Put to Good Use...

We have a hill between our house and our neighbor's house that is perfect for the girls to sled down. Plus we have the comfort of our home to run back inside of whenever we get too cold. The track that Kris and the girls made last week is iced over now, so it's a little faster than before, plus just yesterday we added a little jump to it. Some of the neighborhood kids even came over to try out the hill. The sleds Mutti gave us a couple years ago sure are being put to good use. And so is all this snow! Got to do something with it!

James and the Giant Peach

One of my New Year's goals is to read more classic childhood books to the girls. So as of last week, we have begun reading "James and the Giant Peach". So far they love it. I also came across a study guide on the web (http://www.theatreworksusa.org/uploads/studyguide/studyguide_785.pdf) that gives suggestions for projects and activities to do for after seeing the performance of the book (which we will do the beginning of May). These activities can actually be done along with the reading if desired. We've talked about what it would smell, taste, feel, look, and sound like to be inside a peach. We've also wondered if a peach would really float or if it would sink (an experiment we plan to do very soon). The girls are so excited to read the book and see the play...It's been a great addition of our daily routine.

If any of you have any other suggestions for books I should read to them then please leave a comment. I would greatly appreciate it!

Ellary's New Tricks

It seems like every time we turn around Ellary is doing something new (she'll be 9 months on January 22nd). This last month has been a big one for her as she's discovered several new things. First, standing has it's advantages. She can reach things and see things she couldn't see sitting on her little rump. We are having to re-baby proof the house so she doesn't eat the magazines on our coffee table or put things in her mouth she shouldn't. A couple days ago I spotted Ellary testing out her balance by pushing herself away from the couch as she stood. I could just imagine her saying, "Look at me, ma. No hands!"And wow-has Ellary ever discovered what her mouth can do. She loves to stick her tongue out and curl it up especially after she takes a bite of baby food. What a mess it makes, but how much fun she has! Ellary is also an expert fishy face maker. It's not her most attractive look, and I have yet to get a picture of her doing it, but when you're a baby, you can do just about anything and still look cute.

The last thing I'd like to mention is a trick we taught Ellary last week. Here. Take a look...

Now she "Awes" when sitting in a stroller at the grocery store with bumpy floors. You don't even have to put your hand to her mouth. Oh, Ella. We love you very much and are so happy you were sent to our family. Thanks for making our lives so much fun!

Kris' New Toy

This is Kris' new toy, a 26 inch Craftsman snow blower. He loves it because after all, it's a machine, and it takes half the time to remove snow from our driveway than shoveling does. With all the snow and freezing temperatures we've had lately, that means a lot!
See how happy Kris looks!

Alyson and Kourtney still like to go outside and shovel while their daddy works. They're trying to make a mound of snow in our front yard so they can sled down it. Good luck girls! Your shovels are no match for Daddy's snow blower!

Icy Conditions

We got into a bit of an accident Saturday night. It snowed Friday and then continued to snow all day Saturday which made our drive to and from the Detroit Temple quite interesting. We barely got to the 4:00pm session to see some friends go through the temple for the first time. Unfortunately some other members of our ward did not. The roads were packed down with snow and had become so icy that cars were off the road left and right. Plus, it was still snowing! Everyone in the car was OK, but the car wasn't drivable after that. They were left stranded at a grocery store about 25 miles from the temple. We were all made aware of their circumstances after the session, and after determining that there were just enough seats in all of our cars we went to pick them up. What would have been a half hour drive to where they were stranded turned into about an hour due to highway closures and icy road conditions.

It was after we picked up Sister Francie Smith that our day (it was actually night by now) became even more interesting. Kris drove slowly and we were about 30 miles from home when another car switched lanes in front of us. We began to slide left as we passed an exit and came up an incline. We were about to go off the road when Kris was able to turn the truck and get it sliding right. We were coming up on the guard rails by now when the car spun 180 degrees (still on the road) and began to slow down. That's when the truck slid off the road (between the guard rail and a highway sign, just missing both) and down the hill then came to a stop at the bottom. We were stuck in 18-20 inches of snow. Amazingly we were all OK. The girls didn't even realized what had happened because they were half asleep and watching a movie in the back seat. Everyone's adrenaline was running but we remained calm, and poor Sister Smith was in her second accident that day! While Kris got out of the truck, still in his suit, to assess the situation, I explained the details of what had happened to Sister Smith who lost most of her vision about 30 years ago.

To make a long story short, we called 911, a deputy came to our aide, and about 15 minutes after that a tow truck arrived to pull us out. Kris also called our bishop who made a valiant effort to come get us girls but surprisingly, the tow truck beat him to us. I should mention however that while we waited for the deputy to arrive, Kris was very creative because he used our snow blower (which was in our truck) to make two tracks that led up the hill in hopes that if we just got onto the tracks we could get ourselves out. Unfortunately, the truck wasn't going any place without a tow truck. Thankfully there wasn't any damage to the truck. By the time we took Sister Smith home and returned home ourselves it was 11:45 pm.

We are so grateful that the outcome wasn't worse. We feel like Heavenly Father was watching out for us because no other cars were around, and had we gone off the road as we slid left, we probably would have rolled.

On a lighter note, as I mentioned above, the girls were pretty oblivious that anything had happened until one of them realized the truck wasn't moving anymore. "We slid off the road girls," I told them. "See there's a tree right there." (It was about 15 feet off to the side of us.)

Alyson replied, "I thought so because there usually aren't trees on the road."

The Things Kids Don't Know

We were eating breakfast this morning at the table when Kourtney put her hands over her ears and said, "Mom, can you hear me?"

I tried not to laugh as she repeated herself a couple more times. Finally I said, "Yes, Kourtney. Of course I can hear you. I'm not putting MY hands over MY ears."

Innocently she replied, "But I'm putting MY hands over MY ears," which naturally only got me smiling again.

Ironically, or maybe even heaven sent, Kourtney spontaneously began to sing "I Am a Child of God" at breakfast shortly following this experience. Kourtney cracked me up this morning, but also got me thinking about how many basic temporal and spiritual principles she will need to learn, especially as a little child, and how it's mostly our responsibility as parents to teach our children.

What a great work we have to do...Sometimes it seems too great of a task to take on, but then a moment such as this morning's happens and it occurs to me that it's more of a privilege than an overwhelming challenge.

Our Christmas 2008

Our Christmas was as happy as the smile on Ellary's face!

We took a drive to a German inspired town called Frankenmuth, Michigan two days before Christmas. It's a town famous for having the largest Christmas store in the world. Talk about huge! There were ornaments, nativities and decorations everywhere! Santa also made an appearance and took his time talking to all of the children. Alyson, Kourtney and Ellary all had their turns and thankfully answered his questions correctly about their overall behavior this year. We took a few pictures as we waited in line, then some of the girls with Santa...
Our three little snowomen

Here are Nana, Papa, Alyson and Koco posing in Frankenmuth.

We also found a place to eat called "Oma's Restaurant" and thought it only fitting to eat there...but of course, the food wasn't nearly as good as Oma's cooking.

We have a tradition of reading Luke 2 and singing our favorite Christmas songs on Christmas Eve. Before we knew it, Christmas Eve was upon us. Here is Ellary in front of our Christmas tree listening to Kris lead music on his guitar.

The girls made some candy cane cookies for Santa and left him an empty glass so he could help himself to cold milk in the fridge. They also left him a note saying they had been very good and that they would really like hamsters for Christmas.

Christmas morning surprise...

Kourtney with her present from Santa. She named her hamster Twinkles.

Alyson named her hamster Tutu.

Ellary had fun playing with her little kitchen that she got from Santa.

The girls also enjoyed wearing their Christmas PJ's all day long.

And by late morning, Ellary was out on the living room floor!

Here is a special decoration we got at Bronner's Christmas Store in Frankenmuth to commemorate our Christmas with Nana, Papa and Oma.

One more picture of Ella sleeping on the floor and our white Christmas outside.

Here's our family Christmas evening. We had a wonderful time and are so grateful we could spend it with our parents. We also appreciate everyone who thought of us this year and wish you all the best in 2009!

Snow in MI, Sledding, and Gingerbread House

Alright! Finally getting around to blogging some of the fun and interesting things that we have been doing since my mom (a.k.a. - Oma) and Jessica's parents (a.k.a., Nana and Papa) have come to join us for Christmas and New Year. We could make twenty different posts about their visit thus far (they are staying until the 5th of Jan), but I think I will divide it into two posts.

First, the night they got here (Dec 18th) it snowed and the next morning it snowed until we had 18" - 20" of snow on the ground. 16" of new snow and 2 " - 4" of old stuff depending on whether it had compressed and melted or not. Here is the family taking care of the aftermath on our driveway:


Alyson and Kourtney love to help, although they just end up walking around in the snow that I will eventually have to shovel myself. At any rate, it is nice to spend the family time together.


Nana wanted to help so she was out there as well. Later in the visit (about 5 days later) she helped again and it was nice because one of my neighbors with a snow blower took pity on us (probably seeing her out there with me and thinking I am a bad son-in-law for letting my mother-in-law help with shoveling snow) and he came and helped with the removal efforts. Unfortunately, he didn't know where my sidewalk ended and my porch lights began so we lost one of our lights. Small price to pay for letting him feel good about helping out on Christmas Eve.


Here is some of the family at dinner. Jessica is feeding baby Ellary (not pictured). Next to her is Papa. Followed by Kourtney, Nana, and Aly.


We decided we would put the snow to good use. So we took the family sledding. We have a big sledding hill right downtown in East Lansing (see our earlier blog on that) and we went there again. Here is me with my mom. She actually bought Jessica and I the sleds we were using several years ago and they never got used until we moved here to MI.


Here is Kourtney on one of the sleds that was left in our house when we bought it. They are the worst sleds ever. They always turn you around backwards. So we just started the kids in them backwards. Worked much better, but it ended up plowing a bunch of snow when you went down in it.


Here is Aly coming down the hill. She LOVES sledding. After everybody was done (cold and tiered), Alyson begged us to let her go some more. Of course we can't say no to that so I got to be the one that climbed up the hill three more times with her. It was a blast! We connected two sleds together. One for my legs and one for my bum and Alyson's bum and went down like a train with two cars. I love playing with my kids.


Here are a couple of pictures of my mom (Oma) going down the hill. She wanted to try it so I said OK, but remember to not drag your feet on the way down.


She didn't listen to me and on the way down she ate the old and very gross snow. Here is a picture of her reaction to the taste of the snow. I tell you, parents never listen to their children!!!


Here is the family at the top of the hill. Nana went up for moral support. She decided not to go down because of her hip - probably a wise decision given the hill's bumpiness.


Here is Kourtney making a snow angel. She is not the biggest fan of sledding. I mean she loves to go down, but considers the work it takes to climb the hill more costly than the reward.


Jessica and I went down a few times together. It was fun and the girls really liked it when we went together. It was nice that Papa could stay in the car and watch Ellary to let us do this together. Last time one of us always had to be watching Ellary.


Here is the final picture from sledding. I absolutely LOVE this picture of our little Koco. Her eyes are so clear and she is so much fun. She is by far the most silly and creative kid I have ever met. So beautiful too!!!


Later that week Jessica and the family built a gingerbread house while I was out home teaching. Here is the crew working on the house (my mom is taking the picture and she helped a lot).


Here is the entire crew with the FINISHED gingerbread house. It was amazing how long it takes to cook the sheets of gingerbread. Not worth it in my opinion. Graham crackers taste much better anyway!


Here is Aly and her BEAUTIFUL mother at work on the house. Needs more chocolate in my opinion, but I wasn't there to be the foreman.


Stay tuned. One more big blog about last week (Christmas week) to come...