Christmas Letter 2011

THE BEST WAY TO SPREAD CHRISTMAS CHEER, IS SINGING LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even in New Mexico. And once again it’s that special time of year where we ponder the reason for the season and then try not to brag about our family too much. We moved to Albuquerque just after Christmas last year where Wally accepted a position as a research chemist at Sandia National Laboratories. We’ve had a lot of time to explore our new home and catch up with extended family now that we live closer. We spent a few weekends in Denver and Ronni took the kids out to California to visit her family for a couple of weeks this summer. It’s good to know that she has the patience to drive two straight days by herself with only the 11 and under crowd to keep her company. We were reunited in Utah for a family reunion, but not before we had a little excitement. Excitement is when the brakes decide to stop working on the freeway off-ramp. Luckily, no one was hurt, though Wally scraped his knuckles the next day changing the brake pads and rotors on the van (poor baby!). We also experienced first hand the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October and were amazed with all the balloons. We’re lucky to live right in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains and have made some great friends along the way.

Kelsie (11) is rad just like Dad, and likes to tell people every chance she gets! Kelsie discovered a new sport this year: volleyball. The Marshmallow Dragons had a great season, and she is looking forward to some great hits and nice serves when the Dragons regroup this spring. Kelsie also made her big debut on the stage in a production of “How I Became a Pirate.” A little nervous about the jump to middle school, she decided that it’s not as bad as the movies make it seem. She works so hard to do her best in all that she does and we’re so proud of her!

For Brandon, who was baptized this year, it’s great to be eight! His major obsession right now can be summed up with one word: football! Playing, watching, video-gaming, anything that involves some incarnation of the old pigskin will captivate him until he has to be pried away (literally). We try to distract him with other things like soccer, basketball, and swimming, but those only last for so long. He started Cub Scouts this year and can’t wait to get his very own pocketknife. The rest of us can.

Caleb (4) is our legomaniac, capable of spending hours building, rebuilding, and remodeling every lego star wars kit in our growing arsenal of stackable blocks. But that’s not how he broke his arm. That happened when he got going a little too fast riding his bike down our street, and ended on the pavement. After two different colored casts, he’s over it now, and can ride a two-wheeler from here to the border. He also started soccer this year and scored his first go-o-o-o-o-o-o-al!

 

Isaac (1) is our little engineer. He loves to drive the GeoTrax trains all over the amazing tracks he builds. A very polite boy, he “pleases” and “thanks you’s” with the best of them (unless he’s hungry, and then you can hear him a mile away!) and even manages an occasional “excuse me” when air leaves his body. His most recent accomplishment is coloring on paper, not the walls.

Wally started out the year biking 18 miles a day to and from work. He loves the exercise, but decided that a 1994 Toyota 4Runner was a good alternative after a few months. He took us back to the ‘90’s even more at a family reunion when he “flowed like a harpoon” as he showed off his mad (as in crazy) dancing skillz to Ice Ice Baby. As the Scoutmaster for a local troop, he is re-discovering the Great Outdoors and hoping his own kids don’t grow up too soon. He was a big supporter of the kids entering their first school Science Fair, which the kids have sworn they will never do again. Too much support? Maybe…

Ronni is the heart of our family and goes to great lengths to create memorable moments throughout the year. She volunteers at the school once a week, works with the 10-11 year old girls at Church, entertains the little boys at home, and still manages to get everyone to (insert any activity here) on time. She even squeezes in a little (not enough) time for photography, sewing, and other hobbies. She is extremely grateful for the wonderful friends that she has made this year. If she sounds completely fabulous, that’s not an accident.

Are we busy? Yes! We are! And while we manage to keep a few balls up in the air at a time, we are of course completely overwhelmed but we try to enjoy the couple of minutes of quiet time we get each day. As we reflect on the blessings of this past year and what Christmas means to us we are grateful for the gifts of family, friends, and forgiveness granted through our Savior, Jesus Christ. May this New Year be a little better than the last: with a little more peace, a little more hope, and a little more glitter. We love glitter.

Love, Wally, Ronni, and family

Card Template from Rebecca Cooper

 

San Francisco

Wally and I had the rare opportunity a few weeks ago to leave the kids behind, with Grandma, and spend a week together in San Francisco. It was so fun and we had such a great time. Wally had to work a couple of days, so I spent some quality time with my sister. We were able to go and do all things San Francisco and have some very much needed relaxation!



My favorite part of the trip was when we went on a little hike near Pleasanton. We had so much time to talk and walk off  the high calorie meals we had been eating. Wally's favorite? The night we went dancing with my sister and her husband at the DNA Lounge for the Bootie mash-up party. I haven't seen him so excited in a long time! It was so nice to spend time together sans kids, but we were happy to come home when it was all over.

Well Worth the Wait

The much anticipated moment has arrived. Isaac is officially 18 months old now which means that he is officially Nursery age! These last few months at Church are always the hardest with a toddler, but I swear that he has been our hardest yet. He hit his separation anxiety pretty hard and it's been tears and screaming anytime I leave the room. We've been adjusting him to the idea of "dropping off" with play group and with Nursery the last few Sunday's at church. He still gets nervous when you walk him close to the door, but after a few minutes of playing with mom or dad close by, he soon forgets that we even exist and is happy for the next couple of hours. Church is going to be so much more enjoyable now!

He sure is cute though! He's at a really fun stage and is starting to talk more (we're hoping he starts to scream less) and really has fun with us at home. He has recently started to play football with Brandon in the family room, loves to play Legos with Caleb, and is often seen running to Kelsie for comfort or just a hug. He yells "bye!" and "love ya!" to everyone that leaves in the morning for work and school, and will start cheering "go, go, go!" if we walk past the electronics department at Target and a football game is on the tv's.

We're also wondering if he's going to be the engineer of the family as he likes to figure out how things work and will stack and restack Legos for longer than 10 minutes at a time. He loves stickers and his new favorite things are coloring (with markers) and play dough. He gives us hugs and kisses all the time and will even tickle an exposed belly if he sees one.

18 months is a milestone around here in many ways. As excited as we are about his new career in Nursery, we're also a little sad that our little boy is that much older.

Date Night

A few weeks ago, Wally and I had the opportunity to go on a sunset tour ride in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Santa Fe. We hadn't made it out to Santa Fe before this and were excited to drive in an old 1970's Swiss Army Truck through downtown and up into the mountains. We learned a lot about the history behind this old city and the views were amazing. We made it up to the top of the mountain just before the sunset that day and it was just beautiful. Our French tour guide knew so much about New Mexican history and was so interesting to talk to. It was so nice to get away and have a night out together and to learn so much about this new place we call home. We're excited to explore Santa Fe some more in the future now that we've had a little taste of what it has to offer!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Happenings

This is such a fun time of year. I've always liked Halloween and the feeling of the holidays just around the corner. I've enjoyed pulling out the decorations and getting the house ready. Some people can go crazy this time of year and I laugh when I see people out decorating their yards all day long on a Saturday to make them all spooky and scary for the big night. Maybe it is because we have young(er) kids, but I'm not really into the whole scare your pants off thing. I don't feel like I go overboard though. I have some decorations up and we put up the white fake spider web stuff out on the bushes. Wally and I were thinking how next year we need to turn our front porch into a dance party, complete with disco ball, and have music playing during trick-or-treating. Speaking of music, we even put together a Halloween playlist to play from our car during the ward trunk-or-treat. It was awesome.

If there is anything that we do go overboard on, it would be the costumes. I know that I could take the easy route and buy the costumes from the store, but my brain doesn't work that way. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it makes me want to pull out my sewing machine and piece together costumes that are always harder than I think and I end up emergency calling my mom for advice. This year was no exception.

After thinking about what to make for Isaac this year, I came across a great idea on Pinterest: Rainbow Brite and her sidekick, Twink. I just had to convince see if Kelsie would be up for the idea. I didn't think it would be too hard, especially since she would love the idea of having her little brother as part of her costume. She was very excited about the idea and it was soon put into motion. Armed with a couple patterns I already had and with my 50% off coupon for Joann's, I found the fabric I needed. It didn't take too long and I had a couple of costumes mostly put together and it started to become more real. I realize that putting Isaac in a white furry costume with rainbows may have been a little crazy, but in the end, it turned out so cute. Kelsie loved having him as her sidekick and besides the fact that he looked like a marshmallow with antennae, we pulled it off.

Brandon decided early on that he wanted to be Jango Fett from Star Wars this year. I spent sometime online looking up costume ideas and what we could do to make it easier. We figured that we could put together the basic costume pretty easily, but it was going to be his helmet and armor, Jango Fett's most defining characteristics, to be the challenge. My solution? Wally. He spent a lot more time than he thought and went through more cardboard and spray paint than anticipated, but in the end, we had a Jango Fett clone in the house. We knew that it was worth all the effort when Brandon said, "This is the best costume ever!". That means a lot, especially coming from him.

Caleb was the only easy one this year. He's all about Star Wars and wanted to be Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi. We already had everything we needed for that one so it didn't take much to put together. He was especially excited to get his black gloves from the dollar store to complete the ensemble. He perfected his skills with the lightsaber and use of the force and he was ready to go.

These costumes were so much fun to make. What makes it even better is that we finished them a whole week before Halloween. Wally and I have both decided that we both really love a good challenge and project to do. We're already starting to think about next year.

ABQ Balloon Fiesta

My first thought was, "this better be worth it" when I woke up the kids at 5:30 a.m. 

It was totally worth it!

Domestic Engineering at its Finest

recipe below

I don't claim to be a baker. In fact, I'm terrible at it, but this time of year does something to me. Suddenly I want to start baking cookies, cinnamon rolls, and anything else I can think of. Pumpkin brownies initiate fall for me. I had some chocolate chips and a can of pumpkin left over from last year and decided that this was the week to make them. I love the aroma of  pumpkin and cinnamon as they cook. The timer went off and when I pulled them out of the oven, they looked a little funny.



The color was off. These brownies aren't supposed to be yellow. I mean, they're supposed to be more orange, but definitely not yellow. We cut into them after they had cooled and from the first bite, I knew what was wrong. I forgot one important ingredient. Brownies don't taste very good if they don't have any sugar in them! The funny thing about this is that right before Brandon ate one has asked, "You didn't forget the sugar, did you?" "No!" I replied without even giving it a thought. Then I remembered. I did the same thing last year. You'd think I would have remembered something like that! Our much anticipated treat ended up going bad. Real bad. So much for our fall initiation. At least we had a nice smell throughout the house.

Speaking of smells, Caleb has started to read simple words and this week we were working on "ar" words. It was so fun writing words on the magna doodle and having him read them out loud. So fun, in fact, that his brother and sister got in on the action as well.  Brandon was excited to point out another "ar" word that Caleb could spell, and looking back on it, I should have seen it coming. At least he stuck with the "ar" root. Needless to say, Caleb has a new favorite word. I can't describe the pride I'm feeling right now.


The kids have also been saying some pretty funny things lately:

We overheard Kelsie saying to Brandon in the car, "You have a really high voice for a boy." It reminded us of something a friend pointed out previously: "It's not so much the decibel as the pitch."

Caleb, pouring a package of oatmeal into his bowl for breakfast said, "Now that's what I call a bowls-eye!" when it all landed in the bowl.

Caleb also has been saying things like, "Well looky here!" and "Well, what do you know?" a lot lately.

Brandon, before his first soccer practice: "I can't wait to show everyone my skills!" (Maybe he needs a slice of humble pie?! On the other hand, he did score 3 goals in his first game!)

******************************

Here's the pumpkin brownie recipe if you want to try it. It's really good and a huge family favorite (as long as you don't forget the sugar!):

Pumpkin Brownies

1 1/2 C sifted flour
1 1/2 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 C melted butter
3/4 C cooked pumpkin
1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C nuts (optional)

Sift together dry ingredients. Stir eggs, butter, and pumpkin together. Add dry ingredients. Add nuts and chocolate chips. Pour into 9X9 greased pan. Bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

Fall

It's official. Summer is over. As the weather turns cooler and thoughts turn to pumpkins and apple cider, it reminds me how much I love this time of year. This is our first fall in New Mexico and lucky for us the weather has been great and we're still in shorts and flip flops. We're having cool, crisp mornings waiting for the bus and it cools off again as it turns to night with perfect weather during the day. I'm excited to see what this season has to offer for us, but have to admit that I'm missing all the farms and leaves turning bright colors around the country right about now. There's something magical about fall and the transformation the earth makes.


Along with the season, it brings the return of sports. We're in full swing now with volleyball and soccer. Halloween costumes have been decided on and the sewing machine seems to have found a more permanent place on the kitchen table. We're enjoying days at the park with friends and warm afternoons riding bikes and playing outside. The days are getting shorter and our mornings are starting earlier. Saturdays are full of college football and spending as much time outside as possible. I don't think I've realize how much I love this season until it comes around again. Here's to the beginning of a great season!

First Days

I guess I thought that after the kids started school again, I was going to have a lot of free time on my hands. I was right, the first day anyway, when I realized how much time I wasted on the computer and just doing what I wanted to do for the day. That day was short lived however. It's already been a couple of weeks since school started and I feel more busy than ever! Turns out, it's hard work to keep a preschooler and a toddler entertained when my at home entertainment isn't at home any more. Sitting on the computer, addicted to pinterest just doesn't cut it.

I still can't believe that I have a kid old enough to be in middle school. Kelsie seems to really enjoy it though, despite the crazy nerves that invaded her body and mind the few days before school started. She's been great since the first day and realized that aside from all the peer pressure and that middle school is just plain hard anyway, it isn't so bad after all. Along with a sudden interest in her hair (what's next?) she still seems to stay pretty grounded to her old self. Picture day is a really great example (in her own words):

"On our way to get our pictures taken, all the girls had to, like, stop in the bathroom to make sure they looked all perfect and everything. My teacher came up to me and said, 'Kelsie, don't you need to go to the bathroom and make sure you're all beautiful before the picture?' I said, 'I don't need to because I'm beautiful just the way I am!' Then he started laughing really hard!"

That's our girl! :)

I swear it was just yesterday that I dropped him off on his first day of Kindergarten, but Brandon seems to be enjoying 3rd grade (mostly). He's had more than a few stomach aches since school started and has gotten even more upset when I won't come pick him up early from school. That only happened once and it ended in something like,

"Mom, I really like being home, will you just homeschool me? 

No. 

Why not?

Because I don't want to."  

I finally got it out of him that he's having a hard time adjusting to his new teacher and class and even that his sister isn't at the same school as him anymore. He's doing better now and after going to back to school night, I think he will end up really enjoying this year of school, but we'll have to see what happens.

Nerves on the first day

Caleb can't get enough of his lego's and is building and rebuilding all day long. He also spends a majority of his time during the day protecting his creations from his little brother who likes to tear them apart and put those small pieces in his mouth. Caleb has gotten pretty good at the command, "out!" signaling his little brother to spit out whatever he's snuck into his mouth. Caleb has completely remastered his two wheeler again and I'm trying to convince him to move up to Brandon's old bike. Sometimes it is really hard to move out of comfort zones. I should know. I've also decided that we need to add a little more structure into his life and have been trying to figure out a schedule for him each day. So far, it's not working out so well. Hopefully soon.

See? No more training wheels

Isaac, on the other hand, is wondering what happened to everyone. I think he's liking his new freedom around the house without so many eyes on him all the time. He runs outside any chance he can if a door is left open and loves to follow Brandon and Caleb around looking for lizards or drawing on the sidewalk with Kelsie. At 15+ months now, he's all over the place and it is getting harder and harder to keep up with him. He likes to think he's just like one of the big kids and has especially enjoyed bike rides in the trailer up and down the street we live on.

Another victory catching another lizard

Don't let that sweet little face fool you. This kid is a little spit fire and demands a lot of attention when he wants something. Oh, and Sunday's? They're pretty much a joke now at church. Only three more months before nursery...

He also needs a haircut. That's got to go on my to do list ASAP. He's sporting a wavy fro right now and adds to it at each meal with whatever he's eating. I don't think I'll ever understand why it always ends up in the hair.

I often wonder how I am able to keep up with it all and still have my sanity. I've got a pretty great partner who seems to balance me out pretty good. We're constantly adjusting to little changes here and there in our lives, but we're happy. Just as it should be.

photo taken by Kelsie

 

Summer Lovin'

I've been trying to write an end-of-summer post for about a week now and it's been hard. Life has certainly gotten busy here with a couple of anxious kids (and parents) getting ready to start school and all the preparation that goes into that.

Summer, where did you go?

We really had such a fun summer and tried to make the most of it. We spent a lot of time with family and friends. We put on more than just a few miles in the car as we traveled around. Plenty of hikes were enjoyed by most of us. We were able to play host a couple of times to visitors and found some new things to do around here that were pretty exciting.

Of all the fun that we've had, though, I have to admit that high on my list was our nightly meet up on the driveway to watch kids rides bikes, look for lizards, play with cars, and draw on the huge sidewalk canvas. The boys were able to be boys, dirt and all. Kelsie was in her element with a bucket full of chalk and a blank driveway. The weather was great and we enjoyed beautiful sunsets and watched as the clouds rolled in for summer thunderstorms.

I'm definitely a get-up-and-go-do-something kind of gal, but these moments when the world just seemed to be at a standstill and everyone was happy and having fun were perfect for me. We certainly made the most of our summer and will look forward to the months ahead, but for now, I think we'll go out on the driveway and enjoy it.

love

It's Great to be 8!

I know it sounds so cliche, but sometimes I feel like time is just going by too fast. It really doesn't feel like it was that long ago that we were welcoming this little guy into our family. He's not so little anymore. He's grown by leaps and bounds over the last 8 years and we are so proud of him and all he does. He has definitely made our lives more fun and full of laughter. Happy birthday buddy!

I Caught A Lizard!

Western Expedition 2011

I started out thinking, "I must be crazy!". Driving myself and four kids out to California, Utah and back by myself seemed a bit unrealistic. Especially since Wally wouldn't be joining us until the last leg of our trip. But like most things I do, I didn't let the craziness stop me. I packed up the car, loaded the kids, gave Wally a big kiss and then headed out into the unknown. Well, as unknown as I-40 can be to a girl whose never driven on it past Flagstaff, AZ.  

The reason for my sudden fit of insanity? Adventure? Yes. To make memories? Yes. To prove to myself (and those who thought I was completely out of my mind) I could do it? Yes. But the real reason we went was first to visit my parents, whose home we haven't been able to visit for a few years, and second to let my kids swim in their pool to their hearts content for a week and a half. Was it worth it? YES!

We had a great trip and oh, the stories to tell!  I have a lot to share about swimming, the beach, driving, reunions, and even brakes (or lack thereof!). I am glad to be home after being gone for nearly three weeks. The biggest thing I have learned about this jaunt across the Western U.S. is that I can do anything. Even with four kids in tow.

Oh wait. I already knew that.

Dear Mom

YOU ARE THE BEST MOM A KID COULD EVER GET IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!

let us get something straight. there's a good mom, and a great mom. you are the best mom. other moms may be fantastic moms, but not you. you are the BEST!!! if memory serves me after these long, long, years (and mom, i think it does) as the moon sits there in the big dark sky, you are one crafty, fun, exciting, talented mom!!! happy birthday!!!



Happy Birthday to the BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!

Love, your precious little troublemakers!

Lay Off, It's My Birthday!

That is all.

boyz

This summer started us out running full force! We only had a couple of down days before we had a cousin swap with our family in Denver. This is the first time that we've been able to do this since we've always lived far away from family and we were totally pumped!  It was decided that the girls would go north while the boys would stay south.  That meant that I was completely outnumbered by the male species in our home for four days.

We had a great time together, but I learned a few things about boys along the way.  Did you know that 7/8 year old boys are so giggly?  I had no idea.  These boys laugh all the time.  Now, I grew up in a house full of girls and the kind of conversations these boys are having are pretty funny.  One afternoon, for a good solid half hour, the whole conversation was about passing gas. I never knew that there was so much material concerning the subject!  And it all started with Caleb who said, "I know what rhymes with gas! Pass! Get it? Pass Gas?" {Insert giggling and laughing here}.

And the dinner conversations we had each night? Let's just say it was totally different than what I would have expected.  Some new vocabulary was defined and other curious questions answered.

Ahem.

I decided the best thing to do was to keep everyone busy.  Video games were played with restricted times and only on my terms (which surprisingly worked very well!). We spent a lot of time at the skate park while they perfected their mad skillz on the bike, scooter, and skateboard for hours.We hit the dollar movie theatre in town and they played lots of monkey in the middle all the while laughing about gas.  No joke.

We had a great time and all that giggling made me smile. I love how these boys have a special connection and love to hang out together. I think this may be the start of a new tradition. Except maybe next year, we'll have the girls. I'm pretty sure there will be just as much giggling, but perhaps a lot less gas.

Summer Begins and the End of an Era

Today was the last day of school for us.  It was actually a snow make up day from last February when a big cold front hit our area.  It was kind of a joke though, since most of the education population was out of town or just didn't show up.  Brandon's teacher wasn't even there. Oh well.  The last day is still the last day of school, right?  I thought it would be fun to compare the first day of school pictures with the last to see how much they've changed this year.  And believe me, a lot has changed for our family.

August, 2010

May, 2011

2nd grade turned out to be a pretty good year for Brandon.  His easy going personality and ability to adapt to new changes really helped him end the year just as good as he started it.  It didn't take him long at all to find new friends and also to find his place in his new classroom. 

These next pictures are bitter sweet for me.  This was Kelsie's last year of elementary school.  I really don't know where the time goes, but we're entering the exciting years of middle school in the fall.  Kelsie loved her old school in Evanston and it was a really hard thing for her to move and be the new kid again.  It was sad to see her say good-bye to her old friends, but she seemed to find her place fairly quickly here. She ended her last year of elementary school strong and ready for what lies ahead, even though she's pretty nervous about that too. Honestly, I feel like I'm not old enough to have a child this old.  My little girl is growing up faster than I want her too, but she is turning into a beautiful young woman. 

May, 2011

August, 2010