snow fun

January was pretty uneventful, wasn't it? Here's a little clip for the grandparents to get their "fill" of the girls :)

Girls Night Out-Tonight! (Friday)

Meeting at Anna's house around 8-ish. Bring treats and games! Let me know if you need an address or directions. Hope to see you there!

Seriously...

...if anyone wants to donate to the cause of getting me out of here, I'll gladly accept skymiles, southwest rapid rewards points, and cash will even work. I've shoveled TWICE today.

Let me reiterate...

as per my last post. I will be fine if I never see snow again.

Catching up

Or at least, trying. Everyone else seems to be doing it. I stopped the Gratitude Days, only b/c it was really hard to blog every day, not because I ran out of things to be grateful for. Man, those people who are able to blog everyday are my heroes. They must be the ones that used to be able to write in their journals everyday before blogging was invented.

We had a GREAT break. We spent quite a bit of time trying to finish up house stuff in preparation for putting it on the market. That wasn't the great part. We had a FUN New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I'm still waiting for Kiley to post pics from New Year's Eve-I'm waiting, in particular, for a sexy New Year's kiss picture of Dave and I :) We played games, ate lots of good food, and laughed a lot. Then the next day we went bowling and afterwards headed to the church to let the kids go wild with the nursery toys while we played more games. It's amazing how long your kids can be entertained with other people's toys.

But, for posterity's sake, we need to post this picture of Dave's bowling game. WHAT A MAN! He's the 3rd row down. Notice, if you will, the 2 strikes, an 8, a spare, then FOUR STRIKES IN A ROW. I messed him up the next frame b/c I was bowling next to him and was trying to be funny. It ended up not being funny when he didn't get another strike. But I got one! His final score was 208 (I think). He had it printed out.

We also had a fun night playing Wii with the Hatch's. I hadn't ever tried playing before, just because I don't know why. But, MAN, that was a blast. We played Ultimate Band and let me just say that Brian was hilarious being the front man. That was so funny to watch. Can we please set up a video camera next time? So now I know what all the Wii hype was for.

Monday, the 5th, was our EIGHT YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We made it through the 7 year itch. Kyla was awesome and baby-sat for us and Dave endured watching Twilight with me (yes, I just now finally saw it-topic for another day). What a great guy. I only had to punch him a few times as he rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Doesn't my man look SMOKIN' in a tux? Ya, he's hot.

Proof that there ARE fall colored leaves in San Diego-some don't believe it...

Hawaii-Seven Sacred Pools

Bear Lake

Old Faithful

Yellowstone

Kayaking with manatees!

Blessed graduation day. One more to come then we're DONE!

That's all BC-Before Children.

Now we're back into the daily grind of school and stuff. I actually kind of like it. While Dave was home and around all the time Bree hated me. I couldn't touch her, get her out of her bed in the morning, feed her, get her in and out of her carseat, put her to bed-you name it, she hated me for it. Every time Dave left she had a meltdown. When he went back to school on Monday she was totally fine and we figured it out-the scrubs are a SIGN! He's allowed to leave the house if he's wearing those. And she loves me again.

So Bree loves me and Emma hates me. Yep, I didn't think it would happen this early, but Emma has already pulled the "I hate you!" and "I'm going to go live with Grandma!" When she told me she was leaving to live with Grandma I said okay, to which she "huffily" replied-I can't drive, you have to take me. That was a rough day. But now that she's back in school and not bored all day long she's happier. She likes going to the gym and playing with the kids there. And she always wants to watch PBS-anyone else have a kid addicted to PBS? Oh ya, and she GREW! This is a BIG DEAL in our house. I knew her pants (that I JUST bought-grrr) were looking too short, but with her track record I just thought they shrunk too much. But no-TWO whole inches in the last 6 months. There might be hope for her! She keeps talking about when she's taller than me and we just laugh and say IF she's taller than me (and I'm barely 5'2"). And Bree is so cute and funny. She had her 2 year check up and she grew too! I'm really not used to this whole "buying clothes that last only a month" thing. I've been a little concerned about her speech and the doctor thought she should have an analysis done. Apparently a stranger should be able to understand half of what a 2 yr old says. And let's just say he heard daddy and that's about it. We haven't started yet, but just in the last 2 weeks her speech has really taken off. She says the funniest things, which are made even funnier with her cute lisp. And now that she loves me again everything she does is that much cuter. She takes such good care of her babies, and she loves to pretend sleep and wake up with us. And she loves to make a mess with everything. Food, water, toys. She's the tasmanian devil. She leaves a path of destruction in her wake.And she's always going going going. Before, all that stuff drove me crazy. But now that she's understanding things a little better and speaking better, all that stuff isn't as bad. I just love these little girls.

We also got some snow this week, and this was the VERY FIRST TIME Bree has played in it. Two years ago, a newborn, last year, not walking. She loved it. I shoveled the driveway (ya, I know. I rock.) while they played. What's weird is Emma handles the cold really well-her face never gets red and her hands and feet aren't ever cold. But Bree's face was totally red and when I pulled off her gloves her hands were like ice. Kind of makes me worried to send her out to play. But the more I think about it, Dave totally is fine in the cold-he never needs more than a long sleeved shirt and a jacket, while I have to be bundled up in a million layers. So maybe the girls are just like us. Do I need to be worried about Bree? Any snow thoughts? Although I lived in Utah for 7 years I never "lived" in the snow. I was 12 before I saw snow for the first time. And let's just say I was totally fine with that. And I'll be fine if I never have to see snow again. I told Dave a few days ago-Hawaii, Southern California, or Florida. Those are his options. I think I was REALLY spoiled to have grown up in the mild climate of San Diego. Never too hot, never too cold. Just PERFECT.

And on to other news. Dave and I are flying to Kansas for an interview with a clinic. It's so nice that someone PAID for us to fly. Dave lived a good chunk of his life in Kansas, so it's not totally random. It's a year contract, and it's something we feel good about. If we knew where we wanted to eventually end up, then we wouldn't be doing this. But we're still unsure of where we want to be, so this is a good place to start. The clinic offers 26 vacation days a year, so that'll give us plenty of time to travel to different places and see where we want to go. And hopefully by then the economy will have picked up a little more to the point where dentists are doing more work and need associates.

So that's us in a nutshell. All updated. The end.

Gratitude Day #20

Today I'm grateful that when we are in a certain calling, the Lord blesses us to love those we serve in a very specific way. I don't doubt that I would love these little children in our ward anyway, but being in the presidency is different. I know that when I was set apart I received very specific gifts to love these children. And I can feel it each week as I get to know these little personalities. I love these children. I love them and want to protect them and want them to feel Heavenly Father's love for them. They are strong little spirits. They know what is right and they want to do what is right. I probably don't show my love for them as well as I should and I know I get impatient with them sometimes, but these kids are so great.

So, for all of you parents in our ward, you are doing a great job at home. They come to primary and they know all the answers. They are eager to share their thoughts and testimonies! And they want to learn! Thanks for letting us teach them and spend time with them, and also learn from them!

Gratitude Days #18 & 19

This counts as two days. I'm grateful for the temple. We left yesterday around noon, got to the hotel, had some dinner, then I went to a session while Dave put the girls to bed. Then this morning he went to a session while the girls and I hung out at the hotel.

It's been waaaaay too long and I just love the peacefulness of the temple. I love being able to think and reflect and renew myself. I love the motivating feelings I get to do better and try harder. And I love the reassurance that, even though I make mistakes, I am still loved. I love that I can tell Emma I'm going to the temple and she realizes that it's SO important to go that we would drive such a long ways (she reminded us of the length of the trip quite frequently!) and stay in a hotel. Oh, and the QUIET! I forgot that a place could be so STILL. I love it. And we'll be making a better effort to go more before we move, so anyone that's up for a trip let me know!

p.s. I'm also thankful for 65 degree weather today. seriously people. awesome.

Gratitude Day #17

I'm grateful for the "magic" of Christmas that gets better with each passing year. Let me demonstrate:

Last year:

This year:



Setting cookies out for Santa:

Opening presents:

This is the doll that I was SOOOOO excited to find for Bree. She's been giving it tender loves all morning!

We love lots of little pet shop pieces!!

And the cameras are a HUGE hit-these girls have been fighting over Dave's old 35mm camera for a looooooong time. And whenever we bring our cameras out they want to play with them. So we figured it's time they got one of their own.

And now I'll leave you to go listen to the fighting over toys that began after the wrapping paper came off. Oh, the magic :)

Gratitude Day #16

Okay, yesterday I was grateful for our "family" away from family. We celebrated Christmas Eve with our friends here, and I know we all needed to feel something while we were away from family, and I hope they got what they needed! I know I did! Good food, good laughs, funny kids, Christmas carols, the story from the Bible, and Once "Upon" a Snowman (at Bailey's request), with everyone's participation. What more could we ask for?

Thank you to our "family" here. We couldn't make this journey through dental school without your friendship, support, and great times! For those of you away from us, we miss you!


And those are Bree's red jello hands at the bottom of the picture. The girl had SIX servings of potatoes and kept sneaking back to the table to snake the big jello spoon out of the dish and lick it...after she ate all of Cole's jello and a bowl of her own. After everyone left I spent a significant amount of time with Resolve carpet cleaner and a rag!

Gratitude Day #15

I'm grateful for my siblings...ALL of them (in-laws included). I've been soooo fortunate to have brothers and sisters that complete my life. I learned lessons when I was younger and I continue to learn lessons from each of them. And through marriages (on both sides) new people have come into my life that are unique and have a perspective that I've never encountered before, and I learn even more from them. I love talking to each of them-the conversations are different depending on who I'm talking to. No matter who it is, though, I know I can trust them to love me despite my weaknesses. I feel "safe" with all of them. I know I can go to them with questions or needing comfort or to share my happiness and excitement, and they will listen with sympathy or share my joy. I love the acceptance and support and encouragement. I love the advice and comfort. I love laughing with them and creating memories with them. I love their kids! I know that these people have been put into my life for me to learn from them. I hope they all know how much I love them and appreciate their influence in my life.

(hey lathams-we need to get a family picture sometime-I have NOTHING!)