Haircut time.

Garrett trying to be scary. Deer in the headlight look.

Today was a day of haircuts. Garrett sat really well during his cut, but Sterling was a different story. He wanted to look around and see what I was using and if he didn't like it, he would rapidly shake his head. In case you were wondering, Garrett just ate macaroni and cheese. I'm surprised at how fast their hair grows. It seems like I just gave them all a haircut during the Christmas break, but that was 4+ weeks ago.

Update

What has happened since going to Hershey, PA (my last post)? Here is a quick update. (For journaling purposes.)

New years Eve we had a party at our house and invited families over who where still in town. We played games, visited, and ate food until wee hours of the night. It was great! thanks to all those who came to celebrate bringing in the New Year with us.

One New Year goal that I will share: Call DJ Denver because I think it is a cool name and want to call him that. It will be a hard change because I've been calling him DJ for over 7 years!

Jan. 3rd we drove to DC to attend the temple. After our sessions, we stopped in MD to see some friends who were visiting for the Holidays from UT. It was fun to catch up with them and meet their adorable, happy little baby boy! Thanks for spending time with us Mark and Jess! That same day we found out Denver's uncle died from a brain tumor. The tumor was discovered Dec. 23rd or 24th. He had surgery on Dec. 26th and they found that it was one of the worst tumors. They gave him 8 weeks to live. On Jan. 1st he fell into a coma. On Jan. 3rd he passed peacefully.

On Sunday Jan. 4th we celebrated Denver's 29th birthday early with delicious dinner, cake, and presents. He got a compound bow that he loves and it might slowly take my place! I think I'm going to hide it right now. JK He really does love it though, but I still take precedence over it, most of the time :) Note to self: next time get husband a gift that isn't too lovable.

Jan. 5 school starts again for Denver and Maelie

On Thursday (Jan. 8th) Denver flies to AZ to attend his uncle's funeral.
Jan. 9th Denver's birthday Jan. 10th Funeral
I wait patiently and lonely for Denver's return home on Sunday night Jan. 11th

Life gets back to it's busy, normal self after having a nice relaxing Christmas break. The kids have been playing great together and I love to watch their constant make believe play. Cute.
Kristen finally had her twins! It's about time. 6lbs 4 and 6lbs 9! That's a lot of baby!

I got the stomach flu, but at least it only lasted 24 hours and no one else got it! My appetite didn't return for a couple of days, but when it did, watch out! I was ready for some good food. I hadn't had a stomach flu since before I had kids so it had been awhile and my opinion of it is still the same. It is AWFUL!!!!

Maelie is reading, writing, and learning math in school. She is growing so fast and learning so much. I don't know what to do! Cry or smile? She is a great girl and loves her family very much. I'm amazed at her vivid memory. She remembers so much.

Garrett loves to help me do the dishes and make dinner. He still loves his puzzles and does at least one every day during Sterling's nap. He is so fun and i'm glad he and I get to spend a couple hours a day together alone while Maelie is at school and Sterling is sleeping. He can really talk your ear off.

Sterling is learning how to be bossy from his brother and sister. He continues to crack us up. His belly seems to stick out a mile. He could eat all day and would if I let him, but then he wouldn't eat his dinner very well. He's a very content little guy.

Denver is really enjoying working on patients. He's told me many times that school is soooo much better now that he doesn't have to sit in class all day. He is very good at what he does, too. He is less stressed and when he comes home, he usually doesn't have to study, unless he has a test! Weird. That's all we've really known our whole marriage. I cold get used to this.

I am trying harder than ever to enjoy every step of my journey and to not wish away the days until this or that (but I still can't wait for this summer when my family will all get together to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. It's been a long time since we've all been together. Over 3 years). :)

Snow day- school closed

this is the longest I've ever waited between posts. I'm going to be better and post more, even if there are no pictures.

This morning I watched the news and saw that Maelie's school was closed today because of the snow and ice. So we bundled up and headed outside to shovel and play.
Getting ready: It took about an hour to get ready because 'boots weren't tight enough', nature was calling after the clothes were all on, poopy diaper, couldn't find gloves, didn't like gloves, etc. We were close to not going out. Before the fun began, it was time to work. Here is the before picture. Look at the sidewalk. And the after picture. Now the play can begin!

Making a snow angel.

Sterling didn't last long. Poor kid doesn't keep his gloves on. He would rather have his thumb available then warm hands, I guess. Saying cheese!

These two could spend all day in the snow. They had so much fun.

They can cancel school anyday! I love having all the kids home. It's such a joy to be a mom! I wouldn't change it for the world!

Christmas in Hershey...the sweetest place on Earth!

On our Christmas music station, the jingle "Christmas in Hershey, the sweetest place on earth" played all the time. It finally got to us and we decided to see if it was the sweetest place on earth. We met the Hershey man.

Chocolate...these bars are so big! The kids really wanted it, but there was no way we could eat all that. They got over it quick once the rides started.

We had a very fun day at Hershey, PA.

7 years!

Happy Anniversary to us on Dec. 26th

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Now I am finally blogging about Christmas. We had a delicious ham dinner and some yummy desserts.

After our Christmas Eve dinner we acted out the nativity scene. Garrett kept saying we were playing it. So, we 'played' the nativity scene.

Then we opened one Christmas Eve present (PJ's)...

...and put out cookies and eggnog for santa.

Christmas morning...

Garrett got a drum set and trainig wheels for the bike we bought him at a yard sale this last summer. It didn't have training wheels so he couldn't even ride it. Now he can :)

Maelie got this kitchen and loves it.

On Christmas evening, we had a single sister over from our ward who wouldn't have any family for Christmas dinner. We ate and visited. On the way out, we gave her some desserts to take home with her. It was left on the edge of the table while she was getting her coat on and Sterling got a hold of it. He was enjoying it so we let him have the rest. She was okay with that and insisted that I take a picture. He was very happy as you can see.

We had a GREAT Christmas Eve and Christmas day. It was fun to spend all day with the kids playing with their new toys. Now we have to wait another year for Christmas.

Saying Goodbye

Our Ward mission couple, the Heymans, left our ward after serving for 1 1/2 years. They did so much for our ward. We'll really miss them!

Christmas Joys

We love Christmas and we love our traditions! One of our traditions is making gingerbread houses. DJ and I have made them every year since we've been married. Here is the royal mess we made making them.

Garrett ate more than he decorated!
Maelie always takes such care when making things.

DJ and I upgraded this year and made BIG gingerbread houses. DJ's house.

My house. I would live there :)

The back of my house.

Another Joy is Christmas dresses. This is Maelie's Christmas dress this year.

And another joy...our Christmas tree. It may be small, but we love it! We love to sit next to it and drink hot cocoa.

All lit up.

Meet my dentist!

I went to my new dentist the other day and he was much different from dentist's I've had in the past. He was professional, easy to talk to and kind. He actually cared about his patient (me), and I felt comfortable enough to move his hands out of my mouth whenever I wanted. Needless to say, I was not the greatest patient, but I had the greatest dentist!

Thanksgiving in Ohio

For Thanksgiving we traveled to Dayton, OH to visit one of my sisters and her family. Of course I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving Day, but I did get some on other days. It was really nice to be with some family on Thanksgiving.

My sister had a really nice setup for pictures so we were able to get some nice family shots.

The boys weren't as happy about pictures as the girls were so we got some really cute ones of the girl cousins. Very cute. Those two had so much fun together. I hardly saw Maelie at all. She was playing hard the whole time.

How do you get a 15month old to sit still for a picture????

Give him a stuffed animal and hold on tight!

While we were there we were able to go with their family to pick out their Christmas tree. It was tons of fun and very cold!

Sterling's eye peeking out.

The place they went to pick their tree was really neat. It was family owned and operated. they give you an ax, point you to the trees and say pick out the one you want, cut it down and take it home. So, we walked around and found the perfect tree.

Us in front of the tree.

Each kid got a chance to cut the tree.

Other pictures of the weekend.

DJ got to go hunting! He was so excited and had so much fun!

The traffic was bad on the way home, but the kids traveled GREAT! When we were about an hour from home, Garrett threw up. He had just eaten too much! He wasn't sick or anything, just ate too much food.

It was a FUN Thanksgiving. Thanks Jenn and Ned for all the food, fun, entertainment, and company! It was great.