Oh the terrible two's. We have arrived.
He's learning and using all the appropriate terrible two phrases now.
"Mine!"
"Don't!"
"Stop it!"
"Noooo!"
But how can you get mad at a face like that? That big bottom lip gives the cutest pouts on the planet. I'm a sucker for this kid.
Even when he throws a sippy cup at my forehead during church.
Today was a snowboarding day. Guess who's getting really good? (It rhymes with fryler.)
I love this boy. He's turning into a great big teenager, but he's still very patient and sweet with me. And he still tells me he loves me every time he leaves the room. every. single. time.
On Fridays Sawyer and I go to his school for Destination Imagination. (They don't have school on Fridays.) It's a cool program that "fosters creative and critical thinking, develops teamwork and leadership skills, and nurtures inquiry". That's a mouth full.
All we really know is that it's FUN! Today the kids played games, made up their own play and had to use these materials to build a tower that could be inverted.
Sawyer couldn't get enough.
We finally got some snow! These three sledded in the back yard until the sun went down.
Jason and I sat in the warm house by the window and talked about what smart parents we are. :) We giggled at their crashes and watched them have a blast together. It was a perfect moment.
Today my sweet grandpa passed away. He was 98 years old.
I'm so grateful for his righteous example, his life of service and his great legacy.
I'll miss his quick wit, his tenderness and his love of french fries and Coke. :)
Here are some of my favorite pictures of Grandpa.
This is Grandpa holding my dad still in a family picture. Here are Grandpa and Grandma surrounded by great grandkids.
This is Grandpa right before he swung off of a 30 foot tree. He was 95!
Shaylin gave a speech about Grandpa at school on Veteran's day. Grandpa fought for 3 years in WWII. He was involved with The Battle of the Bulge and the horrific Death March. He is my hero.
And here we are eating french fries and Coke one last time.
Shaylin had her first volleyball practice tonight. She loooooved it.
And she was also very excited about her new volleyball socks. "They're a necessity."
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
Grandma and Grandpa sent us a big package to help us celebrate with them today.
The kids loved it! They wore red (for good luck), did a lot of Kung Fu and tried to remember all the do's and don'ts of the Chinese New Year. For example:
Don't
Say bad things about others
Break anything
Cut your hair
Sweep (it may sweep away your good luck)
These were pretty easy for the kids to avoid.
Do
Clean your room (They didn't love this one.)
Give your children money in red envelopes (But they did love this one)
Repay your debts (They paid their tithing.)
Gather with your family and have a feast (This was our favorite.)
Thank you, Mom and Dad for making us feel closer to you today. We love you!
And HAPPY HUMP DAY!
It's been a month, and he's finally found the gingerbread houses.
I guess it's time to clean up Christmas.
I'm finally starting to put away Christmas.
Today, I remembered, and wanted to share, the sweet gifts that our children gave us this year.
For Jason - The kids each memorized a scripture that reminds them of their dad. On Christmas morning, they recited their scriptures to Jason and told him why those verses make them think of him. Very sweet. Lots of tears.
For me - (A little background). When I was growing up my mom had a beautiful china cabinet.
I loved it because she kept her greatest treasures in it - gifts and artwork from us.
I recently got my own china cabinet and have been filling it with precious gifts my children have made for me over the years.
For Christmas, they made me some new artwork to display in my "treasure cabinet".
Shaylin drew our crazy family. Sawyer drew our family in the temple.
Macey drew our family with baby Jesus.
And Skyler made me an imprint of his bum. Yup. His bum.
He said, "If you look really close you can even see some butt hairs".
My mom had nothing like this.
I got a filling today. It hurt. And I left looking like this.
It's a good thing my dentist is hot.
