2009, 2010

It seems like just 3 months ago I was posting my new year's resolutions for 2009. And it seems like I start every blog post with "I can't believe how fast time flies." I should just change the name of my blog to "I Know it's a Cliche, but MAN, Time Flies."

So, 2009 was a good year! Everyone healthy, happy, Rob on research. Kind of a boring year, really, but in a good way. I didn't do so hot on my resolutions, no valances or pillows made yet. But now I am doubly committed to sewing them, and I got a sewing machine that works, so that should help :)

Highlights of 2009:

• Grace loves her new preschool, and so do I


• I have consistently made all our bread


• Viv has become quite the chatterbox!


• Rob called to the bishopric (or is that a lowlight?)


• Trip to Utah for Jane Anne's wedding and Lake Powell


• I discover the joy of the thrift store


• Ripping out the 30-yr old overgrown bushes in front of the house


• Finally got lights in the living room

Things to look forward to in 2010:

• Grace starting kindergarten, oh my!


• Vivian starting preschool, oh my!


• Sam going to nursery at church, yay!


• Viv getting potty trained


• 2 mornings a week with just Sam at home, how strange!


• New valances :)


• Hawaii!


• Moving Viv into Grace's room

Totally unrealistic resolutions for 2010:

• Become a morning person


• Organize every square inch of the house


• Get Vivian to eat vegetables


• Get myself to eat vegetables


• Get rid of pooch before Hawaii


• Have positive attitude about Rob's research year ending


• Be a better blogger

Happy (late) Barfday to Grace

I can't believe that Grace is FIVE! We are deep into Kindergarten roundups already, which is crazy. She is very excited to start elementary school. The celebration for her birthday lasted all weekend, starting with her birthday treats at preschool on Friday. She really wanted the theme for everything to be Purple. So she wore all purple on Friday and Saturday, and her cupcakes for preschool were purple with white dots and white with purple dots. She got a purple birthday crown and got to choose whether to eat with the lights on or off, and she chose off.

Saturday, Grace had her party, and she was so excited to celebrate with friends! The highlight was the pink and purple purse pinata. Grace is a purse fanatic, so we were so excited when we found this one! We let the kids decorate their own cupcakes, which was also fun. For weeks, Grace has been excited to go to Red Robin for her birthday and have them sing to her and bring ice cream. So we went, and while we were waiting to be seated, Viv yakked all over the lobby. So gross. Grace was pretty devastated that we had to leave.

Sunday Grace was very excited to have the Primary sing to her, which is a big step for her, as she is usually very nervous in front of people. She was so brave, and I was so proud!

Monday everyone was feeling good, so we went to Red Robin to try again. Grace was acting a little weird before we left, but said she really wanted to go. She was very brave for the singing again! But she didn't eat any macaroni and cheese, OR even any of the ice cream after they brought it. At that point, I knew we needed to get out of there fast before Red Robin banned us forever. Sure enough, shortly after we got home, she got sick. And then Rob, and then me. Let's just say that was about the longest night of our lives. Poor Grace.

So, anyway, we love Grace a ton, she is such a good kid. She has gotten so independent! She is fun, smart, silly, a great helper, she is really trying hard to make good choices. She is a very sweet and protective big sister. One of my favorite things right now is to listen as Grace helps Vivian say prayers. It's adorable. We are so blessed to have her in our family!

The Holidays

Happy New Year! We had a really wonderful holiday season. We didn't travel anywhere and Rob was able to stay home for most of 2 weeks, so we shopped and played and relaxed and just had a fabulous time together. I wish all of life could be like that :) This year was so fun because the girls are the perfect ages, so excited and innocent. They loved everything they got and weren't disappointed.

The season started as always with Rob's work party, where our kids dance the night away. Sam was totally hamming it up, as you can see he's smiling so big his face can't even contain it.

Here is Christmas Eve. We had a big dinner party with our traditional prime rib, and this year we invited a few other families. It was a lot of work, but lots of fun. I forgot to take pictures until things calmed down and we let the kids open their one present.

Christmas day was nice and relaxing. We opened stockings, ate monkey bread (which I managed to totally mess up somehow--my inability to cook could probably qualify as a talent), opened presents, played, napped, made a gingerbread house (actually, Grace and Vivian ate all the candy before it made it on the house) and made pizza for dinner. Each child got one big toy that was something they really wanted, plus a few other gifts. It was perfect. Here is Grace with the toy she was asking for for weeks:

For more complete pictures, here's a link to our holiday album. We wish you all a very happy 2010!

The Holidays 2009

A bite out of the Big Apple

We had a very fun Thanksgiving this year, roadtripping to the East Coast. We spent Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania with dear friends from medical school, and it was wonderful to all be together! Had a great day with delicious food and scintillating coversation.

And since we were so far East, we decided we might as well keep on going to NYC. Rob's brother James and wife Angela and their two girls drove up from Boston and we had a fun couple of days. We stayed right in midtown, just a couple of blocks from Central Park. SO FUN.

High and lowlights:

• kids had a blast at Central Park
• Grace was scared of the street performer dressed as the Statue of Liberty (don't blame her)
• Rob getting sick (Thanksgiving hasn't historically been kind to Rob)
• Vosges chocolate, the weirdest combinations but so tasty
• amazing burgers from the burger joint in the hotel lobby
• date night with Rob wandering around the city
• watching the BYU-Utah game at ESPN zone in Times Square
• Grace getting a cup of ice dropped on her at ESPN zone, poor girl, but they seated us right away :)
• lots of fun window displays and Christmas lights
• FAO Schwartz on the day after Thanksgiving. Very crowded but so fun! Wish I could afford to do our Christmas shopping there :)

I'm not a fan of slideshows, because I don't usually have the patience to sit and watch the whole thing. But I want to go to bed, so here we go. We had a really great trip, wish we'd had more time. The kids put up with all the driving well, they seemed to have a good time, Sam especially was just so excited to see all the new sights. I am hoping that we make it back soon!

Vaccinated

Our public health department had a huge H1N1 vaccination clinic at the indoor stadium of a local university, and we decided it was worth it to get the kids vaccinated. It was a zoo. We had to go get wristbands at 9am, then come back at noon to get into the line for the actual shot. When we got back, the line was outside around the building in freeeeeeeezing cold wind. I had stocked up on snacks since we were missing lunch, but I was not prepared for a THREE HOUR wait. Grace knew she was getting a shot at the end of the ordeal, so had to go through the long hungry wait anticipating pain, the poor girl. Here is Sam after his shot, a happy camper. Now I just hope we don't all get the swine foo (as Grace calls it) from the thousands of people we were milling around with for 3 hours.

Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween this year! Grace was very brave, even went into some pretty spooky yards. Viv figured out pretty quickly that she could get candy from people by saying "trick or treat", even though I don't think most people understood her. And even Sam got very excited about the whole thing, he got to the point where he was waving his arms around until we took him up to the door to get some candy.

Grace's hat is a little big :) and she also had a cape, but she didn't like wearing it. And, funny story, she fell in love with a treat bag at our new favorite thrift store, and I just noticed that it had some letters on it... I only noticed the "ick" and figured it was the tail end of "trick...." but when we got home I realized it actually said PATRICK. Oh well, a little electrical tape took care of that! She doesn't have her own picture because she was too excited to get going.



Vivian did a great job saying "thank you" to everyone in her sweet soft little voice. At one door, she stood there staring at the man until he said "you're welcome." What a polite kiddo :)

We had a fun time and let the kids eat all they wanted in the car on the way home. I was a little worried this would result in someone throwing up in the middle of the night, but so far everyone is okay!

Cats

We bottled peaches this year, and to get the peaches, we drove out to a farm in the middle of farm country. They had like 4 litters of kittens running around. Grace loved it, so I let her run around outside while I went into the house to pay for the peaches, leaving the van door open so Viv and Sam could enjoy the fresh country air. When I got out of the house, I heard Sam crying, but his door was not the open one, so I couldn't see why. Grace's explanation was, "A cat got in the car." When I got to him, he had THREE cats crawling around on his tiny little lap. Which might explain his reaction here, (although he was genuinely excited about the cats):



Vivian, on the other hand, is terrified of anything with fur. Or feathers. Poor girl.