3 Years in a Row!

I have been feeling bad that we haven't posted anything since Christmas, but I swear we have a good reason.

This is what we've all been doing since the day after Christmas, and it's the 3rd year in a row that we've gotten sick right after Christmas.

Apparently someone (probably us) at our Christmas party had a bug and didn't know it, because a lot of us who were there have been sick all week.

SORRY, EVERYONE!

Most of us are feeling better, with only me actually being sick anymore. I even missed my volleyball tournament this morning. Oh, man, do I feel bad about that!

Hopefully we'll all be back to 100% within the next few days so that we can go to Safford this week.

Christmas is finally here!

Why do we buy them fancy presents when a box will do? Oh, this is why! No box ever got a smile like this!

Andy in his manly apron made by myself and Hailey

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were so amazing. Eric and Debby (Andy's parents) got here just before dinner time, and we cooked a ham and had a great meal. Then we had the kids open their Christmas PJs (made by mom), and read the Christmas story. It was really sweet. the most amazing thing was how excited Emma was to go to bed. We had her sleep in our room so that she wouldn't be up before all of us-- we wanted to witness her seeing the Santa presents for the first time. Usually we put her to bed and it takes her at least 30 minutes to settle down and go to sleep, the whole while talking to Frank and yelling requests for water, etc at us in the other room. Christmas Eve, however, was VERY different. She told me that I was not allowed to take a shower in my bathroom because it might keep her awake. Then, when Andy went into our bedroom to get something, she told him "Dad, get OUT, I've got to go to sleep!" She REALLY wanted to go to sleep so that Santa could come!

Christmas morning was filled with the usual present mayhem, with Grandpa being way worse than the kids at waiting his turn to open presents. Emma was our present delivery girl, and also cleaned up every scrap of wrapping paper. Frank had a hard time focusing on opening new presents, because he would get so entranced by every new one he got. Andrew and I got lots of great stuff, and overall, it was fantastic. We did not manage to have a small Christmas because we have got so many people who truly love us. Even if Andrew and I hadn't gotten the kids any presents at all, they would've gotten plenty from all of our family. WE ARE SO BLESSED TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO LOVE US SO MUCH! SO THANK YOU, EVERYONE!

After all of the presents were opened in the house, we mentioned that there might be 1 more present outside, and Emma discovered the trampoline. Wow, they LOVE it! Unfortunately, it's been a little cold to spend too much time out there, but we're not the only ones who enjoy it. We've had to move the stairs away from it so that the dogs will stay off it. They love to wrestle and lay up there. Who knew it'd be a present that the WHOLE family could enjoy?

Thank you, everyone for all of your kind thoughts and gifts. Christmas was a great time for family and love. We truly have been able to feel the Spirit in our home, and have had a wonderful time teaching the true meaning of Christmas to our beautiful children. Also, since Andrew has the whole last week of the year off of work, we've been able to just relax and enjoy each other like we haven't been able to for a long time.

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Party

We were able to have Andy's parents come stay with us for Christmas, and also had a FANTASTIC Christmas party that Brian Paul, Jeremiah, and Sharissa were able to come to, along with Robyn and Hailey. It was just a great evening, and we will remember it for a long time. I know some of you have asked for pictures of Heidi's kids, and you will be amazed!!! Brian Paul is so mature and grown up (he even told me he's ready to start looking for the right girl to start a family with!), and Jeremiah is an honest-to-goodness bodybuilder. He's so big and strong, but still has that shy little smile that just makes you want to pinch his cheeks. Sharissa is not a little girl anymore, and is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. It was great to spend the holiday with them. So here are some pictures. Robyn and Hailey somehow managed to evade the camera all night, and I don't have 1 good picture of either of them, only one of Hailey, Sharissa, and Emma playing the fishing game. Sorry!

Well, well, what to write? We're all just hanging out here on Christmas Eve waiting for it to be late enough to put out the kids' Santa presents, and I thought I'd blog a little. It's been such a CRAZY couple of weeks, and I'm thrilled that the holiday is finally here. My kids have been desperate to open presents, and we even called Santa (aka Daddy) on the telephone today. Andy did such a great job of playing not only one of Santa's elves, but the big guy himself. I tell you, it was priceless, and I wish I would've videotaped it!

Eric and Debby came to our house for Christmas, and it feels great to have them here. Andy and I cooked a big dinner tonight, and we'll have green chili and tamales tomorrow. Brian Paul, Jeremiah and Sharissa are coming to dinner tomorrow, and I'm sure we'll see Butch's family sometime during the day, too. We are so blessed to have so much family so near us. Hopefully we'll get to go see the Safford family later this week, though it'll be tough because I have to put on the young women's volleyball tournament on Thursday and Saturday. We'll make it work somehow.

We've been to the ZooLights and also Winterhaven this week. It's been great to have the kids old enough to really know what the holiday is all about. I subbed for Emma's Sunbeam class yesterday, and had a great time teaching her about the real Christmas story.

Just one final thought.

I was listening to the radio yesterday, and the station was playing greetings from our troops overseas to their families at home. One woman said how she was so sad that she was in Baghdad and she would be missing Christmas at home with her 4 year old daughter. It just really hit me at that moment that our troops sacrifice SO MUCH to defend our country. I can not even imagine missing this Christmas with Emma. She's just starting to really understand about Jesus (and Santa). She takes everything so literally, and it is amazing to see her soak in all of the special traditions of the season. I would be crushed to miss it. So, next time I see a soldier or airman, I'm going to thank them for doing what they do. Without them, we wouldn't have the opportunity to sit in our warm houses and celebrate the birth of Jesus in freedom. Thank you, troops!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Our little girl turned 4 years old today. We are so proud of her and the beautiful little person she is becoming. Emma has a special talent for making people smile. She is also very compassionate and loving. She is an excellent older sister, and (almost) always puts her brother's needs and wants above her own. We love her so much, and can't wait to see the woman she will someday be. We love you, sweet girl!

Oh, my!

Today we had Emma's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's of all places. She has been begging me for a princess birthday party since last August, when both her cousin Reagan and her friend Kayla had princess parties. I really wanted to go all out and give her a magical princess party, but needless to say, I just didn't get it done! So, the next best thing was to go to Chuck's place and let him do all of the entertaining. It was great. Very low-key, (organization-wise anyway!) and let all of us enjoy ourselves without having to do a whole lot ahead of time or during the party. Because I promised to let her have a princess party, I did let her and her friends wear their beautiful princess dresses for part of the party. So, she thought it was a princess party after all.

Emma had 3 little friends come, and we just played and had a fantastic time. Honestly, though, I think Andrew had more fun than most of the kids! He and Frank played all sorts of games and won over 100 tickets in about 30 minutes. At least he redeemed them for a prize for Emma.

So, with that done, tomorrow we can just relax and have a quiet birthday at home. Well, at least as quiet as Emma gets, anyway.

Yesterday afternoon Robyn and cousin Hailey came out to visit. They were so nice, and brought Emma birthday presents and Christmas presents for both the kids. We're planning Emma's very first sleepover with them for sometime during their winter break from school. Emma is so excited, and can't wait to have them all to herself for a whole night and day. We've missed them since they moved to the northwest side of town, but feel very special that they made the effort to drive all the way out here to visit. We love you, guys!

Oh, those sweet moments!

You know, I am coming to believe that no one actually reads this blog, but that's OK. This has become almost like a journal, where I try every day to capture in my mind or on this page the little sweet moments that make life wonderful. I have been taking way more pictures of the mundane things that we do so that I can share them, but I've also started taking way more mental snapshots of my beautiful little family in our every day lives.

I am insanely proud of my kids' brown eyes (it's wrong, I know), and I just can't get over how beautiful they are. Every night in the tub, I just stop and stare at their chocolate brown eyes and think about how special these little souls are. Instead of screaming and spanking when I go to answer the phone and come back to 2 little "angels" emptying the contents of the bathtub onto the floor (true story, it took 2 days to dry!), I relish the look in Emma's eyes when she realizes she's done something wrong and is trying to apologize.

Oh, sometimes life is so sweet, even amidst all of the mania that we must deal with daily.

What a Week!

Well, it feels like it should be Saturday already! We've just been running non-stop all week, and I haven't had time to even stop and take a breath. So, I have taken a few minutes here to relax and think about all we've been doing.

The kids and I spent all day Monday running errands and shopping, shopping, shopping. While we were out and about, we were hit by a HUGE storm. There were INCHES of hail on the ground, and water everywhere. It was crazy! So, in the midst of this torrential downpour, the power went out in what seemed like 1/2 of Tucson. I had a really hard time trying to get out of town, because I was really far away fom the freeway, and had to go through tons of intersections with no stoplights or cops directing traffic. So, when we stopped by the train yard to take Andy some doughnuts, we said a little prayer that we could get home safely. Well, we finally got to the freeway when I realized there were no streetlights on the onramp, and this particular onramp was one of those circular ones with almost no distance to merge into traffic. I didn't even realize that I was thinking out loud about how hard it was going to be to get on the freeway until Emma said from the backseat "Mommy, you just gotta have faith, we said our prayer!" I was totally stunned. What a profound thing for a 3 year-old to say! I was so proud, and it was definitely one of those moments in which you manage to just stop and think that you have done something right with your kid after all!

Tuesday was Andrew's 31st birthday, and he wanted to go to Mesa to look at the temple lights. So we packed up the kiddos and made the trip. It was really nice because the weather was still kind of drizzly and there was not hardly anyone there. The only thing that really stunk was that I managed to forget the camera, so I have no pics of this great family tradition. Frank spent all of his time squealing and pointing at the clusters of lights that he called the "fowers". He loved the water too, because all of the lights reflected on the wet sidewalks. It was beautiful, like there were twice as many lights as were really there!

We were able to talk to Emma about the temple, and she is determined to marry her "little prince Frank" there someday. We'll see if he's still the one she wants to marry when she gets older!

Yesterday we got Emma's birthday pictures taken, and I SWEAR that next year I will remember to do it in November, when the whole city is not trying to do Christmas pictures. If I have to wait 2 hours to preview my pictures again, or argue with 1 more photographer about why we do NOT need a Christmas tree in the background of her birthday pics, I will just scream! Oh, having a December birthday is hard. Having 2 in the family is almost more than I can take.

So, tonight I get to go ref for young women's volleyball, and hopefully get to play a little myself. I missed adult volleyball at the church yesterday morning, and I could use a little stress relief.

If I can make it to next week, we'll have Emma's birthday party and get all of that last-minute Christmas stuff done. I really am trying to slow down and remember that we resolved to try and have a more Christ-centered Christmas this year, but I'm having a very hard time with that. I want to have a more spiritual, meaningful Christmas this year, but how exactly does one do that with 2 little rugrats running around and all of the crazy stuff to do that this world requires of us? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Merry Christmas!

I thought I'd take a moment to introduce you to the other female in our house. Lulu is our kitty, and has lived with us since she showed up on our doorstep in October of 2002 and invited herself in to live with us. She's quite a little diva, and has NEVER liked anyone but Andrew or myself. She disappears whenever we have guests, and usually stays hidden all day until the kids are either taking naps or asleep for the night.

She also has the very creepy habit of knowing I'm pregnant long before I do. She'll climb up in my lap and get really close to my face and just stare at me for hours! When I was pregnant with Emma, we didn't have any idea what she was doing, we just thought she was hungry or something. But when it lasted for weeks, and then we found out I was knocked up, we figured out what she was doing. If I thought her staring was bad with Emma, I was surprised at how much worse it was when I was pregnant with Frank. She literally would narrow her eyes at me like she was asking "What have you done?" Let's just say that having a baby in the house was a rude awakening for this spoiled kitty.

It's been very surprising to watch her interact with the kids the past couple of weeks. Usually as soon as she hears them, no matter where in the house they are, she bolts. But recently, she has figured out that the kids can give her love just like the grown-ups do. About once a day, she'll come find me on the couch or chair and just sit and wait. When the kids come over, she'll actually rub her head against them and let them pet her. It's great to watch. Emma will get so excited and say "Mama, Lulu really loves me now! She's furring!" (No matter how many times I tell her that the word is actually purring, she refuses to change her mind about it.)

Today, Lulu actually jumped up on the couch next to Emma while she was watching TV and let Emma pet her. I guess our little Lulu has finally figured out that these little invaders of her domain aren't going anywhere anytime soon, so she may as well get some back rubs out of them while they're here.

Frank's Very First Time-Out

Ok. I will apologize to Frank when he gets older, because I'm sure this will mortify him as a teenager. But, I just had to share it!!!! This is his first time-out ever- he had just hit Emma across the face with a truck. I should have been comforting her, but this was just too precious not to take a picture of. I think that old cliche of "a picture says a thousand words" definitely rings true with this one.

Since Andrew is working on Monday nights, we had Family Home Evening on Tuesday night this week. We decided to decorate small Christmas trees for each of the kids, and it was a blast. We just got some $1 trees from Wal-Mart and made our own decorations from construction paper, foam and old tinsel. Emma was the most excited, but Andrew definitely got more into it than anyone. He constructed a gingerbread man, snowman, and even a tiny baby Jesus laying in a manger (hay included) for Frank's tree. Emma was working with Mommy and had to settle for hearts, candy canes from pipe cleaners, and 1 pink locomotive that Daddy made for her. Mommy is definitely not as creative as Daddy.

Christmastime is here!

Tinsel, anyone?
With everyone feeling better, we were finally able to break out the Christmas tree this morning. Everyone had a blast decorating, and it went up in no time. Emma is a little decorating diva and knew exactly where she wanted everything, but it would have been a whole lot easier on her if Frank hadn't kept taking off her ornaments and arranging them neatly underneath the tree. It was fun, because this is the first year that we've been able to just kind of sit back and watch as our kids did most of the decorating. Oh, they're growing up fast!

To finish off the tree, we brought out our custom made baby gate that we built a couple of years ago for Emma. We were inspired to build it because we can still remember the year Adam was 11 months old. Dana had no chairs at her kitchen table because they were all being used to as a barricade in front of the Christmas tree!

This one is lightweight and comes apart so that it can be stored in a small box or bag. It's been a lifesaver (or is that treesaver?). We just hope it can last a couple more years until all our kids have outgrown the tree-demolishing stage!

Ugh!!!

It's been a tough week. With both kids sick, and one of them in our bed almost every night, we haven't gotten much sleep around here. Thankfully, they're getting better. This was the scene at 2:00 in the afternoon the other day. There hasn't been a lot of motivation to get up and get dressed in our house this week.