first day of winter

whoa, holy SNOW. It has been snowing non-stop for 2 days. So much fun for the kids...



not as much fun for the adults...

big update

It is Christmas time and there is little time to post but here is a brief summary of what's been going down, in no particular order. Ready?.. GO!

Dax and I got new church jobs. He is Elders Quorum Secretary, I'm Primary pianist. I played for the kids while they sang Christmas songs in sacrament meeting last Sunday. I believe this calling is the one of the best in the whole church.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas starting with our lights, 2 Christmas trees peeking out the front windows, and 18 inches of fresh snow!

Here is our second tree in the boys' room. We inherited the tree from Dax's Grandmother and are enjoying it!
Another pic of Dax and me...I could not get it to delete for some reason.
Here I am holding 2 hams. One that I won from the grocery store for answering 2 Christmas movie trivia questions at the service desk, and the other is perhaps even more edible. Just look at those cheeks!
Getting ready for church...fixing hair and applying makeup while holding Quinn. My left arm is strong!
Painting ornaments sent from Grandma M.
Quinn wearing her Christmas dress sent from Grandma and Grandpa W. My Mom couldn't wait to give it to her on Christmas. Look at the darling crocheted shoes. My Mom is so amazing!

Grandpa reading to the kids. They love it when he comes!
The 3 big kids wrestling Dax. They really wail on him but he laughs the whole time. So thankful for Dads!
We held our 2nd annual Thanksgiving Dinner with our good friends because a turkey dinner is too good to have only once a year. Only got a few pics but so glad they were able to come (and bring their assigned portion of the meal!). We love them.
And here we are enjoying the remaining pumpkin pie the next day.

Whew! And now we're up-to-date!

Yay for Christmas!

if you're bored, get a 3-year-old

The primary kids sang at our ward Christmas party and as they were going on the stage to sing, Mack begged to go too. We finally let him and he stood right in the front with the weirdest look on his face (bashful? never seen him do that one before). After it was over he wanted to go sing with each subsequent performance (whether it was a singing one or not). During a piano duet, he yelled, "Dad! You never let me sing!" for all to hear.

This is what I walked in on when Mack was supposed to be having a nap. I have a hard time keeping a box of band-aids in the house very long!


Last week Mack told me he was going to have a Christmas party and invite Bo and Kinzie. I said ok thinking he would forget about it but the next morning, he asked me if it was time for his party. I got on the phone and invited a few kids over and the next day we had Mack's Christmas party. What a cool kid.

(this particular batch of sugar cookies was so delish, they blew my mind)

Some funnies from the Mack himself:

Mack was looking in the fridge and I said, "Did you see that treat in the fridge?"
Mack: "Yes"
Me: "Those are called eclairs. Dad made them last night."
Mack: "He made them last night for humans?"
Me: "Yes."
Mack:"I'm a human, so I can have one."

"Mom, I don't have a long tongue, so I can't lick my whole body."

"Uh-oh! There's trouble! The popcorn is gone."

"Mom (naughty smile), I'm putting candles in my b- ... in the back of myself."
I look down his pants and sure enough, there is a fat birthday candle nestled perfectly between two soft butt cheeks.

santa baby (4 months old!)

Quinn has my heart. I just love that girl. Love her huge smile complete with dimples on both sides of her nose, body spasm, and if you're lucky a high-pitched squeal. Love those huge kissable soft cheeks. Love those baby blues.

She is 16 pounds of soft wonder. She frequently clasps her hands together. She can roll from her tummy to her back and from her back to her side. She really really wants to sit up. She reaches and grabs for things. She gets kissed hundreds of times per day. I love my baby!

Thanksgiving

My dad drew a tag to hunt Bison in the Henry Mountains over Thanksgiving so Dax left the Friday before and met my dad and brothers down there. It took the sting out of him being gone that he was helping my dad on his big hunt.

The kiddos and I did well; we were even on time to church Sunday which almost never happens. It was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program and it was just so cute. I am so glad the Lord prompted me to grab an extra dress for Quinn on the way out the door; as soon as the Bishop stood up at the pulpit, I heard an explosion coming from her diaper. I changed Quinn and got back just in time to see Hunter sing in a trio the second verse of Come Follow Me. The whole thing was beautiful; always the best sacrament meeting of the year.



I planned to go to Rexburg with my Mom and spend T-giving with my sister's fam. Instead of leaving Tuesday like originally planned, my sis called me Monday and told me I'd better pack up and get to Salt Lake before the nasty storm hit on Tuesday. So I kicked it into high gear, packed like a mad woman, picked up the kids from school, dropped off Preslie's eBay sales at the post office, stopped at the bank, picked up a prescription and headed out of town just in time.

The next morning, Mom and I packed up everything and everyone and hit the road. As we were gassing up the car, my aunt called us from work and told us one of their delivery trucks was off the side of the road in Pocatello in a blizzard. We were heart broken! Instead of going on our much anticipated trip, we hit Macey's for some much needed groceries to last us through the week of Thanksgiving. The kids were crying terribly and we were really bummed, too. My sis and her family have never met Quinn and my kids and I were excited to see her new house.

We unloaded groceries back at Mom's and later received a call that my Dad had killed a buffalo! We were very excited for him as it had been a tough hunt with few animals and freezing temps.

They all made it home just before the blizzard hit S. Lake. Although we didn't get to see my sister and her family, it was a blessing in disguise so my Mom and I got to spend Thanksgiving with our sweethearts. Also I got to see my brother Matt from Oregon and he got to meet Quinn for the first time.

She got lots of love this visit.

We had a fun fun time being with my family and Mom put together a fab last-minute Thanksgiving dinner. The bummer part was she came down with stomach flu on Thanksgiving day! I have experienced that myself and can empathize with such a tragedy. It is so sad when the sight of turkey, gravy, and rolls turn your stomach!

We missed Tisha and her fam in Idaho, Trina and her Florida crew, my niece in Hawaii, and Natalie in Oregon. And of course our Tiphy. I found out this trip that she, (like me), thinks Neil Diamond's voice is annoying. That just warmed my heart! Also, my sister Trina told me she pulled out one of her games and there was a score card with my name, her name, and Tiphanie's name on it. I remember playing that game at Trina's house with the girls over 10 years ago. I am thankful for these little moments that are like a hug from the other side.

My dad was so worn out from his Buffalo hunt that we had a blast with him and a certain stuffed E.T. doll. Tyrel is so easily amused by that doll. The tears were rolling. Our guts were busting.

Good times.

TEN years!

"We've been a lot of places, done a lot of things, had a lot of babies."

We sure have, love. Read last year's anniversary post for a gripping recap of our marriage.

Our 10th anniversary consisted of a fast and furious trip to Salt Lake. We ate at Olive Garden and went to the Jazz game with our friends, Katie and Rob. Quinn had to tag along and shake things up but we had a fun night. Rob and Katie are fun to hang with and they even chauffeured us around Salt Lake. The Jazz were fun to watch and they even won for us!


One very special highlight was this guy...



The big lowlight of the evening was the food poisoning Dax and I got from some questionable roast beef we had for lunch. It was a miserable night's sleep and drive home the next day not to mention a lame way to end an anniversary. Luckily there will be next year. Until Forever.

Love you, Dax!

so thankful

I am thankful for this time of year. I have so many blessings. For one, I get to look at that cute face every day. My 2 school kids brought home awesome report cards this week. We are all getting over our colds and ear infections; we had 3 in one month (my eardrum actually burst!). My kitchen floor is clean for the next 5 minutes and my husband just made me dinner. Life is definitely good.