Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

We would just like to wish all of our wonderful family and friends a Merry Christmas! May we all remember to be more giving, loving, and patient throughout the new year.

Here is our Christmas card this year: (click here)

Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween...a little late!! For Halloween this year A and e were a Princess and Superman. This is the first year that they got to choose their own costumes but it really wasn't a suprise what they chose. I have a feeling E may be the same thing every year after this but we'll see. We went to a trunk or treat our ward was sponsoring on Sat night and then Ben took the kids out a little in our neighborhood on Halloween night. My mom took us out to dinner for Ben's b-day (which is Halloween) and then I got a little cake for him. We are still eating Halloween candy and I've given some away so we haven't gotten sick off it!

Happy Birthday babe!

Visit to Portland

Ben had a leadership training in Portland in September so we decided to go with him. Usually he would just fly but since we were going with him we had to drive. It's about 6 1/2 hrs without kids so it took us about 8 but it was worth it because it was a beautiful drive. A lot of the drive is along the Columbia river and the scenery was gorgeous. We stayed in a Marriott Residence Inn which was great because we had a full kitchen and a separate bedroom so we could put the kids to bed and just shut the door and we could stay up for a bit (even though Ben ended up laying with them every night). The first day we were there the kids and I went to the Portland Zoo. It is a very nice zoo but it is pretty big so I did a lot of walking while the kids rode in the stroller most of the time. I forgot to take the babies jackets with us and they were freezing so we had to go and buy sweatshirts in the gift shop. They were super expensive so I told the kids they would have to wear them every day until they die. :)

Freezing without their jackets.

The second day we were there we decided to just kind of hang out in the hotel for the day. We went to a shopping center where we found an old carousel which the kids absolutely loved. The only bad thing is that it was about a 25 minute drive...to go less than a mile. I love that we don't have traffic that bad, yuck. That night we also made an appearance at a reception they were having for the "graduating class" of Ben's training. Everybody loved the kids of course!!

The last we were just supposed to have a few hours to kill so we stayed at the hotel almost until checkout and then went back to the zoo to see a few of our favorite animals again. They are supposed to have a really cool children's museum but it was closed the whole week we were there for maintenance.

Riding one of the lion statues.

A kept putting his arm around E so I had to take a pic of the best friends!!

Ben ended up getting out much later than anticipated so we only went as far as The Dalles, Oregon and then set out Saturday for home. We had a great time but I'm glad we don't travel that much very often!!

Labor Day Weekend

Um, yeah, so I realize that I'm a month behind...oops! I'm going to be playing quite a bit of catch-up over the next few days so just bear with me and hopefully I can eventually get everything in!!
So Labor Day weekend we decided to go to Rexburg to spend some time with my family. We had a good time but the highlight of our trip was going to visit Cave Falls. We met up with my aunt and her family and decided to take a little hike. We ended up hiking to Bechler Falls which is about 1.3 miles one way...turns out it's a little too far for the munckins to walk, we ended up carrying them most of the way back. We had loads of fun although I wish we had been a little more prepared for hiking. We had a nice picnic after we came back and the kids had a blast. Unfortunately we went hiking on Monday which was also the day we were driving back so we didn't leave until very late, putting us home about 11:00 pm.

Western Idaho Fair

 A couple of weekends ago we took the kids to the Western Idaho State Fair. We had lots of fun there and got to see and do lots of fun things. We saw a sea lion show, a pig race, and the kids even learned how to milk a cow!!

Eating a burger and fries.

E taking her turn milking the cow.

A having his turn next.

We even bought them tickets for their first amusement ride. A was rocking back and forth having a blast while E was not so sure she like it!!

My latest projects!

I have been busy working on Heritage Maker's projects!! I did a wedding album for Ben and I's anniversary this year and then made a canvas for my mom and dad's anniversary.

Album:
http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=1777768&productId=11&projectSponsor=492709

Canvas: (for some reason shows up really grainy on view mode)
http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=1815265&productId=39&projectSponsor=492709

Happy Anniversary

Today marks twelve years of marriage for Ben and I! Sometimes it seems like yesterday that we were married and other times it feels like we have been together forever. We've had our ups and downs but we get through it and live life the best we can!! Thanks honey for being such a good provider and father to our sweet kids.

Swimming lessons

A & E love to swim so I decided to enroll them in swimming lessons hoping that they could at least learn the very basics so they don't drown. They did pretty well and there was a big difference in their first day and last day!

E floating her first day

A floating his first day

Their last day

Here's a little vid of their last day of lessons.

Potty update

So, we've been potty training for awhile and I wish I could say it has magically come together but unfortunately it hasn't. There are so many different opinions on the "right & wrong" things to do that we've just decided to do what works for us. They love wearing underpants and, of course, our goal is to go with no accidents all day. If they can do that, they get a sticker and when they have 7 stickers they get a great prize. Seems easy right? Um, yeah, no, it's not!! A is doing pretty well, he is up to 4 stickers now and will go and get on the potty by himself and will even go poop on the potty. He still has his bad days though and our rule is after the second accident you have to wear a diaper. I give them the option in the morning of wearing underpants or a diaper and most of the time they choose underpants. I've heard once you've put underpants on them they should never wear another diaper but you know what? Choices seem to work well for us and if they can choose underpants they seem to do better and have less accidents. E is doing pretty well also except that she will only use one certain little potty we have and refuses to go poop on the potty which leads to some pretty gross underpants. She wore underpants to church today and didn't have an accident so that's promising I suppose. She only has 3 stickers and can't seem to get any further. It's almost time for a diaper so hopefully in the next 1/2 hour or so we don't have any accidents and can get another sticker!!

Potty Training

Yesterday the kids both told me that they wanted to wear underpants. My aunt Louise, her husband, and triplets had been here for a short visit so I can only guess that's what brought it on. They saw them using the potty and wearing underpants so maybe they decided they should be big kids too? When I put them on E she actually wet them within about 3 min. of having them on even though I had her sit on the potty before hand. Not such a great start but they wore them for about 5 hours. We put them on again when we got home from church today and they have both had multiple accidents so I am definitely going to have to get the carpets cleaned. I am trying to have patience but it is a little frustrating when I have them sit on the potty and then they wet about 5 minutes later. We will just keep truckin along and hopefully they will pick it up!!

Missing In Action

I just wanted to say that I know I am very behind in our lives right now!! I have been doing horrible at posting and hope to get caught up someday. I have been working on a lot of different projects and kind of let them take center stage but need to get caught up so we can remember our day to day lives!

Discovering Treasures

The kids and I went to Rexburg for a couple of weeks (which I hopefully will get around to blogging about) and while we were there I rented a photo scanner from one of my Heritage Makers directors. I scanned approx. 1500 pics of my own that I had in boxes and albums. My mom and I then went to my Grandma's house and dug out a whole bunch of old photos that she had. It took awhile to scan 2600 of them and we didn't even actually get them all. It has been so much fun sorting through them and seeing my mom and her siblings as kids as well as some of my grandparents when they were young. I am so glad for technology and the opportunity that we have to relive these memories and also preserve them even further than just on paper. While scanning I came across a picture of myself  and it could almost be a pic of my sweet baby girl. I was excited because everybody always says how much the kids look like Ben and now I have proof that she is mine!!

Me as a kid

E

Happy Father's Day

Today is Father's day and A, E, & I would just like to say thanks to the daddy who makes our lives so great!! Thanks also to their grandpas Milt and Dave who share their knowledge and love with us. We love you and are glad we belong to you!!

Notice the matching ties I found for Ben and A!!

Here's a link to the book I made for Ben: http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=1795149&productId=1&projectSponsor=492709

Father & Son (& Daughter) Campout



The Annual Fathers & Sons Campout was this weekend, and since the kids have been at their Grandparents for the past 2 weeks, I decided to take both of them. We had a great time, as you can see by the pictures below. Emily was the only one at the campout wearing a purple dress. When I asked each of them what their favorite part of the campout was, A said toasting his own marshmallow (I helped) and E said playing with the boys. Good times!

"Dad, I need a wet wipe"

 

A and E sitting together



E resting barefoot after getting too many stickers in her shoes

 

A took this one of me setting up the tent



A also took this one of people roasting marshmallows

S'mores = Happiness

Angels

I was almost too late but just made it in time for it to still be Memorial Day for this post! First, let me say thank you to our brave men and women who serve and make sure we can enjoy our freedom. I am very grateful for my baby brother, Shaun, who made the decision to serve. He and his family are moving in a week to Fort Drum, New York and we are going to miss having them close and being able to see them often! I am grateful for my Grandpa Michaelis who served in WWII and my Grandpa Nef who served in Korea. One of the traditions in my family is to put flowers on the graves of all of our family members who have passed away and it is one I actually miss a lot. I love graveyards and find it fascinating to walk through them and look at the headstones. It almost makes me cry to see headstones that are neglected or that you can barely read. The first song on my playlist when I opened my blog tonight was Angels Among Us by Alabama and I felt it very fitting for this day. I had an epiphany one day and even though it may sound strange to some people, it makes perfect sense to us. E has a crazy love for all things pink...if you know me at all you know that I am anything but a "pink girl". My fave color is black for heaven's sake (although the babies tell me it is red)! So I was thinking one day about Ben's sister Shauna who passed away a year ago from cancer and it hit me that since she is E's "special angel" she has been giving her a love for all things pink!! I feel like E is still so sweet and innocent that she can still feel her aunt around her. A loves guitars and climbing and is very much like his uncle Travis who passed away 8 years ago this year. A's "special angel" has been instructing and visiting him as well. We have taught the babies who their special angels are and whenever they see a picture of them that's how they identify them. You may not believe in angels but there is no doubt in my mind that my babies are blessed with many special people who watch over and protect them and for that I am eternally grateful.

Budding Artists

Not only are we budding songsters (see previous post) we are also budding artists, as seen below!

by E (she got a little bored by the time Snow White was done and didn't want to finish the Prince)

by A (he loves to colot Superman just like his little action figure, even got the belt yellow...sort of)

Our Budding Songsters

A & E are great singers and we just wanted to share a little of their talent with you!!

A New Toy

Okay, so I'm totally playing catch-up since the following took place oh...about a month ago but better late than never I suppose!! :) Ben came home one day with a new surprise...a four person tent! Apparently we are going to go camping this year, which will be fine since really that's an experience that all kids should have...I should know, I had it a lot growing up. Anyways...he had to set it up and check it out, unfortunately it was very windy out so it got set up in the front room. The kids were very excited about it and wanted to sleep in it so we dragged their mattresses down and set it all up (oh, and I fell down the stairs bringing them down, that was fun). Ben started out sleeping with them then decided he wanted to sleep in his own bed so guess who ended up on the couch, yep me!! They both woke up in the middle of the night and A ended up in bed with Ben while E stayed in the tent. Now we need to go on an excursion to get the rest of the required camping equipment and we'll be set!!

Sleeping in the new tent!

It even has a pet door (or toddler door in our case!!)

Peek-a-boo!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of those great and wonderful mothers out there! Here are some of the great mothers in our lives... 

Grandma M



Great-Grandma M

Great-Grandma N



Grandma R

For Mother's Day I made my mom and Ben's mom a book (uh-hem, which neither one actually have yet) and I had a ton of fun doing it!! Here's a link so you can see what it looks like:

Mother's Day book



Thanks to all those moms who have helped me throughout the various stages of my life, I really wouldn't be here without you!!

Happy Easter

Here are a few Easter pics:A's outfit originally came with a purple shirt that matches E's dress but since it's purple he thinks it belongs to the girl! (Not sure why the next two went sideways but sorry)

Coloring eggs:

New swingset

Last December Ben bought a swingset and it has been sitting in the garage ever since. This week he decided to put it up but unfortunately didn't check the weather report to see that it was supposed to rain all week so it took him a little longer than it otherwise would have. The kids love it though and I have a feeling E will be begging to be out there all day everyday since swinging is her favorite activity! Now if someone would just invent an automatic swing pusher...

Soccer Stars

OK...so maybe not soccer stars but we have started playing soccer. Today was our 3rd of 6 sessions and it was actually a nice day!! The first couple of sessions were absolutely miserable, it was cold and windy and so the kids did not want to be there. I ended up holding one of the them most of the time but thank goodness today was sunny with just a little bit of a cold breeze. We actually took these pics last weekend and excuse the fingerprint in the middle...didn't realize the kids had been playing with it and that it was there! E going through the obstacle course:A going through the tunnel next:How we spent a good portion of the first two sessions!:They don't actually play soccer games, they have them run through an obstacle course then they do little drills where they shoot the ball into a goal, then they run and hop and kick over cones and then for about the last ten minutes they put a little blue or green penny on them and let them "scrimmage". This usually entails a couple of the bigger boys making goals while the girls cry on the sidelines because the boys took the ball away. The babies are getting better each week and starting to have a little more fun!!