Wrapping Up 2010

November 2010

It has been a busy year and I am still wondering where the time has gone and how it can already be the week before Christmas 2010. It seems like yesterday that we were putting the Christmas decorations away and preparing for the arrival of Sadie...and now not many months down the road and our little Sadie is becoming a more independent-then-ever  almost 10-month old who has just started to crawl (i.e. rather slither) across the floor to get what she wants. Today, I went to get her out of her crib after her nap and she was standing in her crib, throwing her pacifier at her rocking horse. She also decided (this week) that she is done nursing and just this morning I noticed she is getting a mouthful of teeth.

Speaking of teething, Maggie is teething as well. She is losing teeth as fast as Sadie is getting them. She wiggled and pulled, and "twisted" as she referred to it, all day and worked another tooth out. It is crazy to me how quickly they change, really from one day to the next. Sam is getting so tall, all of his pajama pants are floods and his size 4 T-shirts have been donated because he fills them out. I have to stop and step back everyone-once-in-awhile to realize that they are really growing up right in front of my eyes.

So what have we been up to...Maggie and Sam just completed an art class offered through the Draper Art Council and we attended their art show where they displayed 5 of their works of art, Brian and I were very impressed and it was fun to see them so pleased with their pieces. Along with all the homework Maggie has at night, she has been busy with school choir, piano lessons and ballet, which she seems to enjoy most of the time and both Maggie and Sam are gearing up for another season of soccer and ski lessons.

We are always excited when it snows and it looks like more of the white stuff is headed our way which may also include a White Christmas. The Christmas's I remember the most were the ones when the earth was blanketed in snow. I remember many winters looking out our front windows and watching the snow pile up on our lighted, brick pillars outside the front door. There is something very beautiful and simple about new fallen snow. I love the quiet, stillness it brings as it falls.

I've tried to get my shopping done early this year so I can focus on the importance of Christmas, that of Christ and the simple, grandeur of His birth...the hustle and bustle of Christmas can be so distracting at times. A friend of mine expressed a thought to me a few weeks ago that I have thought about a lot lately. She said to ask myself the following question: how do I make room for the Savior in my life? I've thought about this a lot and I am looking forward to the new year as a good time to recommit to goals and set new ones. I am grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ and for his birth and his life. I am grateful for beautiful music that testifies of Him at this time of year. I am grateful that He lives and that we can feel His love.

May your days this holiday season be truly Merry and Bright...and hopefully not too crazy!

A Recap in photos

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of events. Enjoy the photos.

Maggie celebrated her 8th Birthday. We threw her a Favorite Things party and she chose to do two of her favorite things for the party: pedicures and pancakes. We took the girls to get pedicures (I have never seen them so quiet and so relaxed, it was hilarious to watch them sink deeper and deeper into their chairs). Then we came back to the house for the eating of pumpkin pancakes...yum!

A day after Maggie's birthday, we flew to northern California for the week of Thanksgiving to visit friends and family and some of our favorite places. It was a memorable, enjoyable trip for sure.

The beach trail in Half Moon Bay

Tidepools

A little bungalow at Indian Springs in Calistoga, CA

Indian Springs Seahorse and two barnacles

The hot spring pool at Indian Springs

Brian and the kids on the pool stairs

A little window shopping in St. Helena and yes, that turkey is all chocolate!

Sadie loving her carseat for once

Wine Country

Anna and Sadie, cousins!

McKayla and Maggie, cousins!

 After we got back there was of course all the laundry, but then also Christmas decorating and preparing for Maggie's baptism. Her baptism day was full of joy for her and for us.

Decorating for Christmas

Brian and Maggie before her baptism

Leaves

Saturday was cleanup-the-leaves-and-finish-all-of-the-projects-around-the-house-day.

Busy at work

As I cleaned up the last-night's-dishes-left-in-the-sink, I watched the kids out the window play in the leaves. If I had to choose one experience in life that was to capture the essence of childhood it would be watching my children play in the leaves...there is something very simple and very beautiful about fall leaves.  It brought back my own childhood memories of fall and the plethora of leaves that always fell and piled up in our front yard.

There is something hidden

And there is something found

She emerges

Now he agrees to be hidden

The covering...

and the emerging again.

Donut Falls

The kids were out of school last Friday and so to say goodbye to our warm days in November, we decided to hike up to Donut Falls. There was a little snow on the trail and a lot of ice. The kids enjoyed breaking the iced-over pot holes in the road and carrying the sheets of ice. When we got up to the falls, it was still flowing. Maggie and Sam were amazed at the falling water and the ease of the trail...the last time we hiked there we snow-shoed in....it was not easy and the falls were frozen. It was an enjoyable afternoon. We celebrated our hike with donuts when we finished.

Sheets of ice, like glass

Sadie loved every minute

Iced trails on the way up and mush on the way down

Sam eating beef jerky

Halloween

We had a busy week leading up to Halloween. I made blankets again for babies in the heart unit in San Francisco where Caleb had been and we celebrated his birthday on Halloween. He was born on the evening of Halloween and will always be our little spook. We had a peaceful day on Sunday remembering him. We visited his graveside and left our traditional jack-o-lantern and flowers in honor of him...he would have been three this year, but instead he is busy in heaven where time has no meaning and the eternities reach on forever. 

Our sweet Caleb

Thank you Karen!! for this beautiful arrangement in memory of Caleb

While at UCSF, Caleb received many blankets as gifts, so now, we make them for others.

The kids celebrated Halloween early this year as they were out of school on Friday. They had their annual Halloween parade followed by class parties. As Sam is into costumes lately, I wasn't sure what he was going to be. He chose two different costumes this year, one for school and one for Trick-or-Treating. Maggie was a beautiful, pumpkin queen and Sadie was our little Bee.

The Pumpkin Queen

Costume 1

Costume 2

My Mom made this spooky graveyard ghoulash

Maggie made monster eyes and monster mouths

Sadie wasn't so sure about Halloween

The lute and booty

Moab Day 3

This trip was a farewell to summer for us. The last of the warm weather. On the last day, we walked up a nearby canyon to look at a few panels of some Native American rock art. Along the way, Uncle Andrew showed Sam the bear cave he had been looking for. Maggie stayed back at the house, rode bikes and swam.

The trail up river

Part of the panel

And some more

Sadie loved the elephant grass along the trail

"The bear cave" as Sam called it

And yes, my brother is running for Grand County Attorney

Moab Day 2

On the second day of our trip, Brian, my Dad and I joined my brother Andrew and his local Moabite friends on a spectacular mountain bike ride, almost 5 hours of downhill down the backside of the La Sal mountains. We started below Mt. Peale around 10,000 feet and descended to around 7000. The trail was mostly single track and wound its way down the mountain through forests of aspens, pines and oak. The leaves were amazing, it was hard to take in all the beauty. Sister Wirth kindly watched the kids so that I could go. She made this day possible for me. A BIG thank you to her!

The shuttle ride up

At the start of the trail, below Mt. Peale

Mt. Peale

My brother Andrew on the trail

I told you the leaves were amazing

My Dad, I had a hard time keeping up with him

Brian and I wearing the body armor

My Dad and the trail

One of the many Aspen forests

Mt. Peale in the distance and the oak trees

The oaks and a mountain, quilted of color