Mr. Mom

It has been nice having time off from the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and all the responsibilities of taking care of the boys.  Alex has been doing it all.  Aside from some meals brought in by church friends, Alex has been running the show.  He made a yummy egg & ham breakfast on Christmas morning.  He did ham, peas, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole for dinner.  I was impressed!  He has also taken the boys on a couple of outings, to the park and hiking, to get them out of the house for a while.  This is pretty nice!

We finished off Christmas Day with sugar cookies and the movie "Brave".  Fun times!

Savannah's 1st Christmas

Savannah slept most of the day on Christmas.  She was awake for short amounts of time.  I snapped a few pictures of her when she was most alert.  

Christmas morning frenzy

Some people like to take turns opening presents, carefully and calmly examining each gift.  We do things a little differently.  When we were ready (meaning grandparents were watching via facetime), we just said, "GO!"  They all started opening presents at the same time.  I got little clips here and there, but in general I missed most of the frenzy.  I'm not sure what they got, but they were pretty excited about everything.  I do know they got a TON OF LEGOS.  We had a pretty peaceful afternoon, since they were busy working on their new Lego sets.  Nathan & Jared got the "Helm's Deep" Lego set from Lord of the Rings.  That was a favorite.  Owen loved everything ("I GOT THIS!").  Weston opened a blue longneck dinosaur toy first, and basically was done opening presents.  Some little "baby so-saurs" caught his attention later.  

Savannah slept through the whole thing.

Her brothers were more than willing to help her open her stash of gifts.  

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE PRESENTS FAMILY!

 Note:  I pulled out my stocking that my mom made for me and used it for Savannah.  

See the bear stocking in that 1st picture?

Christmas Eve

We sang some Christmas hymns and read scriptures about Jesus' birth.  Following that, we had a simple birthday party for Jesus, each making a wish for something we will work to improve this year.  Too bad we only had trick candles... they had fun with them.  

After cupcakes and a timely visit by our home teacher to drop off ice cream, we let the boys open one present.  Nathan & Jared knew it was going to be clothes.  I didn't expect anyone to be excited about the gifts.  I have never seen anyone SO excited about socks, underwear, and PJ's!  This video shows Owen's excitement, but we missed Nathan & Jared opening their underwear.  They were almost just as excited.

Think of their new Ninjago underwear they have on...  :)  

We'll be home for Christmas!

We came home today!  Just in time for Christmas Eve fun and Christmas Day tomorrow!

Savannah meets the family

Alex's bed and window seat provided a nice view.  I think it was pretty comforting for both Savannah and Alex to snuggle in the window seat.  I loved the seagulls that came around, especially in the morning.  They'd sit on the telephone poles or along the tops of the buildings.  

The boys were pretty excited to meet their sister and wanted to hold her and touch her.  Weston was cute about pointing out her eyes, and mouth, and head.  

My sister Alison was a trooper and watched the boys while we were in the hospital.  I kept wondering if she was doing okay, and whenever I asked, it sounded like she was having fun.  I'm so glad she was willing and able to come!  

  Alison brought the boys over on the day Savannah was born.  She also got them all ready for church on Sunday, and they had lunch at the hospital with me.  Alison had to head out Sunday evening.  Wish we could have spent more time with her.

Savannah Ann

She's here!  Savannah was born on December 20th.  Stats:  8 lbs, 19.5'' long.  It's different to see a bow on her head (I don't think she liked it very much)!  We're still in the hospital, recovering from the C-section.  Savannah is doing great.  Mom is just okay, but making it.  Can't wait to be strong enough to go home.

D-day tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day.  It's D-day (delivery day), bright and early in the morning.  Probably by the time most of you read this, baby girl will be here.  I'm not looking forward to the C-section & recovery, but definitely ready to get this baby out!  Excited and ready to meet her...stay tuned for updates and pictures.

Here are a few more recent belly shots:

I think she was resting different in this one (or maybe it was just the shirt) - whatever it was, this shot has more of the "shelf" look.  

FOUR!

Owen was excited about all his presents, even the ones he didn't know what they were.  I love the one where he exclaims, "I got THIS!"  He has especially been talking about "Jay's Jet", with the blue Ninjago, so he was particularly excited to get that one.  He wanted a blue Ninjago cake as well.  Luckily a simple Ninjago face was great for him.  I appreciated the short amount of time it took to do the cake this time.    

Can't believe Owen is four - we love him and his big personality!

Sierra Nevadas

After the Fresno Temple, we headed to the Sierras in the afternoon.  We camped on Friday night in Sequoia National Park.  I think we got just about the last camping site in the park.  We had potato soup for dinner, followed by smores (roasted over the camping stove).  It was pretty cold that night, but I think everyone but me stayed warm enough.  I had a hard time trying to share my sleeping bag with Weston, who kept squirming out from under the bag.  I basically had my legs in the bottom half of the bag and Weston covered with the top half of the sleeping bag.  

We spent Saturday exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.  We all loved the huge trees - very impressive!  We saw the 2 largest trees (by volume): General Sherman and Grant trees.  There were plenty of other massive trees and cool things to see, like the tunnel log that you could drive through. 

I didn't attempt the climb on Moro Rock (350 steps up to the top - sounded like too much for my 8 month pregnant body).  Alex took the boys, but Owen and Jared were too scared to go all the way up.  Alex brought the youngest 3 back down and took Nathan back up to the very top.  Pretty nice view.  

The drive down the mountains in the evening was so pretty - the sunset brought out 

all the beautiful colors.

We did see a little bit of snow - one of the favorites of the day for the boys.  

All worn out...

 I was pretty worn out too by the time we got home, but I survived.  It was a mostly pleasant and drama free excursion.  

Fresno Temple

We took one last excursion before baby comes (I'm about 8 months now).  We headed to Fresno after our Thanksgiving meal.  We stayed in a motel on Thursday night and went to the Fresno Temple on Friday morning.  This temple reminded me so much of the Oklahoma City Temple.  (Alex went to the earlier morning session, but didn't get any pictures of him.)  

Happy Thanksgiving!

The favorites were the chicken drumsticks and olives!  I learned last year that I didn't need to do a big turkey, because the boys just liked the drumsticks.  I just did a small turkey, which worked out well because it was one of those that you pull out of the freezer and cook in the bag.  Easy and tasty!  I also did green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and rolls.

Weston's pumpkin

These aren't that exciting, but I enjoyed watching Weston play with his pumpkin.  He refused to pull the goop and seeds out of his pumpkin (Owen did too).  He was more interested in putting seeds IN and fitting the stem back on.  Silly boy.  

Oct 31st

Ninjago

This is what the boys wanted to be for Halloween this year:

They love the Lego Ninjago guys and each wanted to be one of the characters.  (Weston didn't really have a choice.  The boys decided for him.  I think he likes acting like a ninja, but didn't want to wear the mask or symbol.  He probably would have preferred to be a dinosaur...)  Each of the characters have a color, name, and symbol.  I had high hopes of finding costumes on-line for cheap, but really was only finding costumes for $15-25 each.  I'm not spending $100 on costumes!  I next attempted to find solid colored pj's or sweatsuits, but didn't have much luck.  They were still going to cost about $12-15 each and I would still have to do the accessories.  I even looked at the thrift stores, but no luck.  Okay... that left one option.  Make them.  Fabric is still expensive too, but I found colored sheets at the thrift store.  Next problem:  I had never sewn pants or shirts before.  But the on-line resources are great!  I found step-by-step tutorials.  The one site I ended up using was http://www.danamadeit.com/tutorials.  She has tutorials for lots of kids clothes and some printable patterns as well.  I needed bigger sizes than her patterns.  Her suggestion was to take some clothes they already have, turn them inside out, and trace a pattern from it.  I thought I could at least put together something suitable for a costume.  They definitely look homemade, but they're good enough for the boys.  And they only ended up being about $6 each.  

We got invited to a halloween party this past weekend.  They had some fun games and lots of yummy food - loved the mummy dogs and ice cream eyeballs.  Nathan is trying to eat a donut off a string without it falling off.  

I decided to make some last minute attire, a knock off version of what you can buy on-line (again for much more than I wanted to spend).  I attempted to do my own.  The glow-in-the-dark paint faded quite a bit when it dried.  Probably should have done white paint and then some glow-in-the-dark on top of that... but I think you can still tell what it's supposed to be.  :)  

I am a Christian!

With the upcoming election, there has been a lot of focus on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon church) due to Mitt Romney's membership in the church.  The attention has brought on both positive and negative effects in the general image of the church. There are in many ways a lot of positive things being said about our faith.  But of course, there is opposition in all things, and the negative attacks keep coming.  One of the things that bothers me is the continued assertion that Mormons aren't Christian.  I don't understand how one can make that statement, other than just lack of knowledge about the church.  Even the very name of the church, The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints, should give you an idea of what we believe in.  I suppose it's our belief in the nature of God that sets apart from the other Christian faiths, but that doesn't change the belief in the same Jesus Christ who came to earth, taught us how to live and established His church, and died on the cross and atoned for our sins.

What is the definition of a Christian, by the way?

Here is one:
Chris·tian  (krschn)

adj.

1. Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.

2. Relating to or derived from Jesus or Jesus's teachings.

3. Manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus; Christlike.

4. Relating to or characteristic of Christianity or its adherents.

5. Showing a loving concern for others; humane.

n.

1. One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.

2. One who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.

I wish that instead of judging us on our interpretation of the nature of the Godhead, we would be judged on how we are living our lives, on our faith in Jesus Christ, and how we are living the teachings of Jesus. (I know, you're saying we shouldn't judge!  But we do have to make judgments every day, on what type of friends we'll have, what type of environments we'll put ourselves in, etc.  We have to make righteous judgments all the time.)

All of us as Christians have to ask ourselves how well we are living as Christ taught. I love this recent general conference talk by Elder Hales, "Becoming a More Christian Christian."  This articulates well what we believe, but also that there are varying degrees that we as Christians are at in following the teachings of Jesus.  How are you doing in the areas of love, faith, sacrifice, caring, service, patience, peace, forgiveness, conversion, and enduring to the end?

I know there are many ways I can improve, but I have to proclaim that I am a Christian!  And, by the way, there is a Christian candidate for president!  Call him what you want, but don't be afraid to elect someone who is striving to follow the teachings of Jesus.

   

just some pictures

Just some random pictures.  The one of Nathan is with his Flat Teacher, like Flat Stanley.  We had to take him somewhere locally for a little project on our county.  Still love how the boys can sometimes fall asleep anywhere.  Jared, Owen, and Weston got silly with the capes one Sunday after church.  Weston is becoming quite the ham (and at times a real challenge).  He is quickly replacing our ornery Owen, who is slowly growing out of his "terrible" stage.  Owen still has a great personality - in the video we were trying to capture his adorable w's for l's, but he mostly ended up making his funny face.      

 (Owen still loves his boots.  They're almost too small though.  Grandma/Baba might have to find some new ones for his b-day??)