Christmas Lullaby

Sometimes I can see qualities in my kids that remind of myself or Dan. Ashlyn loves to read and write like I do and Corey loves computers and games like Dan. I love it when I am surprised by something my kids do that I wish I could do!

This was the case when Ashlyn sang a solo at our ward Christmas party on Friday night. She sang "Christmas Lullaby (I Will Lead You Home)" which was originally sung by Amy Grant. It's one of my favorite Christmas songs that you don't hear over-played on the radio and the words are perfect for a child. She was so brave and sounded like an angel to me. I said to Dan when she finished, "Is that really OUR daughter?" You'd never catch me singing a solo, except in the shower and Dan's whole family absolutely slaughters "Happy Birthday to You," so I'm not sure where she got her talent (or the nerve to sing solo in front of a crowd!) but I love that she did.

It all comes out in the wash!

I would've been a bad pioneer. I need a washer and dryer! We learned the hard way last month how true this is. 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, Dan & I were watching a movie and finishing up some laundry on a Saturday night. Dan walked into the kitchen to get us some drinks and stepped into about an inch of water on the wood floor! The hose to our washing machine had broken and water was spilling out onto the floor! We used every towel we have and got the water up right away and left 2 portable fans running all night to help dry the floors. We thought we'd avoided any complications until the next afternoon when the kids ran up from the basement to tell us that "the carpet in Daddy's office is wet." UGH! The water must've leaked down the floor vent and filled up the light fixture and spilled onto the carpet downstairs. NOT GOOD! We called a water restoration company to come the next morning and help.

Here's where it got complicated. The carpet wasn't really that wet, but they found black mold behind the baseboards in Dan's office that was from previous moisture. You couldn't see or smell mold, but it was there. Because we are renting, we wanted to take care of the damage from our washing machine, but didn't want to pay for anything we didn't cause. Long story short...the drywall, baseboards and carpet pad needed replacing and we finally have our basement back after a few weeks of repair. My dryer broke the same week, so my Mom and I spent some time at the Laundromat when she was visiting. The good news is that we got a sweet new washer and dryer out of this whole mess! They are Samsung high-efficiency with steam. I've never had front loaders before and I couldn't be happier (unless they came in RED). Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I am just happy to be able to do laundry again:-)

So much to be thankful for...

Happy Thanksgiving to all! What a great holiday... We get together with family and eat the best meal of the year. What's not to love? 

I thought this cartoon was perfect, since we spent our Thanksgiving holiday in sunny Arizona with Dan's family! It was so great to go back to visit and see some of the people I've been so homesick for. Our kids had the whole week of Thanksgiving off of school, so we flew down a few days before Dan could join us. The weather was perfect and we loved being with Dan's family again. On Sunday we attended church at our Gilbert ward and felt right at home. It was very bittersweet! We made so many life-long friends in that ward. I told someone that after being back here, Dan might have to 
"drag me onto the plane, kicking and screaming" when we go back to Colorado.

Monday night, cute Jill arranged a casual bring-your-own-dinner at the park and it was great to sit and catch up with friends. Ashlyn and Corey wanted to stay all night with their friends. Still, there's never enough time to spend with everyone I wanted to and Claire was grumpy and tired that night.

Dan joined us the day before Thanksgiving. We stayed up playing Tri-Onimos with Linda & Allen, did a little shopping and took the kids to see the movies "A Christmas Carol" and "Planet 51."  Word to the wise..."A Christmas Carol" is way too scary for kids under 10, but we loved "Planet 51."
The big Thanksgiving feast was at Kari's and it was fabulous! I was asked to make cranberry sauce and yams & apples, which are my favorite! Here's the recipe, if you've never tried it:

We have so much to be thankful for, most of all our family, friends and knowledge

I ❤ my Mom!

I was so blessed to have my amazing Mom come visit for 4 days just before Thanksgiving! The last time she visited was 2 days after we moved here in June and we were still unpacking, so I was very excited to show her the finished result! The older 2 kids were in school each day, so it was just my Mom, Claire and me. We ran some errands for my brother C.J.'s upcoming wedding and we did some shopping, which is always fun! Ashlyn loved having "Nanny" sit and play piano with her after school. A year ago October, my Mom sat at her piano with Ashlyn and taught her to read music for about half an hour. The next morning, Ashlyn got up and played Primary music by sight and has continued progressing. Hearing her play piano with my Mom this week was heavenly!

Thanks to my Mom's insistence, Dan & I went on our first 2 dates since moving here (GASP...I know, it's crazy!) Dan & I got Japanese food and did some Christmas shopping for the kids. My Mom is such a calming influence on me and I find myself constantly taking mental notes when I'm around her. She is the personification of selflessness, creativity, energy, talent and generosity and I must've done something right to score a Mother like her!

New Moon on Thursday!

Okay, so all  you 80's music enthusiasts, the Duran Duran song "New Moon on Monday" was running through my head as I uploaded pictures from the fabulous "NEW MOON" party I attended on Thursday night! Come on, sing it with me:

"I light my torch and wave it for the

New moon on Monday

And a firedance through the night

I stayed the cold day with a lonely satellite..."

Anyway, if you know me well, you'll know that I'm a huge fan of the "Twilight" series by Steffenie Meyer. Though I didn't love the first movie, I was really looking forward to seeing this one. My sweet husband has been good to put up with my love of vampires and werewolves (currenly reading the "Vampire Diaries" & watching the series on TV). I was honored to be invited to a pre-movie party at my new friend Adrienne's with about 30 fun women. Adrienne went all out! She had "New Moon-" themed food, decor, posters, games, trivia and prizes. When we arrived, she had us each choose a "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" sticker to put on a dog tag necklace and we played a Family Feud-style trivia game, with calendars and T-shirts for the winners. Just before we left for the midnight showing, we were called into the foyer by howling werewolves and we watched the movie preview that her husband projected onto the wall!

It was hilarious to see this movie with a bunch of grown women wearing "I ♥ Edward" t-shirts and such! I know there are a lot of haters out there who won't read the books or jump on the bandwagon, but I absolutely loved the whole night! It was silly fun and I loved getting to know some women from that ward. The movie was amazing and despite some very appealing werewolves, I am still an Edward fan!

For those of you who will still refuse to read the series, I think Adrienne's t-shirt said it best.  Something like...

"NEW MOON:

Edward leaves on page 73

and returns on page 451.

There...I just saved you 4 hours

and months of depression."

Build-your-own-snowman...

If you asked my kids, they'd tell you we were long-overdue in building a snowman at our home. The first, massive snowstorm a few weeks ago brought light, fluffy snow that was not condusive to snowman-building, so when it snowed about 8 inches last week, Ashlyn and Corey were so excited to get out there. Dressed in new snowboots and gloves, they braved the 20 degree temps and constructed this cute white creature!

Ashlyn was frustrated that the rocks she used for eyes and buttons kept falling out. The next day when my Mom came to visit us from Salt Lake, she brought us a "SNOWMAN KIT," complete with a wooden carrot nose, black shiny buttons and round black eyes and mouth pieces that had long stakes to stick into the snow. She bought them from my niece's school fundraiser, without even knowing of our rock dilemma. So, next time we build a snowman, he'll be new & improved!

Halloween 2009

Halloween this year was one of my favorites! Dan had just returned from Denmark at 11 PM the night before, so he was a tired boy. Dan coached Ashlyn's last volleyball game of the season on Halloween afternoon, then we had Ken, Sky and their girls over for dinner and Trick-or-Treating that night. Our neighborhood was absolutely packed with Trick-or-Treaters and most of the neighbors went all-out decorating their homes, which was fun. Dan, Ken & Sky took the kids out, while I stayed home to hand out candy. When the kids had had enough, we all had pumpkin pie and Dan fell asleep on the couch, despite the chaos of our sugar-rushed kids all around him!

The butterflies that didn't fly away...

Last week we had another 8 inches of fresh snow! A few days later, the temps were back up in the 50's again, so we decided to let our butterflies go out and see the world. Oddly enough, we had 2 that seemed confounded and flopped around on the snow and wouldn't fly away, so we took 2 of them back inside to be our pets. For now, they are still enjoying a daily orange juice treat and we love watching their long tongues uncurl to drink. Supposedly, they only live a few weeks and it's been 3 weeks already since they hatched. Claire calls them "flies."

Glad he's home...

Dan got home from Denmark just in time for Halloween, but the poor guy had terrible jet lag and had to run errands with me, coach a volleyball game  and deal with our kids hopped up on sugar the next day. Ashlyn and Corey made him this "welcome home" sign! I'm excited he had the opportunity to travel, but am so glad to have him back home:-)

Snow Day!

I am SO thankful for Skype! We've been chatting with Dan, who's in Denmark for business, whenever possible this week. It's so amazing to see him and hear his voice! The 8 hour time difference makes it tricky though, but never fear, I have only gone to bed before 1 AM once since he's been gone. He'll be just getting up when I'm just going to bed. Strange!!!

The good news is that my older 2 kids have been the best helpers this week. I had to laugh when I came downstairs for breakfast on Tuesday and Corey had started making lunches. His drawings crack me up! I asked if that was his hair or a crown and he said it's his hair. Okay then.

Claire, on the other hand, has been tough this week. She won't nap since we took away her pacifier and is almost always grumpy and tired by dinnertime. Before the Binkie Fairy came, she took a nap every day, like clockwork. I want my happy Claire back and hope I can get her back on track!

It is pretty ironic that while Dan is gone, we had a huge snowstorm that dumped about 18" of white stuff in 2 days. I am grateful that I bought a SNOW SHOVEL. School was cancelled today due to the snow, so Ashlyn and Corey went out and played in the snow for over 2 hours in our backyard. Claire was out there with them yesterday, but didn't seem to like the feeling of her cold hands in the warm tub afterward. She held her little purple hands under the running water and said "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Corey even helped me shovel the driveway. Here's hoping that the novelty of snow doesn't wear off anytime soon!

This is my covered back patio! The snow has blown in and blanketed everything. I took this picture on the first day of the storm. We ended up with about 18" total!

I thought it was hilarious that after Ashlyn found out that volleyball practice was cancelled, she ran upstairs and threw on her thermals under her volleyball shorts and went out in the snow. Brrrrr!

Punkins!

I really missed carving pumpkins with Dan this year. He's always so enthusiastic and doesn't mind digging out pumpkin guts. Nonetheless, we carved pumpkins on Wednesday because Halloween is approaching fast. (We missed you, babe!) I have these flashing red electric lights that go inside that look so spooky and cool...

Corey & Ashlyn carved their pumpkins all by themselves this year. Corey carved a spooky tree and Ashlyn did a witch. For some reason Claire just liked licking the inside of the lid of the pumpkins.  Eeeeeeeeewwww!

I am a big pile of salt(?)

This week I've had a small change of heart. I've had some moments of clarity when I've felt so loved and close to my Heavenly Father. I know I can't keep looking back to where we've been and wishing things were still the same, because they're not. I should be better at change than I am, apparently. Ironically, this is not the first time I've struggled with a move and missed where we just moved away from. One of these moves, maybe I'll learn:-)

I've enjoyed reading scriptures together as a family before the kids go to school. It's nice that school begins later so we actually have time before we all rush out the door. Last week, something Dan read got us talking about the story in the Bible of Lot and his wife. For a little refresher, Lot was instructed by God to leave the evil city of Sodom before it was destroyed. Lot's family had been living among the wicked, yet while they were leaving, Lot's wife turned back to look upon the city and was turned into a "pillar of salt." This struck me, though I'd heard the story many times before.....

I have been wanting Colorado to be something it's not, or maybe that it's "not yet." I've longed for my friends in Arizona and California and could've been trying harder to make new friends here. I compare our new ward to our old ward and am unhappy with the comparison. I have been feeling sad and lonely and have wished things were different. I have been looking back over my shoulder at my past life, even when the Lord has provided a wonderful new life and new opportunities for us here. I should be a pile of salt, no doubt! Now, please don't think I'm comparing Gilbert to the evil city of Sodom! Quite the opposite...yet, I know now I need to look forward instead of constantly looking back.

I've been re-reading parts of Deen Kemsley's book Trust in the Lord. Many of you may know the author's brother, Vicki Parry. In part 5 of the book, he talks of "The Path of Simplicity." He begins the chapter with the quote, "Christ will magnify our small, faithful efforts, transforming them into moments of overwhelming joy." (pg. 65) I absolutely love this:

"But as I listened to the voice within, it lifted a burden off my shoulders, testifying that there is a time to strive and a time to stop striving. At that period in my life, it was time to stop striving so hard and simply do the straightforward tasks at hand." (pg. 67) ..."If we listen, we can all find this voice within us, a voice that will place us on a specific path of purpose and meaning the Lord has prepared for each of us. As we walk down this path, we'll find it's largely paved in simplicity. At times, God may call on us to preform great feats- difficult tasks that require all of our faith and might to fulfill. Often, however, he'll call on us to perform simple tasks. From these acts, he can transform our small offerings into eternal deeds that we could never accomplish on our own." (pg. 68)

I know I need to focus more of my energy on the most important things: my amazing husband and kids and my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know with a certainty that we are here in Colorado for a reason. We have a comfortable home and Dan has a job, which, especially these days, are huge blessings. Friends will come eventually, I hope. I will keep doing the simple things, like going to church, cooking meals, playing with Claire, doing laundry and helping my kids with their homework. I will appreciate where we've been, but will try to look forward to where we're going...

Corn maze and Harvest Festival...

Saturday we did something that I hope will become a yearly family tradition...Ken & Sky and Sky's daughters joined us and we went to a corn maze and Harvest Festival at Anderson Farms.  The older kids enjoyed doing the "Sudoku" part of the maze, where they located checkpoints in the maze until they were exhausted. It was beautiful, but a little slow, because Claire insisted on walking the entire time.

(Left:) Claire and Ashlyn found 2 Wooly Bear caterpillars, which Claire kept in the pocket of her jacket! The bigger caterpillar kept climbing out of her pocket and Fantasia wanted nothing to do with them.   (Right): Fantasia and Corey consult the map about which direction to go next.

I'd never been to a corn maze before, and this is the biggest in the state of Colorado!

The kids also milked a "cow," played in the kiddie mazes and playground. We warmed up a bit with a hot funnel cake and Kettle Corn. Claire fell asleep on the couch right after dinner. We all slept really well that night!