2013

I'm the worst at staying up to date on this blog, but the good news is its still January and I am writing a post!  There have been lots of things on my mind the past few months.  And we've been pretty busy the past few months as well.  Steve finished up another semester at UH.  Katelynn is 8 months old, crawling, and climbing up on everything.  In family news Jeanette had her baby girl, Camilla.  And Laura had her baby boy, Ryker.  There were complications with the birth and Ryker is still in the NICU, but is making progress and we are praying everyday for him.  It's times like this I wish I lived closer, but at least I can still pray from far away. 

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years.  We were able to go to Utah for 2 1/2 weeks to spend time with family.  Katelynn LOVED the attention and being with cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Steve and I even left her with grandma's to go on a few dates and to the temple.  And it snowed!!!  How I loved wearing my boots, gloves, socks, and coats.  Katelynn wasn't sure what to think about the cold and the snow, but she still smiled when we took her outside even if her little nose turned very red!

We also went sledding one day with Ben and his kids.  We only kept Katelynn outside for a couple of minutes because the snow was coming down in giant flakes.  Then grandma watched her inside while we kept sledding :)

Another fun thing we did in Utah was go to Temple Square to see the lights.  It was sooooo cold!  First we went to City Creek, the new mall they opened up across the street from Temple Square.  We walked around, ate dinner and walked by the Macy's candy windows.  They used to do the candy windows when it was a ZCMI and Macy's started the tradition up again.  I remember seeing the candy windows when I was little, so it was fun to see them again.  Then we walked around Temple Square looking at all the lights and stopping by the visitor's centers to warm up.  On our way out Santa passed by and we were able to get a picture of Katelynn with Santa! (She never got the chance to sit on his lap- maybe next year). 

Of course while in Utah we celebrated Christmas.  For Christmas Eve we had all the little kids dress up and act out the nativity scene at my parents house.  Then at Steve's parents house we ate their traditional chicken kiev dinner, sang Christmas songs around the piano, and told Christmas stories. 

Christmas morning we woke up and Katelynn played with her gifts from Santa and looked through her stocking.  We ate cinnamon rolls, oranges, and breakfast casserole.  Then we went to Steve's parents house for more yummy breakfast- banana french toast and we opened gifts.  Katelynn like to eat the gifts and bows more than open them.

 This year the Moody's decided to all make gifts for each other.  It was neat to see what people came up with.  We each got a constellation named after us from Dad Moody, a painting of a special place from Mom Moody, pillowcases from Mike and Emily, a birthday and Christmas countdown from Jeanette and Evan, a picture Aaron had taken, a cd from Alan that had a hymn redone with noises and voices from the family, and a rice bag, hot cocoa mix, headbands, and candles from Heather. We gave everyone different photos we had taken around Hawaii and a round glass ornament filled with sand and seashells we had collected from Waimanalo and Ewa Beach.  I also made korky bows and flower bows for the litte girls, and Hawaiian print bow ties for the little boys, as well as a onesie with a bowtie for Ryker. I was going to take pictures, but forgot to before I gave them away! After opening presents we returned to my parents house for soup, salad, rolls, etc for dinner.  And then we all got to talk to Corbin!  He's been on his mission for a little over a year and just became a zone leader.  He is doing well and speaking great spanish.  Then we opened presents there- it was a little chaotic with everyone!  But super fun!  We gave Zac a bag stuffed with diapers and inside a few diapers were some small gifts.  The little kids got a kick out of watching him open each diaper to see if there was something inside. :)