I'm too young to be a Grandma!

Annie is a great pretender. She pretends to be holding things or acts out situations. Her newest thing is to have everyone in the family be someone else that she knows. For example: Katie-Grandma, Eric-Grandpa, Annie-Joelle, and Cameron-baby Luke. Then she will continue to refer to us by those names. We were out running a few errands the other day and at the store Annie would only call me Grandma. "Grandma look at this!" "Hold my hand grandma." I am sure that more than one person thought, (Grandma just keep looking younger and younger these days).
Some of the other people that we get to be are Carrie, Bob, Nick and Rose Snedeker (Friends in Rochester). At first she wanted me to be Bob, but I eventually convinced that I would make a much better Carrie. I already play the part of Marcus, while she is Beck Beck, Cameron is Jack and Eric gets to be the new tiny, little baby (other friends in Rochester). Don't you wish you could play. The best is when I get to be Oreo. Oreo is Joelle's dog. Annie loves Oreo and tells me how much she misses him everyday. She will also say, "Oreo misses me mommy!" You just have to love 2 year olds!!!

Climber

Cameron has always loved playing with the dishwasher, but just recently he discovered that he can climb up on it. This is how I found him today. He was loving it! He is definately a different breed than Annie who was so cautious about everything that she did. We never had to worry about her. Cameron is one that we always have to keep an eye on. Yesterday he also discovered that he can climb up on to Annie's bed. He loved it. He was laughing and bouncing. There is so much to do and see!

 

The Nativity

Annie loves the Nativity story. When we first pulled it out the end of November she loved to carry the little baby Jesus around with her. As the Christmas season progressed and she learned the story of the Nativity and who all of the characters were it became even more fun. When we got to Grandpa and Grandma Christensen's house she found their nativity and took very good care of baby Jesus. Then when we came home I put all of the Christmas stuff away and with it went the Nativity. For the next couple of days Annie asked me over and over again to go and get it. She really needed her baby Jesus, Mary and, Joseph. I finally went down and found the box it was in and pulled it out. She was so excited! "Oh, my Tivity!" She spends most of her day playing with it. She sets it all up and then wants to sing Away in a Manger. It is so cute! She even found a block to uses as baby Jesus's bed. I guess there is no reason why the Nativity can not stay out all year long.

 

Sledding at Highland Park

On Saturday we went sledding at Highland Park a great sledding hill known as "The Bowl". We went with our friends the Rogers and the Richardsons. We had a lot of fun, well, some of us had a lot of fun. Annie said, "I no go down the hill!" over and over and then cried. Some would call that fun. Cameron neither loved nor hated it. He went over and over with the same reaction which was no reaction. So I guess it was the most fun for me and Eric. Annie did enjoy the hot chocholate and cookies that the Rogers brought to share.

The whole family!


Eric and Cameron


Annie's true feelings about sledding.


Cameron loved crawling around in the snow. 

Helping make Daddy lunch

Annie is quite the little helper. She loves to help me do everything. Make dinner, sweep the floor, clean up, and she has really been enjoying making daddy's lunch. She gets out 4 pieces of bread and puts the meat and cheese on and then she loves to put everything in the bag. When you're helping you're happy! 

Best Friends

I have to admit that I love that Annie and Cameron are so close in age, 15 months is perfect now. They have so much fun together. Today it was fun to watch them laugh and play. They definately have their hard times, but overall they really enjoy each other. Cameron's favorite activity is climbing the stairs and so Annie decided that she should join him when I went to take a picture. She loves getting her picture taken, if you can't tell!

Say CHEESE!

I love you Annie!



Cameron wanting to be like his cousin Wyatt (see Gwen's blog). He makes a cute girl.


Great teeth Ann!

 

A Miracle

Today I was a part of a true miracle. We returned home from our trip out to Utah and Idaho for the holidays on Wednesday night. The Ramptons our good friends here in Rochester had us (me, Cameron, Annie) over for dinner because Eric was out of town. While there I realized that I didn't have my wedding ring on. I couldn't not place the last time I had it on, but I wear it all of the time so I didn't think I had taken it off. I panicked because I had just spent the whole day traveling, so it really could be any where. We called the airports and reported it, I called my parents and Eric's parents, we (me and Rebecca) emptied all of my suitcases in case it had come off while I was packing, but the ring was no where. A wedding ring is one of the sentimental material items that you just want to have for your whole life, needless to say I was pretty sad. We said lots of prayers and hoped for the best. Today I was gone in the morning and when I returned home there was a message from my friend Joy McMurray saying that she had a wedding ring that she had found and was wondering if it was mine. I honestly could not believe it. She had been walking out in front of our apartments where our cars are parked and thinking she was just seeing a piece of rock salt looked again and realized it was a ring. It must have fallen off of my finger when I was unloading the car or something. I am not sure how it happened, but I am so glad that it was found and especially that it was picked up by a friend of mine. I definately was shown a Tender Mercy of the Lord.

Annie and Oreo

My little sister Joelle has a dog named Oreo and we got to meet him on our . Annie loves dogs, BUT seeing one up close and personal was a different story. She had a hard time with Oreo at first which caused her to scream whenever she saw him. She would say, "Doggy go outside!"
Then there was Cameron who was the exact opposite. He loved Oreo from the moment that he saw him. He would scream and cry whenever he couldn't see Oreo.
I had to put these pictures on to show the change of heart that Annie had. By the end of our stay she loved Oreo. She even says thank you for Oreo in her prayers.


 

Skiing for Heather's Birthday

My parents live just a half hour away from Pomerelle ski hill and so a group of us (Brandon, Heather, Ben, and myself) went for Heather's 19th birthday. It was so cold! It was 8 degrees when we got there and 10 degrees when we left. Then the wind decided it needed to blow all day long. Other than the weather it was a very fun day. It was funny because I was the one that had been skiing the most recent and that was 3 years ago.