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!

Waiting for Something

What's in the big box? Baby Darlin' Girl has really mastered her climbing skills and likes to practice as often as she can. Mommy wants to open the box but Daddy says, "No!" Little Bug thinks we should...hmmmm, we'll see!

Wanna Be

Little Bug always wants to wear his Daddy's things when he's home. It's also just about the only time he will let me take his picture willingly. You are such a silly guy and always so much fun to be around. You astound us every day with all the things you know and the things you say. We love you.

Tuzigoot National Monument

We enjoyed a nice cool day in November at Tuzigoot outside Cottonwood. Little Bug loved the name and running up the long sidewalks. He also thought throwing Daddy's hat over the edge was really funny, but at least he thanked the nice ranger who had to go it!

Lil' Reader

This is one of my favorite pics of Baby Darlin' Girl and I wanted to share it as I try to catch up on my postings. I hope she continues to love to read as much as she does now. This one is also especially great because she is actually looking at it right-side up.