Hello Everybody!

So I know I haven't blogged forever, and there are those who are wondering what is up with us. (We got a phone call wondering where we went on the blog world yesterday.) I have to admit that I realized I like sporadic blogging. Sometimes I get too busy with other things or just not interested in sitting down to blog. Other times, I can't get enough of it.

The other night I uploaded pictures from our camera, and there were tons. So I think I'll put up a few posts full of pictures and videos and let them tell most of the story of Christmas and New Years, etc.

As a quick note, Matt encouraged me this morning to tell a funny story here. Those in my family have already heard it; we couldn't stop talking about it. When my sister was here with her family for Christmas time, one Sunday her family and my brother's family joined my parents for church. Since James is 3 and Aly is 5, they ended up just going to the same primary class, just to make things easier. And my mom joined them. Apparently they were talking about spirit bodies and physical bodies in class that day. It was explained that in the spirit world, we did not have bodies with bones and skin - just our spirits, etc. James jumped in and said, "That must have been pretty squishy." We all laughed a lot.

OK, on to the pictures.

98...99...100

I did it! I had a kind of goal to read 100 books in 2008. I didn't really know if I would do it. After November, when I still had 13 books to go, I didn't know if I COULD do it. But I did it! I just finished my 100th book with 2 hours and 53 minutes to spare in 2008. I did have to do a little cramming here at the end, but that was OK. I listened to a lot of books on CD this month - and throughout the year - and you can do that while working or driving. So I'm not totally unproductive. 

I read lots of kinds of books, spiritual ones, fiction, fantasy, biographies, marriage/parenting help books, cheesy Mormon fiction and some non cheesy really good ones. I read at least 10 books for book clubs, our ward's book club mostly, but also a family book club and a friends' book club. (It's hard to get my stats just right as I quickly just scan over my list.) Looks like 22 were on CD. 4 or 5 books were really for kids, and others were geared more towards adolescents, but I never mind that. To be honest, I read two short, quick, easy, and delightful books in the last week so I could make it. But they count. They are significant books. I don't count Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type on my list for example. I probably read that book 100 times by itself this year. (It's Amy's favorite.)

And I often read lots of books at once. I like to have a book on CD in the car and one in the house for while I'm cleaning. I am often reading/ listening to a book with Matt. Then I have 1 or 2 I'm reading by myself. Sometimes I have a separate Sunday book when I'm not reading anything else that is OK for Sunday. I start series and then take a while to get to further books in the series. And I HATE when I find myself in line or in a waiting room without a book. That rarely happens. I've told you all this stuff before. And I also REALLY HATE spoilers.

It's too hard to pick favorites. I couldn't even pick favorites of each month. I had a spot to list my favorites each month, but I just had to like them enough in and of themselves to make the favorite list. They didn't have to beat each other out. So in a given month I could have anywhere from 1 to 6 favorites. I did gain some new favorite authors and found some series I really loved. More recommendations for books/series came from my sister, Laurel, than from any other one source and possibly from any other sources combined. I also had other family members and friends recommend books, plus book club as I have said. Sometimes it just takes one book by an author and I suddenly want to read everything they have ever written.

Here are some of my favorite author/books/series of 2008. If any of you used to read our book blog (which kind of fizzled out), you'll recognize many of these from my sister, Laurel's list of books she read in 2007 that she really liked.

Shannon Hale - pretty much love everything she's written. Mostly fantasy, a little fairy tale, and one for Jane Austen buffs.

Donald Smurthwaite - LDS writer but not cheesy. He's so good. I always felt good reading his books. I discovered him through book club and was excited to read everything I could find of his (for adults, his teen stuff looks cheesy.)

Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld - I really enjoyed reading these 4 books. They were very interesting, and I got very into them.

Chieko Okazaki - She came and spoke to our stake near the beginning of the year. So I got on a kick and read a bunch of her books. They were delightful and uplifting.

The Candy Shop War and Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull - awesome

Peter and the Starcatchers (and the next two in the series) by Dave Berry and Ridley Pearson - LOVED LOVED LOVED these books. So did my sister and 9 year old nephew although I don't know that they loved them as much as I did. Peter Pan retelling. I thought they were awesome.

The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery - delightful. I am planning on going on an L.M. Montgomery spree early this next year and reading a bunch of her books. How fun!

The Prelude to Glory series by Ron Carter - Matt and I are reading these together. So far we've read 3 of them. They are long and interesting and captivating and boring all at the same time. Sometimes we are way into them, and other times we get stuck and can't read on for a while. But overall, good.

C.S. Lewis -  I went on a C.S. Lewis kick and found out that he wrote some boring books. Who knew? Not me. I liked some of what I read and not others. 

Sheri Dew - I've been listening to some of her books too. They're very good. Just finished President Hinckley's biography today and enjoyed it.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School books - In the last week I read two of these that I hadn't read before. (They were the ones that helped my finish in time.) Absolutely delightful and fun. I can't wait to read them with my kids. (I've already read one and a half of them with my husband who loves them too.)

 

Marriage and parenting books:

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura Schlessinger - I thought this book was very informative. I mostly enjoyed it and appreciated the stuff I learned.

I Am A Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson - totally loved this book

Mothering with Spiritual Power by Debra Sansing Woods - another great one - inspired one of my current scripture study programs (I also have a lot of scripture study programs at a time, can't settle on one)

The Act of Marriage by Tim and Beverly LeHaye

Knocking on the Door

This is just a short soapbox kind of moment. I was just sitting here catching up on others' blogs when a friend in our ward stopped by with the Christmas present they had not been able to get to us before. I appreciate the gift and her kind wishes, but what I appreciated the most was that she thought to knock softly in case Amy was sleeping (which she is.) I thought that was so kind and thoughtful of her - and she doesn't have any kids at home anymore. She does have young grandkids though which might help her remember things like that. I love it when people knock softly. It's so sad when a perfectly good nap of Amy's (aka break time for me) is interrupted by a phone call or the doorbell. I know many other moms appreciate this too. So I just wanted to say thanks Kathy and all others who think to knock softly.

What da ya talk

Today Amy said some great things. I told her we were going to go to Grammy and Papa's house. She responded by saying Papa like five times. A few times later in the day we would say something about Papa, and Amy would have to say Papa a few times.

I told her too that later we could see Daddy so she had to say Daddy a few times.

Also, I told her something about Santa and encouraged her to say Santa. She did. It sound like Dia-da kind of. But I know she was saying Santa.

While Matt was feeding Amy tonight, she looked at the spoon and said "Yucky." (She says "ducky" more than any other word and is very clear so Matt knew she was saying yucky for real.) She immediately lunged for the food with her mouth wide. So maybe she doesn't quite understand the meaning of yucky.

Also at one point while Matt was still at work I said his name out loud. I think it might have been because he forgot something or had left something on the floor where it wasn't supposed to be. I don't know - something like that. (Just in case you were wondering why I was talking to Matt when he wasn't here.) So Amy said "Ma." Not Ma like Mama. Ma like Matt without the t's. It was awesome. She's such a smarty!

Amy in the Snow

Here's Amy's impression of snow. See for yourself what she thinks of it. Don't you love her snowsuit? She looks fat. It's hilarious. I don't know what happened in this snowsuit's other side's mitten. The one you can see that matches the suit came with it. That's what we get for buying second hand things. The other hand is sporting one of her new mittens.





























I love baby footprints!















She would barely even touch the stuff.





























Needless to say, we didn't last long outside. I don't like being in the cold wet snow either.

Free Baby Products

A lady in our ward (Eva Jean) called me today saying that her daughter is getting rid of some baby things that she has and wanted to know if I wanted any of them. She said everything is in great condition and not hugely used. I claimed the double stroller that she offered - we were going to be buying one soon. But we don't need any of the other things. So here's the list:

A car seat - (I don't know which kind or what the limits are. Talk to Eva Jean about that.) She said it's only slightly used and in great condition.

A play mat thing

A swing.

That's all I can remember. I think that was it. So let me know if you need any of these things, or let Eva Jean know directly. Otherwise they are going to DI. Thanks!

FHE tonight

As many know, we have a coloring wall in Amy's room that we let kids use washable crayons to draw on. For Family Home Evening tonight, we talked about families and then all went in to Amy's room to draw family pictures. We think Amy wasn't feeling too well because she didn't want to draw and was a bit fussy all evening. Plus, she was rubbing her eyes ever since she woke up from her nap (around 4 or 5 I think). So she didn't get too into drawing on the wall tonight, but below are the results. As you can see, we both accounted for "Polar Bear" (our next child).



As you can see, our artistic talents are very well developed. I'm thinking about submitting some of our work to many major magazines.




And here's all of us!

Happy Birthday to Me

Last Sunday was my birthday (not yesterday, but the week before.) We had a fun day - after I got over my grumpy I'm-late-to-church-and-Amy-won't-let-me-stay-in-the-meetings-anyway-because-she-can't-ever-sit-still complex. I was just being a grump. We left our ward soon after priesthood/ Relief Society started to go to our great niece's baby blessing. That was fun to see family and meet Talya and enjoy yummy food. It was also fun to be with Jack and Bentley as it was their birthdays too. After enjoying yummy food at JC and Shalee's house we went to see Ty and Abby's new house. It was fun to hang out with them a while, and their house is awesome.

That evening, we went to my parents' house for a late dinner and watching the Christmas devotional. Then we stayed and played games for a while and had a great time with that. My mom and Amy and I ended up playing WAY too late. I think we were in trouble for not putting Amy to bed. We finally left at 11, and Amy was still up. I'd say that's past bed time. But Amy was being too cute to put to bed. She started saying "Aa-my" to mean Grammy. My mom was delighted of course. What a great time!

But my favorite part of my birthday came a few days later - in the mail. Matt's present! See for yourself. (And all you ladies who are or ever have been pregnant - also known as the people who would understand how wonderful this gift is - feel free to drool.)

So they aren't my favorite pictures of myself, but I guess it does give you the best idea of the intended use and also the wonderfulness of the present. So I will show you:

Dancing Queen

Here's Amy dancing to the demo music on our piano. I think she's adorable.

Write Your Own Caption

I just thought the following pictures needed captions. Any suggestions? Nancy, you're really good at this so if you have any ideas, I want to hear. I always love the things Rachel "says" in her pictures. I'm expecting funny/ goofy ideas from Matt too.

#1:















#2:















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#4:















#5:

Why Amy had a Brownie for Breakfast

This morning after nursing, Amy wandered off by herself to the front room. I was still reading in her room so I didn't follow. Matt was in the front room at the time so I knew she'd be fine. A little later Matt joined me in Amy's room, and we talked for a little while. I asked if Amy was safe in the front room by herself. (She generally is, but if the chairs are not turned over she can climb on them. If the chairs are too close to other furniture, she can then climb on the other furniture too. And she LOVES the computers. So that was my biggest concern for where she'd climb.) Matt said the chair by the computer desk was turned over although he wasn't sure about the others. I guess that shouldn't have been good enough for us. A few minutes later, when I went to the front room, Amy was like this:






























She had found a brownie (thank you to whoever left treats at our door last night) and helped herself. By the time we found her, the brownie was almost gone. She was a mess, a very happy mess. We just laughed. That's what we get for assuming she's ok. I am just grateful she was safe up there on that table. We gotta be more careful.

Our New Van!!!

So I alluded to it in a post I just put up, but Matt reminded me that I never posted about us buying our new van. On Halloween, our car died. Kicked the bucket. Was totally gone. The next day we started car shopping. We knew this was coming soon for us, and had been specifically saving up for it for a couple of months, but it suddenly became high priority for us to find a new vehicle.

Neither of us had ever bought a vehicle before, thanks to our generous parents who let us borrow or go with out, and Matt's parents gave us a car when we got married. That was so helpful! So we've never needed to go through this process until now. So the day after Halloween, we started looking. I called my sister, Laurel who has done her homework with car shopping. We were looking for a sedan or a minivan. We could get a sedan to be cheaper, and so it was what we focused our shopping on.

However, that night we found a minivan that seemed too good to pass up. It was a 2000 Toyota Sienna (one of the two minivans that Laurel said were the best and the only kinds she'll ever buy.) We found it from a small dealer who wasn't trying to push it like lots of dealers do - I can't stand going to dealers because of that. It was a great price for what we were getting, though quite a bit more than we planned on spending. But we were so excited.

He gave us until Monday or Tuesday to get back to him with the money and to sign the contract as long as we called him Monday morning to say we were still in. Well, Monday morning (after thinking and praying Sunday about it) we assessed our finances and realized it really was more than we wanted to spend on a vehicle. So we declined.

The hardest part about it was that we needed to continue shopping. I kept looking for cars on ksl.com, and we test drove probably 8 throughout the week, mostly Tuesday when Matt took the day off just to car shop. By Thursday it was down to 2 for us, a Honda something - I don't remember anymore - and a Dodge Caravan. I wanted the car; Matt wanted the van. I just thought the van needed too much work and wasn't worth it. Then I called and found out that the car was already sold. That left us with the van or nothing. Still, I convinced Matt that that van was not the right one for us. He was really sad about that, but he thought that if either of us really didn't want to get a certain vehicle, we shouldn't get it.

So back to square one again. Friday I expanded my search to include the Salt Lake area and focused on minivans. I realized from our experience with the Caravan that Matt REALLY wanted to get a van. He just is more comfortable in them. (Matt has long legs. ) We would be getting a van before too long anyway when we outgrow a car - not for a few years, but still not THAT long either. We decided to just go ahead and get one now. Then later, when we decide we want a second car of our own - we're borrowing Matt's parents' truck while they are on a mission - we'll buy a car.

I found a Sienna and a Honda Odyssey that were in our price ranges that looked good. We especially liked the Odyssey. I called the Sienna's owner, and she was out of town. I told her we'd test drive it when she was back in town if we didn't get the other car we were looking into. We were both so sick of test driving and deciding - I know, it had only been a week - that we both really hoped to get the Odyssey. So we went up to Salt Lake and test drove it. We took it straight to Firestone to have it checked out - make sure everything worked. The poor owner was sick that day and still took great care of us. The van had a few minor problems, but we weren't concerned. We brought it back and went to my mom's to decide how to proceed. We prayed and discussed and looked at finances, checked out edmunds.com to check the worth of the fan, etc. and decided to make an offer. The owner accepted our offer and let us drive away in the van that night. We were so excited!

After that we still had a little trouble because we couldn't get the title right away - we still don't have it - and couldn't drive it without the previous owner being liable. But we got all that worked out. It's temporarily registered under our names - will be permanently when we get the title. And it's on our insurance. So we're all legal. We love having our van! The payment went through, and things are pretty well set. It's very roomy and easy to drive. I love the space in the back - lots of storage area. And Amy thinks it is one of the best places ever to play. Our only problem so far is figuring out parking. We're just not used to it yet in such a big vehicle. But we'll get there.

So that's the story of our van. And here are the pictures:

Christmas in November

I know some of you think this is blasphemous, but we like to put up Christmas decorations as early as possible. For FHE a few weeks ago (a while before Thanksgiving) we put up our Christmas tree and got out our nativity set that Aunt Salli gave to Amy last year. And Amy found a new favorite toy among our Christmas things:

We're goin to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin to the zoo, zoo, zoo

I had that song stuck in my head all morning the day we went to the zoo. Here are a few more pictures.





























Amy is a pro at saying ducky now. So we had fun talking about and to the duckies.

The Zoo

OK, time to catch up the blog again. The Friday before Thanksgiving, Amy and I went with our friends the Catanzaros to the zoo. I was excited about my first outing in the van (besides when Matt and I have gone up to SL in it.) We had a good time, but our toddlers didn't love it as much as we had hoped they would. Joseph was tired. Amy was cold and very unhappy about having to spend so much time in the stroller. But she won't walk where she's supposed to when I let her walk. That's the problem.

I was grateful to feel well though, and we did have a good time together.

Amy's favorite kinds of animals seem to be relatively small ones - we know she loves dogs and cats of all sizes - that move around a lot. Her favorite - as you can tell by the look on her face were these goldish monkeys. She loved them.