Thursday, February 18, 2010

Three Cheers For Nicholas!


Nicholas is going to BYU! Woot! Woot!
BYU took longer than normal to get back to applicants due to record high applicants as well as declines.
I am so excited for him as truly some of my very best memories are at BYU. Yay!











Monday, February 8, 2010

A Gift To Me

I have been eyeing this photograph of the Salt Lake temple by Robert Boyd for some time now. I decided to splurge and by it for myself. Think of it as a birthday gift to myself.

I absolutely love it. Everytime I walk by it, I feel myself smile. I love just sitting in the front room and looking at it at night when the kids are in bed and it's just me.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Never Mind . . . On 5th thoght!

Okay, so after spending a great deal of time trying to upload photos for "Random end of 2009" Parts 2 and 3, none of my photos work. I think I just had the setting on my photos way to high. Anyway, here is a random Christmas photo of Matt and I since I never post any of us.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Random end of 09 Part 1 of 3 - December 2009

I am not one who typically stresses over the holidays but for some reason, last year had me quite behind especially in my blogging. Here are some holiday photos:


Ella and cousin Julia at her wedding.


Aidan is so excited to tell Santa about the Furreal pets he wants along with Zhu Zhus. Yes, I was one of those mothers who got up at 5:15 am and waited outside Toys R Us for these. It is so NOT me.

Ella has been waiting so patiently to ask for an American Girl doll.


I remember this snowy day and being cooped up inside all day. As soon as Matt came home, I announced, "We're playing in the snow! Suit up! I forgot how much I love just playing in the snow. This darn snow man was so hard to stick because the snow was so fluffy. We decided to make it a she.


I love Temple Square at Christmas. Who doesn't? My very, very favorite tree at this time of year is right there on the left. It is so beautiful contrasted against the majestic temple. What a fun night for our family. Cold? Did anyone say cold? Brrrrr. It was an early 20s night.

Photo op.

Ella amazes me with her sensitivity to beauty and peace. She almost cried when she saw the nativity scene and when we had to leave Temple Square she kept asking, "But why? Why do we have to leave? Can't we just stay here?" She was enchanted particularly at the Christus.
Like a lot of families, we act our the Christmas story every year. Featuring Matt as the donkey, Ella as Mary, Aidan as Joseph, Layla (Ella's Buid a Bear) as baby Jesus and me as the narrator and inn keepers. The kids absolutely love it.


Another tradition we have is that night - Christmas Eve after we read the Christmas story, everyone gets to open one present (this year it was two) and it's always a new set of pajamas. This year they got slipprs as well. Along with this, I pick out a Christmas book and write a dedication along with the the year. The kids get to write their name inside. It's fun to see how their name writing changes from year to year. Then we read the story together and always have homemade cookies and cocoa. Goodness, I could do it all over again!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

OW!

So, I have always had back issues but the last few weeks my lower back has been killing me. While teaching a pump class last Monday, I bent over to grab a weight and before even picking it up, my back blew out and I fell! It was quite embarassing, however, I got through the class with clenched teeth and a participant demonstrating the exercises. Needless to say, I have a herniated disc in my lower lumbar and am hating life at the moment.

I am really appreciating the ability to just walk these days.



Tuesday morning Matt had to carry me to the bathroom (couldn't walk) and help me get dressed. My kids have all pitched in putting on my socks and shoes and helping me put on my pants - oh my!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Catching Up

I feel so out of it! Somehow, I really let the holidays take over this year. Obviously, I haven't been very good about keeping updated events documented. Iplan on posting a few big events in the next week retroactive back to October 2009. I hope you can bear with me. I will keep them short.

On Maritin Luther's King Day, we took the kids skiing for the first time. I have always loved skiing but have not gone since Ella's birth :(. Now that Ella's 5 and Aidan's 4, I thought, "Let's just do it." It went much smoother than I thought. Aidan is kind of a perfectionist like his mom so I was prepared for him to cry and pout every time he fell down. Surprise! He was amazing. I couldn't believe the little guy took to it so naturally. Once Matt started letting him go on his own, he didn't want to be held. The hardest part was "loading" the rope tow. The worker there was so fun and patient. It was a perfect day!




Ella skied more like princess and was more cautious but did terrific.


Check out the parellel skiing. We will definitely be returning soon - after my back heals - another story for another time.

Friday, December 18, 2009

How many times can I say, "I love you."

I can't believe it's been a month since I last blogged. Matt and I rented Julie and Julia the other night and I really liked it. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's about Julie blogging about her Julia Child's recipes and just her experiences with these on a daily basis. I can see how therapeutic this can be.

For some reason, I feel like I have to have something really exciting happen to me in order to write it down. Really, everyone's daily lives is just interesting to learn about. So here is one of my regular, normal day experiences:

Yesterday, I swear, Aidan must have told me he loved me a dozen times, literally. I remember he would catch me off guard all day because it was just random. One time I was just washing the morning dishes and Aidan was playing with his cars in the family room when all of a sudden, "Mommy, I LOVE you!" That was it. Again, I was in the shower and he ran to the bathroom and said, "Mommy, (pause) I love you." (just stating it matter of fact(ly). I couldn't believe how much he surprised me and how titillated I was.

When I got home from teaching a class last night, he was the first thing I saw and greeted me with, "Mommy. I LOVE you!" Again. After the kids were in bed, Matt told me that he was reading to the kids in the family room or doing something with them, I don't remember what exactly when the garage door opened (you can hear it) and Aidan got up and ran to the door. Matt said that he (Matt) said, "Aidan, we're not done yet." Aidan replied, "But I HAVE to tell Mommy I love her!."
I'm a Esme! I found out through TwilightersAnonymous.com. Which Twilight Female Are You? Take the quiz and find out!
Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

Playing Opposites

I have been discussing opposites with the kids lately. Today (Oct. 1 ) we were doing an opposites puzzle and Aidan was doing amazingly well (turned 3, 3 months ago). There was a picture of fire with the word "hot." Here's the conversation: Me - What's the opposite of hot? Aidan - warm. Me - Well, not quite. Okay, fire is hot. What is ice? Aidan - slippery! LOL :)

Aidan - "See, I can do opposites with my toes!" ??