Merry Christmas! (even without the cards)

Ha! Ha! I printed out about 40 of these to mail out and mailed out ZERO! I thought this would be the year I would get around to mailing out a Christmas card. I love getting cards from friends. Making the card wasn't hard--it was finding all the addresses and making sure they were current and actually addressing the envelopes. Proof again that I just don't have it all together. Well they made cute tags for presents. And I do wish everyone a merry (though belated ) Christmas! (and I now I let out a big sigh)

December in a Flash

Where did December go? Here are some highlights. We had FHE with Grandma and Grandpa Great, put up Christmas decorations (which Jonny and Carter thought was hilarious to put toilet paper under the tree), had Elmer the Elf come to visit us, went on a Christmas cruise down the Provo River with the cousins, Bruce took a day off work to go to Ogden for the day (which we brought along Kyle and Josh), had some Christmas parties at school, Christmas parties with family....just to name a few.

The Swains

I love the Swains! We are so lucky to have them as our friends. Becky has (I am sure unaware to her) taught me many, many lessons about how to be a fun, fabulous mom and wife. She is one of my heroes. Carl is one of the most honest, kind people I have ever met. Garrett, Katelyn and Natalie are sweethearts! What fun, fun, fun kids with big imaginations! They are always easy to have over to play. I told Garrett he gets to choose either Autumn or Brookley to marry (or Jonny can marry Natalie or Katelyn). They are a great family that we are blessed to know!

The Pepperoni Kid and the Mystery of the Nuts

This kid makes us laugh! We ordered pizza for dinner. Jonny said he wanted pepperoni pizza. We were surprised since he has never wanted pepperoni before. When he got his pizza he looked so excited and started pulling off the pepperoni. We asked what he was doing because he said he wanted pepperoni pizza. He told us "I did. See the pepperoni pulls off the cheese really easy." So the funny kid wanted pepperoni as a device to get rid of the cheese. At times when a pepperoni pulled off a huge hunk of cheese he would say "Bonus!" Maybe we should teach him about breadsticks.

Another classic Jonny story was he recently asked me if I wanted some cracked nuts. I didn't know what he was talking about but I am sure I said "yes" just to satisfy him. I didn't really think about what he was doing but I came into the kitchen to find the table had a mess of nuts scattered about it. When I took him to school that afternoon I noticed a big read mark on his forehead (I wish I could have taken a picture of it because it really looked bad that was there for a couple of days). I asked what he did. "Did you run into a door or something?" He said "No, that is how I was cracking the nuts." He later asked what a nutcracker is. I told him evidently he is.

Time for Mom to have a Time Out

Yes, I need a time out once in a while! Especially if it involves fun friends, happy words, and good food. And that is just what I got. Judi, Lynnette, Carly and I went downtown and stayed at a hotel to get away for a day. I LOVE these friends! They are rejuvenating to be around! We stayed up way too late talking of course. We went to "Time Out for Women" which is a conference that Deseret Book sponsors where they have great entertainers and uplifting speakers. I came home a nicer mom and better wife...so the time out worked. I should be put in time out more often.

Brookley and Violet were good sports for the weekend as well. The side benefit was it was fun having a lot of time to sit around and hold my baby.

To the ball with my Cinderella

Autumn and I got to have our very own "Girls Night" to see Cinderella at Hillcrest High. Megan, Noelle and Sophia came too (as well as Megan's friend and Grandma Thorup, April and Christina). It was so much fun to be with my Cinderella for the night. Autumn got her hair fixed fancy (thanks to Becky Dahlberg) and put on a Cinderella costume from Grandma Thorup, brought her Cinderella Barbie and purse and was set to dazzle. I don't think she could have been any cuter or more fun to be with. I love spending one-on-one time with Autumn! It was a good night.

First Snow! (Oct 27th)

The first picture says it all....

Mike and the Man with One Hand

I love Family Home Evening--my favorite night of the week! It is our night (usually Mondays) where we have a lesson, sing songs, eat treats and love being together. We take turns with the assignments. Jonathan was in charge of the lesson this time. About a week ago he went to a Primary party at church where the theme was "Top Secret". They had learned about service. So his lesson was all about service. The lesson was cute but the best part was the story. At the end of his lesson I said "Is there anything else you want to teach us about service?" He said "Well I can make up a story." Here is the story he made up. I wish I had it recorded it word for word but this is the just of the story. I am grateful for a church that celebrates children and provides a format for them to learn and grow in. (Want to learn more about primary? Click here.)

One day a boy named Mike went for a walk and he saw a man with only one hand and he was carrying all his groceries home. But then all his bags blew away. So Mike and his friends decided to get together and have a meeting about what to do. They decided to help the man with only one hand and no bags because that was better than being bored and it is good to serve.

Hug and Kiss Mom!

Things I love about Jonathan right now....

1. He is a very loving kid. Every day when I drop him off at kindergarten (or when I drop him off anywhere) before he leaves he will say "Hug and kiss Mom!" We then have a routine where he hugs me, kisses my cheek and then I kiss his cheek. So sweet. How lucky am I to get to have my hug and kiss every day before he leaves. He isn't shy to show me affection...yet. But I know soon things might change so I savor every goodbye I get right now with our "hug and kiss" routine. Jonathan is a very snuggly kid and loves to be held and hugged--especially at bedtime there is never enough snuggle time.

2. Jonathan is a very routine based kid. Like the "hug and kiss" routine, every morning with his Dad he will run to the garage door and yell "Start your engines! On your mark, get set, go!" and then wave until the garage door is down. He never misses this routine with his Dad no matter what is going on (unless on the rare occasion he is asleep). He has done this for over a year now. This morning for example Jonny was still asleep and Bruce had to leave earlier than usual. But the moment Jonny heard the garage door going up he ran downstairs to catch his dad and say "On your mark, get set, go!"

3. Brookley is often the last one awake. I love Jonathan's response to her the moment he sees her in the morning. His whole face lights up and Brookley is smothered with affection from him.

The Princess and her Prince

This was a sweet memory that Autumn and her Uncle Lenny had. Lenny isn't a blood relative but he is very much a part of our family. He is a very kind, considerate, generous uncle. The kids adore him (no doubt because he is so good to them). This was written by Lenny in Autumn's birthday card and I thought it would be fun to put with the picture.





Dear "Princess Autumn",

I remember the day, with the tap of your magic wand that you told me I was a prince. I wondered, "What now?" With your cute, little smile you said, "Now we dance!" Of course. One hand on your back, the other holding your hand, we began. You held your dress by the side, up, like a real princess. It was so adorable! We moved side to side. We spun 'round and 'round. Like a fairytale, the prince and princess had danced at the ball. Thank you for that beautiful memory. I will treasure it.

Love, Uncle Lenny

Clone Trooper + Cat + BYU Cheerleader = Happy Halloween

We survived Halloween...with just a few costume changes. Jonny was set on being a Clone Trooper from Star Wars (aka "Commander Cody"), Autumn was going to be a pink poodle, then switched to a princess and ended on a cat, and Brookley was suppose to be a butterfly but the ease of the BYU cheerleader costume won in the end. All holidays are extra, extra fun with kids. I love how excited they get. Trick-or-treating was a hit despite the rain. Carving pumpkins was really fun the night before even though Lenny, Bruce and I were the only ones in the end carving while the kids ran off to play after a short attention span. Jonny was excited about his Clone Trooper pumpkin that Lenny carved for him. I also got to volunteer at Jonny's school party which really fun. We had lots of sugar to keep us going this week. Autumn's favorite candies are the gummy kind. Jonny's favorite is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (just like his mommy).