I went to change the family picture on the blog, add a background, and update things, and realized I couldn't. I don't know how, can't figure it out, and have no desire to apply myself in order to learn. So, please disregard my speech about how my blog doesn't have to be award-winning, I can't still post on it ... blah, blah, blah. In the 30 or so minutes since I posted that, I have stepped off my soapbox for the celebration of mediocrity and have again taken up my banner against all things difficult, including blogging. I apologize for any inconvenience (excitement over the prospect of reading future posts or otherwise) my temporary lapse in judgement may have caused and I hope you look forward to catching up with us at Christmas. Love you all!

Jaimee ran away today ...

Ok, here we go again. My last post was ... um 2 years ago (almost 3), but I realized today that even if I can't get the pictures to go where I want or the background to be super cute, I can still take 5 minutes of my time to let our family that don't live nearby, who I love and adore, know what we are up to. I won't win any awards, but who cares. :) Today Jaimee ran away for the first time. She was in time out on her bed for being too rough with Sarah. A little while later, she came to me and said, "Mom, I'm going to pack a few things and then I'm leaving ... for good." I asked why and she said, "I don't want to hurt Sarah. It'll just be easier this way." She packed up a few things and went on her way to the school playground. I let her go at first, then realized that probably wasn't too safe, so I went and got her. I could hardly keep from laughing the entire time. She is so adorable. We talked, and she is better now.

Here are some gems of her's the past couple of days: On Saturday morning, she went with me to Brandon's soccer practice. We sat watching, me with Sarah on my lap, and I said "Jaimee, could you run to the car and get his water bottle I left there?" (We weren't too far away). She surveyed the situation, distance and all, and said "OK, but could we say a prayer first that I won't get taken?" So, of course, I went with her. On Saturday night, we went as a family to the Real Salt Lake soccer game. While walking from our car to the stadium, Brian was in front holding Sarah with Brandon, and Jaimee and I were a little behind. Jaimee yelled "Dad slow down! Mom can't keep up with you because of all of her baby weight!" Thanks, honey.

So, if you were wondering what the Monson family was doing during the month of January, I thought I'd let you know ...

I've had two helpers in the kitchen a lot lately, and this is a picture of pizza night. They each had their own so there wouldn't be any pepperoni fights, and I just thought it was too cute!

Jaimee came to me one day and asked me to draw an octagon on her paper with a picture of a baby and a line through it. I did the octagon but let her draw the baby with a line through it. Then she asked how to spell "No Babies Allowed" and I told her. She then wrote it out all by herself, asked for a piece of tape and hung the sign on her bedroom door. It was meant to keep Brandon out, which is funny because Jaimee sees Brandon as a baby but he does not.

Brian's birthday was this month -- Happy Birthday Hun! -- and Jaimee and Brandon took it upon themselves to plan his party. They picked out gifts, Jaimee made his birthday sign and decorated his cake, she wrapped the presents, and picked out his pinata -- Spongebob. We really had a lot of fun -- who knew Jaimee would already be the best party planner in the family?

Jaimee told me that her primary teacher had nail polish on and it was blue and she wanted some too. I told her I didn't have any blue nail polish, but maybe we could find some at the store next time we were there. Not a half hour later, I come in the room and she has colored her nails -- finger and toe -- with a blue marker. Girls. Seriously.

My sisters, Mom, and I went to Las Vegas for a night to see The Lion King at Mandalay Bay. Amazing show! Fun Girls' trip, but too short. Thanks for playin' Ladies.

Okay, so in case anyone even checks this anymore, since I have only posted twice, I decided to update it. And, I'm sorry, I kind of hate this Blogger program because I can never get things to go where I want and yes I'm blaming the program and not myself, so you get to see all my pictures and then read about them. Here goes ...

In October I had a shower at my house for two of my cousins having babies and I made Diaper Cakes for them. I got the idea online and decided I could do it too -- ended up being harder than I thought but I was pleased with the outcome.

Jaimee was Alice in Wonderland for Halloween, and her costume was made by -- drumroll please -- me. It was my first and last attempt at sewing and though I was pleased with how it turned out, it was not worth the days of focus and mess. Brandon got sick on Halloween, so the poor guy had to watch while Jaimee got dressed up and went Trick or Treating.

That Halloween sickness turned out to be the swine flu and was soon passed to Jaimee, so while we had planned a big bash for the kids birthdays, we ended up just having a little party with the 4 of us. So, forever when we look at the pictures, this year will be referred to as the "Swine Flu Birthdays," which will explain the lack of festivities.

The kids helped Brian and I decorate the tree and Brandon caught onto the idea real quick -- random fun stuff goes on this big tree in our house. So he went to his room and got all of his little Toy Story figurines and other knick knacks and put them on the tree. So cute!

Jaimee performed in her first dance recital! She loves her dance class and couldn't believe that after all of this time waiting and watching her aunt and cousins on stage, it was her turn! She performed "Roly Poly the Polar Bear" and had a ball! So cute!

Well, we finally did it. We finally took our kids to Disneyland! We spent 3 days in the most magical place on earth and the kids ate up every minute of it! I've been promising Jaimee for months that she was going to eat dinner with the Princesses, eat breakfast with Minnie Mouse, and "fly to Neverland" on the Peter Pan ride. I've been telling her since January, so I think she stopped believing me, but it finally happened for her. :)






We started out our first day with the Minnie and Friends breakfast in the park. We had the first reservation, so we got to enter the park a little early and the characters were just there waiting for us. We met Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore, Captain Hook, Chip and Dale, the Fairy Godmother, and of course Minnie Mouse. They had a ball!



We met so many princesses, there is no way Jaimee could now doubt the truthfulness of their stories. :) We met them all over the park, and also had dinner with them at Ariel's Grotto. Brandon, too, took a quick liking to Cindrella and jumped into her arms to give her a kiss. It was really cute! They talked to every princess you can think of (Jaimee can't decide if her favorite was Ariel or Snow White). I think Jaimee's favorite, though, was Pixie Hollow where she met Tinkerbell and some of her fairy friends. They were so cute with her and Jaimee is sure even now that they are best friends. :)



Brandon's favorite was, of course, meeting Woody and Jessie. He smiled and giggled and called out their names. It was so cute! The Pixar characters are his favorite, so the Toy Story ride was also his favorite. They also met the Incredibles, Sully from Monsters, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy, Kenai and Koda from Brother Bear, and Dopey:) While Jaimee understood a little more what we were doing, Brandon couldn't have had a better time.









Both kids rocked it out on Main Street during the parade. It was hilarious! And Goofy picked them to be his personal dance partners, which was so fun.








The most hilarious moment for me, though, was when Jaimee bacame a padowan learner at the Jedi Training Academy. It is a show where a Jedi Master comes out and randomly picks kids out of the audience to wear a Jedi robe, get a light saber, and learn a combat sequence. Then Darth Vadar and Darth Maul come out and they fight them. Anyway, they usually pick a little bit older kids, but this time they decided on a little 3 year old girl dressed as Cinderella. :) I wondered if Jaimee would get scared and run off the stage, but she bravely stayed and fought Darth Vadar! She had the audience rolling and it was so cute!


Well, anyway, we had a blast. I am so glad we finally got to take them, it was our best family vacation to date, and I think the "magic" will live with the kids for a long time. :)

I'm finally getting started on the blog! Crazy, I know, I'm becoming a BLOGGER! This is all thanks to you, Angie, and the truth be known, you'll probably be the only one looking at it, but it is for you after all. :)

Brian and I just got back from Paris!! It was absolutely incredible and I have to say, in addition to the incredible sites, my favorite part was the food! I don't think the French people even know how to make a bad meal. Their portions are smaller than here in America, but every bite is so divine it totally satisfies. We ate in the Eiffel Tower at Le Jules Verne restaurant, which is probably one of the highlights of my life. :) There were 4 waiters there to brush the crumbs off of our table and burp us if we needed it. The view was incredible and so romantic. I highly recommend it. We also loved the Louvre Museum and the Notre Dame. The Bateaux Parisians boat tour on the Seine River was also incredible. All in all, regular life can't compare with our week in Paris, so we'll probably have to move there.
Craig and Sandy watched our kids and they seemed to love the break from us. They were happy to see Brian from the start but I had to win them back over. Since I'm the Mom, I'm the one that got in trouble for abandoning them. Jaimee told me "Mom, you forgot to take me with you." Maybe next time, dear. :)

cousins

The cutest cousins in the world!!