Full Circle

I would like to tell you all a little story. It started in Rexburg, Idaho. I met a guy named Kelly. He was really nice, and we decided to get hitched! We have enjoyed several years of wonderfulness, and I am so happy. Why am I telling you all this, and posting this particular picture. Well..............after three years of newly wed bliss, we were enjoying the first year of medical school and taking care of a wonderful one year old girl. Clara loved jewelry(she is a girl!) and would always want to play with my wedding ring, or take Kelly's and play with it. One day Kelly let her take his ring, and she took off with it. Long story short, she lost it and we couldn't find it. We canvased the house. Kelly thought it may have gone out in the trash, and wished some hobo well who would find it and pawn it for a new trenchcoat. I thought perhaps it went down the toilet. Gross! We both knew one thing, though, that we would never see the ring again.

Well, fastforward our lives three plus years to yesterday. We moved from SoCal to Oregon. I am busy preparing for the arrival of our third bundle of joy and am going through old baby bags. I pull out one particular bag, and see a gold glint in the bottom. I, with my jaw dropped, pull out Kelly's lost wedding ring. I couldn't believe it. I ran out and showed Kelly, and he was dumbfounded. He was so shocked that he just stared at it with an incredulous look on his face. He didn't even seem happy! He was, really.

Onsies

We pulled out some of Clara's old onsies in anticipation. We are so excited to have a new baby girl! We are naming her Margaret and she is due March 28th.

On the Phone

Clara has a great time talking to Taryn on the phone. She dials the number. At first she would mostly scream and run around. Now they take turns telling stories. The stories mostly feature Clara, Taryn, Derek, and John making there way through spooky forests of ghosts and goblins. Rapunzel helps out too sometimes.

Progress

When John first would go to the park, I could not entice him to get on a swing no matter how hard I tried. Then Dad came to the park with us, and John could swing if he sat on Dad's lap. The next time we went to the park Dad put him on the swing and started small. John was just fine and pretty soon swinging like a pro. Now when I take him he is so happy. I have a hundred photos with the cutest, biggest smiles on his face, all out of focus. Dad is awesome!

Bikes

We have been excited and waited patiently for a nice day.

Our Christmas

Christmas Eve.

First try on their new bikes.

The ribbon that I will save.

A Christmas lolly-pop.

Linn Benton Leaf

I am not sure why I take so many photos of plants. I am sure it has something to do with the fact that they don't move.

Fall

Complementary Colors

Working Hard

In the past two weeks or so Kelly and I have changed our tune. Before we would proudly praise Clara and John for the things they would do by focusing on the outcome of what they did. We would say things like "You did a great job!" and "That looks so good." etc, etc... Now we say "You worked so hard." and "You do good work." Stressing the effort, time, and dilligence of their efforts rather than the result. I like that it is about working hard and not giving up. It has done good things. John has been working on puzzles ever since Clara got one for her birthday. He started with a 25 piece puzzle and mastered it, and now is mastering a 100 piece puzzle. I am impressed with his diligence and concentration. Yesterday was the first time he did every piece but two. One because it is lost and the other because i placed it. For a while we were doing it together about twice a day. I think it is interesting that he learns little sections at a time. first the faces then Buzzes feet and Woody's belt. He works so hard and I am so proud of him! And whats more, he is proud of himself and the work he did.

Halloween

Halloween this year was a blast. We had a family in our ward that we have become friends with, the Greaves, come over. While Kelly and Paul held down the fort and frightened off potential T-P-ers, we went out and let the kids practice a form of hunter-gather lifestyle that is only practiced in candyland. We were unsure of the weather as it had rained earlier that day, but the weather held. John was so cute! He would say "trick or treat" so quickly and when asked what his costume was, he would proudly respond "PIDER!" without hesitation(he had changed from the monkey to the spider). There was one house that had a man in a mask that entranced Clara. She was frozen and would not move or break eye contact with the man as he acted ghoulish in the background. I was so happy to be there and that he was kind enough to remove his mask to show Clara it was a regular person. As we were walking around, I was amazed to see the batmobile drive by. With batman driving. I kid you not. I wish I had my camera with me. Someone had built a car to look exactly like the batmobile and was driving around in it. It was so cool. I wish Kelly had been out to see it. Finally we returned home for pumpkin pie. I was so happy to see the kids get just as excited to hand out candy as they were to be given it. All in all, a wonderful halloween despite the sugar hangover the kids had the following day!

Picking out Pumpkins

I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home

I know that Kelly plays Daddy's Homecoming just so he can get kisses. It is impressive how well he plays with Clara and John climbing up him, literally hanging on him from around his neck, and "patting" him a little to hard on the cheek. But it is the cutest thing a mother could watch and Kelly doesn't look to unhappy about it either.

New Hair Cut

I was sad but Clara wasn't at all. With some of her friends having short hair and John getting a new cut I think it was just to much. She cut off part of her Barbie's hair, a bit of Rapunzel's hair and then went for her pig tail. I am glad it is still long enough to fix and braid.

Idaho

While Dad was shooting with Uncle Carl, we went on a mid-morning walk. Grandma and Grandpa took us along the irrigation canal. Clara waded and John had a wonderful time throwing rocks in the water. We love Idaho and always wish we could spend more time visiting.

Bank Robbery

We recreated a childhood home video on our last trip to Utah. Using my nieces and nephews as similar characters that my cousins and brothers and sisters starred in when they were preschoolers. Our children had some different interpretations of how it should be acted so it was fun to watch it be filmed. It was filmed at an awesome branch with the coolest vault I have ever seen.

Misc. photos of trip to Utah

Mom's Yard