Decorations, Birthdays, Eternity, Outings and the Christmas

Here are some pictures for ya.... Oh yeah and some tid bits of information too.

Decorations outside our place:

Our front door

Our balcony

Our lights compared to our neighbors.... for the record we did ours first.

 Hans' brother and sister in law have their birthdays pretty close to each others so Amy decided to throw a birthday party for both of them. It was a surprise for Jens and a get together for Amy. We played volleyball, ate cake and socialized. It was a lot of fun especially since Arlee let Hans and I both play. (usually she is a momma's girl when we have people over to play volleyball.)

Hans and Arlee at Jens and Amy's party

 Eternity: Hans' childhood friend and his family got sealed on the 18th of December. Hans wasn't able to go with the schedule he has had so I went and supported them.  It was a beautiful sealing. I absolutely enjoyed it even though I was crying like a baby by the end and even more so when I went and gave them a hug. I cannot express the feelings that I was having, but they were overwhelming. (I had similar feelings when I went to another family sealing that I have been friends with for a long time.)  I have told Hans that there is a totally different feeling from a couple sealing to a family sealing for me.  I can't wait for the day that we can go be with my sister, Abbie and her husband, Matt when they adopt and be sealed to their children. (I love you and pray in your behalf everyday Abbie and Matt).

Even though it was windy and cold everyone went outside to congratulate them. I wasn't able to get all of them, since they were coming out when I got this picture.

Family/friends

The happy family: Jared holding Sophie (dead asleep despite the cold and windy conditions) and Jeni Smith

Everyone complaining about the cold as Jeni was saying that she was dying of heat! Crazy woman...

Their family members that attended

This picture was taken where the wind wasn't too bad 

They had to get a picture where the wind was the worst! This was in front of the temple

Jeni laughing and saying that it is freezing!

Hans' Birthday party at my parents' house:

Hans with Kasiah

Kasiah, Hans, Arlee and me

Kasiah loves blowing out everyone's candles.  (Don't mind how retarded I look)

I need to figure out how to cut and paste myself into pictures. This one looks a little bit better.

My sister, Abbie and Matt

*Anyone who is reading this... let me know if you or anyone you know is placing their child up for adoption. These two would be great parents)

My last living grandma (mom's mom) This is not counting her "Stepmother" that is nine years older than her either. My grandma's mother, Helen died when my mom was eight years old. I am not sure how much time passed until he got married again, but nontheless she is my last living grandma and I still have a great grandma, but we have always called her grandma instead of great grandma anyway.

Arlee smiling in her dress up clothes at my parents'

So here is one for ya. Kasiah was being so silly... She got all dolled up and wanted Shawn (Kali's husband) to marry her. After they got married she wanted him to dance with her and dip her like he dipped Kali during their first dance. HAHahahahaha everyone that was paying attention were giggling quite a bit. Shawn was a good sport and did everything that she had asked for. It made Kasiah's day. So cute!

My parents gave Hans Jazz tickets for his birthday.

 

Arlee loves to play with boxes. This one she was pulled around the kitchen in. It was a great moment for her. She laughed the whole time she was being pulled in it too. We do this around our house, but usually in a laundry basket. It is still great fun though.

Hans' Birthday party with the family members of both of our families that could make it. This is at our house.

Arlee and I were able to get Hans a Jazz jersey this year.

Chili's:

I am not in any of these pictures... I hate that I am never in them, but they look like they were having fun. : ) (I was too by the way)

Notice the huge bump on Arlee's forehead... Hans told Arlee: "Go tell Mommy to take it easy", because I was saying something to him (probably hurry up) and she looked up at me just in the nick of time to trip over a towel from her bath earlier and slammed her head right into the door frame directly in front of her. So sad... She was of course screaming her guts out like it was the end of the world and Hans and I cuddled with her. Maybe now he will not send her to do his dirty work?

Arlee and Hans coloring the paper that they give the little kids.

Christmas:

Santa brought Arlee a kitchen for Christmas.

In this picture she was telling us that she was excited. I love this face that she gives.

*One day I decided that I would finally unpack her stuffed animals. Once they were out she asked me to pick some of them up and follow her into the living room. As she was walking out of her bedroom that we were in she puts her hands on her cheeks just like in this picture and says, "EXCITED!" and looks up at me with a huge smile on her face. I busted a gut. I hadn't taught her that at all. She did it all on her own. Silly little girl.

Blocks that Santa also brought her

Here is a house that Santa (or the elves rather) made for her. That she loves to play in.

As you can see. Just today, she was playing peek a boo with us.  Arlee will put all of her toys in there and sit and play for awhile. I am enjoying her new found independence, but of course I still enjoy playing as much as anyone.

Arlee got some dress up clothes for Christmas from my sister, Lyndsay and some princess shoes and this crown from Hans' parents.  The shoes are cut off in this picture, but she loves putting them on and walking around the apartment. Especially in the kitchen where the shoes make a lot of noise. I feel bad for the poor couple below us...

Diaper bag for Arlee's babies from my sister, Kali and Shawn

This one is not the excited face, but the "Arlee make faces at mommy" face... Hans tells her to do that and this is what we end up with most of the time. 

Glamour shot? Not really, I just caught her at the right time... she was playing with her earring. As she calls it Ring-ring!

Outing with Arlee:

Hans was trying to finish up some things that he needed for an application, so I decided that it was time to get Arlee out of the house. (She loves having Hans home. She will not leave his side for the most part when he is. This might make you understand that it was much needed for all of us.) We went and played in the snow. Arlee and I had a lot of fun. We attempted to make a snow man, but weren't successful since the snow was powder. Not a problem for the ski season, but it was for us. For the most part, we played on the slide and had a blast doing so. Arlee would sit on my lap and we would go down and hope for a soft landing. The first time down I was able to catch us with my feet into a standing position, the second time down I tried, but I landed on my butt! However, I was lucky enough to land on some powdery snow.  We went down the slide more and more times and I still wasn't able to stop us with my feet.  I gave up and just hoped that I didn't have a bruised and sore butt by the time we were done. I thought I better not just hope though so everytime that we went down I would pile up snow so I could land more lightly.

The plan worked, my butt is fine and Arlee and I had a great time. I am so glad that she loves being outside despite the cold temperatures. It is a joy to be out with her. Now if only I could find a way to keep her blasted gloves on. Suggestions!? Comments? Please leave below...

Arlee and I making faces... well atleast I AM. Maybe Hans caught her just after she finished the fish face. : )



Job Offer Results...

As mentioned in an earlier post, we have been waiting to hear of a job offer for Hans. This was supposed to be announced on his birthday, Monday the 20th.  We hadn't heard anything from them on his birthday or the next day or the day after that. This started getting a little annoying and frustrating. 

By Thursday, Hans found out that he did not get the job after spending all this time waiting and not to mention working for them with not one compliant. They gave the three positions to: a person who was on a scholarship from them and two other people that impressed them for 6 weeks while on a rotation. This was a bit of a disappointment for all of us. At first, I thought it was a bit of a slap in the face since they have always really liked Hans and the effort that he has made to be a great associate. What did he do wrong? Why are they so much better for the job then Hans?  What are we going to do now? Well all of these questions are unknown to us right now.  We are hoping and praying for a blessing in disguise. For now while we wait for that blessing, Hans is on the computer looking for open positions, submitting resumes, filling out paperwork and trying to make a future for us.

I know that everything is going to work out for the best and I can't wait to see what that is. We have to keep our faith strong and realize that we still do not need to know everything at once all of the time.

Potty Training Arlee...

Arlee has started becoming my big girl. She is growing up so fast and surprising me everyday.  Recently, I have been potty training her and so far so good. Today was the first time that she had a dry diaper when she woke up from her nap. I was so excited. I know I know it is kind of sad that I get excited about something like that, but normally she is waking up with a messy diaper. So I guess it is Woooohooo to Arlee for today. 

We went and got Arlee some big girl underware today. She had the choice to either have Minnie, Dora or princess and she chose Minnie, which she calls MIM-MIE. I haven't had her watch Dora or princess shows.  Arlee has some Minnie pjs so I think that is why she chose those. 

Updates to follow on how she does when she wears her Minnie them.  It will most likely be hard to keep her from having an accident, but I am hopeful. Maybe she will falll for "don't get Minnie dirty" and my personal favorite for her "Big girls go in the toilet and not their diaper. Are you my big girl?" I also use, "Lets go to the bathroom. Okay? Don't go yet." Then when she sits down on the toilet I tell her, "Okay go ahead." Most of the time she goes right away.

I actually love doing the potty training. When Kasiah was potty training she would tell me (even if other people were in the room) that she had to go. I guess you can say that Kasiah is the one that got my feet wet. : )

BLASTED STAIRS!!! Arlee's first time sledding

Our apartment is on the third floor, which is also the top floor. We have to walk up three sections of stairs to get to apartment. We also have to walk down those same three sections to get to our cars.
Well, Arlee and were going sledding and we were all bundled up ready to go. Normally I would let Arlee walk down the stairs while she is holding onto the railing and my hand. Arlee and I were running a little behind to meet my mom and Kasiah. So I picked Arlee up and she wasn't happy. She wiggled and stopped by the time I got done with one section and I am not sure what happened by the second section, but I lost my footing and down we went. There are only about 8 stairs, but it seemed like we were falling forever. The worst part of all of it was that I couldn't catch us since I was holding Arlee and making a shield for her in my arms. After we stopped and I realized that Arlee wasn't making any noise I looked for her. She was preparing to cry, but couldn't catch her breath long enough yet. Then she started screaming. I was so glad that she was though. I was grateful that when I checked her that she was perfectly fine other than her feelings. It scared her really bad. Me on the other hand. Well I have a few bumps and bruises, but I am doing okay. I am so thankful that is all that happened.
After we calmed down a little bit we got in the car and were on our way.  Kasiah and Arlee had a lot of fun going down the hill at Sugar House Park. I was so tired by the time I carried both Arlee and the sled up about 10 times. We had so many close calls. My mom and I were paying a lot of attention to where people were and where they were going with their sleds. The problem was that so many people weren't paying attention where everyone else was. For instance, these two grown adults come flying down the hill and head right towards all four of us. They had no intention of stopping or trying to miss you. They went right for me, my mom, Arlee (20 months) and Kasiah (3years old). My mom said, "Watch where you are going!" The people didn't say sorry or anything. The guy said "That is what happens when you are a big person. You go so fast"! I tell ya some people kids. (head shaking)  Luckily, I pushed Kasiah out of the way and my mom grabbed Arlee just in time for the girl to breathe on her feet. Too close of a call for me. We moved to the other part of the hill and went down a few times until my mom landed right on her tail bone. Haha poor mom, but it was kind of funny and a lot of fun.
Sorry that I don't have any pictures up, but I didn't want to mess with the camera in my pocket in case I fell on it or something.  Next time I will have to get some for sure. : )

Chels

Job Offer?

In the post about our new apartment, I mentioned, Hans applied for a pharmacist position and he would be finding out if he got the job the first part of December. Well Hans got a call.... Drum roll please......................He now has to wait... YES wait until the 20th of December to find out if he got it. Bummer I know, but we are hopeful that something good is going to happen.  When Hans heard this he told her that it better be good news since it is his birthday that day. She (the assistant) laughed and said that she would tell them that.  So now we wait and wait some more. People say that good things in life are worth waiting for and I think this just might be one of those things.