Happy Birthday to ME!

Yeah, that's right. It was my birthday this week on the 24th. I am 26 years old! (yikes) I was delighted to hear from so many. Thank you for thinking of me on my birthday. I was able to celebrate and still have a great time even if Jared wasn't here. I still managed to get flowers too! I had great friends take me to dinner and we laughed and laughed. Not to mention the food was fantastic! Then, I attended our wards book club. It was at my good friends house. She had a little "party" just for me! Shandra my sister brought my favorite German Chocolate cake with candles. It was everything I've been waiting for since my birthday last year! All in all it was a great birthday. Here are a few pictures.

Good Morning, SNOW!

I must admit, since Jared has been gone I have yet to turn the television on. Not one time, not even to check the weather. That was Jared’s daily ritual to check the weather. I personally thought it was silly, because the weathermen are generally wrong. I definitely didn’t expect this much SNOW today. I ended up not making it to the gym class this morning, and just hoped that everyone did the same, not go! I mainly wanted to post these pictures for Jared to see what he is missing back here at home! It was about 10-12 inches. I haven’t seen this much snow for years. Shoveling the driveway and sidewalks turned into our exercise for the day! It also made for a great sledding activity with our friends the Murphy’s. We all had a great time...well, until Alayna took her gloves off and fell into the COLD snow. Her hands were freezing! So sad, but it made for a great picture.

Grandparents leave a huge impression…

I’m sure my daughter isn’t the only one who can’t seem to get out of her mind… “Grandma and Grandpa are coming over!” On Friday she was nearly bursting at the seams to have Grandpa Randy and Grandma Nettie come over for dinner. They were so sweet to bring us Café Rio. I appreciated the free meal and company to join me (without the husband and all!). I don’t think Alayna could stand still. She danced, sang, rehearsed the first and second articles of faith, spouted her knowledge of the first presidency of the church, and laughed and giggled at them. She enjoyed their visit so much she had to have me draw a picture of the next time she would see them on our calendar.

Early the next morning I heard a noise in the kitchen. I was already awake reading, and usually Alayna comes running into my room to give me huggers. But this morning was different. I heard a chair being dragged across the hardwood floor and her singing and talking aimlessly to herself in her extra happy I can hardly stand it voice, saying, “I can’t wait for my “green” ice cream cone and my special date with Grandpa Randy & Grandma Nettie.” (The crayon we used was green to color the ice cream cone!) I couldn’t resist the moment of sneaking up on her to take a picture of her in action. Grandparents have a huge influence on these sweet little grandkids. I appreciate the time that all her grandparents spend with her. She is one loved little girl.

A Mommy in Training…

Alayna’s favorite routine in the morning is to burst into Jacob’s room and say, “Good Morning Brother, It’s wake up time!” This particular morning she decided that she would be “Mommy.” I had to see how this would turn out. She needed my help of course to get Jake out of his crib, but she insisted she got the first hug and kiss. She then proceeded to smell him to see if he was stinky. She then said, “Mommy, you get to do service for me and change his diaper!” Oh…I think the service word is going to be held to her advantage. After the diaper duty, she said, “It’s time for me to read stories to you in your rocking chair, Jakey…that’s what Mommies do…read babies stories…” It was just so cute to watch her place her arm around him and read softly to him. I loved the supported hand on his head! He couldn’t understand why there was a hand on his head, but he was very delighted to have a book read to him that early in the morning.

Jacob’s Progress…

Jacob loves this new crawling thing…He is no longer doing the “I am so strong push up!” It was so cute while it lasted. He is moving all around. He simply has to coordinate his hands and knees at the same time and then he will really be on his way. YIKES!