What now!

Oh, the week I've had! I am not this person. I usually don't fall and drop my kids twice in one week. Nor have I ever, backed out of my garage before it was all the way open. Until this morning, that is. I was pulling the car to my front door to get the kids in. As I was backing up, I heard crunch, I also felt crunch in my stomach. I had a pretty good idea what I was going to see when I got out of the car. It wasn't pretty folks, I have to say. Well, now I am stuck in my garage. Jackson is mad because he had to miss school. And I am stuck inside for yet another day. Maybe I am not supposed to leave my house for reasons I don't know. The words of my Grandpa Fred came into my head as I surrveyed the damage the first time, "It's just a piece of tin." And it is, we are all alright and we can get this fixed. It's just so stupid when things happen because for one second I was being stupid!

The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and strech our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth, and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. We have nothing to fear. God is at the helm. He will overrule for the good of the work. -President Hinckley

Seriously!

It was -18 degrees yesterday. However, I can't stand saying in all day so I took the boys with me to the gym. Almost the second I got them out of the car they started crying because it was so cold. First of all, my door stuck and so I had to take time to get it closed. By this time they were both frantic I wanted to get them inside as soon as possible so we tried walking fast, bad idea. I slipped on the ice and fell, hard, while holding Asher. I broke his fall with my arm, but I also thought I broke my arm. When we got inside Jackson yelled, "Mommy, you don't drop your baby in the snow!" I have to say I agree. I also bent my car key when I fell so I had to call Mitch to come and get us. I went into Mitch's clinic for some X-rays and nothing was broken, just a lot of pain. It was not the best day ever. So when I woke up his morning and it was -18 again, I decided not to go anywhere, it just seemed like the smart thing to do. But while carrying Asher down the stairs, wouldn't you know it, I fell again. Both my feet slid out from underneath me. Asher hit his head and I banged up my other arm. I have decided that the safest thing for my baby is if I no longer carry him from place to place. After yesterday and today, I don't think he will ever want me to pick him up again.

Family Ski Day

Friday was a ski day for the base at our local ski area Showdown. It was a beautiful place, it reminded me a lot of Logan canyon and Beaver Mountain. The drive up there was amazing. I am always reminded of how grateful I am that we were sent to Montana for our payback time in the Air Force. We took the whole family. They had a great Day care for Asher, and Jackson spent the day skiing with Me and Mitch. He has been a few times before but this time was the first time that he really got it by himself. He was telling all the other kids, "If you want to go slow make a pizza, if you want to go fast, french fries." It was so cold, near the end of the day I volunteered to take Jackson in so he could get warm and Mitch could get a few runs in without us to slow him down. Jackson just looked at me and said. "You can go in, but me and Daddy need to keep skiing." Spoken just like his dad. We had a great time. The snow was perfect and it was so much fun to be together as a family.

Jackson & Daddy

Riding the lift together. Jackson said "I love this." when asked what he loved, he said "Riding with my mommy and daddy." Does it get sweeter than that?

Read the Sign

That's right so look out world!

This time two years ago

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. Asher was making noise and it woke me up and I haven't been able to go back to sleep since then. And then I realized that two years ago on this date, Asher woke me up with labor pains which led to a drive from Logan to Salt Lake in a snow storm with my mom, to University of Utah Hospital, where he was born at 8:20 a.m. He was a few weeks early and he spent some time in the NICU. I later found how lucky we really were that he was born, and everything was mostly alright.

In the past two years I wake up everyday knowing how lucky I am that he was born. He is the true definition of his name "happy, blessed, lucky." He is happy and he makes us so happy. When he smiles there is nothing better in this world. He is a blessing. He is really a miracle from the very beginning. I know I am gushing, but a birthday seems to be an appropriate time for a mother to gush. I wish you all could hear him laugh. It is such a beautiful sound!

We celebrated his birthday Saturday with a sledding party, followed by pizza and cake. Blowing out his candle was a highlight. He used every muscle in his body to blow that thing out. He was shaking he was working so hard. It was so funny. When he saw his cake, he threw both hands in the air and yelled "Wow!" In all it was a good birthday. He didn't have the rota virus like last year, so that makes it a really great birthday. We saved presents for Sunday, his real birthday, and I am sure that I will have more to say and more pictures after that.

Happy Birthday, Asher! The world is a better place because you are here.

Asher blowing out his candle!

2007

Seven things we learned in 2007:



1. Potty training is not for the faint of heart! I knew that potty training would be a challenge. But so have all the other steps of parenthood. Pregnancy, childbirth, late nights, feedings, poopy diapers, sleep training, temper tantrums. All these things were hard but I felt like I had it under control, it really wasn't that bad. Well, potty training was that bad and worse! I could not get that boy to use the potty for number 2 no matter what I bribed or threatened. However, magically, one day he got it and hasn't had any problems really, since. I just have to say I am a little more jaded when it comes to potty training Asher.



2. 18 months old is the magical age in this family. No matter how sweet and mellow an infant. Sleeps all day, just sits on your lap, only cries when something is really wrong, lets mommy or daddy make all the decisions, you know that baby. At 18 months that all changes. My boys get an opinion and are determined to express it. While some of these new personality traits are fun and cute, others are not so charming. Due to the size of my boys, their "that's my toy" hit is often perceived as worse that other toddlers. And we do get some epic temper tantrums. But I love that they start to talk and show me a little bit of that person that they are going to be.



3. When you sit down to get your hair cut, make sure that what you have in mind, and what the stylist is going to do, are the same thing. I'm not saying that I don't like my haircut. Okay, I am. It was just a bit of a shock when I thought I was loosing one maybe two inches and I lost a whole lot more! I am still trying to figure out what to do with this new coif that I am sporting. I just hope that it grows out fast.



4. We thought we already learned this one but I guess we needed to learn it again. We may make plans, but Heavenly Father has other, hopefully better, plans for us. I'm not sure what they are right now. But we are learning and we are grateful.



5. Two boys is better than one. I have loved watching our baby Asher become a little boy and playmate for his big brother Jackson. They share a love of trains and cars and Asher is always eager to play whatever Jackson has in mind. And amazingly, maybe because he is HUGE, he can keep up. I love it when Jackson does thing just to make Asher laugh. They can go on like that for hours. And you really should see those boys dance!



6. Eight is great! Mitch and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary in May. And life is good. We have had so many adventures in our eight years. From the places we've lived, the trips we've been on and having children, we have had many wonderful experiences. Seeing Mitch being a dad to those to boys is one of the greatest joys of my life.



7. The blessing just keep getting bigger and better. We faced quite a few challenges in 2007. But at the end of everyday, we felt like the most blessed people in the world. We love our Montana home, our little family, the gospel, our extended family, our friends old and new, and all the little blessings and miracles that occur every day.

The Cruise

We were fortunate to go on a Caribbean cruise with all the members of the Child family (sans kids) for the week after Christmas. It was so much fun! We went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Georgetown, Grand Caymen. Took the boat to Cozumel, but never got off, then ended up in Freeport, Bahamas. We had a lot of fun on the boat and on land. The food was great and always there. Mitch loved trying all the food that we wouldn't get anywhere else, escargot, frog legs, caviar and other crazy stuff. I wasn't as adventurous. One of my favorite parts was dinner every night with my whole family together for the first time in at least two years. We had great food and good conversation. I learned a lot more about my family and was reminded of how much I laugh when we are all together.

Ft. Lauderdale just before launch
The boys, the Miami skyline in the background

Dunn's River falls, Jamaica

The Boat
Happy New Year! Stingray City, Grand Caymen

Scooters in Freeport, Bahamas

The Child Family in the Bahamas

Sweaters

These are some of my favorite pictures of the boys in their Christmas sweaters. This is really the only time that they let me take their pictures.

I love this one of Jackson jumping. He actually thought that these pictures were to show his friends how high he could jump.

Christmas

This Christmas ended up a little different than we planned. Because of my Grandpa's funeral, we went to Utah to celebrate the holiday with our families. We started Christmas Eve at the Parrish's for dinner and the Nativity play.

Asher ringing the Christmas bell.
One Groovy sheperd
Kneeling at the manger

Then we went to meet Nana, Garrett, Connor (who was just home from his mission) and McCade at the Providence Inn, where Santa had to find us in a hotel room. The boys had so much fun. I thought they were so cute in their new jammies, and I loved how excited they got about each toy. It was so fun to have Asher old enough to get really excited about everything.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Reindeer off duty.

Santa comes in a Helicopter. At least in Great Falls, MT. The Helicopter squadron at Malmstrom AFB, (that's where Mitch works) has Santa fly in a helicopter and give the kids their first Christmas gift. It was so much fun. Jackson loved his remote control helicopter. Asher was just a little shocked sitting on Santa's lap, but the race car he got made it all worth it.

Waiting for Santa on the flight line

He was so excited it was hard to keep him from running to Santa, which is a no-no.

Jackson's Christmas Program

Jackson's pre-school Christmas program was a highlight of our season. He was very into the choreography and knew all the songs. Our little Asher was not one to be left out so he placed himself front and center for all the fun, and Jackson gave him some last minute tips on how to melt like a snowman.

"On D-Asher"
"we wish YOU a Merry Christmas!"