Blog Break

I don't know if many people care...but it's been too long. I feel a little like I have been on catch up mode the last couple weeks. My new calling as the Young Women Secretary has kept me pretty busy. Do you ever feel like the secretary gets to do a lot of things that just doesn't fall under anyone elses job description? Plus I am getting big enough that I think I seriously just move at a slower pace. Here are a few things the kids have been up to and into the last while.

Jeremy brought home a big box from a printer at his work and as much as I don't like the space it takes up in our house, the kids have enjoyed it so much. They have spent a lot of time decorating it and they made the inside a haunted house with lots of spooky pictures. They take whoever will go, inside and shut the door with a flashlight to scare them with the spooky pictures. On that note, my kids have played so much better together this week. I love watching and listening to them really have fun and interact with each other. I finally feel like I am really seeing the benefits of having siblings close in age:)

I should also mention that my sweet Truman did tell me he hated me this week. I honestly don't even remember why. I just remember thinking that I had no idea things like that started this early. I expected it from teenagers, but not from Truman. He did feel bad after. Both my children also called me a liar this week as well. I know one time was because I said Truman's room wasn't clean so he couldn't stay at grandmas. Turns out when we got home, I wasn't a liar!


The kids also got to go to their first baptism. They got to go and see their friend Jordan get baptized last Saturday. They had a nice time and were were so reverent. It was a nice opportunity to talk to them about baptism and what it will mean for them. Although it has gotten Prentice worried about getting dunked under the water. I tell her not to worry, that she doesn't have to do it for a while. My dad did remind me that Truman would be getting baptized in 2 and a half years. Scary thought.


These are the footprints we found in the flour from Prentice trying to get to something on a higher shelf in the pantry. It looked like one of those plaster prints you do of your kids' hands and feet. Too bad we can't save it. I guess when you have to get a treat from the top shelf, you will do whatever it takes. At least if you're Prentice you will. You can't ignore a sweet tooth.

We laughed a lot one night watching the kids "hoopa hoop." Prentice would have us hold the hoop, while she would twirl around in the middle, convinced she was doing the real thing.

This picture shows what Truman thinks of sushi, and what Prentice thinks of sushi. I am so happy because Truman has really gotten to the point where he will eat most anything. I love that he is such a good eater. He even chastises Jer for his soda and tells him to just drink water and won't accept any juice or anything if it's offered to him. I can't believe how dark his hair is getting. I think he may be dark with his amazing blue eyes. Fun to see him change.

Post Christmas

We headed up north to spend time with family the day after Christmas. We had no idea we would want to turn around because we were so freezing the whole time. We have turned into wimps.


We attended the annual Ballam Christmas party. The videos are too long to upload, but the kids sang "Jingle Bells" and Truman read a Christmas book about the birth of Christ.

The kids loved being able to spend time with their cousin Lilly.

I really like this picture of my Grandpa Ballam.


We also made a trip to the Planetarium with the Larsens and Grandma Linda. The kids were still a little young to understand too much but it was still fun.




Since we didn't get to go sledding on Christmas Eve, we knew that no matter how cold it was, we wanted to take the kids while we were there. Luckily it snowed one day, so there was enough snow to sled. They had so much fun. Neither of them was a bit scared and Truman even started everyone going off the big bump. I always find it amazing that kids don't seem to notice the cold.



Here is Truman going off his jump.

Lucky for us, the Leonards have a hill in their front yard, where we could watch them sled as much as they wanted while we were warm inside. So after this sledding spot we just let them sled there.

Christmas Eve and Christmas 2010

We always go sledding on Christmas Eve day. We got all bundled up and drove to our usual spot, but in was closed off because of all the flooding we had been having. I guess it wasn't safe this year, so we had to nix that tradition.

We had basically a Thanksgiving dinner since we felt like we missed out on that while we were on our cruise. I didn't get a picture of the adults, but here are the kids at their table.


We went simple and pulled some dough out of the freezer to make some cookies for Santa. By the time we finished with dinner, we weren't in the mood to do much more cooking.

Prentice did everyone's hair who needed it done while we watched a Christmas movie. Grandpa had so much gel in his hair it still looked the same the next morning when he woke up...just a little stiffer.

Here is our Christmas morning! We tried to keep the gifts simple this year because I was really feeling like they had plenty of toys and stuff. They were happy nonetheless and it was a quiet, fun day.


Santa wrote each of the kids a note like he does every year.


Here are some pictures of some of the gifts the kids got. Jer had them trained to open and gift and then throw their wrapping paper into the garbage sack before they got another one. Truman liked his new watch best and Prentice liked her Barbie clothes and "baby" things.







The kids slept in until 8 so we actually got kind of a late start this year (which was nice). We had breakfast as a family and then got the call from Grandpa, Grandma, Danielle, and Monique that they were anxious for the kids to come up and open their presents.


Later that day, Jer planted a few plants and managed to break our water line in the process. We thought it was so funny because Truman acted so upset about the whole thing because it shot mud and water all over him, even though he lives to play in water and dirt.

He quickly decided it was okay and then proceeded to try and play in the mess.

We also had fun playing some games with Truman that he got for Christmas. It's nice that he's old enough to play with us now.

Tuacahn

We barely made it to Tuacahn this year for the live nativity, visit with Santa, and the Christmas lights. It is always one of my favorite Christmas things to do in St. George. The kids were old enough to enjoy and understand the live nativity, and didn't mind waiting in line for Santa because they were so excited to see him.


We made bread and homemade jam to give some of our friends and neighbors this year. When I say we, I really mean Jeremy and the kids, but I was there for support.

Christmas pictures 2010

We did our own photo shoot for our family pictures this year. I try to get some done every year, even if it's just something simple so it forces us to have at least one family picture every year. No matter how many pictures you take, someone in the family always has to take it, so someone is always missing. It was a little tricky coordinating with my dad to get a family shot done since he is bishop of our ward and in the middle of tithing settlement. We pulled him away for about 10 minutes to get some shots. Unfortunately the sun was still about 10 minutes from going down, but we couldn't wait, so even though the pictures were the best we've had yet...there were a lot of shadows. I did manage to get some cute ones of the kids after the sun went down.

Our favorite Christmas picture of our family this year, is the one our neighbor L'Deane Trueblood painted of our soon to be family of five. You can see in the water coloring, she left a blank spot for the new baby and she will fill that in when the baby arrives and we see if it's a boy or girl and what it looks like. This scanned in picture doesn't do it justice. We just got it framed and have the approximately 16" by 20" water coloring hanging in our family room. It is beautiful! We are so lucky to have L'Deane in our life. What a priceless gift she has given our family. Who can say they have an original painting by a famous artist of their family hanging in their family room. Words can't express our gratitude and love for her. We never knew when we built this house that the widow next door would turn out to be such a great friend and important part of our life. Jer and I, as well as our children are blessed to have her in our life.

December Dance recital

Prentice had many rehearsals and performances in the month o December for her "Santa's Workshop" dance recital. She was a cabbage patch doll with two other girls. The first time she performed she was so concerned with who was watching and what the whole thing was all about, that she kind of forgot to dance. As the performances went on, she got more and more comfortable and you could tell she loved being up there entertaining. I had told her that if her hairpiece fell out or part of her costume came off to "just leave it." In her last performance, one of the other girls' hair pieces fell out and she went to pick it up and Prentice loudly told her in the middle of the dance, "just leave it!" I guess she had been listening to me. A couple times during the performances we couldn't find her backstage, and learned that she would run off the stage after her dance and find grandma Debbie to sit on her lap.



Of course Aunt Monique did an amazing job in the recital as well, and was the star of the show.