Buddy Bear

Kelton is five months old!  Agh!  I am not ready for him to keep growing up.  I want to add a few little tidbits about my cute baby.  He laughs in his sleep.  I hear it the most when I've rocked him to sleep at church and am holding him through the meetings.  It seems to happen frequently during the silence of prayers...of course.  But it makes me smile.  

He love, LOVES sucking on his toes!  My girls never did this, and when I would see a picture of a baby sucking their toes I thought it was totally staged.  I was wrong.  He sucks them most when I am changing his diaper.  As soon as I take off his socks or his pants, whoosh! His toe is right up there in his mouth.  

He has learned how to sit up!  I propped him up one night and he just kept sitting.  I ran to get my camera, and surprisingly he was still sitting up when I got back.  

He isn't totally stable yet and I can't leave him alone, but he is excited about the world that has opened up to him now that he can sit.  More toys to suck on!  

He took quite a few baths in sinks while we were out of town, and his newly discovered sitting skill made those easier on me.  Of course he has always loved his baths anyway so I shouldn't be surprised to see that smile.

McKenzie is still a great little helper.  She loves giving him toys, lots of them.  And he absolutely adores her.

She also loves dressing him up and making him look silly.  

All in all, we sure love this little guy!

Moments in South Jordan

Kids are cute nearly all the time, so even when the storytelling is lacking for a solo blog post, it's worth taking a picture.  Dantley has fallen in love with his nephews.  He is super cute with the babies and wants to hold them all the time.  Kelton loves being held so it's a win-win situation for everyone.

  

Kelton still in his early days of learning how to sit up.  This toy kept him entertained longer than he was able to sit.  Even when he toppled over he kept playing with the beads.  

One night before he had been formally introduced to solids, we wanted to see how Kelton would react to applesauce.  He had no idea what to do with it.  The applesauce sat on the tip of his tongue while he wiggled it around trying to decide what it was he was supposed to do.  

Tummy time with Papa.  

I went to check on the girls one night and laughed as I saw how "comfortably" they were sleeping.  Cambrie's head was originally on McKenzie's stomach but by the time I grabbed the camera she had slid down onto the mattress.  

McKenzie is totally in love with Leesa's new puppy, Tiawna.  That little puppy gets carried around everywhere.  Sometimes she is set on top of stools, piles of pillows, or under forts while the girls play.  It's a good thing she is such a patient puppy.  The cowboy hat McKenzie is wearing actually belongs to Bruce's dad.  

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Some of you may remember the struggles we had financially this time last year.  We thought it was a one time thing, a bizarre combination of events that meant we would only have to experience that kind of stress and despair once.  We were wrong.  This year, believe it or not, has actually been worse.  For two months in a row our paycheck has been only 20%-25% of normal.  It's amazing how quickly credit cards max out and bank accounts empty when that happens.  But as the Thanksgiving season has arrived, I find myself more grateful than ever for so many things.  Our heater fan burned out this summer and we didn't have any money to replace it.  With the colder temperatures arriving it has been chilly in our house.  I am very grateful for a fireplace to help us stay warm.  It doesn't have a fan, but it is still better than nothing.  I am grateful we have blankets to put on our kids' beds to help them sleep at night.  I am grateful our home has insulation and keeps us protected from the elements.  I am grateful I have electricity to keep our food fresh, to cook our food, and light our home.  I am grateful we had a spare microwave for when ours suddenly stopped working.  I am grateful I have running water, and really grateful that we have warm water to bathe in.  I am grateful I have food to send in Cambrie's lunch.  I am grateful my kids are healthy.  I am grateful my kids are happy.  I am grateful for a husband who continues working hard even though it is discouraging.  I am grateful for parents who make it possible for us to visit them in Utah.   I am grateful for friends, who through little whispers from the spirit have dropped off space heaters and extra clothes to brighten our day.  I am grateful for a grandmother who generously gave us an early Christmas present and paid for a new furnace fan.  I am grateful for my testimony and my faith that help me through this really difficult time.  

And it seems as though when it rains it pours.  On our drive home from Utah we were hit with a chunk of ice from a passing truck.  A few minutes later our heater stopped working, which was a problem since it was -11 degrees outside.  Shortly later our check engine light came on and our car stopped running.  We pulled over to the side of the road to figure out what on earth we should do.  It was 7:00 AM, and not a lot of people were at work yet, but we managed to get a hold of a tow truck that arrived just 30 minutes after we called.  I am grateful we were only five miles out of Evanston.  I am grateful we had cell coverage.  I am grateful we had extra blankets in the car.  The tow truck towed us to a buddy's shop which looked a little sketchy when we arrived, but I am grateful they were able to start work on our car right away.  I am grateful I had food for the kids to eat while we were there.  I am grateful we had a warm place to wait while they worked on our car.  I am very, very grateful that our car actually sustained very little damage.  The lower bumper had a chunk taken out of it and our coolant hose had come loose which had caused the anti-freeze to drain.  The repair shop had the pieces on hand they needed and fixed our car in a little over an hour.  I am grateful that we could afford the repair bill.  I am grateful we were able to get on the road again quickly.  I am grateful that even with the blowing snow and poor visibility through Wyoming that we made it home safely.  

Now we are home and the Christmas season is underway.  I spent our first day home putting up our Christmas decorations and trying to bring the joy of Christmas in our home.  I am grateful my parents had an extra Christmas tree to give us.  I am grateful that Christmas decorations bring with them so many positive memories.  I am grateful my kids are so excited to see the tree, the stockings, and snow globes.  So even though Jeremy and I are faced with another very stressful Christmas, one where our kids' Christmas morning will be small and Jeremy and I won't have one at all, I still find that I am grateful for my Heavenly Father.  He makes challenges bearable.  They aren't comfortable but without his help they wouldn't even be manageable.  

Gingerbread Houses

This year for our gingerbread house creation, Jeremy and Bruce thought it would be a really cool idea to build the Great Wall of China.  In theory it sounded really easy but as it progressed we realized what a pickle we had put ourselves into.  Our first genius idea was building a mountain range for our Great Wall to rest upon.  We pulled out some poor man Tupperware and covered it with paper mache.  Ta-da!  A mountain range.  

But as we began cutting our gingerbread pieces to size we discovered that the pieces couldn't be flat on the bottom and needed to curve with the mountains...great.  Ultimately we decided just to create a lot of long pieces that we would cut to size when it came time for assembly.  To give the wall some holiday spirit we thought a snowball fight theme between the Chinese army and the Huns would be fun.  For that to work, we needed little army men and quickly whipped up 150 soldiers.  

As soon as we arrived at Lynnette's we got straight to work. We had to measure, cut, measure, angle, glue, adjust, and wedge, but we managed to successfully create the Great Wall!  Two in fact, since Jeremy and I had ours, and Bruce, Leesa, and Dantley had theirs. 

 

While we worked we dined on pizza, sucked plugged frosting tubes clean, and tried keeping all the little helpers happy.  

Slowly our creation came together and we were really happy with the result.  

By the time we finished and cleaned up it was nearly 11:30.  Normally Jeremy and I are really good about getting the kids to bed on time, but that night they had to fend for themselves.  They dropped to sleep one by one.  When it was time to go we found Kelton on a bedroom floor all wrapped up.  McKenzie cuddling on a bed, and Cambrie was zonked in a chair next to all the action.  I guess that means no family picture next to our gingerbread house huh?  

Since they had fallen asleep before it was completed they were really excited to see it the next morning.  The girls love all of the silly things on our house: the piles of snowballs, the Ewok spies, Santa Claus sitting on the roof, soldiers who tumbled down after being hit with snowballs, a Waldo hiding among the trees, a cheerleader cheering the soldiers on, and the colorful Christmas lights on the battlements.  It was a lot of work, but we think it was worth it. 

The Nutracker

This year Cambrie and I were able to go see the Nutracker with my mom, sisters, cousins, and Grandma.  It was a surprise treat to go watch Ballet West with all of them.  Cambrie and I both love dressing up and having a special night for the two of us.  

On the drive up to the theater I asked her if she wanted me to tell her the story again so she could remember what was happening, she told me that she wanted to be surprised instead.  I suppose that's valid.  When we walked in to the theater she immediately found her little cousins and found a corner to get out all of their wiggles before the show started.  As we sat down in our seats, she was so excited.  She's still too short to see the whole stage sitting in her seat, so she spent most of the performance on my lap.  It worked out really well because as the show progressed, she did in fact have questions and it was easy to whisper in her ear.  During intermission we walked down to the orchestra pit.  Now that Cambrie is learning to play the piano she enjoyed looking at all the music and asks some of the musicians about their instruments.  Once we talked to everyone we could talk to we walked back up to our seats where my mom tried to get some pictures of the two of us.  Cambrie decided to be super silly for the photos.  

It was a late night and towards the end she started getting tired.  I can't really say I blame her though, the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy does seem to take a long time.  She perked right up though when I told her we could go out for ice-cream afterwards.  She didn't want to hold still for the group photo and it took a little bribery to get her to smile.  

Her only request for our ice-cream stop was that she could have a cherry on top.  Luckily that is an easy request to fulfill.  It was such a fun night with my girl and my family.

The Thankful 13

I like running simple, fun races on Thanksgiving morning.  Partially because I am thankful my body is healthy enough to run, partially because I think it is a good family tradition, and partially because then I don't feel as guilty eating Thanksgiving dinner.  This year, instead of running a standard 5K, Camille talked me into running a half marathon.  It was a little intimidating getting back into the running game after Kelton was born, but I was going to do it so my sister and I could have a fun bonding experience.  That morning I picked up Hannah to come cheer for us and met Camille there.  It was a chilly morning, as expected, but luckily we warmed up quickly as we ran.  The race started at Thanksgiving Point, ran through the streets of Lehi and along the Jordan River Trail.  Along the course there were signs made by the race directors that had things some of the runners were thankful for, things such as "My husband who is probably trying to catch up to me." "My kids." "My shoes for not giving me blisters." and "A thankful holiday season."  Because we were just out there to have a good time, we did have a good time.  

Inevitably we started growing tired and it became my job to keep talking to keep us going.  With a half mile to go we ran into cheerleader Hannah and we were given a new burst of speed to make it up the final hill.  Then as we entered into the final stretch we saw our dad who had driven down just for us.  I must admit that seeing Camille conquer the course and seeing my dad along the sidelines made me start to cry.  Thank goodness for sunglasses.  We crossed the finish line with a time of 1:59.12, just as Camille had hoped to do.  At the finish line we had turkey medals waiting for us and pumpkin pie.  Thanksgiving dinner was definitely more satisfying that afternoon after a quick morning run :)

Thanksgiving

This year we were able to have Thanksgiving with both of our families!  Thanksgiving lunch was at my Grandma Stratford's house in Ogden.  We were missing a couple of families simply because everyone is getting old and going to school across the country (wait, that sounds familiar), but it was really nice to see those families members that made it.  And I love that my girls' have little friends to play with while we are there.  Round two was Thanksgiving dinner at the Pearce's in Morgan.  We were all pretty stuffed, but McKenzie can always fit in more rolls and everyone can fit in more pies.  It felt funny telling the girls in Ogden that they could only have two pieces of pie since they would be having more later.  I wish there was more of a story than what I have written, but it was a very normal Thanksgiving; turkey decorations on the table, festive tableware, people laughing in the kitchen, plates piled high with food, and lots of satisfied bellies.  One year I'll be smart and actually take a picture of my family at Thanksgiving dinner.  As it is, I have a quick pic of Jeremy, Kelton and I at my Grandma's house.  I suppose that will have to do.   Happy turkey day!