All aboard

We took a trip aboard the Heber Valley Railroad (Heber Creeper) today and had a great time.  The train didn't reach over 10 MPH the whole time, so I understood the 'creeper' part.  Ethan and Sydney loved it when the conductor said, "all aboard" and we climb on the train.  It was decorated for Christmas and we crawled along and then reached a point on the track where they did a poorly-acted train robbery.  Sydney was pretty scared and didn't like them at all.  

The ride ended up being close to 2 hours and both kids were so tired.  I told Ethan to fall asleep in my arms and tried to soothe him, but then some other character would walk onboard talking about how they "found the train robber" or had a performer come sing...made for a tough nap.

They still had a great time...although it was a too long when you're only moving 5-10 MPH.

Decorations are up

Doug found a great tree on Black Friday and we are nearly done with our decorating.  It was fun to get out our Hawaiian nativity we bought last year.  So many memories.

Doug also got a 60" television on Black Friday that he scouted out for weeks looking at ads and determining the best deal.  He went straight from the Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's family to Walmart and hopped in line around 3 pm until 10 pm when the televisions were available for sale.  He made friends with others in line to be able to run around and look at the other deals and got a 'hall pass' to use the bathroom for a store employee.  He found a chair in a different department and sat down so he wouldn't have to stand for 7 hours.  I borrowed my parent's suburban at 9 pm in order to help him pick it up.  It was pretty hilarious.  Good memory.  I have realized that 60" is a little TOO big, but Doug is thrilled and for about 48 hours, I can do no wrong.

Thanksgiving Reunion

We got an invite last year around Christmas for a special Thanksgiving celebration with my mother's side of the family.  They planned for a family photo and we decided to plan our family photo shoot for that day.  It was FREEZING to be without coats, so we made sure we were dressed warmly.  

Without much creativity, I turned to Pinterest to give me ideas for announcing baby #3.  I found a pretty great one and knew I'd have a talented cousin, Lisa, to help me write on a chalk board.  Ethan and Sydney posed so well.

We even got some large group shots in that day of my immediate family (minus Dave)...

and one of the whole crew.  Only 3 grandkids were missing (and their families) but that's still pretty good for this large crowd.

Aussie visitors

"Our friends" came to stay with us for 10 days right off the plane--jet lag and all.  Ethan and Sydney wanted their attention every moment and fondly called them their "friends".  Deb and her daughter, Kayla, are friends from the South Coast of New South Wales.  They were in the small branch I served in for 9 months of my 15-month LDS mission.  They are some of my favorite people.

We sawa  few fun things together:

Cabelas (a.k.a. the Animal store where there are hundreds of taxidermied animals)

The mountains--Kayla especially wanted to see snow during her stay with us and we were shocked when we had no snow flakes fall.

When Deb and Kayla escaped to their room for some quiet time, Ethan and Sydney wanted to crash their party every time and visit.

They even watched Ethan and Sydney while I got a few things wrapped up prior to Thanksgiving.  They helped them climb the tree in our backyard and took some photos.

Of parties past

In the midst of settling into our new house (photos next), I found Ethan and Sydney's first birthday party hats that my friend Mandy helped me make.  I felt sad to throw them out, sad to let them wear them (knowing they'd break in a day or two) but didn't want to hang on to them forever.  When they spotted them and were excited, I decided to let them have fun destroying them.  Ethan, of course, wanted to wear it with his (Sydney's) dancing dress.  This is the absolute favorite dress for dancing.  It twirls perfectly.  In fact, it was dirty recently and he couldn't wear it and he was so upset.  When I finally washed it and put it on him, he looked down immediately and made it twirl for 1 second before running out of his room to dance to the music.  It was so awesome.  

Want to know how hard it is to get a photo of two active toddlers holding still for a photo?  Just about every photo I take has several reject photos along with it.  This time, I thought I'd share the rejects as well.

Notice who is the one of the two who doesn't hold still for a photo??

Transition

We are moving!  My friend, Deanna, called me and told me that her parents were renting a home and wanted to rent it to someone they knew and trusted.  I know her parents and she had mentioned that we had been house-shopping this summer for a bigger place (without success).  I put it off because I didn't want to move only 1/2 mile away and I wasn't sure if I was prepared to pay more than we're paying for rent.  It ended up working out too well and the space was about twice as big as our current place.  So, we said yes and began making preparations.  This means that this entry is a hodgepodge of different days.

We had a Merrill's over to pay games Sunday night and Nikki was so good to entertain E&S with her piano skills.  They were mesmerized. 

They are starting to want to take care of each other.  Ethan woke up grumpy one morning and Sydney had him sit on her lap.  So sweet.

They decided it would fun to take all their train tracks, books, and anything else they could find and carry it from the living room to their bedroom.  They made a big pile and were squealing with excitement while I tried to get a few things done.  I was not happy--but had to laugh a bit.

We were going to go outside and Sydney has just figured out how to put on her Keen shoes.  I asked her to show Ethan how to do it while I got a little snack together for them.  She was trying to put them on him.  Ethan was patiently learning.  It took about 2 weeks, but he finally got it!

I found I could get things done at breakfast if I played a short movie for them.  I discovered some scripture videos for toddlers online on LDS.org and they have fallen in love.  What parent doesn't want to hear, "Mom, can we watch a scripture story?" about 10 times per day?

I have started to workout in the morning while E&S watch a movie.  I can workout, shower, and get ready all while they (sort of) watch a movie.  I get interrupted frequently, but still get my workout in when I am too tired to wake up early--which is everyday these days.  :-)