One good thing...

In reference to the previous post, at least here in Idaho everyone doesn't run to the store and buy all the milk, bread and water on the shelves at the mere thought of a snowstorm like in Philadelphia. I was at Walmart today and they were definitely stocked up on the staples. Maybe more people here actually have food storage they can rely on??? But anyway, its not looking good...there may be another snow day tomorrow (rain/snow mix turning into freezing temperatures overnight so more ice). Ugh!

Snow Day?!?

So today reminded me of living in Philadelphia, where even the chance of snow would cause the city to shut down and my work to go into panic mode and tell everyone to "not risk their lives" by coming to work the next day if there was snow. Our first year there, I had SIX snow days in one month! Granted one of those snowstorms was a typical Utah snowstorm that can drop a foot or two and it took us at least three hours to dig out our car (after an hour of trying to find the right one since we forgot where we parked the night before!) Anyway, today school was cancelled here....for what? As you can see by the measurement, less than 3 inches of snow that accumulated in a 3 day time period in our back yard where it takes forever to melt. I ventured out of the neighborhood this afternoon and for the most part the roads were just wet, with a few areas of slush. I guess it is because they don't have the budget for snowplows etc because this happens so rarely, but come on! In Utah, there had to be at least several FEET of snow for school to be cancelled! I remember many mornings driving to swim practice at 5am when the roads weren't all plowed yet and sliding off the road and getting stuck in a snowbank on the side of the road. I just kept some kitty litter in the bed of the truck and got really good at rocking the truck back and forth to get it back on the road. Oh well, hopefully it doesn't snow too much again tomorrow, Xander and I don't want preschool to be cancelled again!

Rock Band

Ash got his birthday present early (his birthday isn't until Feb 7th) and we spent last night pretending like we were rock stars. It is really fun. Xander was on the drums and Ash and I would switch off singing and playing the guitar. I have video too, but decided to save your ears from the agony of listening to Ash and I singing! Luckily they don't really judge how well you sing, just if you sing the right words and are loud, which is definitely perfect for us! Believe me, the ward choir won't be asking us to join any time soon!

Gordon B Hinckley

June 23, 1910-January 27, 2008

My favorite quote from President Hinckley, "In all living, have much of fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." I admired him for all of the great things he did for our church. He was such a great example and will be greatly missed.

Glow-in-the-dark mini golf

On Friday, Xander and I went with some friends to a new miniature golf place where you play in the dark and everything glows including the ball and putter. The kids had a lot of fun with it, especially seeing whose clothes were glowing the best also. We weren't keeping score, but I definitely think that Xander beat me!

Snow Again!

It snowed again on Sunday and I was actually up to see it while it was still all white and untouched because unfortunately this year our church is at 8:00am! Did I mention that Xander and I ARE NOT morning people? Xander practically sleeps through church (it takes about 10 minutes to get him to wake up and go to primary!) And now, Ash and I got released as librarians so I can't hide in there to take a nap. Ash is now the Sunday school teacher for the 15-16 year olds so he isn't around to keep me awake in Gospel Doctorine (I really miss good teachers like Jenn Stanger!) Even though I loved being in the library, I do like what I am doing now...I am an activity days leader for the 8-12 year girls which is a lot of fun. If anyone has any good ideas for activity days, let me know!

Look-alike Meter

I can't believe it doesn't say Xander looks more like Ash! Maybe it is just the pictures I used!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Playing with Snow!

This year we actually had to use the snow shovel that we bought last year and never used! Well, sort of. It would probably have melted by the afternoon anyway since the front of our house gets the most daylight sunshine. But Xander was really excited to use the snow shovel so we thought we may as well let him since I'm sure as he gets older he won't want to do it! Anyway, Ash and Xander also made a snow cow. It kind of looks like a rabbit in the picture, but from the side you could see more cow features.

Christmas 2007

Christmas was so busy this year! Luckily my friends and I got together to do a gift wrapping party the night before we left for Utah. It was tons of fun...talking, eating snacks, and sharing wrapping paper! Definitely a lot better than staying up all night by yourself! Anyway, we went down to Utah a couple of days before Christmas and stayed until the day after before going home and doing our own Christmas. Luckily, Xander wrote a letter to Santa telling him that he would be at grandma's house and he brought presents to both places! To explain one of the pictures in the slide show, one of my family's traditions is that my mom doesn't put names on any of the presents so then everyone opens an equal number of presents. So we start youngest to oldest opening presents and it always seems to happen that one of the boys opens some of my little sister's underwear, which of course makes for funny pictures and lots of laughter! Anyway, Christmas was lots of fun and we get to spend lots of time with our family, but it is always nice when the holidays are over and we can get back to our normal routine. Now if I could just find a place for all of Xander's new toys....

From the mouth of Xander

*The other day we went to Ash's office for Xander to get flouride painted on his teeth and he had been nervous before going thinking it was going to be like his last visit where he had to get a filling done, but I told him it was easy and only took 2 seconds to do. Anyway twenty minutes later after Xander has talked to every single person in the office and told him all about everything in his life, we were walking out of the office and Xander lets out a sigh and says "That was great!"

*Xander explaining each age: 1 you are a baby, 2 you are still a baby, 3 you turn into a kid, 4 you are a big kid, and 5 (which he is going to be in March) a grown up kid

*Ash and Xander were watching a football game on TV and Ash was telling Xander how he played football while he was in high school. Xander was trying to figure out when that was so he asked, "That was when you didn't have a little buddy right? 'Cause I'm your little buddy."

*During one of Xander's prayers: "Bless that I can be good so I can play the monster game (Halo, I know we must be bad parents to let our child play that game but he is shooting aliens for heavens sakes!)..." since he loves to play Xbox now and is actually quite good at it!

*Xander trying to convince me to play Halo (after he taught me what all the buttons do)

Me: "I don't think I can play very well."

Xander: "Just try. Do the best that you can Mom. Just try. You'll do good!"

MOMS Club Christmas Party

Every year we have a big Christmas party for the MOMS Club with lunch, games, crafts, and of course Santa! The kids all love it! Although they were a bit confused as to why Santa was bringing their gifts in a big trash bag (oops!), but all was quickly forgotten when they started opening their presents and playing with them. The other thing that I love is that the MOMS Club adopts a family for Christmas for one of our community service projects. We were actually able to help out two families this year which was great. One was especially sad though since it was a family who had just moved here with 4 week old twin babies and while the mom was helping carrying in a box, she collapsed and died. It sure makes you look at your own trials in a different light when you see some of the hard things that other people have to go through.

Santa picture

Here is one of at least three visits to Santa...this one is at our Ward Christmas party. Every time he would sit on Santa's lap, he would start to tell him what he wanted for Christmas but then he would stop and say, "You tell him what I want Mom" My little boy, who never shuts up and will talk the ear off of any stranger that will stop and listen to him, was suddenly at a loss for words. Santa is amazing! I wish I had that power sometimes!

Preschool Christmas Program

Here are a couple of pictures from Xander's Christmas program at preschool. Xander's class went first (after a prayer since he goes to a Christian preschool) and recited a poem about the Christmas star and Jesus' birth and then sang a couple of songs. Notice that Xander is wearing a Hawaiian print shirt...I tried to get him to wear something more Christmas-y (like red or green and a little bit dressier) but he said no way, he wanted to wear that. Oh well!
Mele Kalikimaka anyway!