Trip to Utah: family, a hair cut and Juliana & Brian's wedding

We were able to go to Utah for Dave's sister Juliana's wedding. Here are some pictures with my family, Marcus getting his first hair cut and the lovely wedding, of course!

 Marcus and his cousin playing on grandma and grandpa's treadmill. They're only a month apart in age, so it's fun to see them interact!

  More treadmill time, they like to work out :)

 Getting into grandma's cupboard, of course.

 Marcus did not like getting his first haircut. He was so sad :(  But he looked great afterward!

 Clinging tight to mommy during the haircut :)

 Mr. & Mrs. Bean! Walking out of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

 Marcus and I at the wedding reception---we are both smiling, a miracle!

 Marcus with daddy at the reception.

 Brian and Juliana considering being nice with the wedding cake...

 But I like their style!

 Dave with his youngest sister Juliana :). She made a beautiful bride!

Dave's whole family-- all married now!

February, growing Marcus & a snow storm

I just wanted to post a few pictures that I liked from February of Marcus. He grows so fast---so I have to show it all :)

 Marcus caught red-handed getting into the zip lock bags. You can see the toy car he abandoned once he found the bags. That's what I get for buying colorful enticing zip locks :)

 Always on his way up the stairs. The good news is he is really good at going up and down the stairs. But sometimes he likes to pretend he can walk up and down---so that is scary. He will usually wait for mine or Dave's hand though.

 Giving daddy a hug. He doesn't give hugs often, but when he does they're the BEST!

 Covering his ears, a new trick!

 In February we had a pretty crazy blizzard in Boston. Here is Dave and our friend Jared shoveling out a car.

Here is our street after the blizzard.

 

And here is our car, finally dug out. It took over an hour!

Marcus turns 1 in January!!

 I am going to start catching up on our blog, starting with January. January includes mine and Marcus' birthday. But now that I'm a parent I realize which one is much more exciting (we didn't even take pictures on my birthday). But, I'm totally okay with that!!

Here is our handsome little Marcus on a Sunday in January. Love those eyes of his.
 

 

He's handsome, and silly.

 And now for opening up presents on birthday morning. We made the mistake of not taking everything out of the packages---so next time we'll make them "play-ready".

He received some puzzles, cars and a music kit. He loved them, of course.

 We had some friends over for a birthday party. He was not happy when I stripped him down to his diaper in front of everyone and put him in his high chair---and after thinking about it, who would be? :)

 Then came the cake I made for him. Nice and choclatey and messy!!

 It took some coaxing just to get him started, but then he started to get the hang of it.

 

After Daddy helped him shovel it in for a while, he was very happy. Later that day he was very hyper.

It was a fun celebration with all our law school friends and Marcus in the end had fun too, I think ;)

Christmas Vacation

Dave, Marcus and I went to Michigan for Christmas this year! It was so fun hanging out with the Geiger side of the family. It was a long drive, but well worth it.

We split the trip both ways. So on the way there we stopped in Niagara, Canada. The falls were beautiful! It was so cold and it took us a bit longer than we thought to walk there from our hotel. Marcus was so tired, too. But here's the picture, to prove we were there----and to remember :)

We were so happy to make it to Michigan after the long drive. One of the traditional things we did with family is go to Frankenmuth, to eat at the Bavarian Inn and shop at Bronner's (huge Christmas store). We bought a couple cute ornaments to add to our collection---we like to get ornaments as souvenirs when we go places.

Marcus and I in front of Bronner's.

The family at the Bavarian Inn.

Christmas morning was spent reading the stories of Christ's birth in the Book of Mormon and the New Testament. We also watched the "Reflections of Christ" DVD. And we opened stockings, ate clementines, and opened presents. Marcus only opened half of his presents before he needed a nap. So he had two rounds of presents---which worked since Dave's sisters came over in the afternoon and there was some more present opening.

 Marcus opening his stocking.

 Marcus getting cozy with his cousin's new teddy bear. I think he was actually a bit afraid of it.

 Opening a present!

 Adorable little face, taken with our awesome new portrait lens!!

 Marcus enjoyed helping Juliana and Brian open up their presents too :)

 I think Marcus' favorite part about the trip was always having an adult or willing cousin to hold his hands as he walked. His cousin Ava was a pro :)

 Adorable.

 Family dinner at Rachel's house :)

 The doors leading to the library were just too much of a temptation the entire trip---glass to press his face against, and opening and shutting the door all day long.

 Dave holding the cousins! Blake and Marcus :)

 Father-son walking time, precious.

 Marcus and Juliana (notice the watch container---his favorite adopted toy).

He stole the watch container from his cousin Hannah. We took it home and he is still playing with it :)  He also got an adorable backpack that he is wearing in the picture---thanks Becky!

We had a great time in Michigan. Lots of games, movies and hanging out with family. I was also able to see one of my best friends, Tamara, while there (no pictures, sad). So the trip was great!

Halloween, Thanksgiving and Life

It's been a while since I blogged. So here's what's been happening in our lives the last two months.

Halloween was fun. We had two parties to attend----the Harvard Law Children's club and our ward party---both were great. Marcus was a dinosaur/dragon. He was super cute crawling around with the little spikes on his back. A big thanks to his cousin Carson for giving him the costume :). Dave and I dressed up as Dr. Who and his latest companion Amy Pond. Nobody really knew who we were---but we loved it! We are definitely Dr. Who fans in this house.

In October Dave and I also had the chance to go to a tennis match at TD Gardens. It was a lot of great players that have "retired" I guess from the big competitions. Their names were Pete Sampras (Dave's favorite), John McEnroe, Jim Courier and Ivan Lendl. So if you know tennis, they're great players and it was really cool to watch them play. Dave's hero growing up was Pete Sampras---so he really enjoyed going :)

In November we went to see "The Breakers" mansion in New Port, RI. I've been before with my parents and my sisters---but it was Dave's first time. It was fun to finally take him there---such a beautiful place.

We shared Thanksgiving this year with my cousin Jessica who lives in Albany, NY. My aunt and uncle and other cousin were there too---so it was great to have so much family there! Marcus napped through the whole feast. I was sad he missed it---but happy to eat my dinner uninterrupted :).

Dave is wrapping up his last final today, and tomorrow we leave for the long drive to Michigan for Christmas. We're excited to visit family and have a break from school! We are stopping at Niagara Falls on our way out to break up the trip, and staying with a friend in Rochester on the way back.

Marcus is doing great---he's getting closer to walking. He loves to walk holding our hands, but hasn't braved walking on his own yet. He is getting taller and stronger too. He likes to kick his feet while I'm feeding him in his high chair--so I have to keep my distance to avoid bruises. He's a very good clapper and is exploring a lot of noises lately. No real words yet though. He will be 11 months on 24 Dec. Almost one year!

I'm going to start working from home---booking flights for the missionary travel office like I used to before we moved out here. So that'll give me more to do----and I'm hoping it won't be too much. I'm excited to and happy to help them out :)

I'll give the full Christmas report when we get back in January. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas---and remember the reason for the season:

O Come, Emmanuel