New stuff

A new year a new blog, I switched to Wordpress so that it is easier to upload all my photos, it took me a while to figure it out but I finally got it going.

Come read more about us HERE

New Years Eve

We made a quick trip up to Idaho when we got back from California and went bowling, which the kids loved. Our trip was way too short but so much fun. We had an arm wrestling contest with everyone since it turned out to be a ton of fun when we did it in California. John beat all the brothers on both sides of the family, while I lost to all the sisters on both sides of the family! But I made up for it with my top bowling score;) (My dad did however beat John, but everyone was such a close match it was so funny to watch!) Im sad all of our family time is over, we need more soon.

More Christmas

On Christmas Eve we did a Nativity narrated by Cari for the first time this year, the kids were so cute as mini characters, I have so many memories growing up doing this with my cousins!

We did a pretty low key Christmas this year as far as gifts go, we just really kept it simple, nothing homemade, nothing extravagant, pretty minimal, and it was so nice, no stress:) it was especially fun to watch the kids open their gifts on Christmas morning this year, kids make it so magical.

Phoenix Field

On Christmas Eve we all met at the park, my Dad brought rockets, Josh brought a remote controlled airplane and some slingshot helicopters and Alec brought Bjorn and a frisbee. It was so much fun! We all just hung out and played in the warm winter sun. Vera practiced her walking, the kids chased down the parachutes as they fell from the sky, and the ladies hung out and talked, it was my favorite day.

We had such a fun Christmas!

The day after we arrive in California my parents put us to work on our annual service project. My Dad purchased a portion of an orange orchard's fruit and drove down to Fresno to get the fruit. He brought back 6000 lbs of oranges, tangerines, and lemons that were picked fresh that morning. He had a local company donate boxes and we packaged them all up and delivered them to two local stakes worth of families and people in need, it was super fun. I love citrus this time of year:) We got out my parents juicer and made fresh orange juice and orange rolls on Christmas morning.

Updates

I still feel like I am trying to catch up since finishing the house, we have been up to lots of things.


At our ward Halloween party they had bobbing for apples, all the teenagers were trying unsuccessfully to get an apple and were all soaking wet, we walked in and I was sure the kids wouldn't want to try. Wes said "Ill do it" and he got an apple on the first try, not a drop on him. Mae was a little hesitant but she got an apple on her second try with just a little water on her forehead. Everyone asked if we practiced at home!

Vera says: Mama, Dada, Uh-Oh, Doggy, Lamby, and I-do
She has also been standing on her own, but no steps yet


Wes' new word is above and he uses it in every sentence, except he says "bebove"
I told Wes that even though he is asking Santa for two presents he will probably only get one since there are a lot of kids around the world that need presents too. Now he tells Mae and all his friends that they should only ask for one present. When he sat on Santas lap at the Mall he told him only one present and Santa said "is that it?" The one present he is asking for is sold out around the country right now :(

Mae loves to say the prayer and the first thing she always asks for is to "bless the merica"
Mae also has a lot of mood swings, tantrums, and meal quirks lately....
She also talks to everyone while we are out: the man at the post office, the lady at Little Ceasars, the boy serving us at the restaurant, she tells everyone how she is three now and about her toys and anything else she can think of.
She also cut off all her bangs with a pair of scissors since they were in her face.

I am almost done with Christmas shopping, only two more gifts left...
And we are packing up our house... because we sold it... because a family moving here from texas saw it and made us a really good offer... and we signed it... and now we get to built again!... but this next house is going to be very very different... a little smaller, a totally different style, a very different layout... and ten times cooler even than this one;) We close this week, cant wait.

California in the fall

We took a quick trip to California a few weeks ago and had a super fun time.