Surprise!

We are in Oregon visiting Ian's family. We video chatted with them Christmas evening after dinner then decided to stay up all night to take down Christmas, do laundry, pack up, and take the new minivan for it's first road trip. We left early (5:30am) Saturday. The drive was made infinitely better when we stopped at the Walmart in Burley, ID (our first stop) and bought Weston a Buzz and a Zurg. Neither boy let go of his Buzz and other Toy Story guy the rest of the trip. The drive was clear and uneventful (luckily). We have been having a grand ole time playing games, eating good food, and catching up on our sleep so far. We have plans to go on a date, see Sherlock Holmes, take everyone to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), and visit some friends. I will post all about our second spontaneous trip in a month when we get back New Year's Eve. Until then, enjoy your Christmas break! We will too.

Christmas at the Bowles' Home

We have had a lovely Christmas. Yesterday we baked cookies for Santa, cleaned up the house, then had our traditional Christmas Eve chicken scampi dinner. It turned out so delicious and both kids at theirs all gone. Weston even had seconds! I love eating off my china and by candlelight. Both of the boys thought the candles were awesome too. We had to be vigilant about keeping Davin away from them.
After dinner we opened up our Christmas Eve presents. Everyone got new jammies except me. Poor planning on my part. The kids had a bath while I cleaned up dinner. Once everyone was in their festive Christmas jammies we sang Christmas songs, Ian read the Christmas story from Luke, then we read the kid version we have. We ended with singing Silent Night. My kids have been rather unpleasant the last few days, and Christmas Eve was no exception. It took a lot of threats to get Weston to sit still by me at the piano while we sang Silent Night. Sigh.

Neither of the boys took any kind of nap yesterday so they both went to be at 7:30pm. Ian and I curled up to watch "It's a Wonderful Life." Such a great movie. Finally we got ready for bed and pulled out all the Santa stuff. It's always fun to stuff stockings and put out the presents. Here's what the house looked like right before we went to bed. Santa came!
Weston had very strict instructions to come straight to our bedroom when he woke up, but alas when he came to wake us up (at 7:45!!!) the lights were on and he was telling me about the surprise (fire truck) that Santa had brought. I got Davin up and made them both wait on my bed while I brushed my teeth and hair and put in my contacts. Wow they were impatient. Finally it was time. They started with stockings and loved all their fun little presents. They kept getting distracted by the candy and the fire truck Playhut though. Luckily we were in no hurry.
After they finished stockings we took a family picture then started on the presents under the tree. Weston loved his Little Einstein's rocket toy and Davin did too. It was all I could do to lure him away from it to open his big present, which he also liked. But the biggest hit of the day were Buzz and Woody. I had originally gotten the set for Davin, but decided at the last minute to split them up and tell the kids to share. Davin opened Woody and Weston opened Buzz. Let me tell you, I will NEVER make that mistake again. Tomorrow we will be going out to buy another Buzz. There were many tears over that today.
Once we finally finished with presents, ate souffle and coffee cake, Skyped with family, and showered it was almost noon. We all went to go see "The Princess and The Frog." It was pretty cute. Nothing super special, but a fun one to take kids to. Davin lasted until about the last 15 minutes. Then I moved him to a row with no one in front of it so he could climb and move around. We didn't end up having to leave the theater! Hooray!

That was a good outing. We came home for naps and playtime. I made salmon, roasted potatoes, and spinach salad for Christmas dinner. It was delish and easy. I decided I was done trying to make ham and cheesy potatoes work for our Christmas dinner and this was a great alternative. We were all tired by the end of the day and I put the kids to bed a little early. Weston was really losing it and cried for 30 minutes before finally settling in and going to sleep. Sheesh. Christmas sure is fun, but hard!, with little kids. I am looking forward to some shut eye myself.

Merry Christmas!
Love, the Bowles' Family

The Final Countdown

Well, folks, it's the final few days before Christmas. Our advent calendars are filling up. The candy countdowns are getting short. There are more presents under the tree every day. That's mainly because I have been wrapping some every night. Packages and Christmas cards are coming in the mail daily. I love that. I am baking and prepping for Christmas day now. My house currently smells like coffee cake that we will eat for breakfast on the 25th.

I am excited to watch the kids on Christmas morning, but truly, this is MY favorite part of the season. The anticipation. The prep. The music, smells, and yummy food. I love sitting at my piano and playing and singing Christmas carols. Last night Ian joined in on the guitar. It was beautiful. I am so thankful for this entire month that we have to celebrate Christ's birth. To be kinder to one another. To think about our blessings. To enjoy all the family traditions we have. To pick out gifts for the people we love. And most importantly to spend time with and serve the people we love.

I feel like my serving capabilities are not very great at the moment. I don't have the luxury of "free" time to go and volunteer much at all, but what I do have is plenty of time at home to serve my family. I feel like I do this by creating a beautiful holiday. Trying to be more patient. And filling the house with music.

I serve my kids all day everyday, but what I want to work on is serving my husband more. Helping him feel my love rather than just my frustrations and stories after a long day. It's so hard and requires me to be so much more selfless, which I'm not amazing at, but I want to try because I love him.

This has been a somewhat rambly post. Sorry. I just wanted to get my thoughts about the season down. I probably won't post again until after Christmas, so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Have fun and enjoy these days of prep and anticipation!

Merry Christmas to Me: Part II

Today I took the boys down to Provo again to pick up my like-new wedding ring! It is so fun and beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. You know how after you've been married for a few (or several) years and you see some newly engaged girl's sparkly diamond ring? You inevitably look down at your own left ring finger and find that, if you're wearing your wedding ring at all, your ring looks slightly faded and less sparkly. You may notice the tiny pieces of last night's dinner stuck underneath from when you did the dishes this morning, etc. It's a little sad.

For the past almost 2 years I have hardly worn my ring at all. Mainly because it didn't really fit and it was uncomfortable to wear. I really wanted to get it re-sized so that could wear it again, but I figured it would be fairly expensive. Not so. It was under $100 to get it re-sized, finally have my engagement ring and wedding band soldered together, have it re-rhodiumed, and deep cleaned. Now my left hand is dazzling again. It's so fun. As I was driving home from Provo today I caught myself admiring it in the sun just like I used to do when I was newly engaged. So thank you Ian! I love my Christmas present! It's like you gave me a brand new diamond ring (for a LOT less $$$).
While we were down in Provo I took the boys to the Monte L. Bean Museum. I figured since Davin loved the animal room at the La Habra Children's Museum so much, he would be in heaven at the Bean Museum. He totally was. He ran around not know what to point and "wow" at next. Weston also thought it was pretty cool. We breezed through it pretty fast, but I think it was a successful trip. Davin could have spent his entire day in there and screamed when I dragged him out to the car. Weston's favorite thing was the zebra. They are pretty to look at.
By the time we finished up at the museum we were all getting hungry, so we parked and walked over to have lunch in the Wilk. It was good times. The kids actually ate ALL their Taco Bell food. It was amazing. I told Weston stories about when Daddy and I used to go to college there, showed him the Brigham Young statue, and we walked through the bookstore and got a treat. What a fun Provo outing.

I also can't get over how glad I am that I don't have to do any shopping! I love not feeling pressured at all that next week is Christmas. I do have one more batch of chocolate bread to bake, all the presents to wrap, I have to go to the mall to get our Christmas See's, and get our Christmas cards out, but I'm not stressed. I'm just enjoying the season. I hope you all are too!

Merry Christmas to Me!

The financing went through. We were a one-car family for 1 1/2 days. It was awful. I'm so sorry to any of you who have had to do that. This afternoon we went and signed the papers and I drove home in my amazing new minivan! I love it! And so do the kids.

For those of you who have left me comments asking for my car buying tips. . .

First of all, I am no expert, but here's what we did this time to find a good deal. I looked for a couple weeks at the local classifieds to see what the general prices were and which ones looked like good deals. This one was actually found on the classifieds.

Secondly, we bought from a small dealer. I loved this! We saved almost $1000 in fees compared to buying at the big dealership. It was a little bit more of a hassle since we had to do all the loan stuff ourselves, but it wasn't that hard. I think that small dealers also generally have the best prices since they have lower overheads.

After we had test driven and narrowed it down to 2 cars we got those dealers' best prices then called around and went to other dealerships to see if they could match/beat those best prices. If they say there's no way they can beat it then you can be fairly confident you are getting a good deal.

Last time we bought a car we got GAP insurance. This pays for the difference between what your car is worth and what you owe on it if it gets stolen or totaled. At the dealership we paid $700 for this insurance. We found out this time around that we could buy GAP insurance from our credit union for only $245. The point is, ask what each charge is above the purchase price and see if it's optional or negotiable.

Finally, I think what made this the best car buying experience was knowing that we didn't HAVE to buy a car. We could walk away. Don't go in planning to buy (even if you sorta are). Plan on at least sleeping on it. The seller wants you to buy it and whatever deal you were offered on Friday will still be there on Saturday.

If you are in the market for a minivan, I am really loving the Toyota. I have read only good things. Sure every seat can't fold flat, but there's no shortage of storage (say that 5 times fast), it's the most reliable minivan, and it drives so incredibly smoothly and quietly. I didn't have to even adjust the radio on/off the freeway. Anyway, hope this helps. Go minivans!

Crazy Crazy

This last weekend was nuts. We were so crazy busy. Ian had Friday off, but we spent the whole day out and about. We started off in Saratoga Springs where we had lunch with our friends, the Miller's, and got to visit. It was really quite fun. Next we drove to Provo. First we stopped at Wilson's Diamonds to get my ring cleaned, re-sized, rhodiumed (?), and soldered together. Then we went down to the BYU baseball stadium and dropped in on my cousin Blake during his physical therapy session to give him some chocolate bread and say hi. Next stop was the Williamson's house. My cousin Karren had generously volunteered to watch the boys while Ian and I went car shopping.

We had a pretty fun time car shopping. It was nice to feel comfortable and in control. We didn't HAVE to buy a car. We knew what we wanted. We knew how much it should cost. We test drove and narrowed it down to a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT and a 2008 Toyota Sienna LE. We decided to go home and do a little more research before we decided. We were kind of torn because we liked some of the storage features on the Caravan better than on the Sienna, but we knew the Toyota was a better, more reliable car. The Caravan was a little cheaper, but not much. We called around to other dealerships to see if they could match or beat the prices on either of the cars. It took up pretty much the whole weekend, but it was kind of exciting to do all the research and figure out if we were getting a good deal or not. Anyway, back to Friday night. After our shopping we went back to get the kids. It was nice to visit with my Aunt Pam too.

Saturday we worked on car research and got the house ready for the Bishopric Christmas party. Ian decided to drive back down to Provo so that he could test drive the Sienna on the freeway and let the dealer drive the Altima and decide how much he would give us for the trade-in. The dealer wasn't too jazzed about our 107k mile Altima, but he did offer us a little more than we owed on it. Ian asked if he could try to sell it privately for more and the dealer said sure.

The party that night was a big success. We just had such a nice time visiting, eating yummy soup, bread, and treats, and singing Christmas songs. I'm really glad we decided to put it together. That night Ian listed the Altima on KSL classifieds and Craigslist. We got a call but the guy didn't show up to test drive it. Oh well.

Sunday was a busy, snowy day. I got released from my Young Women's calling. It was a little sad, but mostly just time. I was called to be the Primary pianist. I'm really excited about that. I'm hoping it will make me practice more. :) After church was my setting apart, last YW presidency meeting (we are still putting on the Christmas/planning dinner tomorrow night), and choir practice. Whew. Ian had another call on the Altima, the guy came, and by the time the kids went to bed the Altima was gone and we had cash to pay off our loan and add to our down payment! I baked another batch of chocolate bread before bed and we figured out how to make the next couple of one-car days work.

This morning we all dropped Weston off at school, Ian off at work, then Davin and I went down to Provo again to pay off the Altima loan and pick up the title. We made it back just in time to pick Weston up. Next on my list is getting new insurance for the Sienna, shopping for the YW/YM party, and finalizing the new auto loan. Things have been crazy, but hopefully this time tomorrow I will be picking up my minivan! I can't wait! Keep your fingers crossed for me that everything goes through and on schedule.

Cousin Visit!

Yesterday we got a visit from the kids' newest cousin, baby Ivy, and her mom, Emilee. They flew in yesterday around lunchtime and got to spend the whole afternoon with us. It was so fun to visit and snuggle baby Ivy and those mondo baby cheeks! It almost made me want one. ;)

Ian took a half day off work so he could have some Ivy time too. Weston totally made Ivy laugh with his jumping-on-the-couch antics, but Davin wasn't so interested in the baby who was getting all the attention. I love his face in our picture though. It's pretty typical of my silly boy.


Today I braved the cold (high of 22 today!), bundled up the kids and ran all over town buying cheap groceries. I don't usually do that, but I had some really great deal coupons. I think it was worth it. I spent $37.49 and saved $21.16. I got 6 pounds of cheese, soup, tuna, peanut butter, canned veggies, pop tarts, Cheezits, Cheetos, lettuce, apples, bananas, grapes, cookies, and sausage. Ok, you probably don't need to know all that. I just get excited about good deals, you know?

Tonight we have the Primary dinner to attend with free babysitting no less! I'm pretty excited about that. Tomorrow Ian is taking the day off again. He worked so many hours this year that most of the vacations we took didn't require as much PTO as we had planned for, so now he has a whole extra day to use before Christmas! Sometimes I wish it would roll over to the next year, but I'm not really complaining. We have a fun day planned. Stay tuned . . .

Christmas Fun!

Last night for FHE we made our posterboard fireplace while we watched "Stalking Santa." It's a kind of mockumentary with all these Santologists and it follows their search for proof of Santa. Pretty cute. Mostly over the kids' heads, but Ian and I thought it was funny. Older kids would probably love it. Plus, I just found out it's made by NieNie's brother, so there's your connection. I am happy with how our fireplace looks this year too. Weston keeps pretending to burn himself on the fire.
This morning we did our annual Elf Yourself video. The kids thought it was hilarious. Weston picked the country dance.

The Holiday Party

This weekend I had two fun holiday parties! It was the best. Friday night was a girls only "favorite things" party hosted by the lovely Sheena. We got together for some delicious food, good girl talk, and to share some of our favorite things with each other. I brought my two winter favorites to share: my favorite Bath and Body Works hand cream, and, of course, fuzzy socks! I came home with lots of other goodies too including lip gloss, body lotion, more fuzzy socks (apparently I'm not the only one with good taste), cute handmade hair clips, and a bag of dark chocolate truffles!

Saturday night was the Verite Christmas party. We always joke that it's the nicest date we go on all year because it's always at a nice restaurant, we always get dressed up, and we don't have to pay! :) This year was no exception. The party was held at Trio. I had never been there. The food was good. I especially loved the appetizers. I also tried polenta for the first time. I didn't buy a new outfit for this year, but I did debut my new knee high black boots that I bought on Black Friday. They looked awesome. I feel terrible that we forgot to take a full length picture. I guess I will just have to wear the outfit again sometime. I also had fun curling my hair, wearing my above-mentioned new hairclips, and playing an impromptu game of Settler's with friends after the dinner.

Saturday also qualified as a special day because I officially completed my Christmas shopping!!! I got the last thing for Davin, so the kids are completely done, including stockings. Yes, you can be jealous. ;)

It was so nice to be home all day Sunday! I didn't have to rush dinner and then run out the door to a rehearsal. We are having snowy weather right now, which I guess is ok since it's Christmastime. Speaking of which, last night I helped Weston wrap his presents for his brother and for dad. He was mostly just interested in putting the bows on and making a treasure map out of the scraps of wrapping paper.

Finally, I know I mentioned Sheena earlier in this post, but she is not only a great friend who hosts fun parties, but she is also a very talented photographer. She has prints for sale in her etsy shop, and at the moment there is a giveaway! Check it out!

PS-We saw Santa at Sam's Club on Friday. He was kind of lame, and even though Weston noticed (he said "Mom, that Santa's voice was different.") he was still really excited to sit on his lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas (a Buzz and Woody and a Little Einstein's rocket). Davin, not so much.

I'm Lovin' It!

This has been such a great week. I have loved getting Christmas up and starting all our advents. We have so many fun ones this year! I am especially loving my new refrigerator magnet countdown (it's a cookie sheet and cookie magnets! How cute is that?!?) courtesy of Gram and Papa Squire.
And my Story of Christmas advent. I love the ornament storybooks with information all about the Holy Land and Jesus' birth that we read each day then hang on the tree.
We also love our Christmas book advent. We have 24 Christmas books. The kids take turns opening one to read each night until Christmas. They love it and so do I. This year the book advent even got it's own special basket!
This week my cousin Tasha was in town with her 3 boys. We got to spend all day Thursday together! We went to the dino playground at the mall, took the kids out to lunch, and then had some nice down time to visit at my house while the boys played together. It was so fun to catch up and be more than blogging buddies. :)

This weekend is going to be one big holiday party! Tonight I am going to my friend, Sheena's, "Favorite Things" party. I'll report on how that goes later, but let's just say I can't wait. I mean who doesn't love girl time+dinner party?

Tomorrow night is Verite's Christmas party, which means today Ian got his bonus. Hooray! We weren't sure if he would get one this year, but I guess since they didn't do any raises this year and business has picked back up they managed to do them.

In other family news. Weston is such a funny little guy. I love him to death! The other night he got on the computer, opened Photobooth, and announced he was taking pictures of himself. He is too smart for his own good. I am a little distressed that we are going to have to put parental controls on the computer for our 3 year old, but apparently he's just his father's son. Here are some of Weston's self-portraits.
In addition to figuring out all kinds of new things on the computer, Weston also seems a little anxious to grow up. He's obsessed with his upcoming 4th birthday. The other night when I tucked him in he said with a sigh, "Mom, every day I wake up and wish it was January 29th." Then yesterday in the car he said "On my birthday I'll be 4, then on my next birthday I'll be 5, then 6, then 7, then 8, then 9, then 10, then 11, then 12! And then can I get a wife?" Um, no. Sorry son. You can get a wife when you get home from going on a mission, but then I explained the fun things about turning 12. Getting the priesthood, becoming a Deacon, getting to go to the temple with the youth, and going into Young Men's. It's not quite as good as getting a wife, but it will have to do.

Lastly, I wasn't able to post the video of Davin entertaining us all after our Thanksgiving dinner, but today I got it to post. He's such a cute, funny little man right now. I just can't get mad at him about anything because he's so darn adorable!

Vérité Christmas Game

At work we have been working on a game. Its kind of for fun, and kind of to show our clients the type of work we could do for them. Its a fun little game and surprisingly addicting (make sure you check out the how to play page). I actually didn't work too much on this. Most of my contributions have come during "meetings" around the pool table as well as some "beta testing" (somebody's gotta try it out). Hope everyone is having a good Christmas Season.

Thanksgiving '09

We had an absolutely wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend. My parents flew in Thanksgiving morning while I baked my second pie of all time. It didn't turn out quite as pretty as my first pie, but tasted yummy. I also brought a green bean casserole to the big dinner. We went up to my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Terry's house in Ogden for Thanksgiving dinner. It was such a delicious dinner. The kids were well behaved and I hardly saw Weston the whole time because he was playing with cousins (love it!). I got to see some of my cousins from out of state and we just had a great time visiting and playing games. Davin provided some good post-turkey entertainment by just being himself. We stayed as long as Davin lasted and really enjoyed our Thanksgiving Day.

I did some early Black Friday shopping by myself. It was pretty successful. I got almost all the stuff I wanted. After my first 2 early stops I went and had breakfast with Mom at the hotel and then she went with me to the other stores. Later in the morning we packed up the kids and we all went to Thanksgiving Point to visit the Dinosaur Museum. The kids love it and Dad had never been. He really enjoyed it, even though we rushed him through with the 3 year old attention span. After the museum we all had lunch at the Thanksgiving Point Deli. Mmm. That's all I have to say about that.
The kids were supposed to come home and nap, but alas, they had other plans. Instead we headed over to my parent's hotel to swim. The hotel they stayed in had a little water park inside complete with kids play structure and adult water slide. It was really fun. It took a little while for us to coax Weston onto the kids slide, but once he did it he was hooked. We were all pretty tired, so after our swim we got dry and warm and went out for pizza.

Saturday was my big concert at the Tabernacle. It was also the big game (BYU v. Utah). I had to be at the Tabernacle by 2pm for rehearsal followed by 5:30pm and 7:30pm performances. We kept tabs on the game from our cell phones though and I was bummed that I missed it. It may have been worse for Ian though, who got to see most of it, but missed the big overtime finish. He must really love me. In case you hadn't heard BYU won! Go Cougars!
My concerts went very well. It was really cool to sing in the Tabernacle. I was so glad that so much of my family were able to come hear me sing too. I really appreciated the support and I hope they all had a good time.

After the last concert we looked at some of the Christmas lights on Temple Square. We ran into my Aunt Amy and her family from Las Vegas! They were in town for Thanksgiving too. It was fun to see them.

Sunday Mom and I were supposed to sing a duet in Sacrament Meeting, but I woke up without any voice at all. I drank mint tea with lots of honey and sucked on cough drops all through the first 2 hours of church. Right before Sacrament we snuck off to see if I could sing at all. It was rough. We switched our parts around a little so I didn't have to sing alone as much and decided to go ahead and sing it. I am actually still slightly embarrassed that anyone thinks that's really how I normally sound. Mom sounded beautiful though.

Sunday was such a nice day! We seriously did nothing. We relaxed. I took a nap. We watched "The Prince of Egypt." We had a nice dinner together and played some games. I loved it. Hooray for being home Sunday nights again!

Monday Ian had to go back to work. Boo. We missed him. I worked on getting the house decorated for Christmas. It was fun. Mom helped me. I did a garland with a big fun bow on it on top of the desk. It really helps make the den feel more festive. Usually it's the least decorated room. Ian decided to come home early to take my parents to the airport. Since this week is going to be pretty busy we decided to go get our Christmas tree last night too. It really worked out good since we were able to leave a little earlier and not be up all night decorating the tree.

Davin was so cute running around all bundled up looking at the trees. We found a good one and got it home and lit while the kids watched Frosty. Davin thinks the lights are the coolest thing ever. He's just so adorable right now. Weston got to stay up a little later and help put on some ornaments, but this year I got to do the tree with fewer ornaments and with the colors I wanted. I did mostly red, gold, and silver. I made the pretty bows too. I love how it turned out. It officially looks and smells like Christmas in my house now.
This morning Weston said "Mom, I'm kind of sad that Grandma and Grandpa aren't here anymore." Me too. We had such a nice time with them and both the boys just loved having Grandma and Grandpa to play with and to read to them.
I am looking forward to all the fun things planned for December and for the weeks ahead to celebrate Christmas.

Being Grateful

Having an attitude of gratitude is one of the things I am not wonderful at . . . yet. I am working on it. There are so many things to be grateful for, even when not so great things happen.

Yesterday my fabulous cousin, Kim, took our family pictures. Just as we left the house to meet up with Kim, I discovered my car had a completely flat tire. I am grateful that Jules was here and we were able to just swap the carseats and get on our way. I am thankful that we have roadside assistance that came and towed my car to Les Schwab. I am not as thankful that every time any mechanic looks at my car they find about $250 worth of work to do on it. Sigh. But I'm working on finding the positive in even that.

Here's the sneak preview of our family pictures! You'll just have to wait for your (practically free) Christmas cards to see the final pick. If you want to get on my Christmas card list, but I don't have your address, please leave it in a comment.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Look How Far We've Come

Yesterday seemed like a pretty ordinary Sunday. I was up early and out the door to a meeting. I scrambled to get the kids and myself ready for church on time. We made it. We made it all the way through the 3 hour block with minimal crying and lots of toys and snacks. Typical. This Sunday was special though. It was 6 years ago that Ian and I got married in the Los Angeles Temple. We didn't do anything remarkable to celebrate. We didn't get each other gifts. But as I thought about our life together I couldn't help but count my blessings. 'Tis the season for that anyway, so here's what I came up with.

It was amazing that I met Ian when I did. I was not looking for a boyfriend, much less a fiance, but that's what I found the summer of 2003. Our first picture. We weren't even really dating yet.
We got engaged at the end of the summer and were sealed in the temple on November 22, 2003. It was a gorgeous California day. I loved my princess dress and my new husband.
We honeymooned then headed back to BYU to finish school. We made wonderful friends and enjoyed married life. Here we are on our 1 year anniversary at Bear Lake, UT. It was freezing and we had to do a project for a class during our weekend away, but it was still lovely.
In our second year of marriage we locked up our apartment and spent a summer in New York. That was such a fun time. About 2 weeks after getting there we found out I was pregnant. It was perfect timing.
We both graduated from the Y in December. In January Weston debuted a little early and we became a full-fledged family.
(Christmas right before Weston was born)
January 29, 2006-Weston's birthday.
The next year of our marriage was the toughest yet. I had a hard time adjusting to motherhood and our marriage had a difficult time adjusting to our new roles and balancing everything out, but we worked through it. Ian had his grown up job and I was spending most of my time with our sweet baby and the rest working at a job I loved. Life was good.

We bought our first house and a few months after moving in found out we were expecting baby #2. Almost exactly one year after moving into our house our family of 3 became a family of 4.
Davin is such a wonderful addition. The adjustment from one kid to two was much smoother than I anticipated. Things have really been great. We have such a blessed life. Sure, we have problems just like anyone else, but you know what, we love each other, we love our kids, and we love our Savior. Things always seem to just work out for the best. Ian has been working hard at Verite for almost 4 years now. He is such a good provider. He loves to be home with us though and is a wonderful father and husband. I'm thankful every day for him. I am thankful for our romance, our marriage, and our life together. I look forward to eternity together, and I'm sure that then we will really know the meaning of "look how far we've come."
We did actually get to go out on a date this weekend. We doubled with our friends, Tara and Justin, and went out to dinner and to see New Moon. I was very impressed with the movie. I really enjoyed it. It moved along better, the effects were better, and the script was better. I don't know if I can say the acting was all that much better, but overall a better movie than the first one. Go see it!

One of our favorite columnists, Eric D. Snider, did a rejected New Moon screenplay follow to his rejected Twilight screenplay. Pretty amusing. Check it out HERE.
My favorite Eric D. Snider lines:
BELLA: Edward! Stop! Put your shirt back on!
EDWARD: You don't want people to know I'm a vampire?
BELLA: No, it's just that after spending so much time with Jacob I'm embarrassed for you.
Seriously, Jacob was ripped and when Edward took off his shirt my friend Tara leaned over to me and said "Why couldn't they use the same trainer for him as they did for Jacob?" It was funny.

Yesterday evening my women's choir did our recording session for our CD. It was a much less intense process than when I recorded Simple Gifts (a CD) with the Southern California Children's Chorus, but still a long 3 hours. When I got home Jules and Ashlee were here! I'm glad they made it here safely because we got about 3-4 inches of snow yesterday evening/night. It was fun to visit, but we stayed up way too late. I will have to get myself to bed early tonight so we can play again tomorrow! I am so excited this week for Thanksgiving, to see my family, for our family photo shoot, and for my concert.

What are you excited for this week?

PS-Check THIS out to get you in the Thanksgiving spirit!
PPS-Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen? Apparently running errands wore the little man out. I sure love him.

Child Genius

I always knew Weston was a smart kid, but last night's parent-teacher conference allowed it to be confirmed. He is miles ahead of his class on almost everything. Before you praise my parenting skills, let it be known that Weston goes to public preschool at West Kearns Elementary School. There are a couple kids in his class that don't even speak English. Things Weston is not a genius at:
-He was unable to tear a piece of paper in half (one of the motor skills tested)
-He was unable to turn the pages of a book one by one (and yet who knows what book they used to test this one. As Ian mentioned, even he has trouble turning pages one by one sometimes)

His highest scores were on Oral Proficiency and Vocabulary. Surprise, surprise. He's such a chatterbox. Anyway, I was mostly interested to hear how he was doing socially. His teacher said that he plays well with the other kids and doesn't isolate (like I thought he might do). She also praised him for being able to calm down and be on task when he needed to be. He is good at focusing on what he is supposed to be doing. Hooray! It was kind of fun to hear about what he is learning in school. I decided that we will tear up some paper to make a mosaic one of these days as a craft and we will start working on holding his pencil correctly. That will probably help him with his fine motor skills.

In case anyone was worried Weston has zero self esteem problems. If I comment that he is funny or cute or silly he immediately (and irritably) counters with "No! I'm cool and smart and I can do tricks and I can do science." Those are his preferred complements. Here he is showing off one of his "tricks."

The Fun Winds Down

Saturday morning we all moved a little slow. When we finally got ready for the day we all went to the La Habra Children's Museum. I LOVE my hometown's children's museum. It is so much fun and just the right size to see everything before the kids are ridiculously tired and done.

The kids and Grandma thought the dinosaur bones exhibit was pretty cool. Davin hopped up there and started brushing away sand just like a big boy. He also roared the entire time at the dinosaur skull hanging in the corner above Weston's head. And look what Weston unearthed!
Grandpa helping Davin spin the tube of silt and water and watching it all settle.
This is in the preschool room. Weston was a little bit old for this room this visit, but Davin really liked the play kitchen, the giant tree house, and of course the rocking horse. This expression pretty much sums up Davin's visit to the museum. He pointed and exclaimed and babbled about everything he saw.
There is one room in the museum that changes every couple of months, so whenever we come it is different. This time is was about conservation and nature. Weston got to dress up in a pith helmet and explore the jungle. He found an iguana! (not real thank goodness)
Weston did the caboose tour for the first time. There are real (not working anymore) trains at the museum, so they take people through the caboose. Weston and Daddy climbed up to the seats to look out the windows.
Davin was a big fan of the carousel. He didn't even need me to hold onto him this time! He waved at everyone and cried when his ride was over, even though he did get to go twice.
In this room there were all these conservation displays. This one showed all the different kinds of fuel cars can use and how environmentally friendly they are. This is the only time all day that Weston would really smile for the camera.
Your Mission: pile as many fake foods as possible onto the hanging scale.
Status: Successful.
After passing quickly through the model train room we ended in the animal room. There are tons of taxidermy animals in here. Davin was overwhelmed and just went around and around pointing and saying "wow" and jabbering. This picture doesn't do it justice, so there's a video too.
It was a great trip to the museum, but we were hungry and sleepy by the time we were done. We had In N Out again for lunch because we could. Mmmm. While Davin napped my mom and I went and picked out ribbon for my Christmas tree, then we came home and she taught me to make bows for my tree. I am so excited to decorate for Christmas! After naptime we all went in the spa. The kids loved their big, long bath, especially Davin. He is just so much fun right now. I think Weston misses being the center of attention a little.

That night after dinner we cleaned up our colossal mess, put the kids to bed, and played Bananagrams with my parents. Ian and I packed up and then went out and sat in a much hotter spa for a little bit. It was just so fabulous. I was really missing living in California. Sigh.

Sunday morning we got up early early and hit the road for home. It was a long day. We drove from 5:30am-5:45pm (with an added hour for UT time) with stops in Baker, St. George, and Fillmore. I was pretty stoked that we made it with only 3 stops. Not too shabby. The kids were great for the drive, but we were all happy to finally be out of the car at the end of the day. I quickly unpacked everyone and then rushed off to my choir rehearsal. When I got home everyone was in bed and I crashed too. SO worth it.

Now we are back to our routine: school, cooking, cleaning, naps, bedtimes, outings, meetings, etc. We are looking forward to seeing family again though in just another week for Thanksgiving. I love it when there's not a huge gap between visits.

Tonight we have parent teacher conferences for Weston. He also had his first book order this week and school pictures. It all feels so grown up! I'm interested to see what his teacher has to say about him. I'll keep you posted. I'm also getting excited about seeing Twilight this weekend!