Merry Christmas!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas. We woke up very early on Christmas morning to no power. The wind had been blowing all night long with a lot of snow falling. We watched the kids come down to view their treasures from Santa. We opened presents and ate cold cereal instead of warm ooey gooey cinnamon rolls. Jeff brought in his backpacking stove to boil some hot water for hot chocolate and by 10 am the power was back on, and thank goodness it came back on, because our house got down to 60 degrees. We spent the rest of the morning baking the cinnamon rolls, making a dessert for dinner, getting dressed, shoveling A LOT of snow and getting ready to go see my brother-in-law and his family along with Jeff's parents. The drive down to their was was fairly uneventful, but the drive back that night was in another storm with icy snowy roads, our car barely made it up our little hill to our house and into the driveway, I thought for sure we'd get stuck. I'm always so sad to see the Christmas season go so fast, I just want it to last a little longer, but in a few days I'll take the ornaments off the tree, package up my beautiful willow tree nativity, pull my stockings down and box everything else up and I look forward to doing it all over again next year.

Morgan loved the pretty lights on the Christmas tree

In their new jammies on Christmas eve

coming down the stairs to see what Santa brought on Christmas morning

fun presents

Ian got a very much wanted nintendo DS, we haven't been able to pry him away from it since

Cute Bedheads!

This was earlier in December before our ward Christmas party

"Nini gone gone"

After months and months of trying to find a "good time" to take Morgan's "nini" (binky) away. I finally bit the bullet and just did it on Monday night. She's been sick off and on all fall and I didn't want to take it away when she already felt crummy. I was prepared to be up and down the stairs all night calming her, telling her it was o.k., and that she was a "big girl" now and didn't need her "nini". After our normal bedtime routine of stories and songs, I layed her down in her crib and that's when she usually starts asking for her "nini". I ignored her and tucked her in and tried to give her her bunny and baby doll that she sleeps with but since she didn't have her "nini", she threw them at me. So, I quickly left the room and that's when the real crying began. She cried and cried, so about 15 minutes later I went into her room to reassure her that I was still there, I talked to her, put her blankets back on and then left again. After another 15 minutes of hysterical wailing I went in to reassure again, at this point I wasn't sure it was ever going to stop. At one point she was standing up frantically searching for it all through her covers and saying "wherego?" (where did it go?) So, after an hour of long hard crying she finally quieted down for a good 10 minutes but started up again with a little whimpering and then off to her deep slumber. She woke up in the middle of the night crying and I went in to put her blankets on her and she went right back to sleep. The next morning she woke up happy but didn't remember that she didn't go to bed with her "nini" and one of the first things she said was "wherego" with her palms facing up. Nap time yesterday was a little whimpering, and bed time was more wailing for only 3o minutes. So I really think that it went better than expected. With her strong personality I thought for sure it was going to be a lot worse. I think we still have a few more nights of "crying it out". In the long run I'll be so happy not to have to take it with us everywhere, making sure it's always with us, and even more happier to no longer getting up in the middle of the night looking through blankets and crawling under the crib searching high and low. BYE BYE "NINI"!

Giving Thanks

We had a wonderful quiet Thanksgiving. We usually don't ever go anywhere and this year it was no different. I always used to be so sad that we couldn't be together with my family or Jeff's family for a huge get together, but over the years I've grown accustomed to it just being our little family and a simple, but hearty Thanksgiving dinner. With whatever job Jeff has had over the years has required him to work the day after Thanksgiving or on Thanksgiving day.

Our Thanksgiving morning was relaxed with a simple breakfast of gingerbread muffins, thanks to Wasatch woman magazine, and lounging in front of the T.V. watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. Morgan and Ian played so well together and I was able to make my apple pie, sausage stuffing and get the Turkey in the oven without interruption. We watched movies and ate pie after dinner and were so grateful to all be together in the comfort of our nice warm home.

For Family Home Evening last week Jeff printed out a paper with blank spaces that we were to fill in over the week of things that we were to be grateful for, we had a follow-up this week and it was amazing to see SO MANY things, that we have in our lives to help make us more comfortable. I am truly grateful for so many things in my life that I can't even begin to name them all. I love this time of year, and even though the Christmas season can get a little hectic it's so nice to be able to reflect upon the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the ultimate gift that he gave us all.

Different Personalities

I love it that both of my children have their own unique and individual personalities. We have so much fun watching our little Morgan grow up and change everyday, and we often hear ourselves saying "Did Ian do that?" "I don't remember Ian saying or doing that?" Of course he could have done some of the things Morgan is doing and it's just because it's been a long time ago that he went through some of the things that she is currently going through. For instance I remember Ian being a fairly clean eater, hardly ever dropping any food on the floor and very minimal cleanup required. Morgan is another story, I learned only after my 3rd plate broke that I shouldn't give her food on a "normal people" plate. I know your probably thinking, duh? But, I honestly didn't think that she'd throw her plates on the floor on purpose. She also loves to dump food off of her plate onto her tray and then throw her plate onto the floor. Forget the cute plastic plates with compartments to keep her food separated. She'd rather dump it all onto her tray and smoosh it all around. And then there's her "nini" (binky), we only let her have it at nap time or bed time, but toward the end of the day she gets really whiny and starts asking for it. I remember Ian liking his binky but not nearly as much as she does. We took it away at 18 months and had only a few nights of crying at bedtime for it. We are almost afraid to take Morgan's "nini" away because of her love of it. Morgan throws a tantrum easier than Ian ever did. Morgan is a big tease and likes to hide things and say "where did it go" although it's not that clear it's more of a "wherego". Ian cuddled, and Morgan scratches and hits and pulls hair (really hard), and only cuddles when she's sick, sad or tired. Morgan likes to undress herself and hates wearing her shoes, Ian always kept his clothes on. Morgan likes to yell really LOUD. Some of that comes from Ian's taunting.

I love that we are all unique sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us all individually. I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for trusting me to be the mother of two adorable wonderful children. It's truly an awesome responsibility.

Pumpkins

So what do you do when you have an afternoon off of work? I did this:

Baked my pumpkins that we grew in the garden this year. I'm always in the mood to bake with pumpkin in the fall, and I've never pureed my own pumpkin before, so I thought what the heck, I'll give it a try.

After an hour and a half of baking

I scooped it out of the shell and pured it all in several batches

this was after I squeezed all the water out of it

I was left with two quart sized bags.

Later that night we made these:

Pumpkin Smoothies - unfortunately they didn't taste all that great, so I won't post the recipe.
And the next day I did it all over again with the second pumpkin and skipped the smoothie part! Now I'm in the mood to bake something pumpkiny. Pumpkin chocolate chip bread or cookies anyone?

Toys 4 Sale

Ian has been bugging me for years to have a garage sale. It's a daunting tasks to me to go through ALL of our stuff and to decide what to sell, and belive me we have or I guess I should say Jeff has WAY too much stuff. So when the neighbor kids had a garage sale to sell some toys, Ian got really excited at the thought of having his own garage sale. He took the whole week to go through all of his old toys and books and mark everything with prices. Jeff made him a sign and he set up a card table and waited patiently for kids to come by. He made about $5.50 in about an hour (thanks to the neighbor kids and a parent who he got the garage sale idea from).

She's 18 Months Already?

Our little Miss Morgan turned 18 months old. I have been really anxious for her to go to nursery because it's so hard to sit through a class when they are that age. We've been going in a few times here and there just to make the transition a little easier. Her first Sunday went without a hitch, and hopefully it will last. I know that some kids do o.k. at first and then not so good later on, so I'll continue to hold my breath. I can't belive that she's old enough to go to nursery, oh how the time flies by WAY TOO FAST.

Halloween

We had a fabulous Halloween. I had the privlage of feeding this historical figure:

A hearty breakfast of pumpkin pancakes with apple cider syrup:

Then we went to Ian's school for the Halloween parade. Morgan enjoyed listening to the fun halloween music and watching all the kids parade around the school gym in their costumes. Jeff worked on his halloween spook house all day. We usually set it up at the church for the trunk-or treat but due to the wind that day he needed something to tie it down to, so he decided that our house would be the best bet.

I took the kids to our ward trunk or treat and around to a few houses in the neighborhood, and we were home before it was completly dark. It was a great day!

A Journey of 40,000 steps completed

Jeff had a huge accomplishment last weekend. Despite the wind, rain and cold, he ran and completed the St. George Marathon. His knee that had been giving him problems worked great and his body is back to his normal non-stiff self. Isn't asking someone if they'd like to do another marathon right after they finish, a little bit like asking a woman who just gave birth if she's ready to have another one? Well, Jeff was unsure about wanting to do another marathon for only a couple days, and now he's looking to do some more in the near future. Ian has the itch to run the 1/2 marathon in Wyoming next July and has started his training, who knows maybe we'll all be a marathon running family someday. Way to go Jeff...I'm so proud of you!

This was right after he crossed the finish line.

I'll post more pictures soon. It wasn't able to get any other pictures, but we will be purchasing some of the pictures that they took while he was out on the course and crossing the finish line!

Sleepwalking

Last night during my deep slumber I had a dream that some milk has spilled on the bathroom floor. I quickly got out of bed and went to the linen closet to get a towel. I opened the closet door and then realized that I had been dreaming, but I still got the towel and put it on the bathroom counter just in case that there were spilled milk on the floor and it would be right there to clean it up. At the time this all seemed very logical, but after waking up this morning I realized what I had done and really got a good laugh at myself. I've never had a problem with sleepwalking, it was really strange to wake up standing at the closet door looking for a towel. Jeff and Ian both got a kick out of my story and Jeff was wondering why there was a towel on the bathroom counter this morning. My brothers had sleepwalking problems growing up and would do some pretty strange things. Hopefully this was just a weird instance and tonight at 2:30 am I won't find my self searching for a towel to clean up non-existent spilled milk!!!!

Football Injury

The other day we got a call from the school saying that Ian had split his lip open. Jeff answered the phone and being Mr. Calm, he told them to let him ice it and to call us back in a little bit to let us know any more details. I couldn't stand it so about 25 min. later I called the school and asked how he was doing and they explained that it was split open pretty bad, so I decided to go take a look and check him out of school. He was playing football at lunch recess and ran smack dab into a girl that was running through their game this was the result:

This picture actually looks pretty mild, he woke up the next morning and his whole face was swollen. Usually when Ian has any sort of injury he is somewhat of a baby about it. This time he was very mature and didn't complain too much.

Junk Drawer

What's lurking in your junk drawer? Do you even have a junk drawer or are you one of "those" people that has EVERYTHING organized...if you are then don't respond to this post because then I might throw my junk drawer at you! J/K!!! I really do love organized people and admire their ability to ALWAYS stay on top of things. I don't realize I'm in trouble until it's OUT OF CONTROL!!!!! So, I'm attempting to organize little by little. If I think about all I need to do to get organized I get overwhelmed and I tend to go on strike and not do it at all. I tackeld the kitchen junk drawer and embarassing enough it was so full, that the contents were spilling out in the back in into the cupboard below. YIKES!!! Here's what I found:

Magazine - 2 years old

nuts, bolts, screws - to who knows what

matches

old Christmas cards

way too many pencils and pens

saftey pins

take out menus

old reciepts

samples of laundry and cleaning solutions - probably from when we first moved in

weight watchers material

ribbon

lotion

Christmas and Halloween goodie bags

Christmas gift stickers

3D glasses

hair bows

wrist bands

plug-ins for room scents (4)

fake dollars

Kleenex

highlighters

formula coupons

water bottle lid

star stickers

smiley stickers

box tops

bike lock keys

screwdriver

Who knew so much could fit in a drawer, Obviously though it wasn't fitting because it was literly spilling out everywhere!!!!

Fertility Monitor SOLD!!!!

I finally sold my fertility monitor last week. I had it list on KSL classifieds for about 45 days and this was my second time around trying to sell it, my first time around was last December and I had just let the ad run and then forgot about it. I was a just a tad bit sad to see it go, but I'm glad that someone else could have the chance to use it and "hopefully" have a happy outcome. The funny thing is, is that I used that thing month to month and did get pregnant a couple of times using it, but those pregnancies ended in miscarriages and just when I was DONE with the whole fertility thing, taking my temperature, taking those fertility tests every morning, charting etc. etc. I got pregnant with our sweet Morgan. It's really true after you finally relax a little it will happen, I am the proof that that's what it took!!!! So, even though I was a little sad to see it go, I'm so happy that those days are over, I will not be that crazy about trying to get pregnant again (I think), someone shake me if I start to get obsessive over getting pregnant, please remind me that I have two beautiful children and that I'm so lucky to be their mom. I will not obsess!!!!

HS Musical 3 Starring Ian and Morgan

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NieNie

After reading of friend of mines blog (thanks Niki) I have come to know of a girl named Stephanie Nielson who was in a tragic plane accident with her husband in August. She was severely burned (over 80%) of her body and her husband Christian was burned over 30% of his body. After reading about this accident I have been following her sisters blog almost daily to find out how they are doing. Stephanie is known throughout the blogging community for her posts on motherhood. Although I had never heard about Stephanie before reading my friends blog. I feel like I have come to know her. I pray for her and Christian's recovery and pray that the Lord will walk them and their families through this difficult time. Here is a link to Stephanie's Sisters blog if you are interested in following their story visit here http://blog.cjanerun.com/ and Stephanie's blog is here:http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/. I have also posted a donation button on my blog as well.

Random Sampler

What's been going on in our neck of the woods? Not really a whole lot! Although the "not a whole lot" is keeping me busy enough that I'm finding it hard to have enough time to take a deep breath. I've been working about 5 hours a day, and although I'm home all day It's been hard to squeeze keeping my house in order by doing so. I've been reading an incredible book called "He Did Deliver Me From Bondage", I recommend it to anyone and everyone, although the spiritual work is VERY hard and grueling I have come to understand my savior and the atonement on a deeper level than ever before in my life. It's a book about ridding your life of addictions and compulsive behaviors, it uses the 12 step process that AA uses only with using the Book of Mormon. I'm starting step 5 with a small group of amazing women and I have to say step 4 was the HARDEST step I had to take in this process, I didn't quite finish step 4, but since the group is moving on, I'm moving along with them and when we are done as a group, I'm planning on re-reading the book and doing the steps over again at my own pace. It's a book that I know I will read MANY times over in my lifetime.

Ian is working hard trying to earn his Bear badge. Here's a picture of Ian making "Monkey Munch" one saturday for a yummy treat and to also help him pass off a Bear requirement. His school recently had an egg drop. He has a fool proof method for dropping an egg without it breaking:

and Morgan is just BUSY and growing so darn fast. I caught her this morning actually sitting, not jumping on the couch and reading her book. Yesterday when Jeff and I were both reading she hurried and grabbed her book and started reading too.

Here she is crawling all over her daddy and giving him loves

Helping Dad in the garage
This was the first time I tried to put ponies on the sides, it was really cute for all of 5 minutes, but it's still not quite long enough in the back to hold for very long!

Back To School!!!

This is a little late. Ian actually started school the last week of July. I'm always so sad to see him go back. I don't have my little helper to rely on and a playmate for Morgan. We had an awesome summer, many trips to the pool for swimming lessons and recreation, trips to the park, walks in the mornings, late night movies, and our favorite...eating at Fazolis (we both LOVE that place). It's hard to believe that Ian is a big 4th grader now, wasn't it just yesterday that I dropped him off at his first day of kindergarten and came home and cried my eyes out????? Where did the time go?

Entire Life's Questions

A good friend emailed this to me - I thought I'd post my answers here:

(x) Gone on a blind date
(x)Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Mexico (does going to Tijuana count?)
( ) Been to Florida
(X) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons -every week in church
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(x) Done something you told yourself you would
(x) Made prank phone calls - as a kid
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose - yeah, it hurts!!!
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
() Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(x) Gone to the movies -Of course!!!!
1. Any nickname? JJ, Jay, Leany (My next door neighbor called me this when I was very little)
2. Favorite drink? Cherry Pepsi
3. ---THIS ONE WAS MISSING ???
4. Any Tattoo's? No
5. Body piercings? Just my ears
6. How much do you love your job? LOVE LOVE LOVE IT - being a mom is the hardest and most rewarding job EVER!
8. Favorite vacation? Disneyland
9. Ever been to Africa ? no, I wish!
10 Ever eaten cookies for dinner? absolutely
11. been on TV? no
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? no
13. Ever been in a car accident? just a tiny fender bender
15. Favorite salad dressing? Cafe Rio's Tomatillo Ranch - YUM
16. Favorite Pie ? Apple or Cherry
18. Favorite movie? Hard to pick one, but Ferris Buelars Day off is at the top
19. Favorite holiday? It's a toss up between Christmas and Independence day
20. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake
21. Favorite food? Italian
22. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
23. Favorite brand of body wash or soap? Anything Bath and Body
24. Favorite toothpaste? Aquafresh
25. Favorite smell? Pumpkin and Cinnamon
26. What do you do to relax? Read, watch TV, bake
27. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Travelling
28. How many siblings do you have? 5 2 sisters, 3 brothers
29. Furthest place you will send this message? I'm not sending it to anyone
30. Who will respond to this the fastest? No One, since I'm not sending it to anyone, however if you'd like to post your answers on your blog I would love to see them!

Grasshoppers, Purple Bathtubs, and Other Surprises

This is a great article that I'm sure all of us Mothers can relate to. It's found in the August 2008 Ensign - Check it out:

"Grasshoppers...

Missing Pacifier

On Saturday evening we misplaced Morgans pacifier. We actually have two laying around but she will only take one of the two. They are exactly the same but one of them is more worn out than the other and she likes the newer of the two. So, when we misplaced the newer one she threw a fit when we gave it to her at bedtime. She sucked on it for a second, took it out of her mouth, and threw it on the ground. I knew that I was in for a rough night unless I found it quick. I had Jeff and Ian helping me search high and low. We looked in cupboards, drawers, all of her toys, under the sofas, you name it we looked. Jeff and I kept asking each other if we were ready to deal with the consequences of taking the pacifier away for good. I hadn't had the chance to mentally prepare for it, so we decided to go to the store and get a new one. Wal-Mart is only a few blocks away so I drove over there at 9:30 on Saturday evening, and guess what?... they didn't have any of the kind that she takes. I stopped to think to myself is it worth it to drive all over town looking for this specific pacifier for a good night sleep....OH YES!!! So I went to another store not to far away and they had 2 packages left...yea, so all is well and now I have a taste of what it may be like when we finally decide to take the good ole binky away. The next morning Ian found the missing one in a cup that she had been playing with earlier that day on the kitchen counter, probably the only place we didn't look, so now we have three spare!

Icky Spiders

Last week Ian went to get something from the storage room. When he came back this was our conversation: "Mom, there is a HUGE spider down in the storage room, and I'm not going down there again until it's gone." "Oh, Honey I'm sure it's not that big...just go kill it." "No, way it's too scary." A few days went by and I sent him down to get some paper towels. He said, "No, way...I told you I'm not going down there because of the HUGE spider." At this point I wasn't in to mood to make a huge production out of it. On Sunday Ian had a similar conversation with Dad, but this time Dad wasn't going to back down and he WAS to get paper towels or else... Ian flat out refused to get the paper towels; he said the spider was too scary. I never really realized how scared Ian was of spiders until then. He stood on the top stair trying to get up enough courage to go down into the storage room. Jeff gave him several warnings and finally had to ground him for a WHOLE week because of his refusal to listen. Jeff finally had to pick Ian up and carry him down the stairs and at this point Ian was so scared he was hyperventilating. And all &*^%$ broke loose when the door to the storage room opened. Jeff made Ian point out the spider that was causing all sorts of panic with Ian. This is what he saw. Jeff came up the stairs to get the vacuum to suck it up and kill it. Jeff and I had this conversation, "You need to go look at that before I take care of it, because I guarantee if you had seen it you would refuse to go down there too." Me “I don't need to see it, I believe you that it's, big, huge, hairy and ugly." Well, I got brave enough to go down and look at it. It was high above the ground in a really big spider web, and yes it did give me the weebie jeebies. Jeff sucked it up with the vacuum hose but then couldn't find it in the container, so he kept turning the vacuum on to see if he could see the spider whirling around in there with all the dirt. So, he got his heavy duty gloves on, took the vacuum into the garage and took apart the whole vacuum, with no sign of the spider. Jeff came to the conclusion that when he sucked it up and whirled it around in all the dirt that it broke apart into tiny pieces. So, needless to say now I don't want to use the vacuum because, what if it's still in there somehow or crawled out and now it's making a web in my closet????? EWWWWW...the thought makes me a little nauseated. Poor Ian got his fear of spiders from me and this time I have to say his fear was justified. He learned that he should have communicated better, so we could have taken care of the situation rather than having an all out panic attack.

4th of July Festivities

We enjoyed a fun 4th of July with Family in Wyoming. Going back to my hometown brings back wonderful summertime childhood memories.

We were at the end of the parade route and the candy was very sparce :(

Jeff's Mom and Grandma

Jeff's brother - relaxing after the loooooong race

Jeff relaxing after the loooooong race - there was a restaurant cooking food outside and Jeff was dying of hunger.

Jessica and Jaxon

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We also celebrated my sisters birthday on Saturday at the City Park!

My Mom and Grandma (Nana)

Morgan started walking about a month ago from object to object but is now getting confident enough to walk outside.

My Sister and Neice adoring Morgan

More family

My Dad

My Grandpa!