Monday

Dekker's Birthday!!!!

My baby is 2 years old?!?!?!? I can not believe it. I'm so thankful for this sweet, cute boy! Dekker is generally a pretty laid back kid. He's open to new things and places, but doesn't get overly excited/anxious about them. He's cool to play by himself, but is kind and social with others as well. He can however be very stubborn about certain things- lately he's very picky about what he eats, drinks, and wears. He is also very protective of certain toys and likes to tell Josh "No!" but I think that's more a stage. He's my lovey/snuggly child- one of my favorite things about Dekker is the way he warps his arms around me to give me unsoclited hugs or kisses, or sometimes just climbs up to sit next to me or on my lap. He never does these things in a needy way- just in a "I want you to know I love you" sort of way. I jokingly call him my OCD child (though I probably shouldn't) because he loves to line things up and sort or organize things- and recently I've started to realize maybe the reason he's such a picky eater is because he doesn't like it when I mix foods in soups or casseroles. Dekker is a charmer- he knows how to make people smile and put a smile on their face. He loves to copy his older brother- but also seems pretty confident in himself. I'm so lucky to have him as part of our family!

We took Josh to his new gymnastics class this morning. It went really well. It's cool to see that he's progressed since last year. He's much better at listening to and following instructions, and he's physically more capable as well.

Then I took the boys to the food court at the mall for lunch and afterwards let them play at the newly remodeled play area for about an hour.

We came home and they both fell asleep in the car. Later we had ice cream cake and the Sunday gang over to share it with us and open presents.

Sunday

1. Dinner with the gang. Sunday was the first time in a long time that we had the WHOLE gang here; Becca, Garrett, Karina, Brea, and Tom.

2. A new easy Sunday recipe. Okay- so it sounds a little strang, and Jake thought I was nuts- but then everyone loved it. Just dump dry onion soup mix in a crock pot with a roast (either beef or pork) with 2 cups cranberry sauce and let it slow cook all day. The flavor is not too sweet or fruity and you can throw add a little butter and flower in with the juices and mix into a gravy. We served it with roasted potatoes, green beans an biscuits.

3. New church schedule. Last year we went from 1-4, now we're from 9-Noon. It's a little hard to get us all up, ready and to the church on time- but I'll take it over the 1-4 schedule anyday.

Saturday

1. Primary activity. A fun thing to break the day to day routine.

2. Both boys took naps and I had a little time to myself. Jake headed out back-country boarding with some friends. I was a little sad - but at least the boys were good for me and gave me some needed time to work on my Masters application and get some stuff done around the house.

3. Girls' night out! Since Jake got to take off with the boys he said that he would hang out with Josh and Dekker so I could have the night to do whatever I wanted. Becca and I went and grabed some dinner and then got pedicures!!! It's been a very long time since I've had one- and the winter dries out my feet so bad- so it was very nice.

Friday

Date night!!!

1. Brea came to babysit. Jake and I haven't had a real just me and him date night for a long time- and I was having a hard time finding a sitter- luckily Brea and Tom were willing to sacrifice a date night of their own to come hang out with our boys.

2. McGrath's Fishhouse. SOOO yummy. Enough said.

3. Benjamin Button. Despite the fact that this movie is just under 3 hours long we really liked it.

7 days into 2009 already?!

This year is already moving way too fast.

1. A visit with Bri. She and her little boy Caleb came to visit us yesterday! It was so nice to just be able to hang out and catch up. Caleb is super cute- those cheeks!!! And I just love Bri, I love her because she is so open and honest. I also love that though we don't get to see each other a ton there is still that automatic closeness that comes from having served as missionary companions.

2. A couple days of sunshine. Don't get me wrong- I actually think the big snowstorms are fun- but its nice to have a breather and let the driveways and walkways dry up a bit.

3. Allrecipes.com I've been using this site for a couple of years now. Love it to death because I can just plug in recipe names or ingredients and it'll pull up lots of ideas for me and has ratings and reviews I can review to help me decide. I've found many a great recipe here. It's definetly a handy little tool.

WAY too much

I haven't posted- for a long time- and these last couple weeks have been FULL of things to be thanksful for.... tsk, tsk, tsk.

Here is a very brief and weak attempt to catch up:

1. Our friends the Barrands! This was their first Christmas just them too- and so we convinced them to come and spend it with us. We had a great time. They also had us over to their house a couple nights over the holidays- once for a yummy Brazillian dinner and a movie, and another time for games and treats.

2. My family in town. My mom and stepdad drove down from Washington, bringing back Garrett, and Karina's car. Karina flew back from Florida on the 2nd- and my brother Brian has been in and out since the 1st (he's mostly been up in the mountains and with boarding buddies- but he can't miss out on a few family and nephew moments).

3. Hubby around. Its been nice to have Jake around so much too! We had a fun memory moment up at Sundance on the 1st, he cleaned out the garage and his tool bench, he took Josh to the BYU basketball game, and he's been around for games and hanging out time. I was sad to see him head back to work this morning.

4. Brief moments and a great thing. Favorite mission companion Bri is in town visiting her family. Knowing how much she loves Sundance I told her Jake and I were heading up on the 1st. She couldn't join us - but offered the use of her dads' corporate passes. It was nice to see her and her chubby cheeked baby for a moment (still working on another get together), and the passes were GREATLY appreciated- especially since conditions werent' super great, and Jake didn't have his own board and so we didn't end up sticking around for too long.

5. Cute kids. Josh and Dekker are so cute these days. Dekker gives the sweetest unsolicited hugs and kisses lately- I just love it! And Josh continues to surprise us with his intelligence in all the amazing stuff he does these days. He's also pretty dang funny- the other night Jake wasn't going to the "right" bonus features on Wall-e, as Josh was trying to communicate this he got so frustrated he said, "Agh! You're getting an my nervous!" Not a phrase I want him to use a lot, but still we couldn't help but laugh that he said nervous instead of verves.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

1. My snow boots. Ordered them from Landsend overstock in the early fall- and man have they come in handy- super warm and easy to pull on.

2. My Tahoe. I guess I should say "our" Tahoe- since it is the family vehicle. But seriously- I feel so much safer driving around in all this snow in such a nice, big, snow-worthy car.

3. A warm home. Weather like this will help you appreciate the basics. Brea's fiance Tom is working/studying to be a lineman (one of those power company guys) he said they had to go turn power off on some homes the other day- what a depressing day that was, he explained. I really am thankful we have a roof over our heads and a working furnace!!!