Happy New Year!

We have officially seen the end of Christmas
and a New Year is upon us.

The "rear" end of 2008!

We hope you start out your New Year happily!

Revolutionary New Year

You know what they say... the only thing that is constant is change. Sometimes changes can occur rather quickly. For example, take Eli's gummy little grin. I took this photo on our way to Tucson for Christmas and if you enlarge the photo you can see that he only had one little tooth on the top.

I'm King of the World!

This next picture was taken only five days later!

Check out these chompers!

So in less than a week, Eli grew two teeth on the top and is working on another one. Amazing, isn't it?!

In the space of a week many other things have changed. We went from snowy, 30-degree weather to palm trees, cacti and 60 degree weather. I was cycling downstairs in the basement on my trainer; this week I am roaming outdoors, cycling approximately 80 miles with my husband so far. We went from having a car that seemed to function fine; to having a car in the shop needing $1100 worth in repairs. In the space of a week my infant son went from never having met his Auntie Em to flirting shamelessly with her.

It doesn't take long, does it? Just think about how much things can change in one year. Last year we only had one little boy; now we have two. Jonah went from a crib to a big boy bed and learned to use the potty. Eli went from a tiny baby to an active little boy who thinks he wants to walk before he is a year old. My husband and I started cycling for fun, to reconnect, and for our health.

Next year a lot of things may change. My boys will continue to grow up in spite of my best efforts to keep them little forever. After April I may not have my ideal part-time librarian job because of hard times and a budget crisis. These events I can't control, and that's ok. This year I have decided to tackle some things that I can change.

I've never been much of a goal-setter. I tend to try to set too many goals and then give up when they don't all happen. I had mostly given up on New Year's resolutions, however this year I've chosen just three and I am determined to make them happen. I hope that other positive changes result from changing these parts of my life. The first two are personal goals, the last one is a family goal.

1. I will read my scriptures every day. Whether it's a chapter or a verse doesn't matter.
2. I will finally commit to losing a pound a week until I lose the 40 pounds to reach my goal.
3. We will have a family night once a week to discuss gospel topics and teach our children.

That's it.
I have never been really consistent and reading my scriptures. So I hope that the first goal will help me be more spiritually prepared to face the challenges ahead. I hope it leads to more knowledge, more peace, more faith, and more prayer.

I have struggled with weight all my life. I tend to self-handicap and tell myself I can't do it... so I don't. Cycling this year has taught me that I am more capable than I believe. It has also given me a means to accomplish my goal. I think a pound a week is an accomplishable goal and I have plans to get me there... but I won't bore you with all that.

Finally, I want to have a sense of unity in my home. I want my children to know what I believe and I want to share that with them. One night a week we can take time together to learn, grow and share with each other.

Change will happen to us all, but what are you going to do this year to change your life?

I am participating in Wordful Wednesday
(and boy am I word-full today!)

Happy Anniversary Honey Daddy!

On Saturday Honey Daddy and I celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary.

I can't believe that six years has passed already! It seems like just a short time ago we were both college students at the University of Arizona. Each day we looked forward to the hours that we would get to spend together. Honey Daddy would meet me after my classes and walk me to the next class, or my internship, or to work. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be pursued by such a great guy.

Each day we would meet for lunch in a somewhat secluded location by the library where I worked. Nearly every day we would share the apple that I brought and then throw the core in the bushes behind us. We joked that someday there would be a grove of apple trees growing up out of those bushes (much to the confusion of the groundskeepers).

While out on a bike ride earlier in the week, my sweet husband pedaled his bike to our special place as I followed him. Although there were no apple trees growing there, the memory of our time there together remained.


Six years gone by in the blink of an eye. Now we have two beautiful sons, a house, jobs, and all the responsibilities that come with family life. Luckily we still have each other and we are still happy together.

For our anniversary this year we were going to do a bike tour together the week following the actual day, but the tour was canceled. We were disappointed, but we have been spending a lot of time riding together anyway. It had been fun this year to discover new things we enjoy doing together, and it has made this year's trip to Tucson especially fun.

For our anniversary we spent the morning together shopping... alone. It's amazing how much fun shopping can be when you don't have your kids along! Then we stopped and had lunch. We went to a bike shop together and had an afternoon bike ride planned as soon as we were done there.

Of course when we went out and got into the car... it wouldn't start! It was a bummer, but we were grateful it happened while we were still in Tucson, where we could get some help. We ended up having the car towed to a repair place and missing out on our bike ride in the process. After spending a little time with the boys we ended up borrowing a car so we could go out to dinner together!

What a day! Isn't it great to know that no matter what life throws at you, there will be someone there to go through it all with you... hand in hand. Through the good times, the disappointments, the joys, the trials, the heartaches, the laughter... everything.

Honey, I would do it all again because I got to do it with you!
I love you and Happy Anniversary!

Thanks Santa!

A month ago I petitioned the Tooth Fairy to help little Eli's teeth come in. I was uncertain as to whether I should ask her for help, or just go straight to Santa Claus. Well, the Tooth Fairy must have passed my request along because the day before Christmas we discovered that Santa had granted our Christmas wish. Both front teeth had finally broken through the gums!

Look Mom! My two front teeth!

Isn't it wonderful that for his first Christmas little Eli got what he really wanted?! Merry Christmas little guy!

We had a great Christmas and we hope you did too!


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Merry Christmas! Southwestern Style

It is so nice to be visiting family in Tucson; taking a vacation from the cold, snowy weather. I love the way they decorate for the holidays here in Arizona!

We may be lacking in the snow around here (it is 61 degrees outside right now!), but we are definitely not lacking in Christmas Spirit!

Merry Christmas!!!

Adventures of the Snowman Nativity: The Holiday Travel Edition

Yesterday I spent approximately 14 1/2 hours in the car. Honey Daddy and I woke up just after 1 a.m. and got the kids loaded into the car. Then we headed south.

The first hour we drove through a heavy snowstorm on thick, slushy roads. After that the roads were much better. The boys did surprisingly well. We leave in the middle of the night so they can be asleep for almost half of the drive. It was a long day and I am glad that we won't be making the drive again for nearly two weeks!

All that driving reminded me of the recent adventures of the snowman nativity that Jonah has been playing with the past month. Apparently the nativity has become a high traffic zone in our house. With all the visitors, there was bound to be a traffic accident.

It seems that Lightening McQueen attempted to visit the Little Snowbaby Jesus. Lightening's driver Mac must not have seen the stop sign. Either that, or he wasn't able to stop in time.

See the sign? Brake for Baby Jesus!

I have no idea how long the nativity scene looked like this! I was reading books to Jonah when I glanced over and saw this catastrophe. I have to tell you that I was laughing SO hard as I ran for my camera!

Ka-pow! Ka-chow!

I am happy to report that Baby Jesus appears to have miraculously survived this incident unscathed. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for nearly everyone else.


Maybe it's a good thing that only shepherds and wise men really went to visit Baby Jesus.

Luckily we did not suffer any mishaps on our way to Tucson. We are going to have a lovely warm Christmas here with family amongst the palm trees, cacti, and sand! I guess our Christmas will be a bit more like it was at the original nativity than it would be if we were home buried in the snow.

The only thing I am sad about is that we just found out that the bicycle tour that we signed up for New Year's Eve Day has been canceled. Honey Daddy and I signed up to ride 100 miles together near Phoenix and I was really looking forward to it (we even brought our bikes all the way here!). We would have spent the entire day together cycling. Our wedding anniversary is the 27th, so we were going to leave our boys with the grandparents for a couple of nights and it was going to be our little anniversary trip. *sigh* What a bummer. At least I've got Christmas in the next couple of days to cheer me up!

I am participating in Wordful Wednesday.

Wintry Weather- It's Snow Much Work Fun!

This past week we had our first REAL snow of the season. We got between six and eight inches during the day. In order to keep from being buried, I spent a large portion of the day outside shoveling our enormous driveway. The snow seemed like work to me... until I watched how enthusiastic Jonah was.

At first he decided to help me with the shoveling. What a hard worker!

The snow is so deep, Mommy!

After "working" with me for a while, Jonah decided that it was time to take a break and have some fun. I decided to take a break too... camera in hand. Jonah had a fantastic time in the snow. He tromped around in it, he sat down in it, and he carried it around.

It's not too heavy if you carry it this way, Mommy.

He helped me remember what it was like to be a kid and LOVE to play in the snow. Even when you are cold and soaking wet, it's still fun. Snow is really amazing stuff, you know!

Look how light and fluffy it is, Mommy!

It must have seemed like the world turned into an enormous sandbox for Jonah to play in! Unfortunately, snow doesn't work quite the same as sand.

Why won't the snow come out of the bucket?

All too soon I had to get back to work. Good thing Jonah got out the big equipment to lend a hand!

The Weather Outside is Frightful, But the Tree is So Delightful!

It has been snowing BUCKETS outside today! I have personally shoveled at least six inches of snow off of our driveway! To gather more pity, I should mention that my driveway is HUGE. We have a carport as well as a two car garage. That makes for a lot of cement!

In addition to being a lot of work, the snow has been fun today... for my two-year-old at least! While I was shoveling he was having fun snow adventures. So a couple of times I had to take a break and get out my new camera (ooh! ahh!) to take some pictures. I will definitely have to post the pictures soon... not to mention the latest happenings of our snowman nativity.

For now you will have to be content with some photos I earlier in the week. I was scoping out locations to take family photos, when I ran across some nice scenery. Can you believe I have a photography gig already? It's like a dream come true!

Isn't this gorgeous? You would want your winter family photos in front of bushes like these, wouldn't you?


These stone steps with the snow slowly melting off of them really caught my eye. I love the look of this picture!

Finally, here is a picture of our Christmas tree. My husband was playing with the settings on the camera to see what kind of pictures we could get of the tree. I really liked this one. I love the way the lights look like stars nesting in our tree.

So pretty!

I am starting to get so excited to share Christmas with my husband and two little boys! It is going to be great! I won't even have to do any shoveling because we will be in Tucson for Christmas.


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Adventures of the Snowman Nativity: Tool Time Edition

By popular request, here are the continuing adventures of my quirky little snowman nativity.

As you may recall, I was given a nativity where the figurines were all snowmen. I let my son, Jonah, play with this nativity set so he will leave my "nice" ones alone. He is really enjoying having his own nativity to play with.

The adventures of the snow people continue as various tools came to pay homage to the new born King. The shepherd and one of the wise men are somewhat intrigued, however Mary and the others turn their backs on the visiting slotted screwdriver. Apparently tools are not welcome to come see the baby Jesus.

Hey! Who's been screwing around with the nativity?

In reality (or our version of it), Jonah was using the screwdriver as a paint brush. Apparently some of the figurines and the "stable" needed a new coat of paint.

Later when I looked at the nativity I saw that Little Snow Baby Jesus was missing again. Apparently his little sleigh needed work.

Some assembly required.

The problem with Little Snow Baby Jesus' sleigh seems to be an ongoing one. Later I found Jonah walking around with his little pliers keeping a tight grip on the little sleigh. Of course when I asked him to show me baby Jesus, he pulled him out of the pliers to show him to me.

Can we fix it? Yes we can!

I have been having a great time watching how creatively Jonah plays with the figurines. I am not sure how they feel about it though! It seems that all of the excitement has worn Joseph out! He and the shepherd are taking a little siesta at the moment, while Mary confers with one of the wise men about the reoccurring "missing Baby Jesus" problem.

And who is watching Little Snow Baby Jesus?
You and I, of course!

I am participating in Wordful Wednesday.

My Christmas Dream Came True!

About a week ago Honey Daddy put a rather large package under the Christmas tree. I was instantly intrigued because the present was for ME!

For over a week I have questioned him regarding the contents of the present. No matter how many probing questions I asked, he didn't give me any clues as to what was in the package. Usually we just get a present for both of us for Christmas, so this big box for me was a surprise... and he did a good job keeping it a secret.

I was perplexed because the box was big, but it wasn't heavy AT ALL! My sister told me not to get my hopes up and to tell myself it was a nice fleece blanket or a bathrobe. So I tried to keep my expectations low so I wouldn't be disappointed.

We had our family Christmas party on Saturday, and Honey Daddy said I could open the present then. It turns out I didn't need to bother with low expectations. You will never believe what was in the box! I know I almost couldn't believe it!

THE CAMERA OF MY DREAMS!
(The Canon XSi)

Eeeeeeeeieieieieieeeee! Oh my goodness! Wahoo! Can you believe it?! I think I have the best husband ON THE PLANET!

He sure is a tricky one though! He took the camera out of the box before he wrapped it! No wonder it wasn't very heavy! So when I opened the box, my Dad whipped out the camera from its hiding place on the other side of the room and started taking pictures with it. I couldn't believe that the camera was actually for ME!

Not only did I get the camera, it also came with a great bag, an extra lens and a memory card. I am in love! (with the camera AND Honey Daddy, of course!)

I have been saving up for this camera for months! I thought it would take me at least 8 or 9 more months to earn enough for this camera. My husband is such a sweetheart! He worked extra hours providing tech support for a conference at the University. He took ALL the money he earned and bought me my camera. What a guy, huh?!

Needless to say, I am in a state of perma-grin over here.


This is the best Christmas ever (already)! I am SO lucky.

If you happen to see me in the next little while, you will probably get a greeting like this:

I have already taken well over 100 photos! I love it, LOVE it, LOVE IT! The camera is spectacular, the lenses are awesome, the bag is wonderful! Just wait until you see the great photos I can take with this beauty.

Thank you my Love! You are the best!

Baby, It's COLD Outside!

November was unusually warm around here. I was enjoying the warmth so much, that when the cold finally came it has been a bit of a shock to my system!

Right now our overnight lows are in the low 20's, and during the day we make it to the mid 40's if we are lucky. It makes me shiver just to think about it! This is sweater weather for sure.

Just before noon today I went on a short walk with Jonah. You guessed it... we had to go see the construction equipment again! It was too cold to stay and watch for very long. Even Jonah told me, "Mommy, I'm cold."

As we walked home we noticed some cold crunchy leaves by the wayside. They caught my eye, so I snapped a photo.


I couldn't believe they still had frost on them even though it was almost noon!

The frosty leaves reminded me of the beautiful evergreen trees that we saw on our way home from Wyoming a few weeks ago. A light dusting of snow had fallen and it made everything look sparkly and beautiful.

Honey Daddy let me hop out of the car to snap a few quick photos. It seems that we brought the cold from Wyoming back home with us. We still don't have any snow, but the weather forecasters say that we will have five to six winter storms before Christmas. So snow is definitely in our future!

On a warmer note, after our walks I share some hot chocolate with the boys. I love warm, melty hot chocolate... especially mint. Nothing warms me up on the inside more than a nice mug of hot chocolate! I take that back... there are a few things that do more to give me a nice, warm fuzzy feeling on the inside. Here are two of them.

Happy Holidays!


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A Watched Tooth Never Comes In!

You may recall that a few weeks ago I wrote a letter to the tooth fairy, asking her to speed things up with the two front teeth that Eli has working on. As of right now, I am thinking that either my letter did not work... or the tooth fairy has a wicked sense of humor!

Eli has had his bottom two front teeth for a while. When he started teething again, it was obvious to me that the front two teeth were next. His gums were swollen and I could practically see the outline of the teeth under his gums!

I'm smiling, Mommy! Take the picture!

So I have been watching closely for those top two teeth to come in. At least once a day (probably more like twice) I would check to see if the top two teeth had come in. No such luck!

Then a few days ago I noticed that the incisor next to the top two front teeth had broken through the skin! I hadn't even been looking for that one and POOF!, there it was.

Well, good. I thought. That means the front two should be in soon!

At this point the tooth fairy was probably just laughing her head off at me because yesterday I noticed while I was feeding Eli that he has THREE teeth on the bottom instead of just the front two. What on Earth?! When did that happen?!

Haha! You've been watching the wrong teeth!

So I have decided that the old adage about a watched pot never boiling must apply to teeth too. I guess I'll just stop checking for those top front teeth and they will pop right out!

Adventures of the Snowman Nativity

A few years ago I received a quirky little snowman nativity set as a gift. I was in the search for my "perfect" nativity and when one of my friends heard of my quest, she gave me this set as a gift. Why she thought they were THE ONE for me, I'll never know...


I actually prefer that my nativity features statues of people, so since then I have acquired several other nativities. This year in order to make Christmas a little less "Look, But Don't Touch!" for Jonah, I told him that the other nativities were only for looking at but this one he could play with. I put it on our entryway table where he could reach it and play with the figures.

I never realized what great adventures these little snow people had in store!

A few days after setting up the nativity I came back to find the table completely empty. Apparently Jonah decided that the snow people wanted to come visit his room while he took his afternoon nap. After that episode we told Jonah that the nativity needed to stay in the living room or else we would lose some pieces.

The next day Baby Jesus had a visitor in Bethlehem.

Apparently our gingerbread man ornament wanted to get a good look at baby Jesus! I put the ornament back on the tree and set the snowmen back to order.

A few days later I passed by the nativity, and this is what I saw. Notice anything missing?

Has anyone seen baby Jesus?

No worries. Baby Jesus was just out searching for the little lost sheep and asked the angel to help him. He is only a baby after all!

I have had almost as much fun this year with the nativity as Jonah! I love to watch and see what is going to happen next.

It seems the snowman nativity is pretty popular at the Honey House. Just today Thomas the Tank Engine decided to pay Baby Jesus a visit.

I got a kick out of this one because it looks like Mary and one of the Wise Men are pleading with Thomas not to run Baby Jesus over! Meanwhile the other two wise men are contemplating who knocked down the stable.

I suppose really should just get one of those Little People Nativity sets for Jonah to play with... but for now he is having so much fun with this one that I'm not even worried about it.

I am participating in Wordful Wednesday.

Naughty or Nice?

Another week has passed and yet again its time to confess some of the things that REALLY happened at the Honey House. Of course, in order to maintain my image and self esteem, I am going to have to deny that any of these events actually occurred.

I did not have to retrieve a plate from the trash after realizing that I still had some garbage in one hand, and no plate in the other. I am SO not that absent-minded!

I did not have to practically physically restrain my two-year-old so that Honey Daddy could give him a haircut. After all of his haircuts, Jonah is definitely not afraid of the razor anymore!

I did not go on a 20 mile bike ride on Saturday... in DECEMBER... in 45 degree weather. Nope! Only a crazy person would do that!

I did not let Jonah watch TV (PBS, I swear!) so I could get some things on my Christmas to-do list done while his brother was napping.

I am definitely NOT tempted to slice open the tape on the rather large box under the tree to see what is inside before I am supposed to open it. If I did have such thoughts, I definitely wouldn't think about re-taping the box afterward so no one would be the wiser! (Honey Daddy says he will take the present back if I entertain thoughts like these... so I'm not even thinking about it!)

WHAT is in there?!

I do not giggle on the inside a little bit every time Jonah talks about our "kifmas" tree and it's "tinkling lights". That would be completely juvenile!

I am participating in Not Me! Monday.

Are You Sure This Won't Fit Under the Tree, Mommy?

About a block and a half from our house they are in the process of constructing a new church building. This means that there are excavators and tractors and all kinds of construction equipment that I don't know the names for! Needless to say my two-year-old is in heaven.

Consequently we have to go on a walk nearly every day to see the progress they are making and check out what equipment is on the site. Here is a picture of Jonah from earlier in the week. He LOVED this excavator and wanted to "get closer".

Can I drive it, Mommy?

A day or so later we spied this ginormous thingamajig (Do YOU know what it is?). Just look at the little boy and the HUGE... um, whatever. I am pretty sure Jonah would LOVE it if we could just take this sucker home!

Sorry buddy... I don't think that will fit under the Christmas tree!



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek