Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  For Christmas Eve we went to my mom's house.  Here are the party goers:

Here is Alex all dressed up with food on his face.

My handsome husband

Josh, Sarah, and Dave

Mom and her friend Maureen

Bishop Ferguson

Annie girl

Logan opening his present

Alex opening his present

This bathrobe was our gift to Dave.  I made it, but it turned out to be a very frustrating project!  I won't go into details or it would take several paragraphs.

My mom opened her present that night as well since we weren't going to see her the next day.

Sarah, Josh, and I bought her new scriptures and I made a scripture bag for them.

Christmas morning the kids were very excited to open their stockings!  Along with the bubble bath they get every year, we filled them with fun breakfast snacks: mini-boxes of cereal, fruit snacks, Carnation instant breakfast, and crackers.

Alex was loving his little bag of Cheerios.

Someone opened Alex's crackers for him as well...and he made a royal mess of them on the rug!

After breakfast, we went next door (Jim's family) for presents, and then we went to my dad's for Christmas dinner.  It was fun to spend Christmas with our families.  I don't have any pictures of those events though...oops!

That night the kids had a bubble bath.  It had been some months since we'd last run out of bubble bath, so they loved it!

Zoo Lights

So backing up a bit...we went to the zoo the Monday before Christmas to see the lights display.  It was a cold night, but we had a good time...so good that the zoo closed before we saw everything!

A family picture...

Alex was a great sport as always.

What good looking tigers!

Mom and Sarah

Sarah and Dave

Annie would not feed the giraffes...or look at me for a picture.

Logan was more than happy to feed them, though.

It was a fun evening, and I'm going to miss being able to do these things with my family (and I'll miss our zoo)!

Separation Anxiety

So...Jim and I drove to Iowa on Monday to see the area, get him set up with a temporary place to live, and start making some decisions.  We've done a lot of things over the last three days, but still have a lot of things to decide.  We like the area, and were able to visit the Nauvoo temple yesterday...pictures to come.  A very kind couple from our church has offered to have Jim stay in their home for a little while until we find a more permanent place for our family.  We've been in their home for two days now, and it looks like it will be a nice arrangement.  They are so sweet!  In a few hours, we will head to the airport so I can fly back to Colorado; I'm not looking forward to it.  I've missed the kids all week and it will be wonderful to be with them again, but we have no idea how long it will be until we can join Jim.  I'm near tears just thinking about it.  I would be a terrible military wife!  He's going to miss us incredibly, and I am so grateful he has these nice people to stay with.   

Merry Christmas!

This picture is actually from Halloween 1997...but we sang Christmas carols that night.  Merry Christmas!

Logan Answers

Today as we were driving, we noticed a garage that had several garbage trucks parked inside.  When I pointed it out to Logan he said, "So that's where the garbage man lives!"

Today

Evidence that I have children (just in case it wasn't obvious)...

I was glad to find my mixing attachments before I knew they were missing, but someone left some evidence behind...I'm thinking it wasn't Jim who moved them.

It may not be apparent to most onlookers, but that block structure is actually a bunkbed, and it was absolutely necessary to display it by the plants.

Good morning!  (Doesn't everyone feed their kids chocolate for breakfast?)

Time to get dressed and cleaned up!  Annie wanted to wear underwear today...or should I say outerwear?

Then we spent 5 hours baking cookies next door (since I don't have an oven) and I stalled Alex's nap in a big way so I could finish.  The poor kid didn't quite make it through lunch...

Here We Go Again...

The boxes are beginning to take over again...

Moving...Again!

So...Jim accepted the job in Iowa.  I can't believe how quickly things are changing!  We only moved seven weeks ago, and now it's time to go again!  (Now I'm wishing I hadn't unpacked.)  We are very excited, and have been researching the area like crazy.  It turns out that we know two families out there already (one from our last ward, and one that I grew up with).  So that is reassuring.  The cost of living is cheaper (bonus!), there is a university nearby for grad school, and there is a stake in the city we'll be heading to.  We'll be in the Nauvoo Temple district, and only two hours away from it!  I think that is pretty cool.  We are anxious to see the area now, and figure out where we will live (and if the kids and I will come out right away or not).  We have lots to think about!

Logan Says

Totally out of the blue: "Mom, where does the garbage man live?"

Unpacked

We're unpacked, well almost anyway.  I finally found the motivation this week to get to the last boxes.  There are two left, and the pictures need to go on the walls.  Or do they?  Jim just got a job offer (a good offer) out in Iowa.  We have to decide by Monday, and they want him to start January 3.  Crazy!  It sounds very good to us, and if he takes it we could be moving in three weeks!  Aah!  Decision time!