CHRISTmas

We had a really great Christmas this year. I don't know what it was exactly that made it better than other years, but I was happy and that's all that I know. We had a sleepover at our house with Anna, Steve, Sophie, Jessie, and my dad on Christmas eve. We ate too much and stayed up too late, but it was fun.

We made a gingerbread house on Christmas eve.

Adelaide opened her new pj's.

We gave Anna, Steve, and Jessie their dream present. What more could a person want than a zebra striped Snuggie? Unfortunately Anna and Steve will have to learn how to share theirs.

Sophie was a bit sad on Christmas day, not enough sleep I suppose. But, she did manage to sit on her new horse my dad gave her and enjoyed a delicious chocolate.

Addie and baby Pam enjoyed some cereal for breakfast with baby Pam's new high chair.

We spent the rest of the day at my grandma Liechty's house with my mom and the Liechty side of the fam. We had traditional hot cakes and other delicious food and enjoyed everyone's company. It was a really fabulous day. Thanks everyone!

Stumpy's Pounder

If you are looking for a new Mom and Pop burger joint check out Stumpy's on Center street in Provo. We went there to satisfy Megan's recently surging craving for beef. Megan got the 1/4 pounder, but her dad got the double pictured here.


Believe it not it only took him a few minutes to finish it off.


The good news is he lived. Even more good news is he hasn't had to use the bathroom now for eight days.


Way to go Mike.

The Lights

We made our annual visit to the lights at Temple Square last night.

It was a perfect night, not too cold. I look forward to this every year. We had a lot of fun.

We met up with Davey's cousins Stacey and Heidi, who we haven't seen for far too long.

Notice Adelaide can't help but "rock and roll" in every picture. I love it.

Are You Ready For This?

We have the makings of a
Boy!

Would You Like To Hear A Story?

We have a story, maybe it's more of a secret because some of you don't know. I haven't been the best blogger lately but I did manage to write about gratitude on my other blog. I mention the post on gratitude because being grateful for whatever comes my way has been a huge part of my life. I am not lacking in the gratitude department, no I am not.

Maybe some of you recall this post I wrote just over a year ago (also on my other blog). It was not a pleasant story to write, there was too much heartbreak and sadness going on there. But, I can't deny those feelings of loss and sadness. Since then, I have taken to loving the things that I have in my life, every teeny, tiny thing. I realize just how bad life can actually be and man, I do not have it bad.

We've been busy around here since August. Davey has become a work-aholic so I could quit my job and go back to school full-time. Adelaide is growing at a massive speed, mentally and physically, and we're really just trying to keep up with her. I started school (again) and have tried to give as much time to Adelaide as I can in the midst of homework and not feeling super hot. Why am I not feeling so hot you ask? Well, I think I have something wrong (or right) going on with my stomach. I felt gross, threw up once, have acted pretty witchy, spent hours laying on the couch, and now my stomach is poking out. I think I remember feeling like this about five years ago (but way worse) and six months after that Adelaide was born. Kind of crazy, don't you think?


Davey and I decided to ask the doctor about possible answers to my dilemma. He said that something happened about 19 weeks ago, next week we have to find out something about a boy or a girl, and then on or about April 28th we should have a final answer.

I don't know what could be going on here, what do you think?

New Moon

I took Megan out on a date this morning. A date in the morning? Yes, a date in the morning. I wanted to surprise her and take her to see the new vampire movie, "New Moon". What husband voluntarily takes his wife to that movie? This one.

But the only way for me to minimize the number of cape-wearing, fanged-teeth, pale-skinned old women in love with and fantasizing about 17 year-old boys is to stay away from any of the local bars. But another good way is to go to any early morning screening of the latest vampire movie, while all the creepy cougars are still at home "putting their faces on".

But I will leave the official movie review for Megan.

What I want to talk about is babysitting. My brothers and Megan's dad are our tag team crew of male chaperons. These three bachelors shoulder the load of tending Adelaide based on whoever is at that time pissing us off the least and doesn't have a date. This morning while Megan's dad is at the temple and Kip is in the middle of his sleeping until one in the afternoon, it fell to Randy.

In all fairness, Addie torments her babysitters. She is a nonstop train of energy, laughs, and games. She is the boss when they show up and both her and the babysitter know it. So when we get home from our outings its always nervous to look around the house searching for survivors, i.e. the babysitters.

This is what we found today.

Addie's room.

The spare bedroom.

Our room.

I found this on Randy's phone.

Addie, her toilet seat, Captain, the bathroom, the toilet.

Thanks anyway Randy.

HOCKEY

We attended our first Grizzlies game of the year. The shocker was, they actually won. We can't remember the last time we went to see the Grizzlies where they won a game. The fights were awesome too. You know why you go to hockey games, right? The fights. Oh, and the cotton candy, and the kettle corn.

The Two-Wheeler (or 4)

This video makes me laugh. She loves her new bike so much.
I'm glad the weather has been nice enough that she can ride it.

Halloween

How many dogs are in this picture?

Friday was our wards trunk or treat. Davey stayed close to the hulk. He was afraid.

We had doughnut eating contests.

Adelaide even played along.

Saturday night we went to the Grandview neighborhood with the Tuellers and the Shupes to trick or treat. I think the kids made out pretty well. It was the first time we took Adelaide trick or treating and she loved it!

Saturday

Saturday was Davey's birthday. We've had so much cake lately that I decided to make my homemade scrumptious brownies instead. Delicious.
On that same Saturday, Adelaide had a Halloween party at her gym. She was excited to wear her costume (she wears roller skates too).

On that exact same evening, Stacy scored us some tickets to a haunted house.
We enjoyed some sushi, fear, and the delicious brownies.
It was a good day.

Davey

Happy Birthday. 31 years have treated you well, I hope your day was wonderful.
Love, May

So Cal (in pictures)

For Erica - We were at Capo beach and Crescent Bay.

Fall Already?

Davey's brother Rick and his family came down to hang out with us for the weekend. We enjoyed swimming at the Legacy Center, dinner at Red Lobster, and an afternoon up South Fork. I think the kids had the best time of all. Adelaide LOVES hanging out with her cousins and talks about them all the time. We wish we could be closer to the rest of you!



It was pretty cold, but fall here is so beautiful. If only we could have the beauty and not the cold.

Slacking

I feel like I have been in major blogger slack mode. It's not like we haven't been doing anything, I just haven't posted. Our camera is being crazy too so we haven't been able to take many pictures.


Let me start with last week. My mom's birthday was on the 17th so the weekend before we went to the Greek Festival in SLC. It was delicious as always and the entertainment was authentic. Adelaide tried her first bite of calamari and loved it. She even ate the pieces with the little legs.


We also celebrated at the state fair. It was hot, the roasted corn was so good, and so were the Pronto Pups.


The 20th was my niece Sophie's 1st birthday! I can't believe how fast a year has gone by, it's crazy. We celebrated last Saturday at Draper City Park with some yummy food and kite flying.
Can I say how much I love Costco cake. I seriously love it, I'm not good at making cake myself so it's like pure heaven to me. Soft and delicious, mmm.




Saturday night I joined Natalie and Carina for a killer Killers concert. They seriously put on an awesome show and sound awesome live. We had so much fun, next time we'll do GA Nat! It's kind of strange, but I think Brandon Flowers resembles Davey, especially in the Spaceman video. Just sayin'.

One of These is Not Like the Others

The other day on the way to work I was behind a school bus. When it came to a stop sign it let some kids off then pulled away. I moved up to the stop sign next and two kids from the bus stop taunted me just as I started to go. I was clueless. Why would they call ME names?
I arrived at work a few minutes later still perplexed by the incident when I noticed the other bikes around me.

I still don't get it.

Sleeping Arrangements

She sleeps with it on the floor of her room.
She sleeps with it in Ma and Pa's bed.
Tonight she brought it with her to a sleepover
In Mommy and Daddy's bed.
Even in her own bed, its a must.
And tomorrow when we go to church,
She will tuck her toy horses in it for a good nap.
Its her new sleeping obsession.
Her sleeping bag.

Our School

Davey and I decided that we would do our own preschool at home for Adelaide. This stems from him not really wanting her to go to preschool, why I really don't know. If that was the case, then I decided to do it myself. Parents need to take charge of their children's education right?

I spent the summer printing and gathering materials and ideas for our little school. Most of them stemmed from my sis-in-law's curriculum she taught her kids, others I found online.

I set up a schedule, Mondays would be letters, Wednesdays would be numbers. So, today we began with the Letter Aa.

It was all about apples. We read a story called Apples, Apples, then we did a couple of crafts. One was where you cut an apple in half so you can see the star in the core, dip it in paint and stamp it on the paper until your heart's content. I drew a tree on a piece of paper and she got to paint her own little apples on the tree. Then we practiced writing the letters which she loved! We sang a little song about apples falling from the tree, then we made homemade applesauce (which turned out so yummy and was very easy too).

We're going to hang all of her artwork and letters on the wall for the week so she can see and remember what she did. She really had a good time which made me happy. I was worried she wouldn't like mommy being her teacher but it worked out great. I had a good time too!

Labor Day Weekend

We went to Swiss Days in Midway on Saturday. I remember going when I was a kid and I must say, it is nothing like I remember it. It has been like 20 something years but hey, come on. We had a good time though. I had my first knockwurst sandwich which wasn't too shabby. I'm not really a fan of the sauerkraut they put on it. I've tried it many times but I just don't dig it.


Davey made us pose with this guy. He was running the booth that had all of the sheep boots, hats, and slippers. He was weirded out that Davey asked him to pose with us. We were weirded out that we had to pose with him. Weird. He does look a bit authentic though doesn't he?



Today we went to the good old Payson Onion Days parade.
I love Payson, I love Onion Days, I love the parade too. Adelaide also loves the parade, except for when the firetrucks blast their sirens and horns as they pass by.


Her grandpa gave her some tickets to ride on some of the carnival rides. She loves the rides. I love this picture of her and my dad on the merry-go-round, so cute.


I miss living in a small town. It definitely feels different than anywhere else. It's funny when you're younger and you can't wait to get out of the town you grew up in, then as you come back when you're older you realize how nice it was. Good old Payson.