A dream come true

My goal this winter is to take my kids skiing once a week. So far, we have made it every week! We only go up for an hour and a half to the free skiing at Alta. They open two lifts (that have a little of everything on them- green, blue, and black runs). Yesterday was warm in the valley but VERY windy up in the mnts. It wasn't too bad when we arrive, but by the end.... It was cold. The kids have helmets on, face masks on, and scarfs rapped around their mouths.

This is Ella going under the rope. She loves this game.

The reason I post these terrible gray pictures is because I want to remember forever that it isn't easy getting two kids up on the mnt alone. It isn't easy to always stay patient as I get two kids bundled up in layers. It isn't easy to keep them motivated to stay sometimes. (I have one whole pocket full of treats so that on every lift ride up we can have snacks.)

But...

Then you have moments like this.

Ella putting her hands behind her back crouching down to go fast like her brother.

And this was the last run down. Tyler in the background, Ella in front. Both just skiing down the mnt. There are four good sized hills on this mnt and Ella can do them all. I credit it to Tyler being the best brother ever. He would go slow and Ella would follow him down the mnt turning whenever he turned. This way she didn't look down the mnt and see the big steep hills, just her great brother below her.

This is when I remember, skiing is great. It might take some work.

If I want things to happen, make it happen!

Anyone is welcome to come with us- any time!

Ella with pedals!

We made it out for a family walk/bike ride this weekend. Ella always wants to ride Tyler's bike but it hurts my bike so much to bend over that I tell her to wait for Dad to help us.

This is another reason why we need a Dad in our family. I wouldn't have been ready for this yet. but Darren is great. He isn't scared that they might fall down and cry like me.

You can see the progression she made ....

And by the bottom of the street she was on her own.

Ella = no more naps

We changed Ella's crib to a big girl bed several weeks ago. I tried (it was a bit of a battle) to get her to keep taking naps. But why would she stay in a bed if she now had access to all her princess cloths in her closet. I have since given up but we still do a quite time for 30 minutes occasionally so we can all have some time to our selves.

Without a nap, Ella has a hard time going for walks in the afternoon. She doesn't like to ride her bike much anymore. She is just to tired. Instead she opts for a cozy ride in the double wide stroller. This is how the ride usually finishes....

I want to remember a few things Ella says- I have been writing them down.

The other day she told me after I had done something good ..."I'm so proud of you mommy"

She loves to dress up in her princess clothes. She told me ..."I'm a princess and I'm going to ZAPP you!" Then she continued on with the story telling me... (cousin) Jonah and I are going to fight the dragon because the dragon is going to eat up (Uncle) Nolan and (Aunt) Corie and Jonah and I will have to fight the dragon and kill it and then get Nolan and Corie free. .... The story continued with she and cousin Jonah's brave fight with the dragon.

She told me the other day... "Your a nice beautiful mommy"

I have been trying to teach her about tithing. Paying a 10% of your earnings to the Lord. She told me the other day..."I need my money." So I handed her the bank with all HER money in it. She yelled out with agitation in her voice... "I need Heavenly Fathers money too!"

In church on Sunday during the 1:10 minute Sacrament Meeting. She said...."I'm good, I'm reverent. Can I have some gum?"

We love her!

Tyler loves music

This is one of those things I don't want to forget...

Tyler loves music. He asks me to do piano lessons with him all the time. He has several primary songs memorized. He loves to open iTunes and he can find his favorite songs. As he listens to them he will say things like- Listen to those trumpets, can you hear those drums mom. He loves to listen to the Christmas song, Carol of the Bells. He will replay the first 20 seconds over and over to hear the bells ringing in the introduction

He is very serious when he plays.

This is a photo of Tyler when he was 3. He made his Aunt Nellie play Battle Hymn of the Republic over and over so he could just stand and listen to the piano vibrate.

A few fun Christmas presents

We have been enjoying a few fun Christmas presents. This is Darren's Grandma Hills mixer. My thoughtful husband wanted to surprise me and finally buy me a mixer this year. I do most everything by hand. That includes kneading bread by hand, mixing cookies, etc. This machine is such a good machine after 20 years of not being used it only cost 55$ for a simple tune up and it works wonderfully. We made our first batch of cookies on Sunday. Tyler kept saying this is so easy to mix it Mom. He HAD to help push all the buttons and mix all the ingredients.

We also got two large maps to hang in our house. One of the USA and one of the World. Ella is pointing to were our Harston cousins live in Texas. She also knows where Aunt Nellie lives, and Tessa. We will add more to her map skills as we go.

I want to remember this part of our lives. This is an email I sent to a few friends regarding a job offer Darren was considering. It would have been some accounting but traveling. Traveling and being away from us, his family for part of the month. It was a hard decision we were trying to make, it would have been a new challenge.

Dear Friends and sister-
It seems I spoke to you five friends/sister about the job opportunity that Darren was told about. One night I was particualary upset up the possibiltiy of Darren traveling during the months/years to come. We called our home teacher who came over at 9:30 at night and gave us both a blessing. Immediately I felt calm about the situation. There have been moment in the last 4 weeks that I have challenged and doubted the calm feeling I have continued to have... but I just remember that I felt very strongly that I would be able to handle what ever came from this situation. I haven't cried, or been upset about it since then.

Here is the end to the story. To be fair Darren's company felt they needed to interview others. In that interviewing they found someone they feel will do an excellent job. The Boss came down and talked to Darren today and told him their situation. Letting him know that they plan to officially extend the job to the other guy. ( I guess if the other guy doesn't take it, they could still come back and offer it to Darren)

Darren is a bit disappointed. He is happy with his job but was eager to NOT have to do the company audit again this year. (frankly, I feel that played some very heavy weight in the decision. The audit prep has started and would they be able to higher someone in time to effectively care out the audit? DEFINITELY NOT!)

I feel great about it. And looking back, understand the calm feeling. Darren on the other hand ... is thinking he doesn't want to be in the accounting area is whole life. So I am SURE when another opportunity opens, they might offer it to him, and he will accept. But for now... He is home with me, maybe for less hours since the audit means 14 hour days, but he will be home every night in our own bed--- with his family.

Thanks for your love and support. I seem to need friends who can let me talk and who can talk back...and will bounce ideas off each other.

Love amy

A day downtown with Grandpa and Grandma

Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit us on Saturday. I carried the camera around the whole afternoon so I could get some fun pictures with them. When I got home and downloaded them, I realized I didn't take one single one of the kids and them. I will have to try again later.

We met them downtown at temple square. We visited the visitor centers, the Lion House for lunch (the rolls were GREAT smeared with honey butter), and the new (and wonderfully improved) Children's area in the Church History Building.

You can help Nephi build the boat...

You can catch a few fish off the side...
There were many other fun things but this was the highlight for Ella. You get to put on a big full skirt and they have a tv showing you how to do the dance moves. Ella was so excited to do it but got nervous and wouldn't dance. She just stood and looked at herself in the mirror.
I jumped in with her and in no time she was dancing around.
It was an excellent day. An excellent weekend with Grandparents and a great week at our house.

Friends and Family

Several days ago we had some friends who are basically family over. Tyler was so excited to play with Jane and Ann since they were big kids and could play store (and not loose interest) for over an hour!

For Christmas my sister Renee made the kids a fort. It goes over the kitchen table perfectly. The restaurant was inside the fort.

They cooked the food outside the fort.

Toby was good enough to stay out of their way.

The Fort has a window, a door, a doggy door, fruit trees you can pick, a garden with carrots (to pick) and corn stocks that you can pick. The kids love it. and we continue to get it out when we need a new adventure in our house.

One day I would like to see this picture of these girls when they are all teenagers.

Kate, Ella, and Hope

Do you know how to...

Do you know how to get gum out of hair?

We so graciously thought we should teach you all how to today. For my lovely model I have Ms. Ella. I apoligize for her lack of smiles in the photo. All she could say was, I want the gum in my mouth mom, not in my hair.

1. Don't cut the hair off

2. Oil or peanut butter work great. We used vegetable oil since it is less messy than peanut butter.

3. Rub the oil into the hair

4. Slowly pull tangled hairs away from the gum. Use a comb to get out any little bits

5. Take a bath and wash your hair

6. Dont let your two year old eat the gum after it has hair and oil in it. Even if they beg you.

What have we been up to?

We have been having a busy time lately. Here are a few things we have been up too.

Last Christmas Pat and Seth gave us all of Darren's photos from his childhood/teenage years. This included newspaper clippings, papers he had written, etc... I waited a year but finally got started (and finished) on this project. I have the first 25 years of Darrens life all wrapped up in a nice 3 ring binder!

This was really nice when Darren asked me the other day to find a picture of him when he was two so they could play the "Guess who this is game" at his work.

I picked this picture and scanned it to him. When he came home that night he said everyone at work was teasing him about putting Tyler on a bike with a vintage car in the back ground... Where was his (Darren's baby picture) not Tyler's!?

We got to hang out at Kyle and Ang's new house. Kyle turned 34 and Ang throw him a surprise party. It was a great time. Tyler played some nintendo for the second time in his life. He played for a VERY long time, driving some dirt car around in a desert. He was so happy! (You might notice from this picture he is trying to turn the car left; therefore he had to turn his body to the left! He is just like me when I get/am coerced to play.)

We have been trying to get some good things done each day. A few of the things we try to do... but NOT every day are: Rosetta Stone (learning Spanish), piano playing, Toby for a walk, preschool, and read a few books. I am by no means a super mom, but how do you choose between all these good things. A few every day. That is all I can do.
Ella wants to do everything Tyler is doing. This includes reading books to mom and Tyler every day. This also includes trying to ski the bumps and jumps with Tyler. (This doesn't go over very well yet) and this also includes mom sitting with Ella to help her "practice" her piano. Ella's new love is puzzles though. She does several a day.

I love being a mom. I have two great kids! Also a super great husband!