Sayonara, 2011

Lookie, me no fall!

I'm home from the festivities with two sickies, while Nils is partying it up at his brother's house with the two un-sickies. Nils and I went ice skating today. It was pretty fun. We were a little spastic at first, but got into the groove after awhile. I only ate it once, if you don't count the time I slammed into a guy who cut me off. He embraced me to keep from falling, and it was weird. Love a good, super awkward hug from a stranger. Yeah.

So, 2011, huh? Well, this is a year that I'm happy to say goodbye to. It's been a little craptastic. We've had to do a lot of soul-searching, but sometimes the ol' soul doesn't like to be messed with, ya know? I'm hopeful that the next year will be a little better.

Far be it for me to be a Negative Nancy, though! Amid the craptastic, we have been blessed in many ways.

• Happy, healthy, smart and funny kids.
• Nils' job is going well, and he's a happy dude.
• I became best friends with the dentist, and I only have 4 more payments before we're square. (Provided I don't have to have anymore root canals between now and then.)
• Our Friday night babysitting swap came into our lives this year, and wow. I'm a fan. We love our little group.
• New callings to learn and grow from. Nils is teaching Gospel Doctrine (best calling in the Church, I tell ya), and I'm a counselor in RS (still trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing).
• We ran a half-marathon and didn't die! More importantly, I have had minimal running-related injuries, which gives me tremendous joy.
• Ava has turned into a generally happy child. She's stopped all of that screaming for the most part, and is now the life of the party, cracking all of us up with her silly cuteness. And to think, it was one year ago today that all of that screaming gave me shingles.... ah the mem'ries.
• It was 15 years ago this month that Nils and I met and became BFFs, and lookit us now! We've got us a house, 4 kids, an apparently immortal goldfish, and we still love being together more than anything. 

Who knows? Maybe 2012 will bring a successful camping trip! So many things to look forward to. Happy New Year, peeps!

Thank you notes to S.C.

I had the kids write thank you letters to Santa last night for Family Home Evening. Anders is hip to the whole Santa thing, if ya know what I mean, wink wink, but still drew a Santa portrait and everything. Nice. Allow me to translate:

Anders

 "Dear Santa, I really like the presents you gave me. My favorite is the art case,  my second is the helicopter, my third are the Wii games and last is the car thing. Sincerely, Anders"

Addie

"Dear Santa, thanks for the presents. Next year can I have some more Barbie stuff? Well bye bye love Addie" The illustrations are of Santa, his little elves, and the big elf is Buddy from the movie "Elf". 

Aani

"Dear Santa, I love you. You're my favorite Christmas man. I love you because you give me presents, and I love the presents that you gave me. I'll give you a present. Love, Aani"

We had a great Christmas. The kids were very pleased with the gifts they received. Addie kept saying, "This is the best Christmas ever!", which, coming from her, is a pretty big deal. Boo-yah! 

Merriest of Christmaseseses!

Well, here's our Christmas card, ya'll. We were missing a few addresses from last year- unfortunately this was a one shot deal, and if we didn't get it mailed in the first batch, it didn't get mailed. I am so soooorrrry. I apolllllogiiiiize.

The kids have been out of school since last Friday, and I have loved it. We've been good and lazy, waking up whenever the heck we want, getting dressed whenever the heck we want, brushing our hair whenever the heck we want. Addie and Aani play ponies and Barbies all day long. I'm amazed at how long they can keep a game going. They "pause" their game for lunch and dinner, but I hardly see them in between mandatory meals.

Aside from a couple of last minute, extended family gifts, we're all done. We're simplifying big time this year. We've been shopping since before Halloween, selecting just a few things that we think the kids will really like. Last year we felt like Christmas was big bust. The kids weren't overly thrilled with anything they received, and all of the stupid little filler things, like cheap board games and stocking stuffers ended up strewn about almost immediately. It made me realize that they need very little, and that volume doesn't do anything but overwhelm them and make them bratty.

I heard Addie say to Aani the other day (probably during a paused portion of pony mania), "Aani, the whole reason we have Christmas is because of Jesus being born. Did you know that?" Then Aani said something like, "We have SANTA because of JESUS?" I'm so thankful for our Savior, His birth, His life and ultimately His Atonement, which has the power to heal our hearts and make us whole. I've felt it in my life and know it's real.

Merry Christmas, my friends! May yours be merry and bright!

We continue to live!

Hello! And thank you for coming! I've been trying to write a post for about 3 days, giving a philosophical explanation for making the blog private, but everything I wrote was crap, so I just gave up. I don't know why I felt the need to privatize, and it's probably going to be temporary until I can figure myself out, but thank you for joining me. 

On to pictures! This first picture illustrates the wonder that is Aani's hair. Did you know that Aani is 4 1/2 years old and is now just starting to get enough hair on the top of her head that I don't have to trim her mullet? She's still a little Carol Brady-esque, but she thinks she looks like Rapunzel and I don't have the heart to ruin that for her. 

Behold! Enough hair to braid!

As I've mentioned before, Aani is in a neighborhood preschool where the moms take turns being the teacher. It's been a fun adventure so far. Honestly, all of these kids are great. They get along, they're well-behaved and funny as all get out. One of our fall field trips was going to Hee Haws. Here are the highlights of  Hee Haws, just in case you haven't been there: They have a ginormous male pig with huge nuts. They're obviously proud of this fact, based on the t-shirts they sell that say things like, "We're NUTS about Hee Haw Farms!" When Aani noticed this pig, she laughed and said, "I see his bum!" Yeah....that's his bum. The other highlight about the place is the corn maze. After we walked around that stupid corn maze for 45 minutes trying to find our way out, my hatred for corn mazes was solidified. What is fun about being lost in corn? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing at all. 

Nils and I got to go on a real live date a few weeks ago! We went to dinner and a movie. DINNER AND A MOVIE! We were trying to remember the last time we went to a movie that wasn't animated and couldn't remember. Anyhoo, Los Hermanos in P-town moved a couple of blocks down into what used to be an Italian restaurant. I couldn't stop staring at David, all covered up with his Mexican garb. I can't decide if they covered him to be funny or if they covered him for modesty's sake. Whatever. It made my day.

Oh, David, you naughty thing.

We went to Dairy Queen and got the world's biggest ice cream cone. Mmm, waxy.

So, things have been normal schnormal lately. Ava likes to take off her pants and diaper about 7 times a day. Anders has been reading lots of books, like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and the Gregor the Overlander series. Addie's best friend moved out of the cul-de-sac a couple of months ago, so she's been like a lost little kitty. She and Aani spend a lot time together playing ponies, and Aani loves preschool with every fiber of her being. They're all right, those kids.