Merry Christmas!

We hope that your holidays are merry and bright. Enjoy the time as families and be grateful for your blessings, as we are. We love all of you!

Best Friends!

I'm so glad they are good friends. They play really well together and have lots of silly fun. Little Bug always helps his sissy when she needs it. And Baby Darlin' Girl is always sympathetic to her brother when he gets in trouble. She goes to "time out" with him even if she isn't in trouble.

I Am a Child of God

This is our favorite song. I was so surprised when Little Bug sang the whole thing all by himself. I had to ask him to do it agin to get it on video. Baby Darlin' Girl almost has it down too. Hope you enjoy!

Our little Picasso

Little Bug is quite the artist. He loves to color and draw. We are personally responsible for a major part of deforesting the planet. He does color on both sides though.

Doing what she does best.

Darlin' Baby Girl is so funny. She loves to do the silliest things. She even makes herself laugh. She is such a happy, sweet girl.

Great Kids!

Little Bug and Darlin' Baby Girl always look so cute on Sundays that I decided to take some pictures. Darlin' Baby Girl is finally letting me do something with her hair. She always says, "I won't cry. I'm alright. Don't worry about me." I haven't figured out how to twist those teent tiny rubber bands in her hair without pulling, at least a little. They both love Nursery and singing songs. They shake hands with all who go by and tell everyone to bow their heads during prayer. I get told how cute they are all the time, don't I know it.

Back to Work!

It sure was great to have T home this summer. We had lots of fun and adventures, but now it is time for him to go back to work. Little Bug took care of the shackles. I thought this was so funny. I wish I could get him to do this in the kitchen every day.

To Zion

Little Bug and Baby Darlin' Girl were invited to participate in our Stake's Pioneer Day Talent Show with some other kids from our ward. Grammy made Little Bug's shirt and Baby Darlin' Girl's pioneer outfit. They both learned the song and actions. I was so surprised that they stayed up there and did the whole thing. I think they were by far the cutest performers of the evening.

Smiley Faces

I am always trying to get you to pose for pictures and it usually doesn't work, but this time you both wanted me to take your pictures, so you could see yourselves on the camera. I love you both!

A Great Visit

We were sure happy to have Grandma and Grandpa from AZ come for a visit. You both were so happy to see your Grammy! We enjoyed a morning at Wallace Lake, a day in MT at the Lost Trail Hot Springs, Darby and surrounding forest. We loved playing in the pool and squirting everyone with squirt guns. Thanks for all the fun and love.

Love to Read!

You two love books! I hope you keep reading. We can't wait till you can read the words yourself and then it will open up a whole other world. Bring on the books.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Now it's Baby Darlin' Girl's turn to be the birthday girl. We love you! You are so wonderful and we look forward to lots more silliness. Another gluten and dairy free cake; it was even egg free too. We all loved it too. You loved your Little Mommy toys. You will make a great mommy too.

Happy Easter!

Kids had a great time picking up Easter Eggs in town this year. It was quite chilly, but fun to get out. We have loved being back in ID!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Work lasted longer than we anticipated so we were able to spend Little Bug's 3rd birthday in WA with Grandma and Grandpa. We had lots of fun opening presents and eating our first gluten and casein free cake. It was actually quite good. Baby Darlin' Girl wanted it to be her special day too.

Tacoma Zoo

We also were able to meet my good friend, W, and her daughter, C, at the Tacoma Zoo for a fun afternoon. W and I have known each other since my freshman year in college. Her family recently moved to WA, so it was nice to see them. Little Bug's favorite animal was the polar bear and Baby Darlin' Girl liked the tiger.

La Push, Baby! It's La Push.

LaPush on the Quileute Indian Reservation was so amazing. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It also features prominently in the Twilight books too. These are some of my favorite pics.

Grandma and Grandpa

We enjoyed staying with T's folks while in WA. The kids had a great time getting to know their Grandma and Grandpa better. They loved stories with Grandma and drawing with Grandpa.
We walked around the lake they lived on and played a lot. Thanks for having us for so long. We love you!

Twilight

We went to Washington in Feb and Mar with T who had some work in Seattle to do. I was excited because we would only be a few hours away from where the Twilight books are set in Forks, La Push, and Port Angeles, WA. We spent a weekend there and saw all the sights. Most of the locals think it's crazy - all the hype, but some definitely were cashing in on the popularity. T was a good sport taking me around to get pictures, so I tried to be equally understanding when he went on a guided steelhead fishing trip.



We saw the hospital where Dr. Cullen works and the outdoor store where Bella worked. They even designated a house in town as Bella's house and a local B&B called themselves The Cullen House. All the restaurants had Twilight menus too. It was crazy!

12 Years!!!!

I'm more in love with you every day that I get to be with you. Being your wife and a mom to our kids is the best thing to ever happen to me. I love you so much and miss you every moment we aren't together. Thank you for taking the absolute best care of us. You are the most intelligent and hard-working man I know. I can't imagine my life without you. Thanks Grammy for the night out. We got to have dinner at a nice place and see a movie in a theatre. Wahoo!!!

Cousins!!

Uncle Kevin, Aunt Tammy and Kyle and Caleb came to visit us after Christmas from California. We played and ate and had lots of fun. We had a super birthday dinner (mine!) in Sedona and went to the Festival of Lights. It was nice for Little Bug to have some boys to play "rough" with. Kyle and Caleb were both so sweet to Baby Darlin' Girl even when she didn't want them to be. She's so sassy! Thanks for coming out you guys!

Christmas Eve

In Sweden, they open presents on Christmas Eve after their big smorgasbord. We were too excited to have the kiddos open their gifts and get to play with them that we cheated and opened them in the morning. We had a "real" smorgasbord in the evening with Grammy and Poppa. We had ham, herring, potatoes, fruit salad, red cabbage salad, deviled eggs, rye bread, pastries and rice pudding! It was a lot if fun.

Hey Good Lookin'

I tried and tried and tried to get a really good clear, smiling pic of them together and this is the best! They wouldn't hold still for a single second so here's to very mobile and independent minded kids. Love you both so much!

Animal House, part 2

We found all these cute animals at Sam's Club and just couldn't stop at one or two or even three. We had to get four! Our house now has a bear, a dog, a lion and a dinosaur for Little Bug and Baby Darlin' Girl to share (fight) over.

Animal House

Little Bug has an amazing ability to make animals out of his blocks. Above he has a giraffe, a family of animals (He's pointing the the "Daddy" one.), a camel and some dinosaurs. I'm always so surprised with what we comes up with. Never lose your creativity.

Santa Lucia Day

I "stole" a great idea from a super lady in our ward for celebrating Christmas from a different country each year and this year I picked Sweden. Dec. 13th is Santa Lucia Day and so I made real Lucia Buns with saffron and Peppar Kakkar (gingerbread) cookies. Grammy made Baby Darlin' Girl her dress and sash. I made the crown and Little Bug's Star Boy wand and hat. We took the treats to our friends and family in the morning. God Jul!