Elise with the camera

The past couple of times I have uploaded pictures from our camera, I have found that Elise has been on a "shooting spree" with it. The last batch included at least fifty of her pictures. Here is a good sample:




I think the messy bedroom floor with the decapitated Barbie is my favorite.

Happy Valentine's Day (late)

To all our friends and family:

33 things I love about Mike

Can I just publicly declare how awesome Mike is? He had his birthday this week, and it's Valentine's day tomorrow, so it seems like a good time to do so.
Since he turned 33, I think I'll list 33 great things about him:

Handyman, Funny punster, Sports nut, Thoughtful husband, Attentive daddy, Silly made-up song singer, Well-liked by others, Fulfills duties, Smart engineer, Expert troubleshooter, Surprise kitchen cleaner, Not picky, Strong will-power, Worthy priesthood holder, Family prayer initiator, Handsome, Hard worker, Finishes what he starts, Fixes what he breaks, Professional omelet flipper, Sunday morning pancake maker, Ute fan, Stays home with the kids so I can go out, Budget keeper, Bill payer, Diaper changer, Do-it-yourselfer, Board game fan, Gracious loser, Gracious winner, Nice muscles, Good driver, Great kisser.

Wow, I totally scored in the husband department, and I realize it more and more as time goes on.

Blessing Day

Tyler was blessed in Fast and Testimony meeting on the first of February. He was quiet and alert throughout the blessing, and Mike did a wonderful job as well. It was a really neat blessing, I wish I had taken notes or something because I can't remember all of it. But one thing that stood out to me from the blessing was that he'll recognize Heavenly Father's love for him as a son of God throughout his life.
We had an awkwardly large blessing circle, but what can you do? They were all our fathers, grandfathers, and brothers, and there were even a few missing! I really feel blessed that most of our family lives near enough to participate in this kind of thing. Afterward we had a nice little brunch for everyone at our house.
Tyler wore a little cream-colored sweater outfit that my mom took us shopping for. He looked adorable in it, and I liked that it was kinda white, but didn't scream "blessing outfit!", so he can wear it to church a few more times.
Another momentous thing that happened that day: I was released from my calling as Young Women 2nd counselor (the whole presidency was replaced). I am a little sad about it, but it's ok. I really loved serving in the YW, and they are such a great group of girls (and leaders). I feel a little better about camp though, because I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to participate with a 7 month old baby.
So I am currently "unemployed" in my ward. Not for long though, the bishop assured me.

A Better Mousetrap

So, we had a mouse in our garage. Mike saw it run under the stairs out there (I'm glad it wasn't me), so we set a cheap little mousetrap with a little piece of cheese on it. Well, apparently there was more than one mouse, and the trap caught TWO at the SAME TIME!
It was really gross, but amazing, so we took a picture. I won't post it directly on the blog, because I'm sure most people would be squeamish about that, but if you want to see it click here.

One Month Old

Before it's too late, I wanted to post a picture of Tyler at one month. He is seriously growing so fast. I weighed him the other day on the Wii Fit, and he is already 12 pounds! He is so smiley lately, and loves when you make eye contact and talk to him. He has begun sleeping a long stretch at night, about 6 hours, which is heavenly. (And here I am wasting it by blogging at 11 pm, silly me!)

Tyler has been using his arms a lot lately, trying to get a finger or thumb in his mouth to suck on (not very successfully yet), or just swinging his fists. It's kinda cute and funny when he accidentally punches himself and then looks all surprised.

He's still a pretty calm and mellow baby, which I am so thankful for. I set up the baby swing a few weeks ago, and we finally put some new batteries in it. Tyler loves it, and that's where he naps during the day. Sometimes I lay him in the crib instead, and I'll think he's fallen asleep, only to find that he's just been laying there awake and quiet. What a funny little guy.

New Haircut!

I decided it was time for a short "mom haircut" again. My sister-in-law Marianne works at a bank and also cuts hair in her basement, so on Sunday night when I heard her saying she had the next day off (MLK Day), I just decided to go for it.
Marianne was kind enough to take these before-and-after pictures so I could blog it. At the time she had another client there who didn't get why I would bother with the pictures, until she saw how much we cut off.

Mike knows that I get a little emotional about haircuts, even if I got exactly what I asked for (I usually cry and talk about growing it out again). When he walked in the door after work that day, he immediately came over and gave me a compliment and a hug, probably anticipating that I would burst into tears. I was mostly fine and didn't cry, but what a good husband, don't you think?

And here it is after I styled it myself the next day.

Way to go, Utes!

It has been such a fun year to be Ute fans and alumni. We are so excited for the awesome football team and their 13-0 season. The night of the bowl game we went to Mike's dad's to watch in hi-def on the theater screen. The next best thing to being in New Orleans, I guess!
We went to the parade last Friday to celebrate, since it ran right past where Mike works.

Bowling with Grandpa

Here is one of our more unique family traditions. For the last few years, my parents have invited all their kids and grandkids to go bowling, usually right after Christmas.

The little girls had a lot of fun and did a great job, using bumpers and the ramp of course. Following each ball Lydia bowled, she always had a look of triumph on her face no matter how many pins she knocked down. Due to a couple of spares and a computer error in her favor, she actually beat Elise's and my scores (although beating me was not hard to do, I think my score was 94). Mike came in first out of the four of us.

I always forget how much fun bowling is. Back when Mike and I were in college, we took a bowling class together just for fun. It was great to learn the four-step approach and have enough practice to actually improve our techniques. Someday when our kids aren't so little, I think we'll have to join a league.

Shayla and Elise

Grandpa and Lydia

Holiday Festivities

Here is a quick (yeah right) rundown of all the fun family things we did to celebrate the holidays.

My grandpa's big party/reunion was held on the 19th (yeah, our anniversary, but it's not like we were planning a romantic getaway or anything). All the great-grandchildren acted out the Nativity. There were at least 20 of them. Elise and Lydia were angels, and Tyler was the Baby Jesus. He played the part beautifully, sleeping peacefully through all the commotion. Grandpa recently started a Christmas tradition of giving each great-grandchild a book chosen especially for them, with a note from Grandpa inside the cover. We think it's awesome.
On the 21st, for my Mom's birthday, we dressed the kids up again for a smaller Nativity play. This time Elise was Mary, and Lydia and Tyler reprised their roles as Angel and Baby Jesus. The best parts were my nephew Watson, who dressed up as "the Night Sky" (a blue robe) and held the gold star, and also the Donkey, played by my brother Chris, carrying Mary to Bethlehem. We ended the night with another Christmas tradition, all the grandkids receiving new Christmas pajamas.



Mike's mom had us all over for Christmas on the 23rd. She and Clint may have started something though, and I bet every Christmas from now on the grandkids will want to do the "fish pond" again (Grandpa behind the stair railing, hooking candy and prizes onto a makeshift fishing pole just like a carnival). I am proud to report that I made my very first batch EVER of homemade rolls to take to this party. I bought a bag of "backup" rolls at Costco, just in case I failed miserably, and I didn't even have to use them. Mike's grandma was also at this party, visiting from Ogden. It was fun to see her and let her meet Tyler for the first time.
On Christmas Eve, we went to my parents' house for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This always includes oyster stew, shrimp cocktail, grapefruit cocktail (frozen slush), relish trays with all different kinds of pickles olives and baby corn, little tins of smoked clams and other weird things, and several varieties of bread to make sandwiches of deli meat, Havarti cheese, and honey mustard. When Dave was on his mission, he sent home some weird Portugese foods for us to try on Christmas Eve (because it seemed to fit with the smoked clams etc.). Ever since then, we try to have something new each year. Sometimes it's a little Fear Factor-ish. In years past we have tried pickled pig's feet, pickled watermelon rind, pickled okra, lots of pickled things. I can't remember what else.
This year my fear factor contribution was Rocky Mountain Oysters (takeout from The Cowboy Grub restaurant). They looked appetizing, but they had a weird texture. Mike thought they tasted like chicken.
After dinner, Santa dropped in. He was so funny. Each of the grandkids had a chance to tell him what they would like for Christmas. Elise requested - I kid you not - a Rainbow. (It's ok, she thought up this request months ago, so Santa had plenty of time to fill it). Lydia asked for a ball and a dolly.




On Christmas morning, Tyler woke us up at 6 a.m. Definitely it was because he wanted to see what Santa brought, and not because it had been 3 hours since his last feeding. I would have gone back to sleep, but Mike was up and all giddy about Christmas. I wouldn't allow him to physically wake the girls, so he turned on a Christmas radio station really loud until they woke up on their own. He was so funny!
We all had fun and enjoyed the presents from Santa and each other. My favorite gift was a new set of nice sharp knives. Elise loved her rainbow and her new doll, which she named "Rainbow". Lydia was excited about her new doll as well as all the candy in her stocking. Tyler got a few toys that I'm sure he'll enjoy later. Mike was excited about the Bluray player, and the new Guitar Hero band game. Later that day, we went to my parents' house to open more gifts. It was a really fun, relaxing Christmas.




On the 26th, we stayed the night at Mike's dad's house, and celebrated Christmas there too. We met our newest nephew Henry, born just a week or so before Tyler.It was fun to sleep over with all of my in-laws. Mike's side of the family is so fun. They are awesome people and we all get along nicely. It's such a nice bonus when you fall in love and get married, and the family you join turns out to be just as easy to love as your spouse.
The Saturday after Christmas is always my grandma and grandpa's Christmas party. It's fun to get together with all my cousins and see how their kids have grown.
We had Fruit Soup (one of my favorite traditions), and all the great-grandkids were invited to participate in a talent show. I explained to Elise that a talent show is when people show everyone something that they do well. I suggested maybe she could sing a song or do a little of her tap dance. She decided to show everyone how good she is at holding Tyler. It was precious. Lydia very quietly sang the ABC's. I was so proud of them both.

I love the Christmas season for all the togetherness. I think it's my favorite time of the year.