Christmas Weekend

We started a new tradition this year, we went on a little "trip" to SLC. We stayed at the Raddison. The kids were thrilled to be in a hotel. They went swimming and in the morning we walked around the city creek mall and at breakfast at Kneaders.  Christmas eve and Christmas Day were lovely this year. Kids were so well behaved, good sports about all the crazyness.  After we had partied on Christmas day, we couldn't get anybody to hang out with us, so we went driving down main street looking for something to eat. I was thinking fast food, but the line to McD's was 20 cars long, so we ended up across the street at a Japanese steak house. I was in my sweats eating a steak dinner. The kids haven't stopped talking about the volcano onion, and the fire right on our table. They were so good. I told Josh, everybody around us is probably jealous of our "perfect" children.  We missed Grandma and Grandpa Mendenhall, but we were able to skype with them several times so they could be a part of our day. Josh bought the kids a go cart for their big present and lucky for them, it was snowing all weekend, so they tied the sleds behind and had a hay day. Milo came in and said "this is the best Christmas ever!"

Frosty the Snowman

We didn't have any exciting plans for the evening, and we have spent the weekends in December visiting different Christmas sights around the valley.  There is one thing we haven't done yet...build a snowman. Lucky for us, we were blessed with a huge snowstorm today that provided the kids with hours of fun. After dinner we had some hours to kill so we decided to build our snowman in the dark.  He almost didn't make it, but Mom and Dad heaved that huge snowball over our heads and he was born.  After the snowman was done, we had our first family Snow Ball fight. I usually stay out of these activities, but I was already wet and cold, so I joined in the fun. The kids were so excited, they even made sure to thank me for playing with them before they went to sleep. Nora was hilarious, she would fake scream when we'd throw snow at her.  Makay fell asleep looking out the window to make sure he didn't miss it when the snowman came to life.  It's days like these that make me happy to be a mom. Especially after days like yesterday where I wasn't as excited to be a mom.  (the day when Nora decided to donate a portion of our Christmas budget to the sewer rats that live on the other side of the toilet. I am in denial waiting for it to turn up in the house somewhere) 

Temple Square

We made the trip downtown last Sunday afternoon to enjoy the lights at temple square. Note for the future, Sunday's are good days to go, and the earlier the better. We arrived at 5:00 pm, and were the only car in the parking lot. We brought hot chocolate and cookies, and had a great time. 

Asserting Independance

Kids have all grown a little today.  Milo used a pocket knife to whittle a stick for a bow and arrow.  Makay took his big brother down to the pit to show him where to find the good sticks, and Nora made herself a PB&J.

Keeping Busy...

Funny how I am in the mood to post when it's good weather outside. It's 50 degrees today, I sat in the sun and watched Makay pull Nora around the sled on the grass. I said, "Nora, what do you tell Makay for pulling you around?" her reply, "Atay (her version of Makay) ...Push." She was so sure of herself, I couldn't correct her, I just laughed and let the bossy-ness slide.

We had to get out the crafts to pass the time away last night. It is going to be a long winter cooped up inside our house every night.  She strung beads for almost an hour. I could tell she was done when she started shoving them off the table and shoving handfuls of them in her mouth.

Marcus got his Mission call to the Spain, Malaga mission and we are trying to figure out how to spend the last days with him before he goes. Looks like it might be a St George trip with everybody.

Nora is in her room destroying everything while she is supposed to be sleeping. She hides under the bed when I go to check on her, like I don't know what's going on. I just leave her. It's a nice break even though I have some major cleaning to do after I let her out. Let's just say....it's a waste of time to fold any of her clothes.

 Milo sang a song for us,  it's so cute, totally worth 1 minute of your time. He NEVER does stuff like this, so it's fun to see the softer side of Milo. I think the only reason he did is because we had one of his school friends over and he was so excited to sing it along with the movie. Somehow that made it cool to sing for your parents.

Makay LOVES his friends. He could spend hours in the basement setting up villages of houses for his guys to play in. The latest and greatest is the wood blocks Grandpa Mendenhall made. They set them up like a cage and put the animals in there.  He is also doing great with his reading, he loves to practice his letters. He was making letters for me out of 2x4's when we were out on the driveway today.

Josh is just finishing up teaching his first class at UVU. He liked it, but we couldn't leave anywhere because he couldn't really cancel class for a week.   He's loving working out these days, and he's even loving his job. We feel so lucky, because not a lot of people get to say they love their job. And it's close only 7 minutes away, which makes it really the best job ever. If he could figure out how to work in a mountain adventure during the day somewhere, his life would be complete.

I am doing the same old thing, laundry, picking up random items around the house, trying to get as many groceries for the least amount of money possible. To keep things exciting I made Stollen for the first time this year.  It is so YUMMY! I think it has too much sugar, but I just brush it off before i eat it. then I don't feel as guilty. Next week is the week for Toffee and Christmas cards. It's crazy how the weeks fly by in December as if there were only 1 week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here's to enjoying the most wonderful time of the year which is followed by the most miserable 3 months of the year. Here's to a Merry Christmas and Spring blossoms and tulips.

NORA'S MASTERPIECE

At least I got the wipes, lotion and baby powder put up before she could get to it. I forgot about the Costco pack of diapers sitting in there.  There is so much more, but this is all that would fit in the screen since she is sleeping right by the door, I couldn't get in there.  This seems so malicious to post pictures of her like this on here. She is sweet, beautiful, and fun, but this is definitely a big ugly part of our day around here.

The Happiest of Happy Birthdays...where all his birthday dreams came true

Every parent should have a Makay in their life. He makes things so much fun. He's just happy to be alive.  He is so excited and loving, you could give him the world he would be so grateful and enjoy every bit of it.  He partied hard all day. First of all, it was one of my favorite days because we were able to have all the festivities outside in the warm sun.  It's like he is the September baby I was wishing for.  He squealed with delight when he came into the kitchen this morning and saw his new pet fish. He has been begging me to take him to the store and buy a fish for months.  He also go the captain America set that he wanted, and his OWN legos so he doesn't have to share.  He took treats to school to share with his class and came home with a balloon and a crown.  After school we grabbed a bunch of cousins and had a picnic at Neptune park enjoying the last day of warm before the winter storms start coming in.  He was so sweet always making sure everybody else was happy and having a good time too.  After the lunch party, we came home and hurried and set up for his Batman party. He loves batman and he loved all of the little details that I threw together for the day.  

Robin and Batman were frozen by Mr Freeze, and we had to rescue them 

with a super soaker filled with fire hot H20

 Eating Cereal with his new fish Batfish.  

 They were trying to pet him, and we had to change the water because 

Batfish was looking sluggish after the big party. 

Right before Makay went to bed, he found this kleenex box that was covered with gold fish. 

He put it by Batfish's tank so he could have some friends while we were sleeping. 

 Man I love this kid. It's so weird how days like this flood my mind with memories.  I was laying with him at bed and all of a sudden I was taken back to the hospital room at Alta View when the nurse put him down on my chest and I loved him instantly. I was so anxious to have another baby, when the Dr said it was time to push I freaked out...I wasn't ready to start over.  But it was all put to rest when I saw him. I remember thinking how beautiful and huge he looked. I couldn't believe how big he was after I was used to his skinny bigger brother. That's what you get when you combine a Mendenhall and a Berry.  His thick baby thighs were so cute I could have squeezed them all day. He rarely forgets to tell me he loves me, and when he does, he remembers and apologizes for forgetting.  The other day I got really mad at him because he threw his socks in my eye when I was trying to help him. A couple of days later....he was laughing and said, "Mom, remember when I threw my socks at you and you got SOOO mad." giggle giggle.  Love you buddy!!!

Happy Birthday Nora

Today was similar to November 4, 2010.  I sat out on the porch in the warm sun and couldn't help but remember this day 2 years ago.  Nora  It was a warm Thursday morning when we checked into the hospital and I remember being glad that she was coming on such a beautiful day. My nurse was named Cody and she made the day so fun. We spent the time chatting about all the crazy moms that must come through these doors, all the while assuming that I didn't fall into that category.  Hopefully my assumption was correct, but you never know.   The whole experience was beautiful and painless. I remember the worst part of the whole day was that I didn't have enough pillows to support my heavy awkward body.   Nora came and I just held her while the nurses desserted me for an somebody with spiking blood pressure next door. One came to check on me about an hour later and I asked her if I should be feeding her. She laughed, since I already had 2 kids, they assumed I knew what to do with a newborn. I remember Nora eating FOREVER, it seemed like about an hour when they finally came and sent us to our other room.   We had tons of family come visit us and it was good to see everybody.  Grandma Jensen was even in town so she got to hold her in the hospital.  I also remember eating a ton of food. It was so nice to finally be able to eat after 39 weeks of nausea.

Every year I make my kids birthday cakes. Even the Rassavongs have been making requests for their birthdays. I usually do chocolate with chocolate filling and chocolate fudge frosting. But this birthday I thought I'd branch out and try something new,  Rainbow cake with Swiss Lemon Merengue Buttercream frosting.  It was a workout, but I love a good baking project so I figured since it took 3 days, I'd double up and make a Nora/Makay cake.  Makay was also so excited, his birthday is on Wednesday so this is a little teaser party for him.  I think he loves it because it makes his birthday drag out for several days.

We took the kids swimming for Nora's birthday. Anthony got baptized yesterday and after he came out of the water Nora said, "Mommy, I go swimming?" I thought it was a great idea so we went swimming last night.  Today is a Sunday so we had to get up and get ready for church, and Nora was so grumpy when she woke up. The boys were trying to make her open her presents and all she wanted was her chocolate milk and to be left alone.  They forced her through a couple, and then it clicked. She realized it was her special day. She was so excited and grabbed the other gifts and carried them over to the rug so she could really dig in.  She was even singing the birthday song that I have been singing all day.  We had dinner with family and followed up with cake and a dance party since Nora LOVES dancing.  All the cousins rocked out in the basement. And I danced too, but the boys get so embarrassed. So I sat down.  I'll save my dancing for Nora and I in the kitchen. It is one of her favorite things to do.  And we like the music loud so it's fun when it's just the two of us because nobody can complain about the volume or be embarrassed to see their mom dancing.  Happy Birthday Nora!!! We love you so much. You bring us all together with your funny personality, your sweet kisses, and your cute words. Our family has changed for the better since you have been in our home.