Things I Learned This Year (not in any order)

*it's fun to own a house, but expensive too

*i LOVE having babies, going to the hospital, etc. it's so exciting

*twice the children = 1/2 the sleep

*losing weight is hard work but so worth it

*kids really do say the darndest things

*bruised gums are some of the nastiest and saddest things ever

*it's all a choice: have a life full of drama or being peaceful; being stressed out or relaxed. The key to helping in choosing peace and happiness is in the fundamentals of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

*it's not easy to change habits or to create good habits

*i like air popped popcorn

*every baby experiences the same developmental processes in different ways

*it's good to find joy in little things and to be easily entertained

*taking care of myself is really important, i can and should care for myself...which includes spending money on myself and doing things i like to do

*a mother's job is never finished

*a mother's job is summed up as caretaker

*vacationing is not really relaxing when you have little children with you (especially if you're nursing)

*i really like the Beatles, but not their early stuff

*forgiveness doesn't mean keeping your eyes closed, in fact you must have your eyes open so that you can forgive

*part of loving is forgiving as quickly as possible, like children do

*i like fried pickles

*eating with your hands is really fun

*i CAN bake

We have had a wonderful year. We have been immensely blessed and we see God's hand in our daily lives.

Cowboy

Christmas Time

I spent my Christmas money on new curtains, a rug, pillows and some vases to liven up the living room. Couldn't have done it without Asa and Tia's help!

Made pesto-sundried tomato bread in my new bread maker!

Brad dragged the kids around in their new wagon, Will laughed the whole time.

Brad worked on the garage, the mechanical opener part is broken.

This is Will during the present opening.

This is Ruth during present opening.

Merry Christmas Ruth!

Ruth slept in bed with us a lot the last week. (The hairy leg is Brad's not mine!)

Will and Declan (and my old curtains)

yams, carrots and red potatoes so yummy!

We had SOOOO much fun while Brian, Tia and the kids were here. We wished we lived closer to them. We also made delicious caramel corn with Brad's new popcorn popper. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings twice. We had tons of fun with the cookie cutters making several batches of cookies and biscuits. The adults went on a date to Shari's for free pie night...and then also went to DQ for a blizzard! Tia and I went shopping late one night to purchase my living room accessories. And the adults stayed up WAY too late their last night here laughing.

In other news I used a frozen spoon to break Will's bruised gums and help a tooth come through. Will has become a crawling champion in the last few weeks. Ruth's vocab exploded with all of the exposure to her cousins, my favorite thing she says now is, "yeah." Sadly, Makutsi the kitten ran away or got nibbled by the crazy dogs at the end of the street, we don't know. And strangely, our microwave was totally fritzing out for a day or two (it looked like lightning whenever you turned it on), but is once again working properly.

Elbow

A new one from Elbow. Something to be excited about!!!

What We've Been Up To

Brian and Tia and their kids came into town Saturday and we've been having a blast goofin', and baking, and shopping and playing. This is a video of some of our activities:

Here are the kids decorating their cookies:

The baby boys:

And tonight the adults get to go out and leave the kiddos at home with Taylor (cute babysitter-girl from church)!

She's Two

So I've been ignoring the kids for the last 30 minutes as they played on the floor behind me and I read some blogs, checked email, did some banking, etc. Well I heard what sounded like slapping, so I turned around and saw Ruth slapping Will. I scolded her and asked her to be soft and nice with her brother. She stood up and said, "NO! GO ROOM!" and marched to her room and slammed the door. Okay! I can't even remember the last time I put her in her room for being naughty, I seriously think it was some time in the summer. Hehe, the things kids pick up on.

Kids

Ruth is wearing a Christmas dress picked out by Aunt Tia and sent from Gma Paula. Will is wearing an outfit Brad wore when he was a baby...still too long for him but so disco and cute.

And this is a picture of Ruth...she climbed into Will's bed the other day while he was supposed to be taking a nap but was fussing instead. She fell asleep and took a nap there, which freaked me out at first because I couldn't find her until I finally went to get Will because he was being so fussy!

Quick Trip

Brad had a conference with his company this last Monday and Tuesday up in Salt Lake, so we all came along for some fun. We headed up there Sunday night so we could drive in clear weather (they love to close I-84). We got up there in time to listen to the Christmas Devotional which was so nice...that is we listened to it in our hotel room, not at the Conference Center. Monday, the kids and spent several hours at IKEA, of course we had lunch there, love the Swedish meatballs, and then went swimming at the hotel pool. I brought our floaty thing for Ruth to sit in. She was worried at first, like she is with most new things, and then got very accustomed to the water and had a good time. The best part of swimming was when Will started kicking his legs and flailing his arms in the water. Ruth would laugh at that, which in turn made Will laugh...which made me laugh. We all laughed for a good five minutes. After swimming we headed back to our room to relax for a bit. Then we went and ate some wings and then headed to temple square to see all the Christmas lights. Brad and I couldn't believe that in the 3 or so years we lived in Provo we NEVER went to see the lights. They were beautiful! We also saw the statue of Christ in the visitors center which Ruth was excited to see. As we were walking away from the statue she said, "Bye Jesus!" which made me tear up. Then we went shopping at the Deseret Book store.

Tuesday, the kids and I met up with Kelsey (Brad's cousin) and her kids at the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. I'd never been there either, and it was really fun. Ruth had a fabulous time with Nyah, they wandered around the whole museum hand in hand, it was so cute. After that we did some more shopping and relaxing. Then Brad and I dropped the kids off at Kelsey's house (thank you again!) to go to a dinner/theatre thing his company paid for. It was a cute Christmas show, and it was mostly fun just to be out without the kids, with other adults. Our favorite part of the night was the driving because we got to chat.

Wednesday we headed home, and it was so nice to be home again. Going on vacation with two kids isn't much of a vacation for a mom. But it was fun, especially our time spent at temple square. Oh, and I forgot my camera which really annoyed me when I realized it...so no pics.

Cabin Fever

It's bad when cabin fever sets in on the first of December.

Ruth and I are going completely stir crazy. We never go outside anymore because it's too cold and icy...the streets never melted from the first time it snowed a couple weeks ago. Ruth needs to expend some serious energy, we used to go to the park every day so she could run around...and now for weeks we've been cooped up in the house. The other bad effect of this is that we're cranky. Our options for curing cabin fever are either shell out six bucks to go to Hop 2 It or spend money to eat fast food at Arctic Circle so she can play in their tiny play place...all the other fast food places have outdoor play areas. Both options are no good because they involve spending money. I tried to pull out the mini tramp and her red tube to encourage her romping around, but she got bored of them quickly. These are my woes. And poor Will is getting his top two teeth and crankier than ever.

Thanksgiving Pics

I can't decide which family photo I like best...

check out lentsphotography.com for more