School News

Things in Mike's application process have finally started to move! Last week he heard from the University of Michigan and the University of Texas, and last night he got a call from the University of Illinois. This means they liked his application and they want him to fly out for an interview. His first one is next week with Michigan. All of the interviews will consist of Mike flying out Thursday night, interviewing professors all day Friday, attending some kind of workshop on Saturday, and flying home Saturday night. Thankfully, the airfare and hotel are all paid for by the school. We still haven't heard from four schools, and we may not hear from all of them, but we've been told that three of them are the slowest movers and will be the last to call. It's exciting, but a ton of pressure for poor Mike, who is dealing with this on top of his worst busy season ever, and who is only two weeks into his seven weeks out of town. In a couple of months it will all be over and we'll know where we're headed!

These are some photos of the kids when we went to Joe's BBQ for Lauren's birthday. They have a yard outside the restaurant with grass and trees and the kids love to run around after we eat.

Copies from Sarah's Bog

These pictures were on Sarah's blog, too, but I couldn't help adding them to mine! The first is of Colin and cousin Max in some awesome matching jammies that Mom got them. The second is of the kids bundled up and ready for a walk in the wagon that Ginny and Jim gave us for Christmas. It's a little tight in there for three kids and 15 blankets, but they loved it (until they started fighting about 15 minutes later).

Park Time

We discovered a really cool park near our house. Here are some photos of the kids enjoying it. My favorite part of every visit is the swings. Amelia still doesn't quite pump her legs in time, and Colin grips the front of the swing in such a cute way.

Funny Day

Today we watched Max for a little while and I thought it would be fun to give all three kids a bath. Amelia was so excited! She kept telling me, "I'll help you Mommy!" and then she said, "I'll wash his tummy and face and I'll be SO GENTLE." She actually stayed true to her word and helped me wash Max, and thought it was so fun that she helped with Colin, too. It was awesome! Less work for me!

Also, when I got her up from her afternoon rest (calling it a nap would be incorrect, she won't sleep!) she was wearing a diaper over her clothes. I reluctantly agreed that Hello Kitty could wear one a couple of days ago, but I guess she decided it would look better on her! She's really a pro, she had it fitting perfectly!

Amelia now has several imaginary friends. She is always talking to them or narrating for them. Their names are Dorothy (like Elmo's pet fish), Jenny, Gaepa (don't ask me!), and today I heard about China. As far as I can tell, they're all girls.

Colin did something funny yesterday. Amelia stepped on something and was crying, and Colin heard her from the other room and ran to her yelling, "I'm sorry!" at the top of his lungs. He says nearly everything at the top of his lungs. It was such a funny thing. I rarely make him say he's sorry (he doesn't do much maliciously), but I guess he picked up on it during one of Amelia's many apologies to him!

Christmas Photos (finally)

I finally found the time today to post some photos of Christmas! Amelia was so excited about Santa this year. She got to sit on his lap twice, once when we went to a Christmas play with Grandpa Chin and Grandma Debi, and once at the mall. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone, and we got so many generous gifts. Mike was off for two whole weeks, which was amazing. Sadly, today is the first day of busy season, so we won't be seeing much of him until sometime in April!

Here we are checking out the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple.

Amelia nervously sitting on Santa's lap at the mall.



The kids looking cute.

Christmas morning and Christmas day.

Making our traditional german pancakes can get violent!