After all the ugliness we've had, we deserve some pretty!
The last few days have just been continued snow fall and it's surprisingly nice

Either summer mow or winter plow, we have to do it bare foot, up hill both ways, packing a baby on our back

Now you see them

Now you don't

I think I had more fun than the kids did. All the snow from the plow piled up along the side of our driveway, a sure invitation to dig a little cove into it. 

The other snow post got a close up of Jack and Maybell. We can't leave this cute face out! It's not bundled, but cute just the same.

Will she ever?

Yes Mam, you are adorable, but it's crawling that's going to get you places, not looks.

Swimming in place won't work either

(she lays on her belly and rolls her wrists in circles 90 mph and kicks her legs)

And crying DEFINITELY won't!

Oh come on child, stay focused on the task at hand here....

But mom, look!

Don't you roll back over

What? like this mom? That's it! That's it! ok, now crawl baby, crawl!

Aw DANG it! Well, your looks will have to do for now!

Actually, she does get around. She does the army crawl thing. I guess that's fine. She would much rather be standing, however I'm a crawl nazi. I remember my grandma talking about it once and said that they had some kids who had trouble reading go back and do the crawling motion as a sort of therapy or something? I don't remember exactly, but I do know it's important they crawl so everyone keep your fingers crossed for little miss Maybell. We gotta get her to tuck those knees!

Jackery is three

Oh goodness gracious, is my boy really 3?!?! 

I wish everyone could know our little Jack. He is so carefree and fun. He has the softest skin, the biggest head, the thinnest hair and the sweetest voice. It never fails, we sit down to the dinner table, ready to take a bite and he has to go to the bathroom! rrrrr. He loves to jump around and kick and do somersaults (like a power ranger). He's also a floppy little guy. When you pick him up or you're helping him get dressed he becomes so floppy and dangly and thinks he's funny. His little sense of humor is so great. He loves to be read to. He loves to play, play, play, but he also loves TV/movies. He's the worlds slowest walker and I wish I could leave him home when I have to go to the store. Talk about "stop and smell the roses" I think he looks at every single thing on the shelf as we walk the isles, but won't let me put him in the cart. Man we love that little body and personality

Jack and Jared are a month apart. We like to celebrate together. Mandy made the cakes. I need to do a post with all the cakes she's made!

THE GREAT OUTDOORS!

Oh how I miss thee!!!

This winter has really been a bugger. It's actually only been about a month of it, but you know it's bad when one month seems like an eternity! 

We really didn't get snow until Christmas and then it seems like it all went down hill after that. The whole state of Utah has the flu or pink eye. The cold is like bone chilling cold and last week the ice on the roads was awful. The inversion keeps everyone sick cuz you can't get any fresh air and it looks so ugly out there. When we drove home the other night you literally couldn't see even 2 ft in front of you on the roads in that smog. One of my favorite things about winter is how storybook pretty it is. Not this year! 

We all got sick over Christmas. Then a couple weeks later all the kids had an ear infection and Jack and Maybell had bronchiolitis. To make it even better, Jan is a busy month for Mike at work so he didn't get home till 9:00 most nights. It's really not that fun hauling 3 kids to like 9 different doc appointments.  I really didn't think we were going to survive for much longer. 

Thank goodness for today!!!! ahhh the sun is shining, the air is clear and the snow is pretty.

This is the first we've been out (for enjoyment) in a month

We tried to make the best of our cabin fever

But we sure are ready for some outside time.  Especially when you have such cute faces to bundle up

Another Merry Christmas (2012)

I have a feeling each Christmas I blog about it going to be dejavu of the last. I guess that's why they call it "tradition," same thing year after year. It's fun for me to look at the pictures because I know the folk and enjoy seeing the change. Boring for anyone else I'm guessing. 

Well, here's a few of the same things that happened this year as they did last year.....

Audrey had a birthday

She turned 12 on 12/12/12 and she was born at 12:09. Fun year!

 I also had a birthday 

A little angry about turning 37 so I got a pink bb gun as an outlet! I know it's recommended we don't spank children, how about a little bb to the butt. That should do the trick!

The Nielsen family party ( mom's side- 5 of us cousins with babies this year)

Christmas Eve with my parents and siblings

 It's a good thing I've put pictures of kids opening presents, that way you know what it's like because no one else in the world does this. 

Christmas morning

Christmas day is with Mikes family. This is the only picture I got on Christmas day with everyone

Then here are a few things different this year.......

Mike has a beard. I know you can't see it, but it's there! Two weeks worth! 

He had his tonsils out 5 days before Christmas. He had two weeks off work so we decided to see how much facial hair he could get. I liked it.

Recovery went really well. The doctors and everyone around us prepared us for the worst. They say it's an awful/painful recovery for an adult. It wasn't too bad. I think Mike isn't much of a complainer so I'm sure it was worse than he let on, but after a couple days I was kinda excited that he had 2 weeks off and  thought maybe we could actually do something instead of recover. However that blessing was quickly shot down when the rest of us got sick.

Santa came to visit the house on a night other than Christmas

It was super cute. Some friends in the ward just kinda made the rounds through the neighborhood. Stopped in, sang a few songs and left a little treat.

The greatest difference this year was celebrating without loved ones. 

We didn't have Mikes dad with us. Merry Christmas Lynn. We sure miss you. 

And the little Cheney family had to press through their first Christmas without Carson. He sure is missed around our neighborhood. I know that everyone feels his absence and continues to mourn with his family

 .  

Last year I got a CD with Christmas music on it from Hilary. I wish you could hear the first song. It's beautiful. Her friend wrote and sang/sung it. When I put it in for the first time this Christmas season I just couldn't hold back the tears. There was a familiar feel from listening to it the previous year, combined with this ache as I listened to it again this year, under very different circumstances for their family. Hilary said the song was Carson's favorite and that he would always beg for her to play it over and over again. A line in the song says something like, "My Lord, my Savior, my King, come to bring me safely home" which is a tiny bit ironic.... his favorite song has sort of come to pass for Carson. His Savior did come to bring him safely home.