ 7: 49 pm
7 lbs 9 0z
18 inches
Here is our little Kate! Finally! We thought she would come around St. Patrick's Day, or at least her Dad's birthday, but she wanted her own day and waited until after Easter. Here she is an hour or so after she was born! Perfect as can be

Here is a pict of Jake and I on moving day- yes this was back in Novemeber, and suprisingly this is the last picture we have taken. Yes we are pathetic with our digital camera. You can't really see our new house, I was trying to get the address in the picture. What an exciting day.

Hello to all our family and friends. I have been thinking about making a family web page for some time so that our family and friends spread far and wide could see just what the Jake and Crystal Freeman Family were up to. This blog is a successful as I have come. I hope you all can enjoy. I will try to update it often.

This is a pict of Jake and I in San Francisco- our last little getaway before the baby is born. Our first day there was just so tourist San Francisco. We went to the aquarium, on a cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge and then ate clam chowder from a street vendor as we watched street performers. The two days we spent touring every museum and Alcatraz. Love it, Love it!