Christmas 2009

OK, I have a few minutes to post about Christmas this year, so forgive me for the basic recap. Christmas this year was wonderful! I've really enjoyed establishing our own traditions with our kids every year. This year we had our traditional christmas eve dinner: lobster tails and tamales with a few other side dishes. Then we re-enacted the Nativity with our neighbors. All of the kids did a great job and had so much fun watching the video of it afterwards.

Then we came home, set out our treats for Santa and his reindeer, wrote letters to Santa, and opened 1 present that evening. The kids could hardly contain themselves the whole evening. They kept asking us if Santa had arrived in Reno yet and were looking for Rudolph's red flashing nose in the sky. It was awesome!





We told the kids not to come upstairs before 7 a.m. and fortunately they listened. Once they came up, they gathered in our room while we took a few pictures, which seemed like torture to them. Then we went out and started opening presents. We had our traditional Kringle for breakfast which was so delicious and we spent the whole day just relaxing at home and playing with all of the new toys.



Lastly, the next few pictures are from our ward christmas party in mid-December which I forgot to post. The kids all had fun sitting on Santa's lap, except for Evan who seem terrified of him this year. Go figure!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

I am so behind on blogging right now, so I can really only hit the highlights. First piece of good news, my morning sickness is pretty much gone... finally. No more hugging the toilet, going to bed at 7 p.m. or covering my nose everytime I open the refrigerator. From here on out, it should be relatively smooth sailing... hopefully.

Onto much more interesting information, Reno got a great, big snowstorm a week and a half ago and we got dumped on. The kids got a day off of school and they spent endless hours in the freezing cold sledding, building snowmen and having snowball fights. Dallin had just as much fun cleaning the driveway with our snow blower (it's the first year we've had one), and I spent most of the time snuggled up on the couch sipping hot chocolate. I have to admit, I really did miss being outside playing in the snow. But fortunately, I know Reno will get snow again and again, year after year.

Check out their awesome snowman!

Look how much snow we got!

Snow Angels

Evan getting a push from Dad (although he wasn't very happy about the snow blowing in his face!)

Evan keeping me entertained inside while the big kids played outside.

It's been a jam-packed December, like always, full of work christmas parties, school and church christmas programs, christmas carolling, trimming the tree and decorating the house, etc.... I've thoroughly enjoyed all of it -- especially hearing my kids sing christmas carols at all hours of the day. If you're ever privileged enough, my kids sing a rockin' version of "Feliz Navidad", complete with hispanic accent and all. It's hilarious!!

Aubrey at her pre-school's christmas program

Trimming the tree

Anyway, now that most of the shopping is done and the christmas cards are out, I'm looking forward to concentrating on the true meaning of christmas. I've noticed that the years when I am pregnant or just had a baby, I'm more mindful of the real reason why we celebrate this season. I know we have a lot to be grateful for, and I hope all of our friends and family have a merry Christmas and a new year filled with peace and joy.

Bdays, turkey day and more

We've had a busy past few weeks. Aubrey turned 4 this year. We started her special day with her traditional smiley pancake breakfast, which she's requested the last 2 years. Her birthday fell on a Sunday, so we celebrated with a small family party that day. We threw up some decorations and had cake and ice cream in the afternoon, and she was so excited to be turning 4 years old. She is still a really good girl -- cooperative, helpful, sweet (most of the time), and generally well behaved. She really is a big blessing in our family.

Who can resist chocolate chip pancakes with a big whip cream smiley face?

The following weekend, Aubrey had her official birthday party. It was princess themed so all the girls came dressed as their favorite princess/ Disney character. Aubrey dressed up as Tinkerbell and we had about 5 girls over from our church for the party. We played Pin the Frog on the Princess and decorated tiaras that the girls could take home. The rest of the time, they played, ate pizza, cake and ice cream, and watched Sleeping Beauty. It was a low-key party and all of the girls were so calm -- which was a huge help for me since I am still not feeling completely like myself yet!

The Pretty Princesses!

Decorating our Tiaras

Ready for birthday cake (round 2)

Opening presents

Also, this year, we decided to spend Thanksgiving at home. We spent it with our neighbors who have become like family to us. I seriously don't know what we did before we knew the Dobbs. They help us out in so many ways -- I truly am grateful for them. We ate TONS of food, played games, and just relaxed and talked while we munched on more food. It was great!

The surgeon - ready for his first incision
We're definitely outnumbered by the kids!

Evan diving into his yummy jello
The kids playing and playing some more
Dallin taking the kids for a spin around the Dobbs' awesome backyard

And lastly, since our last General Conference, we have been working on a "Warm Fuzzies" jar. For those of you who listened to Thomas S. Monson's talk, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, we challenged our kids to earn 100 warm fuzzies, and when they did, we would reward them with something special. Well, they did it! And they chose to have a campout in our basement. They specifically thought of this reward on their own, and we thought it'd be fun. We let them eat popcorn and snacks while they watched a movie and then they set up the tent and slept in it with Dallin. (I slept upstairs in my comfy bed! :) We would have camped outside except it was really cold and snowy outside.

Catching Up on Halloween

OK, so here's a quick recap of Halloween this year:

Ward Halloween Party

Every year our ward has a trunk or treat at our chapel. This year was no exception, although they moved it indoors because it was quite cold that evening. My dad was in town visiting so he and Dallin took the kids to the party. As usual these days, I stayed at home in bed. But the kids had so much fun. They came home with a ton of candy, played all kinds of games there, and they got to walk around in the costume parade. This year, Jacob really wanted to be Darth Vader, Aubrey was a princess (of course!) -- Snow White to be exact, and Evan was superman. Dallin and I usually dress up, but since I wasn't up for it this year, he got dressed up as... well, I'm not exactly sure what he was supposed to be. But maybe you'll have a better idea than I did once you see .

Ready for the party

Yeah, I'm kinda at a loss for words, too! :)

Pumpkin Fun
Also, while my dad was here, the kids went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm over in California. It's about a 2 hour drive (or more, I think) over there, but it's a cute pumpkin patch, complete with a train ride, petting zoo, hay ride, all kinds of playgrounds and things for the kids to climb on, a puppet show, and more. We usually alternate going between Bishop's Pumpkin Farm and Apple Hill, but being that I wasn't feeling well, we thought it'd be best for Dallin and my dad if the kids went to the pumpkin patch. A good time was had by all.








Trick or Treat
My kids absolutely loved going trick or treating this year. It was fun because this year, Evan really "got" it. After every door, he'd turn around and yell, "Let's do that again!"

A Mischievious Looking SuperManI know I'm biased -- But she is Soooo Cute!

I know you're thinking, "Luke, I am your father"

Ready for some candy!

And finally, I'm including a few other random pictures from the last few weeks. The first is of Jake finally learning how to ride a bike with no training wheels. It's taken him a while, but he's finally starting to get the hang of it. Here he is practicing behind our house.






And the next few pictures are of the kids walking along the river with their Daddy (one of their most favorite things to do!) We love the Truckee.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

After experiencing a good bout of morning sickness this pregnancy, I am happy to report that this past Wednesday, I started to feel better. Don't get me wrong -- I still get nauseous in the morning and at night, but at least I can get out of bed now and function on a somewhat normal level. My kids are ecstatic that I am returning to "normal" -- being that I have totally ignored and neglected them for the last 6-8 weeks. It's been a bit of a bummer too since Halloween is one of my most favorite times of year. But this year, I was forced to skip all of the trick or treating and halloween fun and opted to instead lay in bed. But enough complaining... it's time to catch up on some of the fun we have had.

First up, this year, we went to our local pumpkin patch to go on a hay ride, play in the pumpkin patch, jump in the bounce house, and look at the animals in their small farm. We ran into our friends, the Petersons, while we were there, so that made it more fun too.

Also, earlier this month, we decided to head over to the Zephyr Cove area in Tahoe for the weekend (Dallin's boss has a beautiful cabin there right on the water, and they offered it to us). It seriously was in one of the most beautiful places and being right on the water was awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't do much while I was there because I was sick, but the kids and Dallin had a blast playing on the private pier and on the beach.

The kids and Dallin enjoying the hot tub

Roaming the beach

The view from inside

Private pier

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I'll post about Halloween next entry!

How I Broke the News...

...to Dallin.

Baby #4 due early next summer! We're very excited!!

Due to some pregnancy sickness, I am taking a brief hiatus from blogging until I am back on my feet again!

So Far Behind

Thank Goodness for General Conference because I find that I am home more during these 2 days than normal and I am feeling motivated to blog. So, first up: Aubrey's gymnastics. Aubrey has been begging me for the last 6 months to take gymnastics. So, I finally caved and we signed her up. She absolutely LOVES it. She asks me almost every day if today is gymnastics day. She's in a small class of 4-6 kids and so far, she's loved jumping on the trampoline and walking on the balance beam. It's been fun to watch her finally get to participate in her own activity, instead of tagging along to her older brother's activities.


Since I have to sit in the waiting room with Evan during Aubrey's class, I decided to sign Evan and I up for a mommy and me class at the same time... just to keep him busy. He also LOVES it and I can hardly contain him during the class because he is so excited. This boy loves hanging on the rings and he is a whiz on the trampoline (I think because our neighbors have one so he gets some practice!)

Our Little Gymnast

Concentrating while crossing the balance beam

Doing her first flip on the bars

Next up is the annual Reno Hot Air Balloon Races. This year, we did our usual thing: got up early, set up our chairs inside the park, watched in awe as all the balloons got up off the ground, and hit up Pegs for our traditional breakfast there. As usual, the kids love every minute and Dallin and I sit there and talk about why we love Reno so much!

And finally, I just got back this morning from a literally whirlwind trip to Utah to visit with friends and to attend my mission reunion. I arrived yesterday and my friend Val who was my best friend my freshman year of college picked me up. We seriously haven't seen each other in like 7 years, but we keep in good touch and we always pick up where we left off. It was so great being with her and meeting her kids and seeing where she lives. We just reminisced about the 'good ol' days' and caught up. It was great.

She then drove me to my friend Laura's house who was also one of my best friends from freshman year. We did much of the same -- caught each other up on our lives and I also got to meet 1 of her kids, which was so fun.

Then, I was off to my mission reunion in Draper. This was a blast -- I haven't seen most of these people in at least 12 years! It was crazy how much everyone looked the same. My mission president and his wife were there, and it was so neat to see how everyone's lives have been blessed from serving in Hong Kong. I seriously loved every minute I was there.

Right after, I got picked up by my friend Kelly who is one of my dearest friends from my single's ward in D.C. We stayed up WAY TOO LATE eating milkshakes, onion rings and french fries with fry sauce and catching up! I almost didn't want the night to end so I could stay with her and chat longer.

Anyway, after this trip, I realize that I have been blessed with some truly amazing friends over the years. They are all intelligent, driven, classy and devoted mothers who truly serve as examples to me. So, thank you to my friends for driving me everywhere during this crazy trip. I had a blast!