Question for Santa

Did Michael make the naughty or nice list this year?






(sorry the pictures are so blurry!)

This is shortly after I caught him beautifying himself with my makeup...again. I couldn't get all the mascarra off of his eyelashes, so he looked very pretty for the rest of the day.


On behalf of Michael's defense, he can be incredibly sweet and showers me with kisses from sun up to sun down, or as a wood sign Dan's parents gave me...from "Son up till Son down". He's a handful, but I couldn't immagine life without him.

7 years and counting...

Happy Anniversary Handsome!



Maybe this year we'll finish off that cake!

I've been tagged

5 Reasons why I love Chelsea

1) She is the sweetest thing on earth. Always giving kisses and hugs and trying to figure out ways to help me.

2) Very sensitive. She is very concerned when someone is sad or hurt and always wants to help them

3) She is eager to learn, especially in the reading department right now.

4) She loves to draw and make art creations so she can give them away.

5) She can get so silly, running around and just giggling. How can anyone not smile when she does that?

I tag: Issaac S., Josh R., Andrew R., HEather M., Nathan S. (Yes, these are your children I am tagging!)

I got an early Christmas Present!

I LOVE real christmas trees. I remember, when I was little, and we still got thereal ones, how I'd keep running into the living room to smell the wondreful scent of pine. MMMMMMM..... That was when I was 9. I've been dying ot have a real tree ever since, but my parents were tired of cleaning up the needles and found that the artificial tree suited them better.

I vowed when I left home, I would always have a real tree for Christmas tree. But, then I learned, many apartment complexes don't allow live Christmas trees, for fire hazard reasons. Somehow, I always managed to live in these places.

I vowed that when I got married, THEN we would get a real tree. I didn't know that when you are poor and married, you tend to be more rational about things. So, we decided that since we always left home for Christmas, no one would be around to water it, or enjoy the beautiful sight and smell of it.

THIS year, Dan gave me an early present by saying we could get a REAL tree! WE tried to find a tree farm to be able to go and cut our own tree down, but unfortunately, they don't have those type of things in the desert. So, we found a farmer who had brought in his crop of trees to the "city" to sell. It was freezing, but we found our tree right off. The kids were enjoying their candy canes too much to take part in the choosing process.
We left poor Dan to freeze his fingers and tie the tree to the car, while he huddled inside.


Now it was time to set it up. Michael showed Dad how to put the tree stand together. They had it done in no time!

Now, we just had to get the tree straight. NOpe, still not there Dan. A little to the left...a little to the right....bakward....forward....right....UGH!


"Here daddy, I can help!"


"Do, I have to do everything myself? Here, let me do it, Daddy and Chelsea!"


Unfortunately, or fortunately...depending on how you look at it...we had too much fun decorating the tree, that I forgot to take pictures of the process. Here's the finished product.


Don't forget the star on top!


I think it's absolutely perfect. And the smell? like I've always remembered it, and I feel just like a kid again. Thanks Dan for the perfect Christmas present!

The Ice Age has returned!

When we first moved here, we kept asking the locals if it snowed in the winter.

We got some funny reponses.

Some said "Oh yes!" and some others said "No."

We just weren't sure what to expect.

Well, we'll let you decide.




AHH YEAH! Check out all that snow! People keep trying to reassure us that this is unusual, but we'll take it! We're slowly investing in snow gear. Dan and I fianlly have gloves, and the kids now have hats. Maybe next year we'll get boots!

Although school has had a two hour delay all week, and morning kindergarten has been canceled (lucky for chelse, she's in the afternoon and has gotten to go everyday!) As you may recall, we are barely in the "parent pick-up boundaries" so I get to drop off and pick her up each day. I'm not a huge fan of driving in the snow, after personally spinning out on a highway a few times, but I love my daughter and know she loves school, so it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Just don't flip off the lady in the navy mini van, driving about 5 MPH. :)

Oh yeah, they don't seem to have plows here, or even sand for the roads. Sometimes you'll see a pick-up truck with a plow attached, but most of the roads are packed down with snow, or you get the chance to off-road on sidestreets with over a foot of snow on them. What fun!

The high for the week? about 22 degrees. We went sledding behind the church one night after Dan got home, andit was 2 degrees outside, with a windchill of negative SIX. But the kids loved it and can't wait to go again.


Here's a view of the backyard. And, just in case you're wondering, no we didn't forget to put the toys away.

It's what we call "abstract Art".


And just to be random, check out this house Dan got as a gift from a local orthodontist. It is pure chocolate! The house is made out of milk chocolate, the base is made from dark chocolate and the snow is made from white chocolate...with a little bit of powdered sugar for effect.

Fondue anyone?

Balloon Festival

So, this happened so long ago, I don't remember which month. October? oh well, we had fun and it's better late than never to blog about it!

Prosser has an anual balloon festival each year. I've been to the ne in Texas and thought it was neat, so I thought the kids would really like it. Of course it was not nearly as big as the one in Texas (is anything?), but the kids did love it. We woke them early in the morning so we could make it to prosser by 6 AM. I was so proud of myself for being so prepared. I brought a change of clothes for the kids, so they wouldn't have to wear pajamas, and packed a breakfast so we could eat in the car. Everything was great, until we went to dress Michael. I totaly forgot his pants! To make it worse, he had gone to bed in just his pajama shirt. Dan tried to fix it by tying his jacket around his waste, but then he just looked like he was wearing a kilt. We decided to wrap him up in his blanket and carry him everywhere, which was no easy feat, since he's getting so big!



When we arrived, all the ballons were spread out all over a famer's field.

We didn't have to wait long before they started up the fire to get the hot air blowing.
Unfortunately, Chelsea still has a phobia of large fires from Dan's accident, so this freaked her out. Not to mention it was a little loud. she's a very sensitive little girl.


Michael made sure to wave to all the passengers as they lifted off on their hot-air balloon adventure. He's still asking when he gets to have a turn.




We are definitly coming next year, but next time, I'll be sure to remember Michael's pants! AND hot chocolate.

How sad...

I know, I know. I've totaly slacked on my blogging. I'll try to get some posts up, but first, I heard something disturbing on the radio.

A radio personality was having people call in to answer some Christmas quesstions to win $50 to a spa. I was really suprised, no, shocked, at what answers they knew and didn't know.

I was only listening to the radio for about 10 minutes as I drove Chelsea to and from school, so I only heard 3 callers. They mixed biblical questions with secular christmas questions.

They didn't know:
1)Who told Mary that she was going to have a baby. (Although they did know it was not her husband Joseph) The answer was basic as well...an angel. They didn't even have to know the angel's name.

2) They couldn't name the city that Jesus was believed to be born in. I asked Chelsea and she knew the answer...Bethlehem.

Answers they did know:
1) The YEAR coca cola started using Santa Claus in their advertisements. (WHAT?!!?!)

I can't remember the others since I was giving good bye kisses to Chelse and rebuckling Michael in his seat.

How sad. I'm grateful that I know the Nativity story and why it is so important. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of the pre-existence, purpose of this life, and the afterlife. I recently read an article by President Monson where he says to find the spirit of Christmas, you need to find the Spirit of Christ.

Anyway, just some of my thoughts...