Merry Christmas!!! 2010

Well, we live right next to the North Pole, so Santa decided the lighten his Christmas Eve load and bring our stuff down early. Actually, the truth is, we are going to be visiting family over the holidays, and we just couldn't fit everything in our car. So, we had our Christmas a week early. And it was great!

We began with a Christmas Eve dinner with ham and potatoes. And Dan was such a good sport to humor me and help get out the china. It was very nice. And very yummy!

Then we had a lesson, and a re-enactment of the nativity. Emma thought she was so glamorous all dressed up like Mary. Little does she know just how un-glamorous that job would have been. And our little Joseph was not very attentive to his pregnant wife, but he sure looked darling!

So sweet. The reason for the season. Litterally.

Then we got to open a present -- jammies! Which, it appears, Seth was really in need of. Poor naked child.

They also got blankets. I didn't think to have Seth show his, but here is Emma's. Seth got a blue and brown one. Oh, and his jammies have Cars on them, and he walked around the whole night pulling his shirt out so he could see them, making his "unnunn" sound. (this is a reoccuring theme for our christmas, as you will soon discover).

And then, the magical night finally arrived. After some board games, Emma finally went to bed, only to get up around 2:00 to get in bed with us. I took her back to bed, but she was back in our room around 5:45. Talk about too excited to sleep! When she came in the second time, she said, "mommy, Santa came." I said, "how do you know?" She said, "I peeked! But I didn't go in there. I wonder what color my car is." But then (we're so mean) we made her wait until 7:00 to get up and go in there.

Sure enough, he had come. And it turns out, her can is pink. And she loves it!

Santa brought Seth a race track that he can use. Just put the cars at the top, and push them down. He loved it so much, he forgot how hungry he was (for a second).

Here's the little lady with all of her Christmas spoils. As you can see, she got a tent and a hammock for her big-girl doll, a Tiana barbie, a set of big-kid Legos, a book, two outfits, the barbie car and much more!

And the little fella wouldn't look at the camera for anything.

Come on bud, the cars can wait for a second. Just one smile, please?

Oh, going to cry instead? Perfect.

I guess that will have to do. He received, among other things, a Cars playmat, boy-ish mega blocks, Shake and Go cars, some Cars matchbox cars, books, a couple of outfits, some caranimals, and the race track.

Happy Christmas!!! From our family to yours.

Happy Birthday Mran

Guess who had a birthday? Oh, yes, the mommy turned 29 this past week. It was a wonderful day. I got spoiled, and I got nice day of relaxing and reading. And spending time with my family, of course.

My "big" present this year was an ice-cream maker for my kitchen aid. We made some the next night for our Christmas dinner and it worked great!

So much fun!!!

Dan came through, yet again, with a cheesecake. He found a frozen Cheesecake Factory one from Sam's. Good man.

Hooray for cheesecake!

Show and Tell

A random post about pretty much nothing.

This is how Seth likes to eat his carrots--I mean, ranch. Scoop a little up...

Suck it off, then go back for more. Does he actually eat any of the carrot? No. But still...

Emma had her kindergarten Christmas program. She was so excited! She remembered all the words to the songs even though we had missed so much school right before. She did great. They sang a darling rendition of the "rudolph hokey pokey" and here she is with her red nose and antlers.

And here's a random one for you. One of Dan's patients canceled, and sent him this huge maple donought. It was soooo good!!

Seriously, how many people send their dentist a doughnut when they cancel on their dentist? That's how it is in Montana, I guess.

Here's my christmas project. I embroidered this dr suess saying and made it into... yet another pillow.

Next to these little characters, it's just so cute!

Emma's winter project that she's so proud of. I can hardly get her to leave it on the fridge. She wants to carry it around the house and play with it.

And one last project. This one is actually a gift for my neices and nephew. Emma is planning on getting one for herself-she asks me every day if hers is finished.

Lots of fun, huh?

Thanksgiving

We had a fun visit in Utah over the Thanksgiving holiday. We did lots of fun stuff, like:

Get some family snapshots taken

by Sonnie, who is our favorite photographer.

We found out Mitch'n'Sonnie are expecting a new little person.

And the highlight, Kellen's wedding to Rachel, my new little sis. And aren't they darling?!!

The boys at the reception. So cute in their matching clothes.

Sethers playing peek-a-boo.

Seth has discovered how cool little babies are. He played with my cousin's little girl for a long time.

Uh oh, the cake! They kept it clean and sweet. Good job guys.

Seth loves the pugs. I think the pugs like him, though it's hard to tell because they hardly notice he's there.

Even when he lays on them, they just keep sleeping.

Didn't realize that this face is a little cranky, but now that it's up, I'm going to leave it.

He started glaring whenever the camera came out. We figured he doesn't like the flashes in his face. Whatever it is, it makes for some cute pictures, right?

Dan's dad, Donald, was born in Ogden, Utah to his late father Harold and his mother Verlene He grew up in Roy, Utah and enjoyed band, wrestling, and trap shooting while he attended Roy High School. He continued his education (and all these activities) at Weber State College where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology.

Don joined the United States Navy after college. After training, he was commissioned as an Ensign and a helicopter pilot. He served in the following major assignments:

· On the USS Vancouver where he helped in the evacuation of Vietnam

· Search and Rescue at Whidbey Island

· Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron

· Navy Recruiting in Salt Lake City

· Executive Transport Detachment, where he flew foreign and domestic dignitaries

· Helicopter combat support squadron

· Commander Naval Air Force, US Atlantic Fleet Staff in Desert Storm

· On the USS Eisenhower, also in Desert Storm

He earned many awards during his service, including the Air Medal with bronze star, Navy Commendation Medal with 3 gold stars and Navy Achievement Medal with 1 gold star. He served his country heroically for 20 years and retired as a LT. Commander in Oct 1993.

At the time of his death he had been working for ICON Health & Fitness for 15 years, where he was a well liked and highly respected supervisor in the Replacement Parts Department.

Don married his wife of 34 years, Lynnette, in the Ogden LDS Temple. He treated his marriage with extraordinary passion, faithfulness, and the same respect and hard work that were such a part of his life.

As an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he served diligently in various callings including Bishop, High Councilor, Young Men, and Scouts. As well as his expected duties in his church assignments, Don carried out many other amazing roles, such as the “moving company” in an especially transient ward, as the “clean up crew” after sick young men, as “snowshoe maker” in scouts, as “sports coordinator” in a singles ward, and as the “manual snowplow” for those who needed help in the neighborhood. He touched many lives through his hard work and love.

Don enjoyed many activities including handball, racquetball, playing games, being outdoors, boating, and spending lots of time with his family.

Don, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Nov. 29 at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, after a long, courageous battle against cancer. Don set a wonderful example of how to serve and love others with greatness. The most important things to him were his family and friends.

Don is survived by his wife Lynnette and his four children, Trisha, Ryan & his wife Celise, Daniel & his wife Marianne, Nathan & his wife Sookmi, and two grandchildren Emma and Seth; his mother Verlene and stepfather Ray Hipwell; and his siblings, Ray & his wife Lauri, Vickie & her husband Brent, Lynn & his wife Nancy, Tim & his wife Kathy; and many other loved ones.

Don was a hero to all those who knew him because of his unending compassion, honorable service and fun-loving nature. His dedication and faithfulness remained strong and true until the end.

A trip to the big city

Billings. Yes, I said Billings.

I've been searching for a dress for Kellen's wedding. I mean, I spent an afternoon searching for a dress for Kellen's wedding, ran out of stores, and decided that we would need a trip to the city. Well, the closest city that is actually bigger than us is Billings. It's still a 3 1/2 hour drive, and not really that big. But there was a Dillard's. And I did find a dress. So, mission accomplished.

I thought about taking pictures of me at the mall, and at Hobby Lobby, just to show how much I loved it, but in the end, the hotel swimming pool was the biggest highlight of the trip. We splurged, and stayed at the Howard Johnson (ick, ick and double-ick). It was nasty, the port-a crib was broken, and our alarm went off at 4 in the morning and neither child would go back to sleep. However, they had a fun pool with an awesome water slide. Dan and the kids spent most of the day swimming while I shopped. They loved it!

We forgot Seth's swim diapers, so we bought him some plastic pants. They only had 2-3T sized ones, so they went up to his armpits. He could care less. Oh, and I just realized how very nearly I got Emma in this picture just half dressed. Very nice.

It was a real water slide.

Emma was brave enough to go by herself. And smart enough to only go when Dan was ready to catch her.

And Seth was beside himself. As soon as they would get to the bottom, he was grunting and pointing to go back up. I tried to talk him in to getting in the hot tub with me for a while, because his teeth were chattering from cold, but he would have nothing to do with it. He wanted to slide. And only the slide.