Where did January go?!

So a lot has happened the last 2 weeks!

- Alex went from having been declared officially potty trained to being perhaps the farthest thing from it. Suddenly it's as though she isn't just forgetting to go in the toilet, but purposely doing it in her pants. I really need some good advice here. We have tried everything.

-Heidi is crawling on her hands and knees at light speed and seems to have x-ray vision. She can spot garbage to put in her mouth from a mile away. I thought I had been doing a pretty good job at cleaning the floor, or at least fishing things out of her mouth until I started noticing her diapers. Heidi's diapers and become really interesting. Sort of an I spy game if you will. I found a small piece of pink plastic in one the other day and yesterday I found 2 Craisens and a hairball.

-Of course with our schedules filling up with important things and dates actually being planned, we would all get sick. I can't say we are better yet, but I no longer feel like I am slowly suffocating due to congestion, and that makes a day pretty good if you ask me.

-I also got a hair cut last week! I thought I was taking this huge step and no one would recognize me with how fabulous I now look. But now that the newness is wearing off I realize why Tyler kept egging Kara on to take more off. I cut about 5 inches off the bottom, but when you have long hair, it's just long until it's suddenly short. I also got BANGS!!!! They arn't half as annoying as I remember them being and honestly, when fixed right they even make my standard at home poneytail look classyish. I finally feel like an adult again. Funny how your hair can change so much about your attitude. I haven't gotten a decent picture yet, but I'll post one soon Mom.

-The final big thing this week was that I put together a Joy School group for Alex!!! It was a bit stress full getting everything organized, but I'm loving it now! Alex looks forward to it so much and just loves the music, stories and especially the weather chart. It's with a group of kids who are a bit younger and so it doesn't always go as smoothly as the lesson plans suggest, but I am so glad we are doing it. I've only taught 2 lessons but I can feel myself becoming more of a teacher/mother instead of a babysitter/mother, the lesson plans are just so good. As fun as it is teaching, I am really looking forward to all the free time next week when Alex is going to school at someone else's house!!!

First sledding trip of the year

Last weekend we had the pleasure of going sledding with Michael and Danielle at our favorite sledding spot.

Alex was a bit timid about the whole thing at first, but she soon warmed up to it and then didn't want to stop.

The hill at this place was HUGE. It took awhile to climb to the top but you went insainly fast doing down and just slid forever.

Heidi was very interested in the snow. We had to hold her the entire time to prevent her from doing this on purpose.

Of course I had the most fun just watching Alex play.

Tyler had the most fun with the dog.

It's been awhile since we've gotten a picture with the WHOLE family (including Ashes). Yes Tyler, that comment was for you.

Here was the gang this year. And then a picture to remember the same group at the same spot last year.

Look how tiny Alex was! And Heidi was still in Utero.

But of everyone there, Ashes had by far the most fun.

Hope we get the chance to go again this year.

This IS a new year!!!

This has been a fantastic new year thus far! It's amazing how having Tyler home by 5 every day, and not working Saturdays, makes me feel like he is around ALL the time! We have been doing things like family dinner, family home evening and having family activities on Saturday. It's been wonderful.

Not to mention we have gotten Alex POTTY TRAINED!!!!! Yes, this is the most significant achievement of my life. Only having to change one kids diapers suddenly seems like a vacation.

Heidi is now crawling! I still can't believe that one. She switches between army crawl and hands and knees and always beelines straight for the bathroom whenever we leave the door open. She is also trying to pull up on everything and I find her on her knees trying to stand most of the time. Like I said, it's been a fantastic new year, full of wonderful changes!

I forgot to mention in the christmas review, that Christmas Day we got to talk to my little brother Stephen who will be coming home from his mission to Brazil in July! That was a LOT of fun, but of course it made us miss him all the more. AND we had a wonderful visit with my old friend Brianna! She has all but convinced us to move to North Carolina where she is attending Medical School. That was one of those great three hour conversations that felt like 10 minutes.

I was interviewing Alex for her memory book yesterday, asking all sorts of questions to her. It was pretty funny, here are some answers......

1. What is your favorite thing to do? - "Play with Archie, and Kate and Uncle Ben."

2. What is your favorite toy? -" Cheese is my special toy."

3. Who is your favorite person to play with? "Ashes (the dog) is my special friend to play with."

4. If you could do anything you want, what would it be? -"Clean up."

5. What do you want to be when you grow up? -"The Sun."

6. What makes you happy? -"Pie."

7. What do you want for your birthday? " A special pink baby with a dress and a special pink barn."

Christmas part 4

A few days after Christmas my Grandma came for a visit to see her great grandchildren. It had been a long time since we had seen her last and it was so fun to catch up.

Alex and Heidi both warmed right up to her, although you wouldn't be able to tell from the pictures.

What a beautiful bunch of girls.

This was our attempt at a 4 generation shot. Mom's and daughters. Alex wasn't thrilled about the idea.

Tyler found that a bit of jumping cheered her up.

Unfortunatly a big storm was rolling in and Grandma had to drive home before it hit so we only got to see her for a day. Alex was sad to see her Great Grandma "Anderson" go and kept talking about visiting her the next day.

The week went by fast and on New Years Eve we rented a few movies and had the greatest dinner ever. It was our own melting pot. We did a fondue smorgesborge and completely gorged on all things cheesy and fried and chocolaty. I think for the first time since we got married Tyler and I were both awake at midnight and finally rung in the new year with a kiss.

The next day we drove to Worland, Wyoming to visit my other grandparents.

It was nice to just sit around, relax and chat while the boy's watched football.

Alex and Heidi got to know their other Great Grandparents as well and Alex absolutely adored sitting on her Grandma's lap reading stories. This might have been my favorite moment of the whole vacation.

It was about -12 when Tyler and Grandpa went out to the farm, Grandpa had operated on a cow earlier in the day and the heater wasn't working so they went to try and fix it. Mom and David were off running errands and so it was just Me, Grandma and the girls at home. Alex and Grandma were goofing off together and it was just so cute!!! This might be one of my favorite pictures of all time.

Then of course I went on a picture spree and made everyone gather around to pose for me. We planned on getting up at 3am again and I wanted some pictures to remember the day, of course I didn't thin of it until bedtime.

Heidi and her Great Grandpa Asay. It's so fun watching other people cherish your kids.

Alex was such a goof around her Grandpa.

Here are a few of my favorite people in one of my favorite places.

Once again Alex was the star of the evening.

The next day we woke up early and drove through FREEZING wyoming to beautiful Utah. We went from running the heater on high for hours to turning it to cool just about the minute we hit the Utah border. That is also when everything started looking like we were driving through a christmas book.

And that was it. Soon we were home and the vacation was over. Two weeks without all the normal distractions like homework, TV, Internet and that constant nagging to keep the house clean, sure did everyone good though. We are all wonderfully refreshed and ready for the new year. It's only been 10 days but so far it's been a fantastic year, I honestly couldn't be happier.

Christmas part 3

Christmas Day was one of the best that I can remember having since I was a kid! Alex woke up and went through the house knocking on doors and calling out "Santa came! Santa came!" She made sure to help EVERYONE open ALL of the presents under the tree.

This was my favorite present.

Ok, I really liked this one too.

Tyler and I exchanged Magazine subscriptions (Tyler got me Food Network and I got him backyard poultry. Yeah, the cashier at Borders laughed his head off. ) We also made up some great homemade coupons for each other. Alex got everyone Woppers, except Heidi who she specifically chose a porcelain piggy bank from the dollar store.

My favorite part was being with family and watching Alex enjoy the season, but I got some really fantastic gifts as well that I just have to brag about.......

We are now proud owners of the mother of all wheat grinders !!! I was very excited about this gift. We have been adding wheat flour to just about everything we eat now. I also got the coolest baguette pan you have ever seen! The only problem is that it takes some skill to make perfect baguettes, I'm working on that part. I was also given this fantastic multi function cheese grater, I can't even describe it, but it actually makes grating cheese fun. The new kitchen timer has made all my dreams come true, and then there was the blanket that is so warm and cuddly, I fall asleep after about 4 seconds when I'm under it. We also got the visual resource DVDs for the Doctrine and Covenants and they are really good, we have watched a lot of them already! And I was so excited that the family got all seasons of Doctor Quinn on DVD!!!

But enough about gifts.

David secured the title of favorite Uncle with Heidi.

I was once considered to be a tall girl. Until jr. high I was always the tallest in the class. I feel rather short these days.

Unfortunately it was FREEZING the entire 2 weeks we were in Montana. Alex got to play outside once for about an hour before it started to snow.

She immediately found all her old favorite places though.

There really is no place like home.

I thought it was cold in Utah, but in Billings we used the porch as overflow for the freezer, everyday for 2 weeks.

I was also aghast at the unplowed roads. I never remember minding them while driving around at 15, but after living in Utah for 7 years, i've lost my winter driving edge.

Heidi really turned into a little person the last 2 weeks.

She is much more serious than her sister at that age, but still a goofball.

Here is one of the matching Christmas dresses my mother-in-law helped me make. I'll have to post a picture once I can get both kids together and happy in their dresses at the same time.

Christmas Eve

Unfortunately we didn't really drive around and look at lights this year, but we did have a favorite display we just happened across.

Actually, Favorite might be a strong word. I still can't quite figure out this display.

Christmas eve day we celebrated with some good friends who came over to help us burn a pile of sticks.

This may have been Tyler's favorite part of the vacation.

Many hands make light work, but really only about 4 people did anything while the rest of us stood around and talked. I know the talkers had a good time, not sure about the workers.

This was Alex's reaction to being cut off from marshmallows.

It wasn't a very big fire (as the Asay bonfires go) but it really was that hot. You had to sacrifice your eyebrows to get a decently toasted marshmallow.

Alex just loved being with Grandma Asay, and followed her just about everywhere she went.

Heidi got friendly with the farm animals.

That night we celebrated with a wonderful meal. I even got addicted to pecan pie. We sang songs and did a live nativity. This was my favorite part. Everyone graciously participated.

Alex was Mary, and Heidi and I were shepherds.

Poor Heidi was getting sick right as we left on vacation, and it hit her HARD just before Christmas. She was so stuffed up and feeling terrible, it was awful. There were a few nights where Tyler and I took turns staying up watching movies all night while holding Heidi upright so she could breath. Christmas Eve she was just starting to get better, but this picture about sums up her sad pre-Christmas.

We opened up our PJ's that night and then put the kids to bed and played games while eating junk, it was a pretty fun time.