Party!

Last night we had a little party at our house. It was a "we survived 2009 and we're looking forward to 2010" party!

Over dinner, we looked at photos from 2009 (under clear vinyl) and talked about the challenges, triumphs, and the events we enjoyed.

Each one of us was given a certificate award with a description of why we earned that award for 2009. (Arian and Kenneth really made this fun with all of their cheers and clapping as each little presentation was made)

Arian- Ernest Shackleton Endurance Award (Arian admires Shackleton!)

Jill- Totally Hip Award

Kenneth- Most Improvement Award

Audrey- Sunshine Award

Following, we each had a shirt with a family photo on it (Avery fabric transfer paper and ran it through the printer) that we decorated with fabric markers.

We talked about our shirts and our goals for 2010. I loved Arian's "Work 2 Live not Live 2 Work" statement!

We played with balloons and ate rootbeer floats!

Me: "Kenneth, what did you draw on your shirt?"

Kenneth: "Colors."

Me: "Is it a picture?"

Kenneth: "No. Not a picture Mom. It's color scribbles!!"

Woot, Woot! We survived 2009!!!

Baby Rella

We are so excited to have a beautiful new niece and cousin to love!

Rella May was born on January 27th to Duane and Kelty.

We are very happy for this family that we love dearly.

Golfing

A fun day indeed!

Arian took Kenneth golfing. Rob, PGA director of golf at the Conestoga, joined them for a bit. He is very kind and we appreciate his enthusiasm in getting down on the ground to help teach one lucky little guy a few things about the game of golf.

Thanks a Million

Sadly, this is the only photo I have from my Mom's time here last week. If there were others, they would depict her grocery shopping, preparing lots of meals, cleaning dishes, doing house clean up, bathing kids, laundry, taking the kids to St. George for a day, filling our fridge with food, mopping our tile, dancing, singing, reading with the kids, and playing airplane with Kenneth.

Thanks a million Mom.

You are dearly loved.

Joy

On this early Saturday morning, the house is delightfully quiet and I find myself feeling full of joy and optimism. I love and treasure simple moments that cause me to reflect and feel sincere gratitude for life.

This morning I am feeling...

*Excited for a new baby niece who will soon be born (to Kelty and Duane).

*Thrilled that 4 converts will be baptized into our ward today.

*Energized knowing that we will see the skydivers (we go here every Saturday-just to watch)

*Pleased that Arian took Kenneth to the little Mesquite circus last night.

*Victorious thinking that I took both kids grocery shopping yesterday (I felt like I had won a gold medal at the Olympics when finished).

*Gratified to be working on a few projects for the More Good Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to make more accurate information about the LDS Religion available online.

*Elated with our plans and goals for 2010!

Lost City Museum in Overton

Thank You Arian for taking the kids on such a fun adventure!

Observing and Smiling

So...

Recently I have had more opportunities to observe my kids' actions in greater detail (a little extra "sitting time" thanks to the recent surgery). They sure are funny little people. Sometimes I find myself thinking, "Hmmm...what an interesting behavior," sometimes thinking "Oh wow my kids are hilarious," and other times I find myself thinking, "What in the world?!"

There are numerous examples that could fall under each category; here are a few examples from last week.

In-and-out of the house. In-and-out. Over and over again-almost robotic-at least a dozen times.

All of a sudden, Kenneth comes running in yelling, "The dinosaurs are coming. Be safe, be safe!"

Kenneth is completely fascinated by snow. Yes, snow. It never really snows here, but he pretends that the rocks are snow and shovels his little heart away.

Indoors he can be found gathering wet wipes (new, clean ones), wadding them up into balls, and throwing them at anyone and everyone while yelling, "Snowball fight!" (Yes, that is a Halloween shirt. Yes, this photo was taken in January.)

Audrey especially loves being a part of the snowball madness. Why? Because she loves to put the wet wipes on her head. Every time-wet wipe straight to the head.

So many things-straight to the head.

Here is Kenneth singing Days of the Week, a preschool song. "Mom, I'm singing to the bubbles."

Yes, around here we even perform for inanimate objects.

I love living in Lewis Land with all of the other funny people here.