Molly's Favorite Places

It's been brought to our attention that our photo shoots have decreased in number and our blog is suffering a bit. So, here's a little update. Funny how you stop taking as many pictures when your child becomes mobile and doesn't sit and wait for you to get the camera.

Besides our laps, Molly enjoys pulling all the DVDs out and placing herself in their stead. She thinks she's pretty cute too.

After lunch the other day, Molly got her baby and a dish towel (aka the baby's blanket) and sat under our computer just holding her, patting her back and giving her lots of kisses. She played for about 30 mins with her baby and those towels. It was quite adorable.

It only looks like she's eating the baby. She really is just kissing it. She's working on her closed mouth kisses. Hopefully we'll have her trained before we see you all!

Keeping Warm in our Condo

When we got home to our condo, it was FREEZING!!!!!!!!! We got home early evening, cleaned out our suitcases, gave Molly a bath then dressed her in her "warm" clothes. We realized her hands and feet were a little purple so she needed some warmth.

Sister and In-Law Photo Shoot

Christina, Jessica, Sarah, Holley, Becky, Rachel

Norma Jean, Marilyn (mom) and Elisha

Elisha, Marilyn (mom), Sarah

Becky, Rachel and Jessica

Christmas and New Year

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas

We had such an incredible time being with family over the holidays. Scott was able to get his usual 10 days off so we began our journey on December 20. We drove as far as Salt Lake City to stay with my sister-in-law's brother and his family. It was a nice stopping point as it took us about 3 hours longer to get there because of weather. We finished our drive to Boise on the 21st. Christmas Eve day was spent skiing with a small group of adults. Christmas Eve was soup and bread night with the nieces and nephews acting out the birth of baby Jesus. They had a real stable and everything. Christmas morning was with my mom, brother and his family, sister and her family and us. Smaller than usual, but still lots of fun. We went to Vale for Christmas dinner with all the Jacobs. It was at the church due to the large number of people. After dinner was dodge ball then to the high school for basketball. It was fun playing basketball again. It'd been a while for me. The 26th was a night of homemade pizzas and another Christmas when the last sister and her girls arrived. After exchanging gifts we had a kid white elephant then adult white elephant gift exchange. That was lots of fun. Fun to see what other people deemed as junk while others gasped for joy! (not really) Friday, December 28th was another ski day. This time with all the kids willing and able. We went night skiing. We couldn't have asked for a better, nicer, more magical night. It was B-E-A-UTIFUL! I was amazed at how well all the young ones did too. Saturday we all went to a great sledding hill and tested some new sleds and some old ones. We had a bon fire and roasted hot dogs. A few of us had to be pulled out by Dan's 4x4. It was still lots of fun! New Years day had a bit of a glitch in the plans. We were on our way out to go snowmobiling on the farm I used to work on, when I got a phone call from my mom saying they had just been in an accident. Thank the heavens, everyone was o.kay. The car, on the other hand, was not drivable. We went and picked them - and the Honda symbol from the car - up and continued our plans. We only snowmobiled a bit as it was already getting late. New Years Eve was back to the Aldred's in Boise with lots of goodies and games and fun. A few of us crazies stayed up till almost 4:30 a.m. Molly was wide awake at 7:10. Thank goodness with her mom and dad barely coherent, she decided to go back to sleep herself. It was such an enjoyable time being with family. Thank you to everyone who contributed their homes, time and food.

Our 6 Mystery Facts...Finally

So, we've been tagged a few times now. We've put it off because we didn't feel like there's too many things people don't know about us. We, like Lisa, are an open book. But we'll give it a shot and see if there are things about us that are surprising.

Elisha
1) I hate swimming in waters that I can't see the bottom. There is nothing more frightening to me than getting in ponds or lakes...........lock-nest monsters....hello! To go water skiing or wake-boarding, I have to psych myself out and not think about what is swimming around my feet or lying dead below.

2) I'm frugal. I have only bought something at full price maybe five times in my life. What can I say, unless it's a great deal, it can wait. I do research on line, then drive to every store to compare prices before making a purchase. Go Jen for getting pants at the BR for $8.97!!!!

3) I like to utilize my time. While brushing my teeth, I do some sort of exercise. Squats; side ones, squat kick out squat kick back, oblique crunches or toe raises (those are for when I don't feel like doing much). One day I gave Molly a toothbrush while I was brushing and exercising and caught her leaning side to side too. I will admit I am addicted to exercise!

4) I love wearing slippers in the cold months. I don't like my feet to be bare and socks just don't cut it. I like the fuzzy feeling on my feet. First thing in the morning, the slippers go on.

5) I try to make every recipe somewhat healthy (I still have higher cholesterol than Scott though). I leave out egg yolks (more so to be able to eat the dough without getting salmonella poisoning), cut out half the oil or butter, use wheat flour or omit things completely. One time I substituted all of the butter for applesauce when making cookies. Scott wasn't about to take my "little health balls" to work. He always wanders why I try to make fattening things healthy......let em' be.

6) Scott tells me I occasionally talk in my sleep........sometimes sing or hum as well. Just the other night I woke up to myself screaming and Scott trying to comfort me. I've also woke up to me spitting on my pillow because in my dream I had something gross in my mouth. Totally disgusting I know......don't worry, we wash our sheets often! I've hummed the McDonald's tune and sang the National Anthem too.

Scott
1) I like to help out in the kitchen...Elisha would say I'm sometimes too helpful! I'll tidy up as Elisha is working on dinner or making cookies and end up cleaning up things that she still needs to use. When she asks "where did that spatula go?" the answer is usually...its in the dishwasher. This behavior has gotten me banned from the kitchen while Elisha is cooking.

2) Apparently I am a creature of habit. Elisha brought it to my attention that my morning routine is identical every day. I hit snooze twice, roller over and kiss Elisha, stumble to the bathroom, use the facilities, turn on the shower, hang towel over shower rack, shower, dry off, style my remaining hair, brush teeth, put contacts in, etc. I'll spare you the rest of the details, even though I've probably told you too much already. These activities are in the same order every morning...this may not sound like a big deal, but I think if I analyzed how I dry off after getting out of the shower, or how I floss my teeth, these process would be identical from day to day too...can you say OCD?

3) I keep stuff. I'm not a full blown "pack-rat," but I do hold on to things. Example: At BYU I was given a toy truck by a company I had done some research with. I still have that truck today because I thought, "someday I will have a little boy who would love to play with this truck." (Like I couldn't find another toy truck when I actually had a son)! I keep clothes too. "This shirt could be part of a great Halloween costume someday!" Elisha has to force me to go through my clothes every year and get rid of everything that has 3 years of dust on it.

4) I keep a journal. That may not be particularly noteworthy, but what I would like to mention is that I write every night and have done so for the past 15 1/2 years...that's half my life! During that time I have probably only missed a couple day a year. I know what you are thinking...."who would ever read these volumes written on the life of Scott Walton?" Don't worry, you are not alone, I too feel bad for whoever would be board enough to read about my life in such painful detail!

5) I enjoy a good spreadsheet. I know that sounds totally geeky, but what can I say, I have a little bit of my father in me! I look for opportunities at work where I can build a beautiful spreadsheet that will perform some series of calculations. I take pride in my ability to effectively communicate through rows and columns.

6) I trust my wife too much. Over a year ago, I damaged my pinkie finger in a game of flag football. My co-workers and I thought it might be broken, but my wonderful wife/nurse assured me that it was merely a sprain. The attached picture is my pinkie today...I still can't straighten it out.

Thanksgiving at the Polley's

Not sure how it happened, but our camera was left in the bag for about 99% of our Thanksgiving trip. We saw so many other cameras out flashing away that we didn't feel the need to join in I guess. Or, maybe we didn't want others to experience what we did when we didn't have our Nikon D40.........camera envy. We managed to get a few shots of cute babies and pro (or semi-pro) ping pong players. Let me just make note........Chris, Lisa and family were missed a ton. But, we are glad to hear mom, baby and family are all doing well. Good thing you had something to keep you occupied.

Leah and her new found say "cheese" to the camera. Isn't she cute?

Only if her eyes were opened............Amy laying out for the ball

Needs a little form work.......what was I flipping?....pancakes?

And here is your champion..........! look at that back hand!

Molly's Model Shoots

Molly's had a couple photo shoots lately, so we thought we would share. This is the new dress that Molly got from Grandma Marilyn. Thanks Grandma!

This one is of Molly attacking me. She's gotten so playful in the past few weeks.

Elisha took these last few one beautiful day last week. I like the this one because the light makes it look like she has more hair than she does.

Whenever we give something to Molly or she finds something on her own, she will always try to find two...she doesn't want the other hand to be left out! She needs two crayons, two rocks, two toys, two cookies (don't tell her, but we usually break the cookie in half to fool her).

Our Little Leopard/Cat/Princess

This is her scary leopard/cat face. What can I say?......it was a cheap outfit for a child who doesn't really get Halloween just yet. We went to a little Mommy and Me Halloween Party with our neighbor Hudson and lots of other kids.

So, she likes sweets a bit. She's got a cupcake in one hand and pumpkin bar in the other. I guess it was everyone's cheat day, including Molly. And she still doesn't even weigh 20lbs yet!

A Few More of Molly's Tricks

HI

We spent some time quizzing Molly on Sunday night. We know that she will probably be asked some of these questions in a couple weeks and we want her to be ready. She has really been getting into the "baby gibberish" stage. I think she thinks she's really communicating with us!

Halloween Party

Here's a little sneak peak at what Elisha and I will look like in 40 - 50 years! We went to a Halloween party with some friends in the ward last night and were definitely the best dressed couple.

They had fog machine going, so its a little hazy, but here are some of the guys that were at the party. That's James in the middle, he had the best costume of the night.



Pete and Cassidy were Dorthy and the Twister.

Trip to OR/ID

While we were waiting to get picked up at the airport, Molly decided by herself that on top of the suitcase was the best seat in the house. Elisha and I took turns pushing her up and down the sidewalk. I think she thought she was a princess in a parade because when her hands were free, she would wave at everyone. She sat up there for about a half hour.

In this one I think she's holding on for dear life.

Dallie's baptism was on Saturday so we got to be there for that. Congratulations Dallie, and thanks for the invitation!

Here's Molly with a few of her cousins. Despite her expression here, she really does like her cousins...she's just not used to being around so many kids at once. She has a large "personal-space-bubble."



Molly and Isabella playing in Vale. It looks like Molly is saying "wooo-hooo, ride em' cowboy" but she's really expressing concern that her personal space is about to be invaded.



We got 3" of snow Sunday morning. I golfed in 80 degree weather on Saturday, so it was strange to wake up to this! Its almost gone now though.

Columbus Day

Happy Columbus Day (US residents), or Thanksgiving (Canadian residents)!

Elisha and I celebrated the day off by exploring a State Park a few miles from our house. It was a beautiful day (actually warmer than expected, in the 80's) and for a change, we didn't have any plans! The colors hadn't changed as much as we had hoped, but it was still beautiful.

We tried to teach the Ranger-Lady to use our camera, but she still used the "step-forward and step-back" zoom system. Its obvious from this pictures that she thinks her State Park is more pixel-worthy than we are.

Molly did great in the backpack...Dad, it must have been you!?

You can't tell from the picture, but Molly is really starting to get some more hair...really.

Cookie Dough Monster

So, when I told Molly we were going to make Amy some cookies, she got right in and started helping.

Eat the dough that is. She ate the cookie dough better than she eats anything. She might be a bit like her mom!

Don't worry Amy, the germs all baked out. Molly is just taste testing the new chips we tried. I think she liked them!

Molly gets so excited these days, she tenses up and waves arms back and forth.

What a darling

Molly's doll stroller is appropriate size for her. Her friend Hudson loves to push her around.

Quite the natural poser!

Two of her favorite birthday presents.

Where's Hudson to push me around?

Pumkin Patch

The Pumpkin patch wasn't that great, but this was worth the show. Molly's not very big, the pumpkin sure is. We went to Hudson Gardens and strolled around. This was the biggest pumpkin I'd ever seen.
Molly has an idea!

Molly and her favorite parents.

New Hair

I was still made over from the hair designers ball.........a little too much makeup for me.

Different than anything I've had , but I think I like it. Can RS Pres wear it this way?

Just pretending I'm a model...........keep pretending!!!!!