To Aunt Shell's house we go

My sister Michele has a beautiful new house in Lehi, and she invited our entire family over for dinner this evening. They made a turkey breast, and a ham, we had stuffing, rolls, and mashed potatoes; it was sooo delicious! We even had pumpkin pie for desert. We missed my sister April and her family who were unable to come, but we had such a great time. I loved spending time with everyone and I always have such a great time with my nieces and nephews! I also learned that Riley and Olivia received the Christmas present that I had been hoping they would. Sometime in the coming year they are coming to Texas to stay with us...I am so excited; I can't wait! Here are a few pictures and videos from our evening together. Thanks so much for hosting this evening Reeves, we had a great time!

cute little Avery

Madi helping Oliver open his gift from the Richards

Oliver sitting next to Uncle Jerone, is it time for pie yet?

Oliver & his cousin Riley

Oliver playing the piano

Oliver playing the piano with Madi, Savannah & Preston

From left to right

Row 1: Riley (12), Savannah (7), Emily (4)

Row 2: Oliver (2), Avery (2), Preston (5), Olivia (10) and Madi (6)

Video of Madi showing off her skills on Avery's new sit & spin

The Amazing Preston

And finally, the Amazing Madi up the slide too

Snow, SNow, SNOw, SNOW!

So the big snow storm waited for us to arrive. This morning we woke up to six inches of snow and more has come throughout the day. I forgot how cold it is here! Oliver is absolutely enamoured with the snow and he couldn't wait to get out there in it. As you can see, we don't really have snow gear, so he is wearing jammies for long johns, fleece pants for snow pants, two pairs of socks under his rain boots along with his winter coat, hat and mittens. We couldn't entice him to ride the sled, even after Mommy & Daddy went for a ride he still wasn't interested. Brrrr! Hope you didn't get too cold little Oliver! I'm guessing not as he certainly was not ready to come in when we wanted him to!

Merry Christmas!

After we awoke this morning, we ate breakfast and packed our bags in the Bumpy Rider (Oliver's name for our 4Runner) and headed to DFW airport. Well actually, we went to the Parking Spot and left our vehicle and then rode a bus to the airport. Oliver loves, loves, loves school buses (as he calls all buses) so that was a major plus for him. Oliver had lunch at the airport as we waited for our flight that consisted of an unsalted soft pretzel and a banana. Our flight was delayed only a bit due to 3 gate changes luckily only a short distance from one another and then we were off. Oliver chose to forgo his nap during the plane ride in place of all the excitement that an airplane ride has to offer. My little guy didn't care for having his own seat on the plane, he wanted nothing to do with the seat belt which he loudly exclaimed was "tooooo tight!!!" Luckily, our flight attendant informed us it was our decision whether or not to hold him, and as soon as Oliver was on my lap, he was an angel for the remainder of the flight. After a very turbulent descent and a extremely long wait for the rental car, Oliver chose to take a greatly shortened version of his nap in the car on the way to my parents.

I had already spoke with my siblings letting them know that it would probably be too late to see them after we arrived and planned to see them the next day. However, when we arrived at my parents, my sisters were there with their families. I only wished my brother was there too, however he stuck with our original plan. I was such a slacker on Christmas, my camera remained tucked away in my purse the entire day and the only picture I took was the one of Oliver sleeping above. My sister Michele took this one of Oliver & Avery and another of me and her daughter Madi that are posted below. We are so happy to see our family at this time of year, we haven't seen most of them since last April, so it will hopefully we will get to spend some quality time with them!

Oliver in his big boy PJ's

Oliver tried out this new pair of two-piece big boy jammies and I thought he looked so adorable and grown up that Daddy had to come in and take his picture. I absolutely adore the first picture where he is holding my hand! I loved the jammies so much and thought he looked so comfortable that I suggested he wear them on the plane the next morning...Daddy said he needed clothes.

Santa Claus came to town

Santa was flexible this year and came to visit Oliver one night early so that he could play with his toys for an entire day before we flew to Utah for a visit with my family. Oliver had a great Christmas. He received the car he has been asking for, new cars and trucks for his car table, a bookshelf with lots of new books, a portable DVD player and a large set of building blocks. I learned a good lesson on Oliver's birthday, so I had a talk with Santa and suggested that he not wrap his presents this year. That Santa is one flexible fella! Clayton's parents were able to drive down to see Oliver open his presents this morning and then were able to spend the day with us. Clayton's sister Tricia and her son Ace came over later in the day to share a Christmas Eve meal with us. Thanks for coming everyone, we had a great time. Merry Christmas everyone!

Oliver's first glimpse of Christmas morning

Oh, this is just what I wanted!

Look at the cool ramp I can make out of blocks!

Video of Oliver & Daddy using his new blocks as a ramp for trucks

What exactly is in this big red sock?

Hey, is that Grover driving my new mail truck?

So happy!

Video of Oliver getting ready to go to Braum's, he has his shopping list too!

Grandma Royal & Oliver reading a book together

Oliver playing with his new Jeep Wagoneer from Grandpa Royal

Whatever could be in this sack?

It's Manny's Tool Truck, just like in my book!

Ace opening his gift from us

Ace trying out his new Super Skipper from us, I think it was a success

Hooray, Graduation day is here!

Today was a great day! Graduation was at 3:00 PM and we needed to be there about 45 minutes before, so we left the house just before 2:00 PM. My parents, Clayton & Oliver were good sports to sit in the athletic center on those tiny, uncomfortable benches and wait for me to come in, and then an additional hour and a half for the ceremony. Graduation was great. There were some inspirational speeches from the students and it felt really good to be there with my fellow class mates. Oliver missed his nap but he was an absolute angel the entire day. After graduation we hung out in the bleachers for some photo opportunities and waited for the crowds to die down. For dinner, we went to La Hacienda Ranch for some oh so delicious food. Thanks for the birthday dinner Mom & Dad! And to top off the day we went to look at Christmas lights in Deerfield. It was a great day. Thanks to everyone for being so supportive and offering their congratulations!

My Graduation Webcast

Click this link to watch my graduation today with Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at 3:00 PM Central Time.

http://www.utdallas.edu/oee/media/webcasts/

Oliver went to the North Pole on the Polar Express!

My parents are in town for my graduation tomorrow and so today we took Oliver to see Santa Claus for the first time at the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano. The theme was the Polar Express and the display was filled with snow globes, train controls and artificial snow to boot. And at the end was Santa Claus welcoming all the children onto his lap for a chat and a picture. Oliver was so patient waiting his turn. He always enjoys watching other children. We had been talking about Santa for quite a while and Oliver told me he would sit on his lap and he knew just what he was going to ask from Santa for Christmas. I really didn't expect him to be so willing since this was his first time visiting Santa, but he surprised me and was so willing and sweet. He sat right on Santa's lap, told him he wanted a car, a truck, a tractor with a trailer, and a train for Christmas and then he even smiled for the pictures. What a sweetie! Merry Christmas, Oliver!

Oliver playing with the train controls

Oliver watching the other children play in the artificial snow, waiting so patiently for his own turn.

All aboard!

Oliver standing next to the big engine in the snow

Oliver was done with the snow and wanted to be held

Oliver & Santa

Oliver playing around after pictures

Oliver Clayton Royal is twenty-six months old!

A couple of days late, but better late than never!

Sending you wishes of PEACE, JOY AND CANDYCANES!

Merry Christmas! Here is my darling little guy on our Christmas card this year.

Yet another truck post...

I was speaking with my brother on the phone this evening as I made dinner and Oliver was playing so nicely by himself that I began to wonder what he was doing. Of course he was playing with trucks! Earlier this morning I had disassembled a small table in our entryway and had not yet gotten around to putting away the pieces. Oliver made good use of the table top on the floor and was having so much fun driving his trucks and animals around.

This looks like a good place to play with my trucks

This morning after breakfast I was picking up the toy room and vacuuming and all the sudden Oliver disappeared. I found him underneath the desk where I study playing with his trucks on the window ledge. I tried to be very quiet when taking the pictures as not to disturb him, but he ended up catching me as you see in the second picture. Why he chose this place to play, when he has so many other options including the car table he got for his birthday, is beyond me. But whatever makes Oliver happy, makes Mommy happy.