'Tis the Season!

We can hardly believe that Christmas is here again. From day to day, it seems that the minutes can pass like hours, but the year has passed in no time at all. December is the best time of the year in the Winterton house. Not only do we celebrate our anniversary and Lucy's birth, but we also celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How grateful we are for His life and His atoning sacrifice that makes life after death possible.

At the beginning of the month, we visited a creche display and watched a reenactment of the nativity, complete with live animals! Lucy was happy they served hot chocolate afterward! As we viewed scenes from the Savior's life, it reminded us of the reason for the season.

The next fun event was our ward Christmas party. Jay even had a part! He was a Nephite unbeliever who was too caught up in things of the world to believe the prophecies of the Savior's birth. Jay is the exact opposite of his character, but he played the part well.

Lucy wanted to participate!

After a yummy dinner of fajitas, fruit salad, chips and salsa, and fried ice cream, Santa Claus flew in from the North Pole. Angela tried to prep Lucy all week for a visit with Santa Claus, but when it was her turn to sit on his lap, she wouldn't do it. Not that we blame her-sitting on a strange man's lap is not
exactly something we want to do either.






But Lucy did enjoy the candy cane Santa gave her!

Trick Or Treat

 Halloween was so much fun this year! Lucy is getting old enough to enjoy all of the excitement and magic of the holidays. On Monday evening, we played the Halloween Safety game for Family Home Evening. This lesson is a tradition carried over from when Angela was growing up. Lucy had fun rolling the dice.  For our activity, we carved a pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds.

 Lucy didn't want to touch the slimy pumpkin guts. "Daddy, hold!"

 Our jack-o-lantern. Lucy got a little scared of it.

Lucy was so excited to dress up as "MeeMee Mouse." She didn't even complain about wearing the ears!

 On Saturday, we went to our ward Halloween party. We saw lots of our friends. Lucy really likes her friends Avy and Brooklyn. She loves to play with the big girls.

Lucy and Angela did the cake walk, and Lucy won chocolate cupcakes.

 Lucy is enjoying her prize.

 Lucy liked the bean bag toss.

 Lucy wanted her face painted. She asked for a pink fish.

After Allison painted Lucy's face, Lucy grabbed a face paint crayon and started applying her own makeup. "Pitty" (pretty) she said.

 Daddy helped Lucy putt the golf ball.

 The highlight of the evening was Trunk or Treating. Lucy got so excited people were just handing out candy. She would get distracted trying to open up the most recent addition to her bucket, but once she realized that she would get more, there was no stopping her. She enjoyed a tootsie roll from her stash.

 Look at all of this candy!

Putting On the Armor of God

Last night for Family Home Evening, we read from Ephesians chapter 6 about putting on the armor of God. Since Lucy loves to dress up and accessorize these days, Jay had the idea to let her actually put on the "armor" as we talked about it. She loved it!

 Lucy had to grab her baby for the picture.

"loins girt about with truth"-blue and white polka dot skirt
"breastplate of righteousness"-pink fleece vest
"feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace"-pink snow boots
"shield of faith"-monkey pillow
"helmet of salvation"-bicycle helmet
"sword of the Spirit"-carrot shaped baseball bat

The helmet is still a little big on her!

Cow Appreciation Day at Chik Fil-A

On Friday, Lucy and I dressed up like cows and went with our friends to Chik Fil-A. It was Cow Appreciation Day, and customers who dressed like a cow from head to tow got a free meal! Since I am all for anything free, this was right up my alley. On Thursday, my friend and I made our costumes out of scraps of brown fabric she had. I loosely sewed the cow spots onto white shirts (Yes I said "sewed." I do not normally like to sew, but a free lunch was pretty motivating). We had a great time! Lucy loved the Chik Fil-A cow. I can't believe she ate all of her chicken nuggets! My Chargrilled Cool Wrap was delicious. Outside of the restaurant, we tried to dunk the cow. Lucy and I hit the target, but not hard enough to make the cow fall in. We played the Chik Fil-A plinko game and won a calendar with coupons worth over $30 in FREE food. SCORE!!! Jay said he might even join us next year. Click here to go to my friend's blog to see more pictures.

Let Freedom Ring!

Our Independence Day weekend could not have been better! Jay got off work early on Friday and had Monday off too!

On Saturday, we drove to Helen Hunt Falls. Our car had a hard time with the heat and the mountain climb and overheated a few times. Lucy took a nap while we let the car cool off. She was ready for adventure when she woke up! Lucy likes wearing her sun-"gasses."

We went to the North Cheyenne Canon Park Visitor's Center. It was one of the best visitor's centers I have been too. There were lots of things to touch and explore. Lucy touched some furs, found a stuffed bear hidden in a log, and made animal tracks in a sand box.

She really liked looking at the butterflies.

Behind the Visitor's Center, there was a little trail that ran by a stream. Lucy liked sitting on the rocks.

 We ate a picnic lunch by the stream before heading to the waterfall. As we drove up to the waterfall, our car started to overheat again, so we pulled off of the road for a few minutes. The wait was worth it. Helen Hunt Falls is very pretty.

Lucy's half-birthday!

Our little Lucy turned 18-months. She went to nursery for the first time and loved it. When we took her into the nursery, she spotted a ball and made a beeline for it. Once she found the other toys, she forgot that mom and dad were even there. We said goodbye and walked out. No crying, no fussing. After church, we took this photo of her and the picture she colored.

To celebrate, we took Lucy to a soda shop called Squeak. They make sodas in every flavor imaginable! The soda jerk was really nice and gave Lucy a baby ice cream cone for free. When I asked her whether she wanted vanilla or chocolate, she said, "choc-choc." That girl does love chocolate!

She could hardly eat it fast enough!

Once Lucy finished her ice cream cone, she of course wanted to help mommy and daddy eat the cotton candy float that they were sharing. Outside of the soda shop, Lucy played on the hot air balloon ride. She was one happy little girl!

Wow! You don't want to miss this!

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know, I became a Creative Memories consultant at the beginning of February. Many of you also know that I am a true Bargain Hunting, Coupon Clipping, Money Saving Mom. That is why I just had to share with you the amazing 40% off sale that Creative Memories is having on their some of their most popular products. You can check out the sale on my website http://www.mycmsite.com/sites/awinterton and view my blog post on digital scrapbooking here.

Memorial Day Weekend in Idaho Falls

Memorial Day weekend was wonderful. We had a fun-filled vacation in Idaho Falls. We flew from Denver to Salt Lake and drove the rest of the way. Flying shaved off several hours of driving time and meant more time to spend with our family. At the Denver airport, Lucy decided to ride on the suitcase up to the gate. It was so funny! Even the gate agents were chuckling.

When we arrived in Idaho Falls, we stopped by the care center to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Covolo's new home. Lucy liked their bed.

On Saturday, despite the rainy weather, we visited Reed's Dairy to show Lucy the animals. She loved seeing the cows, sheep, and horse.

Lucy is musically inclined. She loved playing Grandma's piano.

On Sunday, we brought dinner to the care center so that we could eat with Great Grandma and Grandpa Covolo. While the lasagna finished cooking, Grandpa gave Lucy a ride on Great Grandpa's walker. She squealed with delight!

Dinner was delicious! Grandma made her award-winning lasagna. To minimize the mess, we took Lucy's clothes off and put on a tiny apron. She slurped the lasagna down.

Angela made gluten-free chocolate cookies for Great Grandma's dessert. Lucy snitched one and at it while sitting on Uncle Bub's lap. Notice the big chocolate stain on the leg of his pants! Since it was Lucy who did it, Bub didn't seem to mind too much.

After dinner, Lucy was wound up. She ran around the care center as carefree as could be. Her little diaper was so full that it sagged and swayed back and forth as she ran. It was hilarious!

Lucy has learned how to spin around in circles. Since running up and down the halls did not wear her out, she twirled and twirled until she got dizzy.

We asked one of the nurses to take a picture of the family.

Grandma Leisa gave Lucy a ride in the laundry cart.

On Monday, we met Granma Beri and Granpa Jon in Salt Lake. They treated us to lunch at Thaiphoons at the Gateway. After lunch, Lucy discovered the water fountain. We thought, "what the heck" and took off her clothes to let her play. A nice lady gave her a swim diaper, and she was ready to go.

Lucy also bummed a piece of licorice off of the lady who gave her the swim diaper. She was the happiest little girl ever!