christmas

Top: David, Kim, Halle, Ben, Mom, Zach

Bottom: Brandon, Greg, Chelle, Dad, Trisha

This was supposed to be our "good" picture. Greg's doing his best sweetheart pose while Brandon flashes hippy signs. I guess that's the best we can do.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love my family. I love my sweet, little immediate family. I love my sisters, my brother, their spouses, my parents, my nieces, nephews. I loved adding Brandon's family into the mix. The more family, the better.

That's probably one of the reasons I love Christmas so much. I love being smushed into one house. I love eating my mom's food. I love talking late into the night with my sisters. I love playing games. I love totally being myself, no restrictions. I love waking up, knowing there will always someone to talk to. I love watching the family interact with my kids.

Some of my favorite memories from Christmas this year:

• Watching Halle and Zach love Prissy (Kim's dog) to death and Prissy ignoring them whenever she had the chance.


• Uncle Greg leaving the Adult Table to give the nieces and nephews rounds of M&Ms during Christmas dinner.
• Halle being surrounded with tons of toys Christmas morning, but only being interested in her candy rocks and the boxes (she'd open her presents, exclaim, "BOX!", and then toss it aside before ever looking in them).

• Three prayers at Christmas dinner - one on the adult table and two more at the child table.


• Ben happily snuggling with Minnie, Pooh, and Halle.


• Mom laughing so hard about her "home run" joke and the rest of us joining in because she thought it was so funny.


• Greg wrapping up Zach as a burrito and then watching the burrito with legs walk around. I love this picture because it shows my mom just enjoying the moment.

• Playing laser tag during Family Fun Time and rolling on the ground while shooting. Then going home to find Halle in complete bliss with Grandma (and learning that Halle had to be contained in the kitchen so she wouldn't get in everything).


• Knowing that if you couldn't find Brandon, Ben, or Greg, they were playing a game.


• Zach playing Guess Who nonstop and always convincing Chelle to be his playing partner. She was always ready and willing.
• Cousins (and pudding)!!!


• Watching Dad try to hit a ball with a hanging bowling ball pin while playing Minute to Win It.


• Kim exemplifying the saying, "People are more important than things" by letting Zach play pool with us on her new pool table. I winced and gasped everytime he took a swing, but to her credit, she never said a word.


• Seeing the special moments that could only be caught with a camera...


• Zach's face when he saw his jeep. It was priceless. He wants to ride it everyday - even with the snow and cold. I've realized I'm at the low end of the totem pole because his jeep gets the coveted garage spot while my car is out in the cold.

8

It's been 8 years... it's been a good 8 years.

I'm not one for public displays of affection, but I do love this guy.

When Brandon and I were dating, my roommate sent my mom an email that said this:

Dear Trisha's Mom,

Brandon is a good catch - he does dishes.

Trisha's favorite roommate, Marie

Boy, was Marie right... and he still does the dishes.

tumbling

Zach's been in a boys tumbling class for the last couple months. He has loved it. I'm not sure exactly what he's learned, but he certainly has a great time.

I think he got his skills from me.... haha... not really. But I do have proof that I was a gymnast (or at least that I could hang on a bar). Gotta love those perms!!!

Here is a video of Zach at tumbling. You may have to mute it as Halle wasn't too happy that she couldn't go play too.

Christmas fun

I can't believe that Christmas is coming... and SOON. It has been really fun this year. Zach understands the concept of Santa. Last year, we must not have talked about Santa much because Zach called the jolly guy in the red suit "Albertsons" - I'm not sure where the confusion came in. However, this year Zach understands Santa and Zach asks a lot of questions about him: "How will Santa get in our house?", "How will Santa be able to see if there are no lights on? We'd better get him a flashlight.", and "How will Santa know we're going to be Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas? I'll leave my closet open so he'll know."

Zach wrote Santa a letter early in the month:

but has lately added a treadmill (as Uncle Greg has one) to his wish list. Not a bad idea for a kid with endless energy, but unfortunately, he's going to be disappointed on this one.

Both Halle and Zach LOVE to dance to Christmas music. It is something that is done every night. The favorite song to dance to: Wizards in Winter by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Zach enjoys listening to it at an earsplitting volume. Halle prefers Mr. Potato Head to be her dance partner.

Our new family tradition has been Fisbee, our Elf on a Shelf, who hides different places every morning. Fisbee is Santa's helper and watches the kids to see if they are being Naughty or Nice. Both Halle and Zach enjoy looking for him and giggle at the places he ends up. Fnding Fisbee is a Must Do every morning.

On Tuesday, we went to Temple Square to see the lights. Zach remembers this from last year and so it was fun to do again. We rode the Trax train from Daddy's work (maybe 3 blocks) and Zach was in heaven. Trains are definitely still his thing.

And then there's Halle's new smile. She tries to smile so big that she closes her eyes and makes a grimace with her face. I cannot tell you how many pictures I have with her making this face. What a priceless memory!

Zach's Spelling

Zach's spelling just cracks me up. For instance, S-N-O-D spells 'snowed' and L-I-T spells 'light'. But this one is my favorite:

Can you guess what he's trying to spell? (Don't forget the G hidden in the spiral binding).

It's been an eventful couple of weeks, but not necessarily eventful enough to blog about. So here's a post with some of our comings and goings.

• Halloween. Zach loved Halloween. He picked out his own costume this year - Iron Man. Halle had no choice so she was a lady bug. Both loved collecting candy. Zach would have kept collecting candy from the neighbors, but his old mom got cold.

Zach and Halle lining up their Halloween loot. This activity composed most of the morning following Halloween.

• Both cars are in the garage - quite a feat with all the "stuff" we have. We have boxes labeled "Trisha's Dolls" and "Brandon's Keepsakes", as well as "Ostriches" and "Purple Plasic Dishes" . You never know when you're going to need your purple plastic dishes from college.
  
• We've had a lot of this:

Zach is way into playing Brandon's instruments. We've got a whole bandload hidden in the basement. (I'm beginning to think we might be pack rats). Zach's favorite thing is to play and he's quite good. Not good at sounding good, but good at making lots of loud noise that sounds a lot like an angry elephant. This activity is strickly a basement activity and is strictly one that Dad supervises. I stay upstairs with my bottle of Excedrin.

• We've also had a lot of this: Halle is our little diva. She loves looking pretty. Halle loves sunglasses, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, shoes, having her hair done, makeup, rings, etc. Halle is a friendly gal and will visit any lady who has pretty accessories. She walks up them to them and says pretty, while reaching for their jewelry. Halle always ends up with it on. She's got it down to quite a science.
  
• I joined a gym. This is momentous news because I am cheap. I have always done my exercising outside, so a gym is a new experience. I get bored running on a treadmill and I don't like being sweaty in such close proximity to other people, but I think I could become a gym rat.


• Halle continues to add to her vocabulary. One of my favorite things she says is, "Hi, Moose". It cracks me up because she says moose with a little of a lisp.
  

We're happy. We're good. Who could ask for more!?!

surfing

About a week ago, I woke up with a sore neck. I couldn't check my blind spot when driving (though, for safety reasons, I tried) and looking up was near impossible. At first I was confused at what had caused my hurt neck. Not my pillow, for sure. It's old and smushed, but it's been my sleeping companion for years. Then I remembered the night before.

We went surfing indoors with friends and as talented as I was(n't), the board kept finding a way to displace itself from under my feet. When this would happen, I would get whip lash as I fell into the water. I did it over and over again. I have never laughed so hard in my life. Watching other people was the best. I had a certain friend who was the queen of huge falls and quite entertaining to watch.

Here's a quick video of Brandon surfing. Toward the end, we got much better and stayed on for maybe... 8 seconds at a time.


It was SO MUCH FUN! I plan on this being a great activity for when my family visits in December.

The night ended with a voicemail from our babysitter: "Uh... do you think you could come home early? Zach threw up." Uggghhh...

4

I love this picture. It captures Zach perfectly - carefree, happy, and a little bit crazy. He's 4 today - this is the first year he seems "big". He leaves me at home while he goes to preschool and tumbling and Sunbeams. He still plays with me at home, but there will come a time when playing with Mom with no longer be on the priority list. I hope he doesn't get too big too soon. He's my little buddy.

Since Zach is 4 today, here are 4 things I love about him (thanks Kylie for the idea!):

1. He never needs a seat. He is always running, wiggling, dancing, or jumping. Admittedly, at times this drives me nuts (like when he dances in the aisle at church during the Sacrament hymn), but I also love his zest for life. For Zach, there is always something to be done and he's the one that's going to do it.
2. Zach is a good big brother. Halle idolizes him and does everything he does - who could ask for a more perfect hero! When Zach runs, Halle runs. When Zach sings a song, Halle tries to sing it too. Zach always tells Halle how sweet and cute she is in his little baby voice. He loves her to death and will always watch out for her.
3. Zach loves people. He makes friends easily and doesn't get nervous about new people. At the park, I'll hear him say, "Hi, I'm Zach. Do you want to be my friend?" No matter where we go, within a few minutes Zach will find a friend to play with. Zach is also very confident and won't hesitate to give pointers to other kids (even if they're twice his age) at the park when they are attempting an obstacle. His favorite people currently are Brooke (his cousin) and Greg (his uncle).
4. Zach is wicked smart and creative. He is always surprising me with what he has learned. He notices the unnoticed and sees patterns in everything. His new thing is seeing shapes in the clouds. He also likes to find shapes in his food - first it's a triangle [bite], now it's a mountain [bite], now it's a dinosaur [bite], etc.

Happy birthday, Bud! Love you to the moon and back.

preschooler

Zach successfully completed his first week of preschool - phew. Zach has been ready for preschool for awhile and couldn't wait for it to start. He was also excited about his backpack and made sure it was the first picture of took. He did the posing of the picture below all by himself:
Here's what Zach told me about his first day at preschool:

• "I'm sweaty."
• "I had orange juice and cookies."

That's all I got. I hope he did more during his 3 hours at preschool than eat and sweat, but who knows?!?

On Thursday, it was Show & Tell. The night before I tried to help Zach figure out what he was going to bring. He debated between a train whistle and James, the train. He wouldn't decide, so I left thinking we'd worry about it in the morning. Later that night, Zach told me he had picked out something for Show & Tell - his Daddy mask. I couldn't help but laugh - silly, silly kid.

first race

Zach ran his first race this morning and he did such a good job! It was supposed to be a 1K race, but it ended up being the length of the parking lot and back - it was perfect for Zach. He loved being with all the kids and he loved wearing Daddy's race number. While he was waiting for the race to start, he turned around and gave Brandon a thumbs up like he was saying, "I got this in the bag". He ran fast and smiled the whole way. He explained it all to Aunt Chelle on the phone: "Halle was watching me. Halle can't run on the road, but I did."

Way to go, Zach!

Here are some pictures for your perusing pleasure:

Every year, I make a book for my kids that contains pictures and journal entries from the past year. As Zach's birthday is quickly approaching and it is time to make his book, I was reading through past journal entries and came across some gems that I thought I'd share:

Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Zach is an eternal optimist. After church we always run through the good, bad, and the ugly behavior exhibited while there. So, during the car ride home from church, we will discuss his behavior. If it has been a particularly hard week, I will explain how he could improve (getting up off the floor and sitting on his chair, not spitting, singing the actual words to the Primary song and not just merely yelling, etc.). He will then reply, “But Mom, I was almost good.” He’s right and I have to smile, he was almost good.

Another eternal optimist story: Zach had to go to his room last night because he refused to eat his dinner. When I was tucking him into bed, I was re-explaining why he had been stuck in his room and didn’t get to play. I told him, “Buddy, you didn’t eat your meatballs and that’s why you had to go to your room.” He then replied, “But Mom, I always eat my macaroni.” Once again, he’s right. Even though he is a horrible meatball eater, he is a spectacular macaroni and cheese eater.

I love his optimism. It is refreshing.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

One evening, I was trying to get Zach to use the bathroom and get ready for bed. He is a notoriously slow potter-goer and I kept bugging him to get on the toilet and do his business. Zach said, “Mommy, you need to be patient.” When I kept pestering him, he replied, “Mommy, patience means you don’t talk. Be patient.” He eventually did go potty after I decided to be patient.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
While at the library during Reading Time, the storyteller held up a book about a cat. She asked, “Do any of you have a pet cat?” Many kids raised their hands. Not wanting to be left out, Zach too raised his hand and proclaimed, “I have a fire truck!”

Monday, July 19, 2010
During Family Home Evening Zach said, “I like LOOOOVE Jesus the very best!” Zach is friends with a 5-year-old girl who incorporates ‘like’ into every sentence. Zach has picked up on the habit. He is also very interested in whom everyone loves the best. I guess he chooses Jesus.

Zach is the master procrastinator and is the worst at bedtime. He constantly tries to think of things to ask you so he won’t have to go to bed. Tonight, he came and asked what time he could wake up. I told him 7:00 would be fine, but the 8:00 would be even better. He rephrased, “So 7:00 would be fine and 8:00 would be finer.”

Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The other day, Zach came upstairs to tell me his new accomplishment. “Mommy,” he said. “If I stand on the fridge [meaning the mini-fridge in the basement], I can touch the ceiling!”

Monday, July 26, 2010
Mom: [To Zach and Halle] I think, if you are good kids, we should go to the museum today.
Zach: I’m going to be a good kid!
[pause]
Zach: How do you be a good kid?

I just love this kid!

1st haircut

My kids have weird hair growth patterns. Zach grew a thick strip of hair on the top of his head - people often thought I was trying for a mohawk. Halle, on the other hand, grew a curly tuff of hair on the back of her head, a mullet if you will, while the rest of her head stayed happily bald.

On Tuesday, it was time for the long-awaited first haircut for Halle. Her mullet was beginning to look a little stringy. It took one snip and her first haircut was complete. Bye bye, Ms. Mullet.

triathlon

Last week, my sister, Kimberly, and I completed a triathlon. Not one of those so-crazy-your-muscles-have-to-practically-be-bulging-out-of-your-skin-to-complete-it triathlons. It was just a little, beginners triathlon. Still, I think I can honestly say I'm a triathlete.

I was soooo nervous before the race. I had been thinking I might possibly die during the swimming portion of the race. Death-by-triathlon didn't sound so good to me. Luckily, and yes, it was purely by luck, I did not die. There are no pictures of me swimming. If there were, there would have been several pictures of me side-stroking it through the lake.

Here is a picture after the swim. During the transition, my support group kept yelling questions at me - "How do you feel?", "Where's Kim?" (she was in the next women's wave), "Trish, how do you feel?". I was ignoring them. I was trying to concentrate on tying my shoes and frankly, I felt kinda wet and tired.

Finally ready to bike. I put on someone else's helmet at first and couldn't figure out why it wasn't fitting right. When I finally pulled my bike out, I saw my own helmet hanging on the handle bars. I carefully placed (or maybe tossed - oops) the wrong helmet down and hopped on my bike.

The biking went really well. Here's a picture at the end of the biking portion:

And at the end of the run. I missed the turn-off toward the finish line, so I was extra happy to finally find the end.

I thought this would be my last triathlon, but we had such a good time, I think we're going to make it a tradition. Anybody care to join us?

marshmallow wars

As per family tradition, the 4th of July weekend was spent at Bear Lake. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

One of my favorite memories this weekend was our marshmallow war. (Gun design from here). The whole family was giggling like little kids - totally priceless. So much fun!

The whole family showing off their blowing skills

Dad chasing Brandon. Brandon's team unfortunately dominated.

My brother, Greg, loading his gun

The onslaught of the other team. Did I menion they dominated?

Kim trying out her marshmallow gun. It took some blowing finesse to make those marshmallows fly.

A funny side note: My friend called me last night to express her remorse in the death of our fish. She had been fish-sitting and the fish died while in her care.

Let's have a moment of silence for Caeli The Fish....

Well, my friend said that when they cleaned out the fish bowl, they found some unexpected surprises. I guess her 2-year-old daughter had been secretly feeding the fish - but not fish food. Caeli, in her last days, had received a healthy helping of Skittles and suckers to supplement her normal fish diet.

By the end of the story, I was laughing so hard. Death by Skittles - who would have known?

Zach's First Talk

Zach gave his first talk in Primary today. He did such a good job! Have a listen (it's really not a video). His talk was about the Holy Ghost.

Transcript:

When I turn 8 and get baptized, I will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Gh ost can tell me what's right and wrong.

The Holy Ghost also testifies of the truth of all things.

The Holy Ghost testifies that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he loves me.

The Holy Ghost testifies that the Book of Mormon holds important truths that can get me closer to God.

The Holy Ghost testifies that Joseph Smith restored the true church on the earth.

The Holy Ghost testifies that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet who leads and guides us today.

The Holy Ghost testifies that following God's commandments makes me happy.

I know that if I listen to the Holy Ghost, I will be happy.

what was I thinking?

This is what happens when the kids water the garden...

Go get a glass of ice water.

No really... go get one... trust me it will be worth it.

Add a couple more ice cubes to your glass. In fact, fill the entire glass with ice cubes and then fill the remaining space with water. Wait 10 minutes. Stick your finger in and keep it in.

Now, imagine immersing your entire body in that glass of ice water. Are you imagining?

That my friends was the temperature of Bear Lake this past weekend. I screamed like a 10-year-old little girl when I jumped in, Brandon couldn't even form a coherent sentence, and my sister just held open her mouth and hyperventilated. Good times.

We were the only people stupid enough to boat when the lake was so cold, so we got in some good wakeboarding/skiing on glassy water.

Bear Lake is a magical place to me. Some of my favorite family memories have happened at Bear Lake. I love being able to share that with my kids. They love Bear Lake as much as I do.

Two more weeks, Bear Lake, and we'll be coming back. You better be ready (and a lot warmer)!