2009

These are some of my favorite pictures from the end of the year. Just for my record, here are some of the things we learned from our kids this year:Having a baby again has been so much fun! Megan is almost sitting up and has discovered toys and her feet. She loves her feet and I love to watch her trying to eat them. She is also a thumb sucker which at least for now is really cute.
It's okay to let them get a little messy sometimes...or a lot messy.
It's also okay to let them help clean, as long as they get a shower after cleaning the shower.
Laura and Lia love to dress Josh up. I prefer this outfit to the girls' plastic high heels.
Lia is a great big sister and a great helper. I rely on her a lot. She remembers EVERYTHING and likes to give me a hard time just like her dad. She was so cute in her school Christmas program, which we had just returned home from when this picture was taken.
Sometimes I just don't get to her fast enough. I did move her to her bed after this picture though.
Josh loves to sing, and play the piano. Here he was singing "Jingle Bells" to which he always added a "HEY" at the end. He also knows almost all the words to "I Love to See the Temple" but will only sing it when no one is watching. My favorite thing he has started saying is, "mom, say you won't!"
Laura is also quite the little helper. When I want everything put back in exactly the right place, doors shut, lights off, I can count on Laura. She and Josh have become little buddies (and co-conspirators sometimes) the last couple months which I am thrilled about.

The girls are always looking for new places to put Megan. She was actually quite comfy in the wagon.

The girls were so excited to be wearing Nate's jacket and my veil. They danced around the living room and were so funny. I was reminded once again that they love it when I share some of my special things with them.

As for Nate and me:
Nate learned (again) that he loves to hike. He also learned that it is possible to do close to 50 miles in a week, scale two peaks, and return eight 18-year-olds to their families safely (with the help of some others).
And finally, I think the most important thing we learned this year is that we can get through anything together and that there is someone who knows better than we do what it is we really need to learn and experience and I am grateful for that. (I know I've already posted this picture, but it is one of my favorites.)

Christmas-Part 3

From new pajamas, to a lot of excitement on Christmas morning (and a lot of relief for me--I hardly slept worrying that someone was going to wake up in the middle of the night and see what santa brought and also worrying if the girls would be excited about what Santa brought), to ending the day at the Nelsons with the nativity, we had a great Christmas. I'm a little ashamed to say I still love getting presents about as much as my kids, but Christmas is magical for me now as an adult because I get to see it through their eyes.

Christmas-Part 2

Every year on Christmas Eve, my parents pay us a visit and bring our family's gifts. This year they gave us a Polar Express train (after our ride on the Polar Express). The kids loved it, especially Josh. Thanks mom and dad!!

Christmas-Part 1

These are from my family's "Christmas Eve." We get together a few days before Christmas and do all the things we did growing up on Christmas Eve. The nativity was special for me this year with Megan as the baby. She cried through most of it, but with the music playing softly in the background and all the kids being unusually quiet, it was really sweet. We had a great night.

Merry Christmas

We hope all our family and friends have a great Christmas! We didn't send out a Christmas card this year, mostly because I was too tired. But, we are grateful for all of you (the few of you who read this and all those who don't as well) and wish you the best. We feel so blessed to have the gospel and our families and appreciate all the support we receive from the wonderful people in our lives.

Oscar

If you saw this bowl a few days ago, you probably would have thrown up, which is what I about did when I was cleaning it out. While I was getting ready for church, Josh poured half of the container of food in the bowl. I was feeling pretty miserable that day so it didn't get cleaned out until Monday. Somehow Oscar survived. He's a pretty resilient fish. Every time I clean out the bowl I consider not putting Oscar back in it. But then I think of Laura. He's actually Lia's fish that she got for her birthday last year, but Laura has adopted him. She includes him in almost all of the family portraits she draws and when she's telling people who's in our family, Oscar's always on the list. She even said one of the stockings hanging on our stairs is his (I guess that leaves either me or Nate out). So, he stays... for now. But, you have to be quiet around him if he's not swimming because as Josh said the other day, "he's sleeping, don't wake him up."

The Polar Express

A couple of weeks ago, we got to ride the Polar Express with my family. It was an early Christmas present from my parents and we had a great time! My mom made a calendar for every family to count down the days until our magical ride. Lia and Laura couldn't have been more excited and Josh couldn't stop talking about riding on a train (although I had to tell him on more than one occasion that it wasn't the Dinosaur Train and there weren't going to be any dinosaurs--he had to settle for Santa instead). Megan got to meet Santa for the first time and was such a good girl the whole time. It was great to be there with my family and see the kids so excited and having fun with their cousins. Poor Laura had been miserably sick the few days before (and fell asleep on the way back from the North Pole), but thankfully was well enough to go. Thanks mom and dad for the fun night! What a great way to start off the season.