Owen is loving his new bike. I am so glad. I dream of moving to a neighborhood this summer, with tree-lined sidewalks on both sides of the street and an elementary school in the middle of it. Someplace this little boy has free-range to go, and this mommy can have peace of mind about letting him. I can at least dream. We do with what we've got for now. ;)

Two words: blonde pigtails. Is there nothing cuter?!?!

Back to Utah, this time for Christmas with Nick's family. There was a houseful of kids and fun! Owen and Teslyn are at the prime ages for this, and thoroughly enjoyed all that this season had in store for them.

Owen got a cool orange bike from Santa!

Teslyn got a super cute little shopping cart, with a little car on front for her dolls to sit in.

They both had fun digging through their stockings to discover what else was theirs.

Good Christmas morning, straight out of bed, family picture!

Can't forget about Spiderman.

Owen also got a play dough "Dr. Drill 'N Fill" so now he can learn how to fix teeth like his daddy! It's so funny. It was a popular gift among some of our other dental school friends too.

It didn't snow a single time while we were there! I was okay with that. At least there was already some for the kids to play in. My poor kids don't have all the snow gear to keep them warm, so Owen bailed on that pretty quick. Teslyn was loving it too much, and didn't come in until she was about frozen.

Owen also went on an outing to Temple Square with his cousins and didn't get back until after bedtime. That's his cousin Savannah sleeping on his back.

Thanksgiving weekend we headed up to our homeland to spend the last Thanksgiving with my parents before their mission. But first, early Thanksgiving morning a few of us decided to run the annual Human Race 5k. All proceeds go to the Utah Food Bank, so it is a very worthy event especially this time of year. This is the group we gathered to run with, my brother Jon with his wife and kids, sister Liz with her husband, her father-in-law and friends. I am the thin-blooded desert dweller bundled up in several layers, wearing the black hat and holding a cup of hot chocolate. It was pretty cold, but not nearly as freezing as the blizzard conditions the year before!

Anyway, running a quick 5k definitely made me feel better about the gluttony that the weekend held.

That Sunday right before church my parents were set apart as Elder and Sister Jefferies. This photo was taken right after, with 8 of the 10 of us and our spouses and kids.

My parents spent 2 weeks in the MTC then headed to France for the next 18 months. They are very excited about this mission. My dad served there when he was younger, and is fluent and completely in love with the culture. My mom is definitely along for the ride! We miss them lots, but are happy they were able to go. Here they are the morning they flew out.

Now to plan a trip to France to see them within the next year and a half..........

I have some catching up to do with the holidays that just passed, but I thought I would start with our 2011 family pictures. I have been holding off on these because they were Christmas presents for the grandparents. Didn't want to spoil the surprise! These were taken by a very talented friend who is living in Wisconsin, and happened to be on summer vacation in Utah the same time as us! We lucked out!

There are too many to pick just a few, so enjoy the picture overload! These are also intended to be Owen's 5 year and Teslyn's 2 year shots since their birthdays were within 2 months of them.