Temple Open House

On Saturday, we made the "trek" over to the other mountain to go through the Draper Temple. We were a bit nervous about going during dinner time, but Carissa ate lots of snacks on the "long drive" over! Once we got to the chapel we were waiting to be bussed up to the temple, the wait was a bit more difficult. Then when it was time to get on the bus, they soon discovered that someone had parked their car right in front of the bus route, to get in and out of the chapel parking lot. By the time they realized this, there were at least 4 busses stacked up, and no one was able to get on the bus. So after waiting about 10 minutes, Andrew decides that they need some "management"! The drivers were saying that they couldn't just back up, and they obviously couldn't go forward, so they were basically gonna sit there until the driver of the illegally parked car returned! Well Andrew made the suggestion that we stop the busses on the street, prior to pulling into the parking lot, and have the groups walk out that way. Yes, it was COLD, and icy, but after 3 busses were loaded within minutes, it was much better than standing around. Hooray for Andrew! Who says a government worker can't get things done! (well maybe when it affects them!)



So when we finally got on the bus, Carissa wasn't sure she wanted to do this new activity. She finally settled down and when we got our first glimpse of the temple, she started singing "I Love to see the Temple" while the nice host was trying to give his little schpeel. At least she wasn't screaming it, but he was having a hard time focusing on what he was reading. It was pretty comical.

Carissa wasn't so sure about the tunnels leading up to the temple, but she must have known how special it is to go to the temple. As we approached the door, she just looked up in awe. And was so reverent through the entire tour. We were so proud of her! We just didn't know how she would behave. Then once we got out in the tunnel to go to the stake center, she went right back to her normal volume level!

If you haven't had a chance to get over there, try and make it happen, it is truly beautiful!

Went private

I decided this morning after seeing activity from Japan that I needed to go private....immediately. If you haven't already put a traffic feed on your blog, please do it. You can grab it from the bottom of my right side bar. I watched the traffic for about couple of weeks and didn't notice anything unusual. Then this morning, something very unusual showed up. And I'm still shaking just thinking about it. Truly feel violated. VIOLATED!

If I missed anyone, please let me know that you would like to read my blog. Or if you hear that someone wants to read mine, please contact me. I really don't want to leave anyone out, but I just don't want the CRAZIES in! I love blogging, and love that I can keep up with other families as well, but I don't want to let strangers in with less than good intentions.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Or as Donavan would like to have it called, "Singles Awareness Day"!

I wanted to get a cute picture of Carissa holding the Valentine she made for her Dad, but the crazy girl would NOT hold still, so this is the best of the bunch!

But I did go on to capture this lovely one!

She had her little valentine's day party at her preschool. And she just didn't understand the game. She didn't want to sit on the floor holding her box. She DIDN'T want kids to put their valentines in HER box. And especially if they were trying to give her a treat she didn't like.

But after all the kids had handed out their valentines, and she handed out hers as well, we were on our way home, she suddenly wanted to play the game, and then couldn't understand that it was OVER! So she has been re-inacting the "game" for the past 3 days! She just doesn't understand that sometimes something "new" can be fun too.

The other night Donavan had a "solo night" where he got to perform a trumpet solo with a piano accompaniment. Even though he found his music piece almost a month ago, he only rehearsed with his accompanist for about an hour and half, the night before the performance. (gee nothing like procrastinating!)

Each of the students performed their numbers in front of a couple of judges, and they will be rated, then the top rated students in each division will perform at the state level competition. The judges that he played for were very nice (one of them being his teacher at school, the other was the band director at Riverton High School.) and they had a lot of nice things to say about his performance. And I was very impressed with how well he did considering the lack of time to perfect it. Now he gets to audition for some scholarships in the next couple of weeks, so hopefully he can really shine on the next performance!

I'd love to say that there have been lots of fun things going on to keep me from posting, but really nothing fun has really happened the past few weeks, and I don't really feel like doing a post about Donavan's second car accident in 4 months. Yah, I won't even go there. Just if you see him driving......just steer clear!

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

In preparation...

Now that the bedroom is painted, and the bed is almost ready to be swapped out, we are concerned about how to keep her in her room until it's actually time to get out of the bed. (I remember years ago it was such a big issue with my big kids) I found an article in Parents magazine which was talking about a new product. The idea behind the product is INGENIOUS! Seriously....why has it taken so many years to come up with this????

It is called GOODNITE LITE. Basically it is a nightlight, that contains an internal clock. You set it for what time you want your child to sleep and wake up. Then when it is "sleeping time" the face on the nitelite is a moon, and it glows a lovely, soft blue light. Then when it is "wake up time" the light switches to yellow and it iluminates the sun's rays. It really is the most wonderful invention E.V.E.R. So thank you NITELITE for coming up with something that MAY help to keep our kiddos in the bed past 6am! Keep in mind it is a genious invention, but it's not a CHEAP one. I can't believe I spent this kind of money on a NIGHT LIGHT, but so far it is working. She of course hasn't been put in her big bed yet, but she knows that she can call for us when the sun face is lit up. Now, I'll have to report back to see if it actually keeps her in her bed (or at least her room) until we want her to get out. (Do you still sense the apprehension in my voice, and the hesitation to actually set the bed up?)

By the way: if anyone is interested in a white crib, please contact me. It is in really good shape (even though it's had 4 years of use!) The front gate raises and lowers, and it can be converted to a full size bed (which we've opted to not use because her room is so tiny) and it has a storage drawer underneath. Please let me know if you are interested. I'll be listing on KSL or craigs list if I don't find any "friend" takers first.

I've decided TWO things....

the first being: WAIT until AFTER you shovel the driveway and sidewalks to take your shower!

See how the snow is starting to pile up....just like last year! It's almost over my head. So the tossing of the snow is getting harder. And since we face North, it won't be melting anytime soon!

The second thing I've decided: You don't need to exercise if you own one of these!!!!

Jillian Michaels needs to spend a winter in Utah shoveling snow! She'd never have you lay on the floor to do a crunch....ever....again!

Sorry for another weather related post, I'll try and keep them to a minimum!

My next project is to paint Carissa's room and take the crib down and switch her to her big bed!

Sledding adventure!

Last Saturday we decided that Carissa's ear had healed enough that we could take her sledding for the first time. We've taken her out in the front yard to play, but never down a big hill! So we bundled up (which I always forget how long that takes to do!) and off we went!

At first she was so excited to get out there. Then realized how deep the snow was, and how hard it is to walk in.

Then Andrew took her down the hill. The first attempt was pretty sad. He chose a less populated area of the hill. Well we soon learned why no one wanted to go down that part, it just wasn't steep enough to really get going, so they had to "scoot" down the hill. So the next attempt was much better. But maybe a bit too frightening for my cautious little girl.

Because she immediately had had enough of sledding and wanted to go check out the little playground. And she spent the remainder of the time on the swings. She was thrilled to be on that swing, and got quite upset when we needed to go. (because like always....I was cold!)

And Nikelle was perfectly happy laying in the snow, and eating it!

And on a completly unrelated note. I wanted to share a fun little picture of Carissa when she was playing dress up the other day. This is what the "pretty outfit" is made up of:

1 flapper dress, 2 tutu's, some of my socks, a mismatched pair of princess shoes, a little red riding hood cape, a summer time bucket hat (that's a bit too big) and a bridal veil (do you LOVE how it sticks straight up?) and she had to look at herself in the mirror and sing a little song and give a little wave! Just check out that cute face in the mirror!! (She got REALLY upset when she realized that I was taking her picture!) But I still love to see her using her imagination and playing dress up! It just makes me happy!!

Christmas- a bit late

I tried to get this post done before the end of the year, but it just didn't happen. So here is our Christmas in a nut-shell.

We have a tradition of receiving new PJ's for Christmas eve. And usually a couple of games we can play as a family. This year it was games geared for Carissa. One is called "Bees in the Tree", and it is played like Keplunk. But with little bumble bees instead of marbles, and sticks with little leaves on the end instead of the straight sticks. Turns out she LOVED it! She was pretending to be a bee and "sting" us! OK, after a while, it wasn't so fun for us, but she was happy, so we tried to enjoy it too!

In the morning, the big kids had to wait for Carissa to wake up. Nikelle painted her nails and toenails while waiting! They all had fun going through the treasures in the stockings! Santa brought Carissa a HUGE box full of dress up stuff, and eventually she got down to the bottom of it. Where she found a box of 7 pairs of Princess shoes! What girl wouldn't love to have princess shoes! Thanks Santa...you da' BEST! My favorites were the Tinkerbell ones! (Believe it or not, I did not line these up for the shot.....it was all her!)

The big kids had to wait patiently while they tried to convince Carissa to give them a chance to open something. But they lost that one really quick. So we let her get through her gifts and then the big kids got their chance.

Donavan got some Wii games that he wanted. He also got a hair straightener (hey he asked for it!!) and some clothes.

Nikelle got a cool "Team Jacob" bookmark! Look how excited she was to figure out what it was. She also got lots of jewelry and clothes. She also received both the DVD and CD from the Mama Mia movie, which the two of us loved, but the boys....not so much! They had a hard time sitting through it!

Since Andrew was forbidden to do any shopping for the gifts except for mine, and with strict supervision (LONG story......) with the big kids, we decided that we would give him the food gifts this year! Problem is.....HE LOVED ALL OF THEM!

Almond Roca: I was trying to figure out which one he should get to open first (cause once they are wrapped, I forget what they are. Does that happen to anyone else?) And I knew by the shape what this one was. He told me after opening it that that would probably be his favorite of them all! (I think I can do better than that hon!)

A package of the *delicious* processed meat/cheese grossness! But look....he wants to eat right through the box!

Some salt water taffy. The good stuff from Trolley Square! I BEG him to not rub them on his face, but it seems to happen EVERY time, so of course, the rule is.......you do it, I SNAP it....then blog it! Serves ya right!!

Some gum balls for his machine at work. It's the only time of year he get the refills!

So this year he did pretty good (OK REALLY good) on my gifts. The kids picked out some books for me from a series I've started. Some clothes. And a REALLY cute coat! We had been out shopping together back in September looking for a volleyball for Nikelle, and went into the Sport Chalet. We started looking at some clearance racks and he found this coat and had me try it on. he really liked it but I wasn't sold. Even with it being on the clearance rack, it was WAY MORE than I would have ever spent on a coat for me! EVER! So I picked out another one that was a bit more practical. Well apparently, he REALLY wanted me to have that coat. So he snuck out of the house the next day, and bought it, and had it hiding in his office for the past 4 months! (I really need to be better at snooping around here!) So that was a HUGE surprise!

But that wasn't the BEST one! He knew I wanted a new lens for my camera, but I figured I would just order it after Christmas. Well that wasn't good enough for him, so he snooped around my phone until he found my friend Jen's phone number. Got me out of the house so he could call her up and ask which lens I would want. And then he had to make sure he was home (and not me) when the package arrived! I almost was home, but somehow he managed to get me out of the house knowing it was going to be delivered on Christmas Eve!! So now I have a new lens and I LOVE it! Thanks hon and JEN!

(Sorry for the cheesy smile.....I never get a do-over when Andrew's clickin'!)

So here is one of the first shots with my new lens. I just have a thing for pet-shops! I just think they are SO cute! Here are the few that the girls got this year. There were a few more that Nikelle refused to let Carissa touch, but this is most of them. (the ones missing are a cute little seal and penguin!)

Then we spent the rest of the day watching the snow, picking up the mess. Opening new things for Carissa, and spending the entire day in our new jammies! I love spending the day with my family and especially love when Carissa still wants to read the Christmas story in the scriptures and other books even now, almost 2 weeks later!

This picture just captures the magic of our Christmas morning! Carissa in some of her dress up stuff (including a pair of Christmas socks that are mine!) and doing the everyday things that make her happy! Just look at that face! (Andrew's about had it with the horsey ride though!)