Cousins

Thanks for coming to visit, Isaac & Tyler. We had a blast!!!

Little Chefs

Jonah has taken to cooking morning breakfast. His specialties are oatmeal and scrambled eggs. The scrambled eggs are quite good; the oatmeal has benefited from a little fine tuning. Turns out, if you don't let the water come to a rolling boil before adding the oatmeal (i'm talking about the real stuff here), a strange consistency happens. Sort of porridge-y. While Clint enjoyed more shut-eye and i showered Sunday morning, Jonah got ambitious. I came downstairs, looked at the pot on the stove, and asked who he'd invited over for breakfast. He explained he just wanted us all to have enough for seconds. Two bowls of porridge for breakfast?? Why, thank you, little buddy!

Micah is famous for his made-to-order sandwiches. They always involve multiple layers and many ingredients. He is his first and (currently) only customer. Last night, he took out three pieces of bread. He slathered the first with an inch-high coating of grape jelly on one side, and about half as much creamed honey on the other. Next layer was covered simply in crunchy peanut butter. Finally, he applied honey and sliced bananas to the top piece. After a few bites, he asked if he could store the rest in the fridge, to be consumed in the far-away future. i suggested he ought to eat a little more, after going to so much trouble. He finished all but five or six bites, then announced, "I feel like I'm going to baaf!" (still working on the "r" annunciation, cute boy!)

Maybe they'll be able to fix an edible meal by the time they are ready to go out on their own... if not, it won't be for lack of trying!! :)

Our First Decade

Yesterday marked exactly one DECADE since Clint and I were married. This makes me feel old, proud, grateful, loved, and retrospective all at once. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who led us to each other, and has continued uniting us throughout our marriage. I'm thankful for this truly good & humble man, who is constantly serving me and our children. Clint has always had a calming influence on me. In fact, he was honestly the first guy I'd been around that I ever felt completely, 100% comfortable with. I never felt like I had to have my guard up, and we both never engaged in the "games" that normally go along with dating. I'm not saying we're perfect, or that our relationship is flawless, but it is so nice to feel safe in his love.

photo by Blue Lily Photography

Anyway, we celebrated last week, since Grandma & Grandpa are in CA this weekend. First, we dropped off the kidlets (who were sooo excited about having a sleepover with Grandma & Grandpa!). Then, we made our way to a nice Spanish restaurant in Salt Lake City. The food made me feel completely transported...their seafood & meat paella was seriously heavenly. And, while it would have been more authentic if I continued gorging myself until the plate was clean, i knew no one's feelings would be hurt if i didn't.

From there, we headed home...picking up a movie, some treats & breakfast ingredients on our way. It was nice just to take our time in the store, smooching along the way. A little freedom now and then is a nice treat!

The next day, we sleept in, then feasted on blueberry pancakes, sparkling cider, grapes and orange juice. We took our time getting ready, then dropped by the sporting goods store to rent cross-country skis for the day.


We had a lot of fun (including several crashes... a few of which ended with me laughing hysterically as I tried unsuccessfully to get up.) Clint continued to assure me that bears do indeed hibernate, so I was only on the look-out for wolves and foxes. (Paranoid? maybe a little.)



Anyhow, after a nice lunch, we made our way back to the kids. They had a wonderful time...thanks Grandma & Grandpa! And i always love spending one-on-one time with the love of my life! Here's to many more decades! (well, not too many...i'd really rather go before the dementia hits...)

first snow

Gabe keeps eating snow. More specifically, the snow that falls off my children's boots when they come inside. From taking care of the chickens. Which requires walking through a lot of chicken ****. (Saying that may have been a reason I agreed they could have chickens. I haven't actually said it, yet. Out loud, anyway. What's my problem??) Anyway, I decided to gather up some fresh snow for him to try out. He liked it. So I set out the winter wear box, to see what would happen. He threw on a girlie hat, some gloves, and tried to go out the door. I helped him with the rest, changed his hat (after Autumn & i giggled a while), put on my own stuff & we went out together. He loves balls. A world covered with ball-making material...heaven! Too cute.

p.s. Somehow, i deleted the really cute pictures while trying to upload them on the computer. At least i have some documentation though, right??

Guys' Night Out

On Wednesday, the boys arrived home in a flurry of excitement. They waved blue fliers in my face, jointly announcing a school-sponsored "Guys' Night Out." Clint has been absolutely swamped lately (he's taking a 3-week online course as the final requirement for his teaching credential), but he's a soft-hearted Daddy and agreed to take his boys. The evening of movie, food & games was last night and an apparent blast was had (by the boys, at least.)

While they were away, Autumn and I dragged Clint's laptop upstairs to enjoy some snuggle time in her room watching "The Little Mermaid." Then, I came downstairs to finish making the ruffled skirt I've been working on for her (truthfully, I had no interest in her next movie selection, and she was eager for me to finish the skirt). I think she likes it. While she was trying it on in the bathroom this morning, I overheard her telling herself how pretty it was and how much she liked it... in a very dramatic, princessy little voice. It was pretty simple to make, using this tutorial, and since I've got extra fabric I might just make another one or two for her birthday.

random catch-up (not ketchup) pictures

Micah at his classroom Christmas party


Jonah on Santa's lap, at Clint's work party. Looks like Santa is telling him a thing or two. Uh-oh. (Luckily, he delivered nicely on Christmas. Guess his last-minute lecture worked! ;) )


Micah taking his turn.
And Autumn, on the "not-real-Santa," as she described him. We don't actually do Santa in our house. This is because of Jonah's first church Christmas party, when he was about 3 years old. After he had sat on Santa's lap (not for the first time ever, but probably the first time he was aware of) and had his fill of Christmas crafts and goodies, we were walking out of our church building. He paused to look at a painting of Jesus in the foyer. Then he said, "Now I know that Jesus isn't real." I asked what he meant, and he said that he knew Santa was real because he had just seen him. But since he'd never seen Jesus, he couldn't be real. I know everyone meant well with the party they'd worked so hard to throw, but I have to admit I did not feel much gratitude for it right then. We realized he was probably too young to understand much talk about real vs. fiction then. But we have never hyped up Santa Claus, or tried to use him as a way of coaxing our children to behave well. When they ask, we tell them the truth (Daddy is Santa). Clint jingles bells after filling stockings, the kids set a plate of milk and cookies out for him, and several presents are signed, "From Santa". But we also do our best to make sure our children know, all year round, of our testimonies of the living Savior & the blessing He is in all of our lives. Moving on....

Gabe refused to sit in some fat, hairy guy's lap, but did take the gift...

then fired off his best "I don't trust you!" look, once the goods were securely in hand.


This year, a few people in our small town organized a live nativity. The city owns an old barn, which is leased to our neighbor. He raises farm animals there, even though he is confined to a wheelchair. It gives him a feeling of independence, as well as offering him the chance to raise the animals he did before moving from their family farm. Anyhow, Clint had the opportunity to volunteer and dress as a shepherd on two of the four nights it ran. The lighting was low, so this was the best my camera would do (he's the shepherd standing, on the left side). It was a beautiful experience to go. You can't see the donkey in the background, but it just stood there peacefully every night. They also had a little petting area set up, a camel, hay rides, and hot chocolate. The children and i enjoyed our trip one night. Admission was a can of food, which was collected and then given to the local food pantry.


Micah & Autumn entertaining themselves during the Christmas break

The kids' re-enactment of the Nativity at our church's Christmas dinner.

On a lighter note...

Autumn has been begging to take a dance class for about a year and a half. Frankly, the idea of my little girl in skin-tight outfits shaking her bum and wearing gobs of make-up held no appeal for me. But ballet seemed like a good compromise (still skin-tight, but tasteful, outfits; eventually make-up; no bum-shaking). This fall, I finally registered her for ballet. She was so excited when we picked out the leotard and tights. (She just wears dress-up ballet shoes for now. Does it really make a difference at this age?) The first class was a lot of fun; she was asking all week long when it was time for ballet again. After the second class, the excitement waned. This was more disciplined and structured than she had planned on, and she felt repentant. She said she wanted to go back to music class, bagging the whole dance class idea. Well, I had already registered her for the complete semester; besides, i think she's a little young to start a pattern of quitting. So I tried to build it up all week, we trudged through that class, and she's been fine (enjoying it immensely, actually) ever since.



All this background to say that Parent Observation class was a little while ago. Normally, I sit in the hall (or quickly take advantage of 45 precious "alone" minutes to run errands...alone). This time, we were invited into the inner sanctum of giggly preschool ballet class. Here is more of what I saw...