Children's Museum

We met Ben's cousin, Tina, and her husband Toby at the Children's Museum today- it was so much fun! I have never met either of them before, and Ben had never met Toby and so it was so nice to finally meet them! Her parents live in Loveland, but she lives in San Francisco- we definitely think we need to plan a trip out there sometime soon!
Audra loved this slide- she would get upset when other children were in line and she had to wait her turn- but, she needs to learn to take turns, so this was good practice!

Here are Toby and Tina- aren't they such a great-looking couple? Their daughter, Kendra, is about 9 months old. She and Audra fought a little bit over this doll, but once again Audra had to learn to share!

I would definitely recommend the Museum to everyone- if you have coupons. It is a little pricey, but Audra had a fantastic time and was really sad to leave. Maybe when she and baby #2 are older we will get a membership- I really think that would be worth it!

Surprise!

With great excitement as well as some trepidation, we announce that we are pregnant, due July 17th. We are very excited, but we are also a little nervous and praying that this baby does not have colic- that really was hard with Audra, and I don't know if I could handle another baby with colic as well as a toddler. But, we also know that any baby is a blessing from Heaven, and we are happy to be pregnant again. So far, pretty easy pregnancy- I am blessed with easy pregnancies, I only get sick if I am hungry so I keep crackers by my bedside at night. Audra doesn't quite understand the concept of pregnancy and enjoys jumping on my stomach. Good times.

Fire? What Fire?

So, today during sacarament at church the fire alarm went off. The bishop (the spiritual leader of our congregation) gets up and says, "there is no fire, we will continue with the meeting as planned." While the fire alarms are blaring (and they are LOUD), this poor guy stands at the pulpit and bears his testimony. Obviously, nobody can hear him and our ears are all hurting. After this the bishop stands up and says, "rather then having our speakers talk over the alarm, we will have some quiet time until they are reset." He has the organist start playing the organ and we are supposed to sit quietly while our ears burst. I decide to get Audra (and myself) out of there- we went out to the hall and eventually outside where several others had also gone. It took about 10 minutes before the alarms finally stopped, and I am still hearing ringing in my ears- definitely a first for me in sacrament!

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Pictures speak a thousand words, so I will mostly just show you all how wonderful our Christmas was!
This table was the first thing she saw when she came down the stairs- she sat down, and didn't want to get back up!This tea set was the first thing she openend, and after she got it that is all that she wanted to play with...We had to help her open a few presents after that because she refused, but then she realized that every time she opened a gift, she got more things to play with! Then, she started tearing open every gift under the tree. Smart girl!I love, love, love, love, LOVE this dress! My brother Matt got it for her- he totally outdid himself this year and spoiled his niece rotten!

Playing with another toy...

Helping dad set up her baby-doll high chair (another gift from Matt)

The joy of being a Dad on Christmas day...

Best picture we could get of all of us...

We were definitely completely spoiled! Audra wasn't quite sure WHY she got so many toys on Christmas morning, but we are pretty sure she liked it anyway! We sure did- although now our house has been officially taken over by her toys!!!

Season's Greetings!

Audra is definitely our Little Princess. Every day, this is the dress she wants to wear. EVERY DAY! (I confess, normally she wears a nice white onesie underneath, but they are all dirty and so she is wearing the funny striped one instead) She will find it under a pile of clothes, in her closet, wherever it is and let us know (without words, of course) that this dress is what she will be wearing today. Sometimes, we would have already gotten her dressed in another outfit, but insists on us putting this on over her clothes. Lovely.

Isn't that a great picture of her with the train? She LOVES it, and will sit there for minutes (that is a long time for her) watching it go around and around. Then, because it is a very old train, when it can't quite get the strength to continue on, she will give it a push and nudge it along. I love it!

This is a short little video of Aud saying "bye"- it is SOOOO cute! She says this to Ben everyday as he heads to work, and it makes us both so happy! She is beginning to talk better now- saying words like "bucket" and "blanket." Slowly but surely, right?

Holiday Tradition

Every Christmas growing up, one of our best holidays traditions was to bake for an ENTIRE day (literally, all 5 of us- me, 3 sisters, and mom- the boys were not invloved at all). We made peanut butter balls (our favorite!), homemade caramels, monster cookies, and dozens of other items. Then, we delivered the goodies to neighbors and friends. Often we delivered upwards of 30+ plates! And, we actually did carol at each of the houses (looking back, I feel sorry for those poor people...)!!!

Well, I have tried to continue on that tradition. For the past couple of years I have done Christmas baking- though I have greatly streamlined the process, choosing quick and easy recipes and spending about 2 hours baking instead of an entire day. Here is what I conjured up this year (yes, Danielle, that is your 5-minute fudge that is really like 45-minute fudge- YUM!!!!):

I think they turned out pretty good! Then, Ben and I delivered them to our neighbors and some people from church. I was hesitant to post this, because I don't want anybody to be upset if they didn't get goodies, but the deliveries have more to do with who lives close to us (sorry Seattle-ites!) then anything else. But, if you didn't get goodies and would like some, feel free to stop on by and enjoy some at our house:)

Let the Christmas traditions continue!!!!

Pretty Cool

I got an e-mail about a really neat thing Xerox is doing- if you go to http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html you can pick out a thank you card to send to a member of the troops- you don't get to say who it goes to, but it's pretty cool, takes like 10 seconds, and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!