Christmas with the Cheneys and family pictures

Since we have families that live on opposite sides of the US, we decided when we got married that we would trade off every year for Christmas. This year it was Christmas in North Carolina with the Cheney family! It was so much fun. We had such a blast! Christmas Eve brought the traditional reading of the Nativity story.

Trisha doubles as the accompanist and some sort of animal. She absolutely loves this tradition!! The kids all love it too and it was fun to watch them all act it out.

We had a delicious home-made Cafe Rio meal and enjoyed spending time with one another.

Christmas morning was spent with Great Grandpa Worseley, Nana and Papa Cheney and Trisha, Sam and I. Sam's first Christmas morning and he couldn't have cared less. He had no idea what was going on and he was not interested in opening his present either. This is good because we just woke up when we woke up but it lacked some of the excitement that one expects to have at Christmas time with kids.

Sam opening his first christmas present

Trisha and Sam opening presents

Me opening my presents

Sam in his Christmas pajamas. Only he isn't really acting like Captain Awesome!

Christmas day we had another family get together and had lots more fun. It was so great to get to spend time with everyone and get to know some of the family that I rarely get to see.

This is the 3 inches of snow that the Charlotte area got while we were there and it shut down the entire city. Crazy.

Once everyone got into town, we all headed out to get some family pictures. Here are the pictures that we took with our camera.

Nana and Papa with all of their grandchildren

TJ and Michelle family

Tiffany and Brandon family

Nellie and Jonathan family

Our family

Todd and Christina family

Nana and Papa with Sam

After the pictures we had another gathering and all the kids were playing "Ring around the Rosies" They played it for a long time and it was funny to watch how they chose to fall on the ground!

It was a successful Christmas and it was great to spend it with all of the Cheney clan! We sure love our Cheney family and are greatful for all of the accomadations while we were in town. It was great to spend time with each of you! We love you all!

Atlanta, Georgia

My first visit to Georgia was a spectacular one! Trisha and I rented a car and made the nearly 4 hour drive from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, GA. My great friends, Paul and Eliza and their 2 boys, have lived down there for a few years while Paul is in Pharmacy School. I first met Paul on my mission when we were both serving in the Liege, Belgium area and he was my Zone Leader. We went on a lot of exchanges and formed a friendship that continued after we returned home and took many of the same classes at the University of Utah. I've watched their family grow and I love every chance I get to see them and hang out with them. They are quality people; couldn't find any better. We met them at their house and they fed us lunch while we visited and I read lots of books, over and over again, to Peter and Aaron. Then we decided to go to the Coca-Cola Factory/Museum downtown. IT WAS AWESOME!!! It was one of my life-long goals and I am so glad that we went!

Trisha, Mike, Sam, Peter, Aaron, Eliza (and baby girl) and Paul

All of us getting ready to go in to the 4-D movie. This movie, by itself, is worth the entire entrance fee to the museum. It is a 3-D movie with the added fun of moving chairs. It was like riding a roller coaster while watching a movie. We also got squirted with water and air blown at our faces. I was sitting next to Peter, who did not enjoy the added fun, so maybe it isn't for little kids. However, I LOVED it!

Me testing out over 60 different Coke products from around the world. I'm pretty sure I didn't try all of them, but I did try a lot of them. Some of them were okay, a few were good and many were absolutely atrocious! Mostly I just liked drinking from the Coke fountains cause I love me some Coke.

After enjoying a few hours at the museum we headed to the coolest little diner outside of Atlanta. I have never seem customer service like they had at this place. The owner and waitresses were so friendly and they kept coming to our table and doing magic tricks for the kids. It was typical southern hospitality.

Thank you Paul, Eliza, Peter and Aaron for having us down in your neck of the woods and showing us a good time! Can't wait to hang out with you again!

December Project

While Trisha was gone for the month, I thought it was a good time to take on a project in the house. I had this idea and I went for it. It took a few days and lots and lots of painters tape but here it is, our new bedroom.

BEFORE:

The Base Coat: "Coffee Bean"

 

Add: Blue Stripes "Powder Blue 5"

Add: Rolls of Tape

Add: Green Stripes "Olive Tree"

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Bathroom Before:

Bathroom After ("Coffee" paint):

Toiletroom After ("Winter Wheat" paint):

It was a fun project to work on and it kept me busy for a while. I am really impressed by how well the stripes came out and I would definitely do it again.

Happy Thanksgiving and More

We had an awesome Thanksgiving. I didn't have to work most of the week and it made it really relaxing and fun. We drove out to Salt Lake on Wednesday after I finished working. We have a new tradition that we started last year and continued this year. At 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning we go to the Utah Human Race (http://www.utahhumanrace.com/). This year they expanded it to a 10k and a 5k which worked out perfectly as I ran the 10k and Trisha ran the 5k. Neither of us have run in a while so it felt good to get out there and do it, even though it was less than 10 degrees. Brrr.

Here we are before the race

Next, we relaxed for some time after the race before Trisha starting working on the 7 dozen rolls that she was assigned to bake for dinner that night. They turned out delicious!!

We always do dinner at my Grandma and Grandpa Ballis house later in the day so people can go to the in-laws earlier in the day. The dinner was amazing and we had a good time hanging out with all of my family.

We were going to try to get out for some Black Friday doorbusters but nothing seemed worth it when it came time to get out of bed. We did go later in the morning and found some great deals on things at JCPenney, Target, and Kohl's. Mostly it was pretty easy and we only had a long wait in line at Kohl's which turned out to be 1 hour of waiting and taking turns browsing the store.

Let the holidays begin!!

The Bumbo

Our friends bought us the Bumbo for Sam and this week while they were over, we decided he was big enough to put him in it. It has now become a daily thing. I think he likes it because it makes him feel independent; He can just sit up by himself and look around where he wants to look. He only likes it for a few minutes at a time but seems to really enjoy those few minutes.

"I've had enough" face

"Hi Daddy" face

"Content" face

"I have to really concentrate to move my arm" face

"I'm about to have an accident" face

"Staring into space" face

"Sleep? or Cry?" face

"What's going on?" face

"Wide eyed" face

In the last few weeks, he has changed a lot. We are finally starting to see more of the Cheney come out in him. Several times we have looked at him and think he looks just like a mini uncle TJ. I have also observed that he looks the most like his mom when he is angry/sad and more like me when he is happy; which is not at all reflective of our personalities but it is true nonetheless. 

Sam is 2...months

Sam is 2 months old now and he is growing so much!!

Sam at birth

His first trip to church at 6 weeks

6 week old Dinosaur

2 months old chillin on the infant lounger that used to drown him

Staring anywhere but at the camera

He has always had a really strong neck and likes to be perched up so he can look around

He is fascinated with ceiling lights

We tried to prop him up again but he was too tired so he rolled down into a comfortable position and instantly fell asleep

He has started to smile a little bit but I'm still not sure he knows what he is doing. He is eating and sleeping on a pretty good schedule, although Trisha does not enjoy his 6am waking up for the day. He is almost always content. He loves to be held and get some attention. He fights sleep as if he may not wake up if he closes his eyes. Once he is sound asleep, not even a hurrican could wake him up. He will take the boob, a bottle or whatever you want to give him as long as it fills up his belly. He grunts a lot! He loves staring at bright lights and the tv. He is so much work and so much fun. We love him!