December Highlights

Cute pictures of Lucas from the month of December:

Baby's First Christmas

We had a very nice, low-key Christmas this year with just the three of us. We missed our families a lot, but enjoyed spending the day with Lucas. He seemed to enjoy his first Christmas.
He looked so cute in his Christmas pajamas.

We went to the dollar store yesterday and bought stocking-stuffers. Lucas really liked his stocking.
This is one spoiled kid. He got a lot of great gifts from his grandparents.
I got Ben and Lucas matching ties. They were looking pretty studly at church today.
We also were blessed to have Christmas dinner with our dear friends, the Lorencs. It was delicious and so nice to still be able to spend the holiday with people we love.

Merry Christmas 2010

Last December we were a happy couple living in Provo while Ben was finishing school at BYU and Vanessa was teaching math.

So much can change in just one year…

In April Ben graduated from BYU.

In June we moved to San Antonio, Texas where Ben obtained work in the IT department at USAA. We love it here. We have made a lot of new friends and have discovered so many things about ourselves as we have ventured out on our own.

In August we became a happy threesome as we welcomed our son into the world. Lucas Benjamin Henry was born on 8/9/10 at 3:33pm and weighed 8lbs 10oz. (He has a thing for numbers like his mom.) He is such a sweet baby and we love him so much. We enjoy watching him as he grows and learns new things every day.

So this year in a new place, doing new things, and with a cute new baby to love, we are constantly reminded of the many blessings that our Heavenly Father has given us. This holiday season is a time to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ and remember His Atonement.

To all of our friends and family we wish a very Merry Christmas!

A Holiday in Hollywood

USAA knows how to party. The employee Christmas party is THE event of the year and very much talked about: Alamodome, after-five attire (semi-formal), sit-down dinner, and live entertainment.

The theme of the night was "A Holiday in Hollywood." There was a red carpet with photographers (we tried to skip this, but one of the photographers saw my dress and insisted on taking our picture), actors and movie characters walking around, and a huge Hollywood sign.

The dinner was good, but we didn't get a table and had to sit in the bleachers (there were literally thousands of people there). We didn't stay long, but had time to listen to the live band for a few minutes, and walk around and see some smaller performances in other rooms. It was a fun night!

He Is Born

Ben got together with a some friends in the ward to sing "He Is Born" at our ward Christmas party. Not quite at Vocal Point level, but definitely a beautiful song and a great performance!!

We wanted to post this on here so that the friends and family of the performers could see it. Enjoy!!

Jorel, Kevin, Elder Howell, Ben, Mark, and Micah

A Lot of Reading

I know, I know. I have been totally remiss in my blogging since Lucas was born. Well readers, I have spent the last week catching up on old posts. Many of these are for my own gratification. I like to use this blog as a way of "journaling" our family's adventures. Unfortunately, I'm not done yet. I still have quite a few to finish. But if you are interested in reading all of these (and have the time), please catch up with me:

Ben's Graduation (yes, I really was that far behind)
Baby Shower
Tinker
Two down, one to go!
Sea World
New Shoes
What a Strong Neck!
One Month
Zzzzzzz
September Highlights
Corn Maze
Toy Gym
Church Stud
Swaddle Me
Halloween

Happy Birthday!!

Ben is 26. He has officially crossed into the "upper-twenties."

Lucas was excited to give him his gift.
Ben has wanted this StarCraft game for a while.

Ben decided that he wanted a BYU Basketball Birthday Party. So we invited a lot of friends over to watch the game and eat cake and ice cream. We asked everyone to bring a favorite snack to share. We now know what the favorite snack is among LDS Young Adults. EVERYONE brought chips and/or salsa. :D

Remember this? It happened again. Almost everyone we invited came to Ben's party. Our tiny apartment was packed. But we are so grateful to have so many wonderful friends!!

A Riverwalk Christmas

We've heard that San Antonio's Riverwalk is pretty amazing at Christmas time. So we decided to go on a date and take a River Taxi to enjoy the lights.
Not nearly as good as Temple Square at Christmas, but still very beautiful. The trees are all strung with strands of lights that hang down over the river and sparkle above you and of course the restaurants and bridges are decked out as well. The best part: being able to enjoy going outside in just a light jacket in the middle of December! :)

Four Months

The outside pictures it was too bright and he wouldn't smile. The inside pictures came out a little bright. But he sure is cute. :)

At his four-month check-up with the pediatrician,
weight: 15 lb 14 oz (50th percentile)
height: 25.5 in(75th percentile)
head circumference: 16.5 in (50th percentile)


Katy gets the credit for the great photos. :)

Santa Claus is in Town!

I saw Santa shopping at Sam's Club this morning.