looking into 2010

Infinite Power of Hope

As this year comes to an end I want to encourage each of you to HOPE for the future and strive to use your talents as sons and daughters of God to do good and lighten the world around you. HOPE is powerful and God loves you. From our family to yours "Happy New Year!"

how marriage should be

kids pick up on a lot and today i got a small pat on the back for the way austin and i treat each other.
ian was coloring t-rexes and showed me how 2 of them we're attacking and eating a stegosaurus. i said, "maybe they're going to fight over it (thinking of the many nature shows i'd seen and how predators tried to take the 'lion's share')"
"no, mom,", replied ian, "they share because they're married, see."
it's good to know that he sees the good we do even when i often feel like i fall short.

.:our christmas:.

what a wonderful time, we hope that all of you had family and loved ones around you today, too. the home can truly be a temple where the love of our Heavenly Father is profoundly felt. to have loved ones around, laughing, visiting, enjoying who you are and those around you truly is what heaven is going to be. only i won't worry so much about making sure all the food is swept up off the kitchen floor before it's gets smashed too much.

the day before christmas

celebrating the 24th was a lot more relaxed for our family this year. we started out with some sledding,




mittens are lydia's nemesis, her thumb is in there somewhere and she just can't quite get to it




visited the cemetery,(this is who ian is named after)


ate pizza and had discussions at the top of our voices at grandma duck's house (man, it got unbelievably loud, but oh so fun),



found an early gift of pj's from santa, read the nativity, made santa's favorite cookies (chocolate chip), and watched a movie till it was time to usher the kids to bed.

nativity

this year we went on sunday night to read the nativity with grandpa and grandma denie. it was nice and not so hurried. the kids were great and had fun dressing up. wesley and ian were very excited about being the wise men with the treasure (wesley wanted to be the foolish man). fiona was a shephardess with a sheepdog in her basket (we couldn't find a sheep) and lydia was a shepardess guarding grandma's new penguins from everyone.

temple square

we went to temple square to see the lights last night. it was quite the adventure. we were following mark and amberlee, but they lost us with amberlee's evasive driving. then when we got to the station they were no where to be found. fortunately, when our trax train pulled up we found them already seated on the train. pretty lucky. the kids enjoyed riding trax (except for lydia, she desperately wanted to crawl and explore) it wasn't as cold as it could have been and the lights were spectacular as always. the large tree by the gate glimmered red and it was gorgeous! i told austin i want to do our yard like that next year. the ride back on trax was also eventful. as we were starting south the train we were on announced that we had to get off because of a crash farther down the line and no trains were going through. so we walked for a few blocks and hopped on another train farther down the line. in all the excitement it was a miracle we didn't lose any of the kids.




i have no idea why fiona has started making this face whenever she sees a camera. it's one of those mysteries that only a 2 year old will understand.

boys vs. girls

the boys have been counting down the days till they could tell santa all about their hopes and dreams this year. wesley wants screacher and ian wants a raptor. they've been good, they promise. ian even told santa that he's been doing family home evening like he's supposed to. the girls....



we're counting the tortuous seconds until mom would get them away from this big scary man who kept asking them questions they had no answer to and didn't want anything to do with. poor santa, he really is a great guy.

holiday deliveries

i so wish i would have taken my camera with me when we delivered treats to the neighbors. i love watching the kids as they take things up to the door. they are so funny. fiona was able to go to the door with her brothers for the first time this year and she was so excited. she told several of the families 'happy halloween'. wesley got really frustrated with her and would start yelling "it's christmas, right mom, it's christmas!" at one home ian took his harmonica and started playing it while they waited at the door. fiona did a little dance to his tune. unfortunately, the neighbors weren't home to enjoy the entertainment. when ian came back to the car he said, "mom, they didn't get to hear us sing merry christmas. maybe tomorrow."

musical prodigy

this is what happens when i put a box full of instruments out for the kids to play with. i don't know if she's a musical prodigy or not, but this was so entertaining. she definitely has skills. the recorder was a favorite, but she might really take to the harmonica like her dad (once she figures it out)

lights

we went with the davis aunts, uncles and cousins to see the lights at spanish fork. we pile a crazy amount of people all bundled up in a hay wagon that feels like it's going to tip over if we breath wrong. it's quite an adventure that we enjoy. we haven't been able to do it for a couple of years, because of scheduling conflicts, so we were quite excited to be a part of the party on wheels this year. it was cold, but that didn't seem to affect anyones enthusiasm, even lydia squealed with delight and pointed excitedly at all the lights.

christmas

I love that the snow finally arrived. It really is starting to feel like Christmas, glistening snow and all. My counter space is being over run with recipe books, chocolate chips, butter, brown sugar, mixing bowls, measuring cups, sprinkles and lots of yummy candy. Mmmmmm. I love homemade candy, I just hope I have enough toffee left to share with the neighbors.
I've also started to get the beloved Christmas cards from family and friends. I love recieving these!! I put them in a place of honor right above the TV and computer desk for all to see. They've become an important part of the holiday decor. I'm working on getting my own out, hopefully very soon.
Christmas is a wonderful holiday and I love celebrating it everyday all month long.

are you a helicopter parent?

That's a hard question, I've found. I didn't think I was, but if you ask others they may tell you different. I laughed as I read about the safety devices that some were coming up with to prevent anything from happening. I thought of the promise Marlin makes to Nemo that he'll never let anything happen to him and Dori helps him to see that promise in another light. But I am guilty of trying to prevent my children from making mistakes that will ultimately be good in helping them learn (obviously small non-life threatening ones of course). It's a hard line to draw for yourself and it's good to sit down and evaluate where you and your children are from time to time. I am far from a perfect parent as my interaction with my children constantly remind me (raising children is a very humbling experience); but I would recommend that you take the time to read this article and then evaluate where you are. We can make each day better than the one before

Thanksgiving

on the road








fiona's new photo
"smile"









this year we spent thanksgiving with my family, which i haven't done for years. we went to st. george and really had a good time with all the kids playing on the red rocks. unfortunately, my camera batteries died before we got to play on the rocks so i have to rely on josh who was smart enough to bring his camera phone for the fun pics.
we also made reindeer shirts for all the kids. we used their foot print for the face and their hand prints for the antlers. it was a lot of fun, a great mess and turned out really cute. Ian loves his and wants to wear it everywhere. i did get a picture of all the cousins in their shirts (it was quite the trial of patience to get all those kids sitting down together, not picking their noses and most looking at the camera).

Lil' Lady Lyds

If you feel like I just did this, well I feel the same way. Having two children with birthdays 10 days apart sure makes for a continually festive atmosphere at our home. I got a little break from posting this because a virus tore through our computer (it was ugly!), fortunately, we have super mark who saved all the important stuff for us and cleaned up the mess.
Lydia turned 1 on Friday the 13th. It was a very unfortunate day for me as the mother, I'm just not ready for her to not be my baby anymore. I tell everyone that it feels like she's only about 6 months old and that's where I want her to stay.
She has quite the personality and we enjoy her so much. She's not walking yet, thank heavens. She has found the drawers and as she opens them she shakes her head 'no' and laughs because she knows that she's not supposed to. When she's excited she points, grunts and kicks her legs. Just like Austin & Wesley she can curl her tongue (Ian, Fiona & I are genetically blessed with that talent) and when she's concentrating it's usually twisted. She 'kisses' everyone goodnight with me and she loves to drop things and say 'uh-oh'. She reminds me how fun and how wonderful my other babies were, too. I miss them and I know that I'll miss her and find it incredible that I could ever forget.