Sammy

A picture is worth a million words and I don't know that I can say anything to add to these pictures. To me they show exactly what Sammy's personality is like. He is so sweet and funny and even when he is getting in the garbage for the 10th time or trying to play in the toilet for the 11th time I can't be mad at him. Everything he does makes me smile. He is just the happiest sweetest little boy! What a lucky mommy I am. We took these pictures during dinner the first night on our trip to Baltimore after we had dragged him around all day! He was still so happy and just hamming it up for the camera. He was playing peek-a-boo with the napkin in the second picture. I just love this kid!

The Science Museum

This is the science museum we went to in Baltimore. It wasn't my favorite place. I really like science, but I felt like there were some areas that were not as well cared for as they could have been. But there were a lot of fun and interesting things there.

We aren't exactly sure what this was. I have decided it is either the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or an Erumpent Horn (for those who don't know what either of these are refer to Harry Potter book 7). Either way, I felt very privileged to have seen one.




This is the kid room of the science museum. We only got to play in the water for a little while and then Gracie decided to throw some of it at another kid. We quickly navigated away from that area...


This was actually my favorite part of the science museum. This guy gave a presentation on electricity and his appearance was the epitome of a science nerd. At first I thought maybe it was a joke... you know the thick glasses and oddly combed mullet, but David assured me that it wasn't and that I should not laugh.


The pulley experiments were fun. I was pretending that Gracie was really heavy to make her laugh. That girl has the most infectious laugh I have ever heard!





There was a plethora of experiments at the museum and Gracie had a great time (Sammy was kind of just along for the ride. In a few years he will probably appreciate it more...). David had a great time... he was the picture taker though so he isn't in these pictures. Sorry babe. It was a fun day though!

The Bay in Baltimore

The first thing we did after checking into our hotel on our trip to Baltimore was to walk down to the bay. It was really neat. We saw some really big old boats and some dinner cruise ships. We saw a huge anchor. Gracie is standing on it in the last picture on the second row. We saw cannons and a mock ship's helm. Then we saw these fun paddle boats. We figured they probably only let you go out on them in the summer because they were all chained up, but Gracie really liked them and wanted to go for a ride.

The Tremonton Plaza in Baltimore

We went on a short trip to Baltimore while David was out of school. This is the view from our hotel room. We were on the 27th floor! They asked us if we wanted a "high room or a low room." We chose high. The view was kind of smoggy, but still neat to be able to see everything. It was an older hotel, but they still treated us like we were pretty fancy with valet parking and bell boys and stuff. The next morning however when we were getting ready to check out, we wished we had chosen a "low room" because the fire alarm went off. We had to carry Sammy and Gracie down 27 flights of stairs!!! That was my work out for the day!

Santa Came!!!

Ok, it has taken me a long time to post these pictures, but the SD card that had these pictures on it was misplaced, and I just didn't feel like I could skip this event and come back to it later so I haven't posted in a while. But finally here they are (drum roll please) the Christmas Pictures. We had a really fun Christmas! David and Gracie and Sammy and I spent the holiday at home, just the four of us. We would have loved to be with our families, but since we couldn't we made the best of it and had a great time at home.




Gracie got a new bunk bed for Christmas. We moved her in to it during the night. She was really surprised when she woke up Christmas morning (actually I had to go wake her up... it was about 6:00 and I just got so excited I couldn't wait any longer!). Eventually the bottom bunk will be for Sammy but I think he will stay in his crib a little while longer.


It is moments like these that I wish that I had had Gracie's bangs cut. We are trying to grow them out, because David loves them long, but I wish you could see her pretty eyes and just how much they sparkled!







Here is my cute Sammy. He had lots of fun on Christmas, and while he got lots of fun presents, he seemed just as content with this old orange golf ball. If only we could all me just as happy with what we have huh?

Gracie has been very excited about horses lately. She actually makes the funniest (and most realistic) horse sound I have ever heard from a girl her age.




My mom made me this really pretty Christmas blanket. I finally made myself put it away a couple of days ago. I didn't want to. I wanted to snuggle under it every day until next Christmas!







Here is Sammy with one of his new trucks and with Daddy's new car.

Gracie has been pretending about Christmas since Christmas. She always pretends that she is and Sammy are Reindeer and Mommy and Daddy are always Santa. Pretty funny isn't she.

Sammy got his very first sippy cup in his stocking. He seemed to like it Christmas morning, but it has since lost some of its charm. Much to his mother's dismay he would rather nurse than anything...

Here is Gracie eating her Christmas breakfast. She just couldn't leave all of her presents in the living room. She had to bring Cootie to the table with her!

We had a really fun time! There is nothing in the world like seeing the excitement in your children's eyes on Christmas! I remember all the magic when I was a child and this surpasses even that. We hope everyone had as memorable of a Christmas as we did.

Happy Birthday David!

It is David's 29th Birthday! Happy Birthday sweetheart. I sure do love you. To celebrate I wanted to tell you 29 things that I love about you.

1. Your adorable dimples!
2. Your outgoing personality.
3. The way your hips move when you dance.
4. The priesthood blessings you have given me and our children.
5. Listening to you sing.
6. That you gave me Gracie
7. That you gave me Sammy.
8. Your enthusiasm for things in life.
9. Snuggling with you in the morning before the kids wake up.
10. Having you cook with me.
11. Holding hands when we are out together.
12. Playing phase 1o ;)
13. Hearing you share the gospel.
14. Studying with you for your classes in medical school.
15. Singing with you.
16. Going on bike rides with you.
17. When you take Gracie on Daddy Daughter dates.
18. Having all the women at church think that you are a saint for being the only one to come to the nursery for enrichment.
19. Wrestling with you.
20. Watching you play with Sammy.
21. Your lips!
22. That you are taller than me and you weigh more than me.
23. The way you rub my leg when we are driving in the car.
24. The way you help us have scripture study (almost every day).
25. Cuddling and watching a movie with you.
26. Going on walks with you.
27. That you are always willing to help me with a project even when you are busy.
28. Your unconditional love for everyone you meet.
29. That we could share the last 6 wonderful years together.

Thanks for being my husband David. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Congratulations David!

Congratulations David, on getting through your first semester of medical school successfully! You have worked very hard and we are proud of you. And we are especially excited for the two weeks of vacation that you get! We love you!

Tagged again...

I have been tagged again. Thanks Tara, but since I have already done this one, I thought I would think up some things about my family...


1. One day after David and I were engaged we were spending and evening over at his parents house. His mom said to me, "We are serious about our food!" And it is true. There is always an abundance of good food at their house. In fact David loves to go there and raid the "magic white box" that never seems to be empty. He always wants to try interesting recipes like Hungarian goulash soup and buy new spices like saffron and fennel.


2. Gracie loves to sing songs about her family. Her latest is Old McDonald Had a Farm. We sing this two or three times a day. The animals on the farm are always: a Gracie baby pink horse, a mommy horse, a Daddy cow and a Sammy cow. I am very glad that I am a girl and get to be a horse instead of a cow...


3. Sammy thinks the water heater is the best toy in the world. If by some strange chance the door to the laundry room gets left open in the basement Sammy will see it and within one minute he is trying to adjust the temperature on the water heater (he has actually succeeded once too). I immediately move him away from the water heater as soon as I realize that he is there, but he throws these little temper tantrums as soon as I do (isn't he too young for that).


4. David was as full of mischief as a child as Gracie is now. He once tried to lower his brother off the roof with a rope! He soon realized that little boys aren't very strong and dropped his brother. Thank goodness everyone was alright!


5. I keep asking Gracie what she wants for Christmas. Every time she tells me she wants a pink Christmas tree. She already has a little Christmas tree in her room. I guess I could just get some pink ornaments or something for it?


6. Sammy just started walking last week, but he still crawls a lot because he can get around much faster that way. He crawls like a crab though. He doesn't use either knee. He walks on his hands and feet. I don't know if this is because we have all wood floors in our house or what, but it is very cute and funny to watch.


Okay so there are 6 random things about my family. I am tagging LeAnn, Grandma K, and Kelli.

Sorry it has been awhile!

Sorry it has been awhile since I posted. Not much has happened, except for one very fun and exciting thing. SAMMY IS WALKING! He took his very first real steps last week. I have been trying to get some good footage of his footage on video, but he has turned very camera shy for some reason. Every time I get out the camera he hides his face. But he is really the sweetest thing. He is so cuddly and happy. We were at our ward Christmas party on Saturday. I was holding a friends new little baby and Sammy was crawling around on the floor. Another friend in the ward scooped up Sammy just as he was escaping out the door into the hall. Sammy wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his head on her shoulder and hugged her tight. You should have seen my friend melt. She said her 18 month old had NEVER hugged her that way! Sammy really is my little sunshine. He always has a ready smile for his mother (even when she is crabby) and a kiss too (except when he is teasing me). I don't know why, but I have been feeling kind of sad lately, but all I have to do is sit back and consider my blessings, especially my children, and things don't seem so sad after all. What a wonderful Father in Heaven we have who blesses us with exactly what we need to get through our trials. I think I must be the luckiest girl in the world.

My funny kids.

Gracie is such a funny girl. It has been snowing for three days here. Monday and Tuesday it lightly snowed all day, and then last night and today we got dumped on. Yesterday morning when Gracie saw out the window that it was snowing the first thing she said was, "Oh man! I don't want it to snow. It's too cold! Can we build a snowman?" She loved going out in the snow today. We went out twice. Each time the only way I could talk her in to coming back inside was with the promise of hot chocolate.

All of a sudden, Gracie is totally interested in saying the prayer. We tried and tried for a long time to get her to pray, and now she wants to do it all the time. But she doesn't want any help. Her prayers go something like this. "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the food. Bless it to our bodies. Thank you for the food... our bodies..."At this point I try to whisper something in her ear and she responds by saying, "Stop! Stop!" Then she prays for what ever it was I whispered in her ear and says "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It is really really sweet (except for the little outburst in the middle) and it makes me happy to know that Gracie likes to talk to her Heavely Father.

Sammy was pretty funny today to. I was doing some laundry and a pair of Gracie's sweat pants fell on the floor. The floor in my basement is wood laminate, and it is kind of slippery. Sammy figured out that he could put his hands on the pants and crawl with his legs and not have to move his hands because the pants would just slide on the floor. He looked up at me and I could tell he was pretty proud of himself. He had a grin about a mile wide. He crawled all across the room like that. Then he figured out how to climb on top of the couch. I can see this is going to be a problem, because he doesn't know how to get down on his own yet without just falling. We keep him away from the stairs for this very reason, but I don't see a way to block all the couches in the house... Anyone have any ideas?

Neither of the kids took naps today, so I put them to bed early. David is still at school, so I am enjoying a rare moment by myself. I am going to go pop in a movie and make some more icicle ornaments for my tree.

A Winter Wonderland!

Snow, snow, snow, snow... it won't be long until we'll all be there with snow!!! Isn't that how that song goes? Anyway, it really did snow here. Lots and lots of snow! I was out shoveling the walks this morning and this van came driving down the street. It was slipping and sliding so bad and I was really afraid that it was going to hit the power pole right in front of my house. It only missed it by a couple of inches. I really think there is a foot of snow out there and they don't plow the street in front of my house. I have been looking for a measuring stick so that I can really measure how much snow is out there, but I can't even find a little one (Gracie and Sammy play with it). Oh well. As I was shoveling the snow I remembered how when I was a little girl it was a fun job to go out and shovel the walks. Gracie came out with me and she was climbing on the snow that I had shoveled and rolling down it. It was really fun. Having kids seems to bring joy back into stuff that has become a chore. So today I am grateful for snow (as long as I don't have to drive in it)!