Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very "monkey" Christmas!

Tonight while putting the kids to bed, Dave told them a story about when he was a little boy. He told them how each Christmas they’d make cookies and pile them on a little plate for Santa and when they'd wake up in the morning Santa had eaten every single cookie. After hearing that Hyrum immediately said, “Wow, he’s not very healthy.” Hyrum then suggested that we give Santa some milk with his cookies because "milk is healthy." Dave says I'm corrupting them, but at least I know they're learning from all the times I've told them they have to have something healthy before they can have a treat. Maybe this year we'll leave Santa some broccoli and carrots instead. :)

First Snow

We woke up this morning to our first snow this year in Albuquerque. The boys were so excited. Once it warmed up a bit we went out and enjoyed what little snow there was. We even managed to make a tiny snowman. By afternoon the snow had all melted. Now the boys are anxiously awaiting the next snowfall.

Happy Wintertime!

Happy Birthday William

On Saturday we celebrated William's 4th birthday. Since his birthday is always so close to Thanksgiving we were able to celebrate with our family in Utah. We spent most of the day at the Children's Museum in Salt Lake, which William absolutely loved. Later that night we had a yummy birthday dinner, opened presents and ate birthday cake.

Here are some pictures of the day's activities, as well as William's annual birthday video...

Now that William is 4, here are some things about him:

favorite color is green

full of life and energy

still takes naps....yea

loves doing "homework" with his big brother Hyrum and asks often if he can read a Bob book

takes care of Thomas now that he's the "big brother" during the day while Hyrum is at school

is silly, crazy, mischievous and loud most of the time, yet can be found on occasion to be sweet, soft, loving and cuddly

has only one volume....extra loud

a natural athlete and little daredevil when it comes to climbing and playing at the park

draws his baby sister's picture often and insists that her name is going to be "Rosie"

We Love You William!

Innocence of a Child

Tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner. After dinner Elder Chalk shared an object lesson with us where he placed three cups in a triangle on the floor and asked us to balance three knives across the cups and then support his scriptures on top of the knives. The cups were spaced far enough apart so that the knives could not reach from one cup to another. Dave was able to come up with his own creative way of doing it; however, Elder Chalk showed us the correct way that the three knives could be used to support each other, making a strong foundation for the scriptures to sit on. He likened the knives to three things we can do to support ourselves during difficult times. The three things were going to church, praying and reading our scriptures. While talking about prayer he asked why saying prayers is so important. This was Hyrum's response, “Prayer is the only way to talk to Heavenly Father because he doesn’t have a cell phone number.” We all chuckled over that one. I'm grateful for the innocence of my children.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is definitely not my favorite holiday (...though eating the kids' candy is not so bad), but I'm learning to enjoy it as I watch the excitement on our boys' faces. Though these pictures don't show the excitement, they had a great time dressing up, carving pumpkins, and attending carnivals, trunk-or-treats, and halloween parties.

Boo Bash Carnival at Hyrum's School

Pumpkin Carving

Festive Fruit Platter for Halloween Dinner
(Thanks Marianne for the fun idea)

Trick-or-Treating

Change is in the Air

With all the leaves changing colors, the weather cooling off, and our upcoming change at home with a baby girl, I thought I'd add just one more change to our lives by changing the length of my hair. Right before moving to Albuquerque I cut my hair and donated it to locks of love. That was a bold step for me since I've had long hair almost my entire life. Four and a half years later my hair has grown back...and then some (this is the longest it has ever been). I was going to just trim 3-5 inches off, but couldn't bear the thought of wasting those inches so I got brave and cut the 10 inches required to donate it to locks of love again. Dave, my wonderful husband, was actually the one who cut it. I felt a little sick inside all of yesterday, wondering if I had made a mistake in cutting off so much (it ended up being about 13 inches), but I know it's just hair and it will grow back eventually. I just hope that those 13 inches will make someone else's life a little more enjoyable.

Before...

Almost 13 inches later...

the end result...

The International Space Station

At school Hyrum has been learning all about space. Part of his learning process has involved doing his own research, project and presentation. Hyrum picked to learn about the international space station. After doing all his research Hyrum decided he wanted to make a model of the ISS to use for his project presentation. It's been fun (and time consuming) to work on this project with him. I tried to let him come up with the ideas and do most of the construction by himself. The morning of his presentation I had him practice on camera. Enjoy the video...you might even learn something you never knew before (I sure did).

Balloon Fiesta

Balloon Fiesta was spectacular this year....what more need I say!

Here's the reason Dave goes to balloon fiesta (he's been talking about these doughnuts all year)

In honor of Uncle Jordan who came to visit for a week

We almost got a good family photo

Boy or Girl?

Can you guess what we're having....watch this little video and you'll soon find out.

Waving "hello"

Profile

4D technology

Yep, it's true, we are having a BABY GIRL! As you can tell from the video the boys aren't too excited at the news of a baby sister. I was hoping that the candy would help distract them and keep them happy, but they had their minds already set on a boy. At the end of the video Hyrum even says, "I hate girls." Yikes! I think we've got our work cut out for us. A few nights ago before bed we were talking to the boys about whether our baby was a boy or girl and here's what they said:

Hyrum- "If it's a girl I'm going to smack myself in the face."

William- "It's a boy because we only have boy toys."

Thomas- "Babee"

I guess since boys is all they're used to (besides all the friends and cousins they have which are girls) it's going to take a little bit to convince them that a sister will be just as fun.

As for Dave and I, we're just tickled to be having a girl. I absolutely love my boys and would have loved a 4th, yet I have to admit that I've been giddy and smiling all day just thinking about our precious little one. I suppose a whole new world of adventures lies ahead for us, but for now I'm just going to soak in all the joy of the moment!

Trip to Taos

On Labor Day we spent the day in Taos, enjoying the sights. We've lived in New Mexico for 4 years now and haven't ventured out of Albuquerque much. It was fun to see a new place. As part of our trip we drove up to Taos Ski Valley and for a brief moment I felt like we were back home in Utah amongst the aspens. It was beautiful and the air was so crisp and fresh....oh I wish we lived closer to the mountains! At the end of the day we were tired and the boys were sick of riding in the car; however, I found myself so full of happiness. It is always rewarding to spend quality time together as a family. There truly is no greater joy that I find than watching my children delight in the simple things of life (like the pictures below of them riding on a mechanical horse).

Kindergarten

Today was the BIG day...my boy went off to kindergarten. I'm still having a hard time believing that I have a child old enough to go to school. Luckily the transition went really well because Hyrum was soooo excited to go to school. He woke up this morning bright eyed and grinning as big as his little grin could stretch. As we drove to his school (which is a charter school 20 minutes away) he kept asking if I'd just drop him off so he could play on the playground before school started. Since it was only his first day I insisted that I walk him in to his classroom. The thought of him all alone on the playground, not knowing what to do or where to go almost made me cry (...but I didn't). Once in his classroom he got his backpack and lunch bag put away and then sat down at his table and worked on the project his teacher had for the students to do. He wrote his name on a piece of paper and then drew a picture of something he likes to do. Hyrum drew a picture of a house and told me it was because he likes to build. At that point I could see that Hyrum was comfortable so I left. It was a little bit harder than I had anticipated, but knowing that Hyrum wasn't worried made it a lot easier. It was weird leaving, knowing that he would be gone all day in someone else's care. As we walked to the van Thomas kept saying, "Hy? Hy? Hy?" He missed his brother already. When it was time to pick Hyrum up we walked to the playground and found him sitting on the ground by his teacher. I was so happy to see him sitting there. When he heard me call his name he turned around immediately and gave me a huge smile. He took my hand and held it the whole walk back to the van. I asked him how he liked his first day of school, to which he replied, "I LOVED IT." He then told me all about the things he did and the people in his class. He even thanked me for the surprise juice I put in his lunch to let him know how much I loved him. What a relief is was to know that he had enjoyed school and that it was a positive experience for him. I am excited for the growth he will experience as he begins this new learning adventure.

Meeting Ms. Kelsey

Notice the CTR ring on his finger...he's excited to be a little missionary at school

Sitting at his table all ready to start the first day of kindergarten