The Noble Duke of York

So this was something that Alden loved to do with Grandpa over the Christmas holiday.  My dad started doing the Noble Duke of York with Alden, just like I remember him doing with me and all my siblings growing up, but Alden decided to add a new twist to it and after Grandpa would finish singing and doing it with him Alden would stand up and say "your turn."  Alden would then proceed to lay down on his back and pretend that Grandpa was riding on his feet while Grandpa sang the song and pretended he was the one getting moved about.  It was funny and really cute.  Here is a video that you can watch of this that shows better what I am trying to explain.  (Sorry for the funny intro on the video but I thought it was funny that Alden has to take a cell phone out of his pocket before he will play)

Alden's turn first

Alden going "upside down"

Grandpa's turn!  I love the fact that my son knows how to take turns and thinks it is really fun!

Grandpa going "upside down"

Uncle Erik Time

Alden had so much fun playing with Uncle Erik during his time in California.  He was always really excited to see Erik and ask him to play whatever he wanted.  Alden had fun jumping on Erik's bed, playing Mario Kart, shooting nerf guns, laying under the Christmas tree singing, dancing, playing with finger puppets or just running around and goofing off with Erik.  I think Erik was always very tired by the time Alden went to bed but he was the best Uncle that Alden could have asked for!  Here are a bunch of pictures and a couple videos from their adventures together.

Alden loved jumping on Erik's bed and then "falling" on the floor with Erik.  (They didn't really fall they just pretended to)

Here is a video of Alden jumping on the bed and then "falling down" with Erik.

Alden loved getting Erik's help to try to jump high enough to touch the ceiling.

So this was really cute!  Alden and Erik were laying under the Christmas tree together and Alden was asking Erik to sing Jingle Bells.  Then Erik and Alden would sing together.  Here is a video of them singing (sorry about the format of the video).

This was just a random photo from them running around and goofing off!

 So Alden got a new set of finger puppets that were lots of different animals and then got Erik to play with them.  It was really cute! Here is a little video of them playing with them.

This was Alden and Erik playing Mario Kart together!  It was really fun to watch and it was cute how involved Alden would get even though he wasn't really driving his own car.  He would tell Erik which car and character he wanted and Erik was a great uncle and always picked the ones Alden wanted.

Happy New Years

We didn't do anything huge for New Year's Eve this year but Alden had got some glow sticks from Daddy for Christmas and so we let him get those out and then sword fight with them.  Alden had a lot of fun doing this with Grandpa.  It was really fun to watch them play together!  Here are some pictures from our celebration of the New Year.

Alden was so excited to get to play with these!  Here is a video where Grandpa and Alden were poking Grandma (gently).

Here were Grandpa and Alden sword fighting in the study (one of the darker rooms in the house).

My dad started using the glow stick to tickle Alden when he had him trapped.  Alden thought it was a lot of fun.  Here is a video of Alden getting tickled (you can only really see the glow sticks and hear them talking).

Alden enjoyed collecting all the glow sticks.

Alden giving Grandpa a hug goodnight after they were done playing with glow sticks.

Happy New Year's from Alden and me.  It has been a great 2014 but I am really excited for 2015 and all the excitement that it will bring!

Alden and Grandpa Football Pictures

So my Dad had this fun idea to recreate a photo he has of himself with his grandpa with Alden and him.  Below you can see the photo of my Dad as a little boy in a University of Utah sweatshirt, holding a football while sitting on the front porch with his Grandpa Ralph.  So, when taking the new photo we put Alden in a BYU sweatshirt and had him hold a football and sit next to his grandpa on the front porch of my parent's house.  I think the photos are really fun to see next to each other.

After taking the photos, Alden obviously wanted to play with the football with Grandpa.  It was fun to watch them throw the football back and forth and watch as Alden would run around with it.  Alden still isn't big enough to really throw the football properly but it was fun watch him try and then see how he did throw it.

 Playing catch back and forth.

I loved watching all of Alden's facial expressions.  He would get so excited when he actually caught the football.

I like this photo because it is the best example of Alden trying to throw the football the way sees them do it in games.

These are just cute and fun!

It was also fun to see how Alden would catch the football and then run a little ways with it like he knew that was what he was supposed to do.  It was really fun to watch.  Here is a video that shows a little of how they were playing catch and how Alden would run in between throwing and catching the ball.

Christmas Day

Christmas day was very full for us and Alden had a great time!  Alden was very excited to get to open his presents and play with what was inside but he also just loved playing with family.  I loved watching Alden this Christmas because he is now old enough to open his own presents and actually understand that he is getting something new.  It was also just fun to see how happy he was being around everyone.  I am so glad that I got to spend Christmas with my family.

This Christmas was one that really reminded me how much I need to value my family.  It was really hard not having Drew around for Christmas and knowing that he was missing out on the opportunity to be with us.  But, I am proud of Drew for his service and I know that we will have lots more holidays together in the future.  This Christmas I was also just grateful that my grandparents' health permitted them to both be at my parent's house in the morning.  I have celebrated the Christmas holiday with them for as long as I could remember so I was very grateful to have them there.  It was a very nice Christmas that reminded me that family and being together with people you love is better than any present I could be given.

We got to have a fire on Christmas, which I love because I feel like it makes the house more festive!

 Alden had a lot of fun playing with his new Duplo set, that he had opened the night before, while he waited until it was time to open the rest of his presents.

 Alden was really excited about the bunny and the turtle that came with his new Duplo set.

I let Alden open his present from Daddy first and he was excited to get a new ball to play with.  Drew picked this rugby ball up at a tournament that he got to go to.  Here is a video of Alden opening his present from Daddy.

Katrina had a lot of fun wrapping some of her gifts to other people and making them look like different things.  These were two different presents that she wrapped to look like penguins.  One was for Maren and one was for Alden.

Alden was very excited when he got to start opening all his presents.

Alden opening a new set of wooden train tracks that go with his set from Mommy and Daddy.

This was Maren and Katrina opening some of their presents and Erik holding his present from Katrina that she had fun making look like a sword.

Alden opening another present and then talking to Grandpa and Nana about the fox on his new shirt.

Alden got some animals where you thread the laces around the edge for Christmas and he had fun figuring out how to use those with Aunt Jenni.

Katrina gave Alden and my brother silly string and so they had fun having a silly string battle in the back yard.

Katrina helped Alden shoot at Erik and Alden thought that it was hilarious, however Alden did not like getting shot.  It was really cute and funny to watch.  Here is a video of it.

Alden and I also went and visited Drew's grandparent's for a little bit on Christmas and Alden had fun putting every coin that he could find in their piggy bank.  He also had fun taking my camera to take photos once he had run out of coins.

We all got Nerf guns from Santa for Christmas and Alden was really excited.  He couldn't cock it on his own but loved shooting it.

We tried to get Alden to sit on the couch and watch something to rest for a little while but it didn't work very well...he was too excited.

I love getting to spend time and play with my little boy!

Alden had so much fun playing with Grandma and running around.

My dad got a chromecast stick for Christmas and pulled up pictures of Alden on the TV with it and Alden was very interested in the pictures of himself.

Alden had a lot of fun going through his presents again and playing with some of them later in the day.

Alden wanted to try on his new slippers and then just wanted to jump in them.  He had a very busy day but he tried to keep his energy level high until bed!

It was a very fun and memorable Christmas.  I am so glad that I have Alden in my life who always gives me a reason to smile and brings so much joy into everything.  I can't wait until next year when Drew will be home and we will also have a new baby boy to celebrate the holiday with!