Monday, January 24, 2011

Happy Birthday to Anya!!!

Not wanting to look at the camera!!!
Opening presents with Grandma Shelly!!!

Playing Princess!!! (Thanks Cook family!) The Dora Cake!!!
Blowing out the candles!!!
"I am 3 now!!!"
Giving Papa a taste of my new lip gloss!!!
The purple water she insisted she was having at her birthday!!!
Dancing with Grandma Karen!!!
Dancing with Dad and Huey!!!
Her latest moves!!!

Just because!!!
Anya thought he was so funny with macaroni on his head!!!
I honestly can't believe that Anya is already 3! Jess said today day at lunch that he couldn't believe that we have had her that long. Anya is our Drama Queen. There is never a dull moment with her in the room. We celebrated her birthday on Sunday so her grandparents could come.We also invited her other Papa (Papa Cook) and the rest of the Cook family to join us. We had a very fun afternoon opening presents, playing, eating, and of course dancing. Anya's birthday parties have always ended with her famous dancing! She got spoiled from everybody and she loved all of her presents. Her "Anne Huntsman" even found a domestic bone in her body (I didn't know that existed) and made her a cute quilt. Thank you to all of you who made it. It was a great day and we are grateful we can spend these special times with you! Happy Birthday "Ahnie Bonnie"!!!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

December's Blur!!!!

Our December seemed like it was so busy and flew by! After we were feeling better from our strep, we headed up the mountain to get our Christmas tree. (Jess absolutely hates getting a real tree, but every year I insist. This year, I was just ready to get things up, so I decided I would be nice told Jess we could just put a fake one up – and I really was being sincere. He said he was fine to get a real one and he was actually getting used to it, so I didn’t push for a fake one too hard.) Well, we soon realized that because we had gotten so much snow this year there was no way we could go where we normally go. So, we had to just park and find one close to the road. (Does close to the road mean that you can see it from your car? Or does it mean really actually close to the car?) Jess told us to wait and he would cross the river to see what he could find. About five minutes later I heard the chainsaw start and then watched a tree come crashing down. I was playing with the kids on the sled and then proceeded to watch Jess try to get the dumb thing back to the truck. It took forever! He was soaked with snow and sweat by them time he got back to us. However, he did keep a positive attitude and didn’t complain. I was shocked. I knew as soon as I watched his boot slip through the ice, that was it. But, things actually remained calm this year. Our Christmas tree hunting usually ends in us not talking because I want to keep looking for the perfect one and Jess just wants to be done. This year resulted in not only us speaking, but us having a great time as a family setting up the tree. Jess strung the lights on it and did a very meticulous and fabulous job! Anya helped hang the ornaments and Huey was just fascinated with it all. We poked his hand with the tree a few times to teach him it was pokey and not to touch it. Actually, I just didn’t want him pulling down everything we had just put up. Is that mean? It worked. He left the tree alone the whole time it was up.

Next was the Elementary play. “WOW!” is all I have to say. After many hours of set building, costume making, practice, and rehearsals, we were sure it was going to be terrible. The kids were just not listening and it was so frustrating. The day of the actual play we were ready to cancel. To our surprise, however, they actually pulled it off, and it was a success. Both Jess and I were so glad to be done with it. Jess always says, “Christmas doesn’t begin until the play is over!” With the play over and only a half day left of school Christmas break was about to begin. Santa came to visit the elementary school, so we took the kids by. As you can see, he was pretty happy about being there. I was actually surprised that Anya went right up and say on his lap. Hugh....that was a different story!

This year we stayed at home until Christmas day. On Christmas Eve, we went with our friends, the Cooks, and took the kids sledding. It was in the middle of nowhere, and we had to take a hay ride behind a tractor to get there. When we got to the hill, we built a fire and roasted hot dogs and drank hot chocolate. The kids were not “happy campers!” Anya ended up falling asleep by the fire, and Hugh cried the whole time. It was fun, but would have been better had the kids enjoyed it a bit more. That night, we went to our friends, the Thomas’, and ate dessert with them. We have done that for the past three years, and it has kind of become a tradition. We had fun with them and the Barnes family, who came as well. At 8:30 on Christmas morning, we had to wake Anya up so we would have enough time to open presents before leaving town later that day. Huey was so excited the second he saw what Santa had brought. He knew exactly which toy was his and ran right to it. Both of the kids really enjoyed all of the gifts. Their big gift was from Aunt Donna. My parents gave us money that she left them and told us to buy something special for us and the kids with it. We bought the kids a really nice playhouse that they LOVE!! We literally had to drag Anya out of it to leave for Lyman.

On our way to Lyman, we got to talk to Dave. We didn’t make it to Lyman in time to talk to him, so they held Richy’s cell phone up to the phone and we talked that way. It was short and sweet, but it was good to hear his voice. He is doing great, as was expected. Once we got to Lyman, we quickly dropped our presents off at my house and headed over the Willie’s. This year was our year to spend with them. Everyone was home, and we had fun spending time with them. Sunday, we went to church. By the time Sacrament Meeting ended, Hugh was screaming and Anya was running around in her panties because she had wet them for the third time that day. (That’s what you get one you have one baby teething and the other with a bladder infection. Jess jokingly went and got our diaper bag and told Rich, “You know it’s time to leave church when you are out in the hall with a screaming baby and another one is running around without pants.” Needless to say, we did leave as the closing song was starting. On Sunday, we sneaked over to my house for a quick party with my family. We ate dinner and then had a gingerbread building contest. It was way fun. Each of the four little ones got to pick their team. I was on Jilly’s team along with Jay. Of course, Mark was over the top and whipped out the piping bag and made shingles and everything. They all turned out cute and it was fun putting them together. We stayed a few more days and then came home to enjoy a nice quiet house with just the four of us for New Years. We were all in bed by 8:30. Pathetic, I know, but necessary after a long, fun week in Lyman.
Jess dragging the tree!!!
Sledding!!!
Decorating the tree!!!
My Santa Babies!!!

Snowmaching with Cooks!!! A visit to the ever so "Happy" Santa!!!
Christmas Morning!!!

Singing Christmas songs with Dad!!!
Playing with cousingCorbin!!!
Singing with Grandma Karen!!!

November in a Nutshell!!!

Time to play catch up. I guess we will start with Thanksgiving! This year it just happened to fall on the best day of the year… my 25th birthday! Not that getting old is exciting, but I always think it is cool when my birthday falls on the holiday. This year we spent Thanksgiving at my house. It was fun to be home with all of my family. Of course, Jason gave out our food assignments, and we were all stuffed before dinner was even ready. The next morning, we decided to give “Black Friday” a shot. So, Jesse, Mckenna, Anne, and myself all left Lyman to head for Wal-Mart in Evanston at around 3:00. It was actually not that bad. It wasn’t too busy, and we had fun just seeing what we could get. We each stood in line waiting to get my dad a big screen TV for two hours and realized by the time they let us buy one, our line-waiting was not needed because there was only one other person in line. Oh, well. Live and learn. When we got to the car, we realized that there was no way we could fit the silly TV in and ended up having to find someone from the valley to take it home for us. Then, when we got it home and opened it, it was broken. So, Rich and Jess went back to Evanston to exchange it. After they got it home and set up the new one, Jilly decided it would be fun to play in the styrofoam and made a huge mess. Needless to say, mom was not impressed. She vacuumed her clean, which was quite comical. It was a good holiday spent with the family. However, my two kids and I did return home with strep!! I was sooo sick. Jess had to take a day off of work to watch the kids and take me to the doctor. I guess that is what you get with a house full of people.




Reading with Grandma Shelly!!!