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President Hinckley

>> Sunday, January 27, 2008

We just heard that President Hinckley , the Prophet and President of our church has passed away.

It's such a bittersweet loss. He's led the church for our entire married life and we've grown to love him so much. Each time he spoke, we could feel his love for us and were constantly reminded of our Heavenly Father's love for us as well. We will miss his energy, his positive attitude and his delightful sense of humor.

He is the only Prophet our kids have ever known. In fact, tonight at dinner (before we knew he had passed away) Emily was talking about how Nanna had told her that David O. McKay was the Prophet during her childhood and early adult years. Emily commented; "President Hinckley is my Prophet like that". :) We then had a discussion about when President Hinckley had been ordained as Prophet and how long he had been serving. An interesting "coincidence", I think.

We will miss President Hinckley very much, but are grateful for the knowledge we have of our Heavenly Father's plan for us.

We love you President Hinckley!

Surprise!

>> Thursday, January 24, 2008

Jason and Lori got a wild notion, scored some plane tickets on Priceline, hopped a plane and brought their family to visit us for the long weekend!

We didn't tell our kids they were coming. We only said that we had a surprise for them on Saturday evening. You should have seen their faces when we sent them to answer the door and the cousins were standing there! Emily's jaw hit the floor, Natalie flung herself at Whitney, and Todd put his hands on his cheeks and said "This is a REALLY good surprise!"

It was just what we needed to help ward off the "January Gloom".

I've said it before and I'll say it again...we have the best families anyone could ever ask for! There's no way we could do this without all the love, support, and VISITS we've had from everyone.

I didn't take hardly any pictures, but here's a cute one of Todd snuggling with Jason and Lori.

Thanks for coming, guys! We had a great time...hope you did too. :)

Amazing Alex

>> Thursday, January 17, 2008

Alex is growing so quickly. Each day he amazes us with a new trick, skill or word. He's been a singer (lots of baby babble) from the beginning, but just recently he started singing "real" songs. For example...

I'm guessing his choice of song must have something to do with the large quantity of family birthdays we've celebrated during November, December and January! :)

Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you your next American Idol!

Snow Day...Take Two

>> Wednesday, January 16, 2008

It's official...

My children have now experienced more snow days in the last five weeks than I did in my entire school career.

There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the protocol for canceling school.

Yes, it did snow (about 2.5 inches) last night. Yes, it was cold. Yes, the wind was blowing. However, this is what it looked like outside this morning.See the blue sky? See the sunshine? See the GRASS sticking out of the snow? Yeah.

So, here's what the girls did today (in addition to painting their nails, watching a movie, harassing each other and fighting)...

Water balloon babies! The perfect activity for a snow day.

Hmmm....now that I'm thinking about it, maybe the protocol for closing school is 2.5 inches of snow! :)

Emily

>> Friday, January 11, 2008

Emily turns 9!

>> Thursday, January 10, 2008

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Dear Emily~

Happy birthday, pretty girl! You are 9 today. Nine on the ninth! :) It's hard to believe that it was really nine years ago today that you were born. Poppa couldn't have been happier when you decided to grant his wish and make your entrance 8 days early...on his (and Uncle Kevin's) birthday! From the very beginning of your life, you've kept us on our toes. You aspirated amniotic fluid while you were being born and pretty much had "instant pneumonia". We never expected to leave the hospital without our first baby in our arms, but we did. For 8 long days, you stayed in the NICU, with tubes and wires all over your little body and Daddy and I by your side as much as we could be. I lost count of how many times you pulled out your IV or the vein that it was in collapsed. The nurses finally had to insert it into a vein in your head. They wanted me to leave while they put it in so I wouldn't have to see you go through that. I told them to take a hike and stayed right by your side while they did it. You only fussed a little and when it was all over, calmly looked me straight in the eyes. At that moment I knew you were a toughie! You still have that same toughness and determination today.

You are a sociable, fun-loving and talented girl. Daddy and I are so proud of your many accomplishments. You are a tenacious soccer goalie, a budding pianist, a recreational gymnast, a responsible babysitter and a good student.

We know that moving to Colorado hasn't been easy for you. We admire you for trying to keep a positive attitude, making friends, and having the courage to make the best of this change.

Natalie loves you so much. She looks up to you and tries to be just like you. You are a good big sister to her. My favorite times are when the two of you play nicely. I also love when you do your "projects" together. I hope you will always have a special relationship with each other.

Todd and Alex are lucky to have you as their sister. They love you very much too. You are such a big help with both of them. I love when you read to Todd, play blocks with him and help him with the things he needs. He loves your "big hugs", they always make him feel better when he is sad. I also love that you can help me with all of the things Alex needs. What would I do without you to put his coat on him and buckle him in his seat? He loves following you around and being a menace with your things. He always has a smile and a hug for you.

Daddy and I love your spunk, your strong will and your sense of humor. We love your outgoing personality and your good nature. We are thankful that you are dedicated and responsible. Being the oldest isn't always easy and we appreciate you being patient with us as we try to figure out just how to be the best parents we can. We enjoy listening to your experiences, reading your stories and just watching you turn into a beautiful and capable young lady. We are grateful you made the choice to be baptized last year and that you do your very best to choose the right and be a good example to those around you. You make us proud every day.

Emily, we love you very much and we're so glad you are a part of our family. We hope you have a fabulous year. Happy birthday, sweetheart! We love you!

With love~
Mommy

On the road again

>> Tuesday, January 8, 2008

We left Colorado early on December 26th for our trip to Utah. Have I mentioned that it's a LOOONNNGG drive to Utah? It is. And BORING. It usually goes something like this...

Kurt and/or I: "Hey, kids, look...an antelope!"

Kids: Mumbled replies, grunts, and always one who says "Where? I didn't see!"

Kurt and/or I:"Hey, kids, look...another antelope!"

Kids: Silence

Kurt and/or I: "Hey, kids, look...a windmill...and another antelope!"

Kids: "Can we watch another movie? PLEASE?"

Yeah. Barrels of laughs.

But...totally worth it!

We had so much fun with family and friends during our after Christmas visit. There was lots of food, fun and festivities. A big thanks to everyone who fed us, housed us, and partied with us! We love and miss you all .

The sardines...er...kids in the van. Are we there yet? How many more hours or minutes?

Crafty fun with Nanna

Alex and Will star as Iron Chef Babies

Alex did a lot of sleeping

And emailing his peops with his new laptop

And sleeping

And did I mention sleeping?

Reading with Grandma

Nat & Ty chillin'

Todd giving Amelia some "sugar". I love the Utah Fruit box!

Merry, Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas.

It was different, and much quieter than we're used to, but still wonderful. This was the first time since Christmas 1998 (and back then it was just Kurt and I with baby Emily in-utero) that we've been alone...just us...on Christmas.

I'll admit that I had mixed feelings about going to Utah after Christmas rather than for Christmas. Kurt and I hashed it over and over and finally decided that we were better off doing our own thing and going "home" afterward.

We had a low key Christmas Eve dinner of chili-cheese potatoes, read the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures, put out donuts and milk for Santa and reindeer food for the reindeer and tucked in for the night.

Emily, Natalie and Todd all slept together in Emily's room. As we were tucking them in, we reminded them that they couldn't just come barreling up the stairs in the morning...we didn't want them to see all the loot without us and the video camera. I told Emily to just stay on the stairs and call for me or to sing me a lovely Christmas wake up song.

At the delightful hour of 1:50 a.m., I was awakened by a trio of little sing-songy voices saying "Moooomm...wake up....it's Christmas!" Apparently I should have mentioned an appropriate time for the Christmas wake up song. :) After explaining, groggily, that yes indeed, it was morning... and yes, it was Christmas, but rather early for gift opening, I returned the Three Tenors (okay, sopranos) to bed. At this point, Todd refused to stay in his sleeping bag and consequently joined Kurt and I in our bed for the rest of the night...er...morning.

At a much more acceptable hour of 7:00 a.m we began our celebrating. It was a great day! After a nice brunch, we spent the morning playing trains and Diego, listening to music on our new mp3 players, streaking our hair pink and blue, singing karaoke, trying to dance like Hannah Montana, and laughing our heads off at Todd in the Hannah Montana wig.

Here are a few pics of our day.