Life Is Full of Ups and Downs

(Don't worry, he's just licking her hand!)





But most of the time, it's pretty great.

Lots of Catch Up

Young Women In Excellence is over... (it was a huge success thanks to my awesome counselors, our amazing girls and their families!) and that means free time for things like blogging again.

Nov. 14th was one of the best days I've had! We took a girls' day off, left the kids and took the train up to New York City. We went to the Manhattan Temple with Dana, who was going through for the first time! We are all more proud of her than we could possibly express, and it was an incredible experience. She is one of the strongest people I know. She has been through so much, but has only come out stronger. She is an amazing mother and friend!

We got to spend Thanksgiving with the Evans up in Boston, and it was wonderful! It was great to relax, enjoy the best company and delicious food. There's nothing like being with family for the holidays! While we were there, we got to visit the Salem waterfront and go little bowling (I can't remember the real name for it, but you use a much smaller ball, and the pins are also thinner, and straight, and I beat Dan at it! Which, if you know us, never happens!)







For the first time ever, Dan braved the Black Friday mobs and was at Best Buy by 5am. He walked out with our entire Christmas: a steal of a Canon Rebel T1i, and he's been playing with it ever since. That means LOTS of pictures for the blog. Dan hates shopping, so Oakley and I are extra grateful to him for letting us stay safe and warm in our beds that morning while he battled the lines.

Thanks to the Evans, Dan and I were able to go on a date for the first time in months, while they watched our very active little girl and very needy little dog.


What is that? Another car? Yes :(
Didn't we just get a car? Last summer.
Do we just love car shopping or something? No, we hate it!

We miss the Lancy. We were sad to see her go. Especially after only a year and a half! Sadly, she just wasn't built for a life in Alaskan snow. She could have survived, but with her low-profile tires and ground effects, she wouldn't have come out the same car. And as one online advice giver stated, in Anchorage it's not so much the snow that's the danger in a small car, but the larger vehicles who are going to inevitably hit you while driving in that snow. With soon to be two little ones, safety and practicality forced us to make a change.


We reluctantly set out to find an SUV and finally decided to join the rest of the True clan and get a Jeep (Shauna and Travis, you're next :). After weeks of searching, we found a serious deal. All we had to do was drive to Allentown to check it out. Normally, an hour in the car, no big deal. But, our sweet little girl happens to HATE the car. We made it to the dealership with our sanity mostly intact. Took a look at the car and liked what we saw, even after Dan crawled underneath. Following a satisfactory test drive and look under the hood, we went inside to make the deal. All of a sudden, the power goes out. We have incredible luck. Someone had stolen a car and smashed it through a telephone pole at the end of the block while running from the cops. Somehow, despite the pole sticking out of the car engine, he managed to climb out and run off. The crash caused a power surge, which then caused an explosion and fire at the other end of the block. This was no small repair, and added a couple extra hours to the car buying process while we waited for the power to come back on. By the end of the day, with no nap and a nasty cold coming on, Oakley gave up and just threw herself on the ground screaming, refusing to be consoled. As luck would have it, this was the same day that the first snow storm of the year decided to roll through. Our one hour drive home was right through the worst of it, and took 2 1/2 hours. It was perfect timing for that 4 wheel drive. We were safe and cozy in our new car, listening to Christmas music. It would have been a magical ride through the snow if it hadn't been for our (non-stop) screaming child.

Here's what we know you really came here for:

It's True...

Oakley is going to be a big sister! Baby True #2 is on the way!

Other things we've been up to...

Cleaning Max's teeth. Yay! Dan's $50,000/yr tuition saved us 200 bucks!




Watching ESPN with daddy while attacking dinner (she likes to eat everything this way, not just enormous rolls):



And passing up a yucky chip for a handful of delicious peas:

Halloween Fun

Oakley went trick-or-treating last year, but she sure doesn't remember being carried by mommy and daddy to the doors to get candy. This year, she got two chances to give it a try. First, at our Ward Halloween Party:




She thought all the costumes were very strange and couldn't stop staring at everyone. Then, she had horrible nightmares all night.

Fortunately, by Halloween she was used to the idea of dressing up, and got to go trick-or-treating with her friends Asher, Tennyson, Max and Isela:

The only time she sat still all night:


She was so fascinated with the baby!

The rest of the night, all she wanted to do was this:


Run through the streets! She could have cared less about the houses, the candy, the actual trick-or-treating. And forget the grass or sidewalks. She wanted to be in the street. Our little cow girl was so fast, we couldn't get a single picture of her straight on, or looking at the camera.

Linvilla Orchards

Yesterday, we took a trip to Linvilla Orchards, and we will definitely be back! Oakley loved it, but her favorite part was following all the other kids around. It was raining a bit, so we ducked inside the farmer's market and toy shop during the worst of it and left with some delicious apple cider, a coconut cream pie and, of course, some giant apples.

She was way too busy watching all the people to look at the camera.

Trying to look scary:

She loved running around and getting all muddy.


All wet, because wearing your hood in the rain is no fun.

Labor Day

We started Labor Day weekend off right by watching lots of College Football, yay! We are thrilled football season is finally back! Then, Monday, we took a picnic up to, what had to be, the only empty park around. It was perfect! We had the park completely to ourselves, the weather was nice and cool, and we the company was wonderful! We even got some Badminton in. I somehow missed getting pictures of the Schexnayder's little boy, Ayden, but trust me, he was adorable!
Little Munchkins




Some sweet action shots :)