Snowy, sick day

Well, just last week I was telling Dan how fortunate we were this year that the kids hadn't gotten sick yet. It was the first year that I didn't get them into the doctor for their flu shots. We've been so well, I hadn't been sick, and the kids have been healthy as horses. Well I guess I spoke to soon. Monday night Kirk started to come down with a fever, and chills. Then this morning Kate woke up and said that her head hurt. I felt it and she was definitely warm too. I gave her some children's Tylenol, and told her she could spend the day in bed and stay in her P.J's. She said " can I watch swan princess in bed too". I figured why not. Watching movies is the only upside to being sick, I'd might as well make it as fun as possible. So I took a picture of the kids in bed watching the movie. Kirk isn't really sick anymore. His fever is gone. He's just taking advantage of the movie perk. Today after I gave Kate the medicine she said "I told you I would get sick, but I didn't even share a drink with Kirk". She was really worried about catching kirk's fever, and I told her she wouldn't get sick as long as she didn't share a drink with him. So much for that theory. It's so hard to keep illness contained to just one person in the family. If anybody has had any success with that please share your secret. If one person gets sick over here we all end up with it. I also took pictures of the kids sleeping on the floor. Kirk is going through this weird phase were he refuses to sleep in his bed. He wants to sleep on Kate's floor every night. I don't think he's slept in his bed for about six months. I'm hoping he out grows it, but I'm actually starting to get a little worried. Maybe once the baby is in his room with him, he'll want to sleep in there. I guess I like to pick my battles, it's not hurting anyone to let him sleep on her floor, so why not. Kate just recently got a sleeping bag from her grandma Black. It's a high school musical one. So she also is sleeping on the floor on the other side of her bed. I had to take a picture, because I think that it's hilarious that their beds take up so much space in their rooms and they don't even use them. And so it is with kids. I've found sometimes it's the simple things that make them the most happy, and they are content with so little, even with sleeping on the floor. Just one more thing, yesterday the kids were coloring pictures and Kirk very proudly lifted up his drawing to show me. I said "oh that is so cute Kirk", he promptly replied "It's not cute mom, It's awesome". I could help but start laughing. Were on earth did he learn the word awesome. It's funny to me that he is already understanding the difference between girly cutesy words, and boyish ones. He really is growing up to be such a cute little guy. Everything with Kirk is exciting. He has so much energy and enthusiasm with everyday little things. I am loving this age that he's in right now.

Last week we were able to attend the Draper Temple open house. Kate was really excited to go. I had told her earlier in day that we would be putting on our very best Sunday clothes to go to heavenly father's special house. Later she got really upset that she couldn't find her "fancy" Sunday shoes. I told her that her nice school shoes would be just fine, but she was still really disappointed about that. We made it down to draper, and I was so impressed with how organized the church was. Everybody was of course volunteering, standing out in the cold directing parking, and assigning buses to shuttle us up. It is a beautiful temple. The kids really enjoyed seeing it. Kirk loved pointing out all of the pictures of Jesus. I'm so grateful that we are sealed together as a family, and that the temple makes it possible to live with each other forever. I love my family, and I was grateful for the experience of walking through that sacred building with the ones I love. If anybody is interested in going to the open house, it is going to last through March (I think, you can still get reservations). check out the churches web site. http://www.lds.org/ to find out more.

Having fun the the Hawaii sun!

Dan and I at the Luau, the plants and flowers were gorgeous, it gave us inspiration to spice up our back yard

Dan and I ready to hit the ocean with our snorkeling gear and find some fish

I feel totally spoiled. Dan and I were able to go to Hawaii last week with his parents, and brothers, and sister-in law. It was the most fabulous trip. I totally allowed myself to be lazy, sleeping in everyday, laying out in the sun, and of course eating. I love sea food, and the fish in Hawaii is as fresh, and as good as it gets. It was a good pre-baby vaction. The weather was just gorgeous for the first few days. We went snorkeling as you can see from the picture. I loved seeing all of the fish. I was amazed at how many there were right off of the shore line. We didn't go out far, because I'm totally afraid of under currents. I think the fish must get fed, because they weren't shy of us at all. On the days it rained we drove around the island. They actually canceled school one day because of high winds! Can you believe that? I wondered what the locals would think about some of the weather we endure! We found an awesome beach on the north side of the island called secret beach. You have to hike down to it. It was beautiful, and the waves were huge! It was fun to watch them. We also drove to up to a famous canyon. They call it the grand canyon of the pacific. I was sitting in the back of the van and the road was really windy. I'm not usually one who gets car sick easily. All of a sudden I started to feel sick, I told Dan's brother to pull over, we were in a mini van so I couldn't open the door until the car was in park. Not a good feature to have when your about to upchuck your lunch! Fortunately I made it out of the car, and threw up right as a big tour bus drove past. I wondered if I had caused some people to loose their lunch as well. I've only thrown up from being car sick one other time in my life. I was actually pregnant that time too, to pregnancy must be culprit for it. Anyways we made it up the canyon, but it was so cloudy that you couldn't see a thing. It gave me a creepy feeling knowing that there was a huge drop off, and all I could see was white. My mom watched the kids for us while we were gone, so I knew they were in good hands, but as the week drew to a close I couldn't help but miss them like crazy. When we got home I couldn't believe how cute our kids are. I think when you live with your children everyday, you take the little darlings for granted. As much fun as it was, we're really happy to be home.

The whole gang. Micheal, Dan's parents, Shaun, Annoel, Robbie, and me and Dan. There were about three people taking the picture at the same time, so no one is looking in the same direction! Oh-well, it's tough getting a family picture.

Christmas Joy!


This year has been a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at my grandma Black's house. She is 97 years old and still going strong. My Grandma is so amazing, she even made treats, and cookies for us. We had an aw some dinner with my older brother and his family, my little brother and his fiance, my aunt and uncle, and their two sons. After dinner and visiting we all went to Dan's parents to visit. We exchanged gifts, and the kids acted out the nativity. The kids had fun. Kate was an adorable angel, and Kirk loved pretending to be a cow. Then we headed home to get the kids in bed before Santa came. Kate kept looking out the van window to watch for Rodolph's nose. When we got home we were kneeling in the living room for family prayer, when there was a loud knocking noise from the wind. We told the kids that Santa was trying to get in to leave their presents. I've never seen Kates eyes so wide. She ran up to her room and jumped into bed. Kirk slept on Kates floor. The next morning we were pleasantly surprised that the kids slept in until 8:00. They were so excited about Santa. The first thing they said was "did Santa eat his cookies". We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family to share this special time of year with. We are especially grateful to our Savior Jesus Christ. I love this time of year when everyone strives to be a little more giving, and a little bit better. May we always keep the spirit of our Savior in our hearts and homes.



Kate got a bike from Santa Kate and Kirk with their great Grandma Black

Kirk got a Darth Vader Costume he wears Kate and Kirk in front of the Christmas tree!

It all day everyday!

HO HO HO! Tis the season to be jolly!

I've enjoyed this season so much this year. The kids really get the whole Santa Clause thing, and are bouncing off the walls with excitement! Kate has been doing her count down till Christmas chain faithfully everyday. Here it is with only two days left before the big day. I feel like I'm pretty ready for it. I ventured to Walmart and Sam's club to do my last and final shopping for the Christmas festivities. Last night Kate had her Christmas dance recital. She looked adorable. At this young age they don't do alot of dancing, but she said that she had fun being on stage. Tonight we are having some of Dan's high school friends over, so I'm in a cleaning frenzy. I think it's good, because I would have taken a week off from cleaning. I think having people over is really good motivation for me to get into gear and pick up the house. Another Christmas miracle is that the kids have never played so well before. With only two days before Christmas I've reminded them that Santa knows when they fight. Well I'm so grateful for this time of year. I'm also so grateful for my wonderful family. I've been so blessed. Merry Christmas to all.



Kate in her Dance recital Costume! It's so darn cute!




Kirk shortly after devouring a chocolatey treat. He love's Chocolate, must take after his Mom

Christmas Cheer!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

This year Christmas seems to be coming at me full speed ahead. Last week I babysat my sister's kids for her, so I think being so busy just made the month seem so much shorterr. We've still been having a wonderful Christmas season. I absolutely love this time of year. I love the decorations, the music, and of course the shopping. Last week we decorated gingerbread houses. The kids really enjoyed that. We've also gone the the forgotten carols with Dan's family, and did the lights at the Layton park. Kate will be having her Christmas dance recital soon, and of course the many Christmas parties. I still have a ton of wrapping to get done, and also some toys to assemble. But other than that, I think we are just about ready. I hope that this season of the year finds everyone well and in good spirits. I am so grateful for the Savior. His birth was the greatest gift given to all men. May we all remember his life and goodness during this wonderful season. I know that through him we all may live again.

California Fun!

We just got back from Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. I've been dying to blog about our trip, it was so much fun! The kids loved Disneyland. It was so magical for them. We went to the magic kingdom the first night. We saw the parade which was awesome. All of the Disney characters from the most popular movies were in it. The kids were so excited. Then we did adventure land, and frontier land. I thought Kirk would love pirates of the Caribbean, but I was wrong! He usually isn't afraid of scary movies but the whole time he said, "I want to go home, I want to go home". I can't blame him though, it was alot scarier than I remembered it to be. The next day we did Fantasy land, and tomorrow land. We took kirk to the Jedi training academy. They pick out kids from the audience and let them fight with Darth Vader. He was to young to fight, but he loved watching. Darth Vader is Kirk's new hero. His cousin was Darth Vader for Halloween, and ever since he's been obsessed with Star Wars stuff. When Darth Vader left he bawled for five minutes. He wanted to meet him. So we went and bought him a light saber in one of the gift shops. He loved it. He had to take it with him every where we went, he even slept with it at night! I loves to fight Dan, and he always says to him " Da DA, you Luke, I Darth Vader". Kate's favorite part of Disney was of course the Princesses. We waited in line for 45 min. to see them. I was begining to wonder if it was going to be worth it, but it definitely was. She couldn't stop talking about them the rest of the day. We let her pick out a princess doll at the gift shop. They had an entire store totally devoted to princess stuff. Then we traveled down to San Diego to go to sea world, and to the zoo. It made for a nice change of pace. No crowds, and no lines to wait in. The kids loved seeing the whales. Kate said she wanted to get soaking wet at the shamu show. It was pretty amazing to see how the trainers could teach these wild massive animals to do those tricks. This was such a fun trip. We went with all of Dan's family. So this kids had a blast being with their cousins. I think Disneyland is the ideal vacation for a family. It was fun to relive the magic all over again with my kids.