This is for Whit...Happy Late Birthday

All Whit wanted for her birthday was pictures of the boys. So, below are pictures from the last few weeks - our trip to Arizona. The date wasn't set right on my camera. The pictures really were just taken.

Noah's Freckles

They are so cute. This picture does not do them justice.

Easter at the Connolly's

Look at how white Simon is. He is truly an Alaska resident.

We spent a week in Eagar, but I left my camera in Mesa. Holly has pictures on her camera of the boys flying kites at mom's house. She also has pictures of Jett, Gavin (Jen's baby) and Kinsley (Josh's baby). They are all the same age and just super cute. When Holly forwards the pics, I'll do another post.

We went to the Maricopa County Fair with Amanda, Welcome and Sylas!

Thanks for a fun day!

Noah enjoying the pony ride.

Jett thought it was fun too!

The next day Grandma Connolly took us to the Wildlife Animal Zoo

It took a lot of courage for Noah to touch the star fish...but, he did it!

Grandma had a lot of fun teaching Simon how to pet the Sting Rays. These were just the right size for Simon.

Simon and the Llama...so cute!

I also got to spend an evening with my cousins. We went to the Cheesecake Factory. YUMMY!! We were missing one thing though and that was Jana. I do have a picture with Jana when we were in Eagar, but that's on Holly's camera too.

We also went to Falcon Field Open House. We went last year and it was so fun.

The boys sittin' in the police helicopter.

Trisha, Tyler, Tanner and Nick came with us. It was great to spend some time with them. Can't you just see the trouble these four could cause!?!

Jeremy and Echelle met up with us also. Cousins! This was just a few hours before Jeremy's appendix decided to cause problems. Emergency surgery fixed it though. Poor Jer.

We also checked out the car show. Simon backed right up and sat on the bumper of this car. He liked it because it was orange.

Jett learned to crawl while we were in AZ. Go Jett!

Notice the tongue. It's always hanging out.

A proud papa... Shane's first baby was born while we were there. Oh she is so sweet. (Another picture on Holly's camera) Baby Kamryn looks just like a Slade. Congrats Shane and Jennifer.

Fun in the sun. Jett discovered many new things, like grass!

Playing in the water with Welcome and Sylas at Grandma Connolly's

This was Noah's smile for Aunt Whitney. He sure misses you.

On our 12 hour layover in Seattle we went to the mall to get Jett some clean clothes. It was a rough plane ride for the poor baby. He vomited too many times to count and for some reason, I didn't pack any extra clothes for him in my carry-on.

Just waiting for the cab...being silly.

Some other highlights (not pictured) of our trip to AZ is that we went to the temple a few times. I got to see some friends from Florence, had lunch with Lisa and Jamba Juice with Linda. We drove past our old house. It was occupied and looked terrible. Weeds everywhere. Honestly, I miss the square footage, but that's about it.

The day after we got home, we got Noah registered for Kindergarten. He's going to do GREAT!!

~Simon's trip to the ER, New Calling and Arizona

Pellet Stoves do get hot enough to burn your skin. Actually there was quite a chunk missing from Simon's arm last Saturday night. After coming in from the cold, Sim decided that he would get warm by the fire. He backed up to the stove, not realizing how close it was. By that time, his arm was already resting on the stove door. Pain, suffering...and lots of crying. You know how bad burns hurt.

Seeing the amount of skin that was left on the door of the stove and what Sim's arm looked like, I headed to the ER. About half way there he went hysterical, screaming..."I BROKE MY SHINGER! I BROKE MY SHINGER!" I kind of smiled and got his attention. I told him that no he didn't break his finger but that he burned his arm. He stopped crying for a second, looked a little surprised and said, "OH!" Then almost instantly he was screaming, "I BURNED MY ARM!!! I BURNED MY ARM!!!" A little humor amidst the chaos. Poor guy just knew that something hurt really bad.

As you can see from the picture, a bandage, juice box and pretzels made everything all better.

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In other news...

I got a new calling. Young Women's President. I have 33 girls. It's been an interesting two weeks trying to get counselors and advisers. Now that the dust has settled, it's time to get to work.

We'll be flying home for a visit in just a few weeks...April 3-20. I'm looking forward to seeing the sun, being warm and wearing no shoes! It will be the first time everyone gets to meet Jett. I'm so excited!

Random Pictures from the last month

~What Noah learned in primary

Adam and Noah were chatting after church

and this is what I heard...so funny!!

A: Hey Spud, what did you learn in your primary class today?

N: Some bad guys were killing all the babies, so an angel came and said that Jesus needed to leave his home and go somewhere safe.

A: Oh ya? Where did Jesus go to be safe?

N: Scotland

A: Wait...where did Jesus go to be safe?

N: Dad! I said SCOTLAND!

Snowpants, Ice Crystals and Moose

Saturday the boys were getting ready to go sledding. Usually I get them ready, but Adam was helping out. I had to take a picture of Simon. It was hilarious!

I guess it was backwards day!!

Look at how beautiful these ice crystals are. Monday morning it looked so neat outside. All the trees were covered with this stuff. The sun was out making all the trees sparkle. So cool!!

This cute little baby moose was right by our house. In the last week we have seen moose everywhere. It looks like they're back.

~Paintball for 5 yr olds

It wasn't too cold today (10 above) so Noah put on his coat and headed outside with his "Splat" gun. The gun is basically the same idea as paintball, but geared for younger kids. He had a blast. Notice the safety glasses. I think wearing those were just as fun as shooting the gun!

~4 Months Old

I can't believe Jett is 4 months old. It's going by way too fast. Anyway, yesterday he had a well-check. He weighed in at 13 pounds and 12 ounces and measured 23 inches in length. He's a shorty!! The dr. tried to make me feel better by saying that it's no indication of how tall he'll be when he's older. I just smiled and said, "oh good." Jett's in the 10th percentile for height and 25th for weight. He's a little smaller than both the other boys were, but just as cute!

We also got a prescription for Vitamin D drops (once daily until Jett's a year old) After the dr. explained, it made sense. Because of little sunlight in the winter, a lot of the babies here in AK are lacking in Vit D so they need a supplement. I thought it was kind of interesting. If it gets really bad the baby can get a disease called Rickets (softening and weakening of the bones).

Jett also had his first taste of rice cereal. It was really cute and he was actually opening his mouth for more!

~STEAMY New Years!!

Earlier this week we went swimming at Chena Hot Springs.

It was so much fun. While it was -25 below outside, the temperature of the water was super warm! And even though you can't really see it in the pictures, it was super steamy. The outdoor adult lake was the place to be, but we spent most of our time in the indoor family pool. Even Jett liked it!

~Christmas

Christmas this year was a bit different. Usually we spend the holidays with the Connolly's or my family, but because we're so far away, the usual Christmas traditions were left up to Adam and I. Earlier in the month we talked about things we wanted to do to make Christmas special. We ended up not doing everything we talked about, but what we did do, made some great memories.

We have met some wonderful people here in North Pole. Cheryl and Kerry Fuller invited us over on Christmas Eve. They are great friends. We ate pizza and made cookies for Santa. It was such a fun evening. Thanks Fullers!

This couple is Eric and Becky Bruntz. We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas Day with them. As you can see, Eric is hilarious, always being silly and Becky is super sweet and very thoughtful. They have really welcomed us to the ward and made us feel comfortable. Christmas Day Becky made prime rib for dinner and then we played games afterward. They have a great family.
A few pictures from the holiday. Santa came and spoiled the boys rotten, plus they had tons of presents under the tree. You have never seen two boys more excited than Noah and Simon on Christmas morning. It was so fun.

Simon got a drum set from Santa. Just the right size and exactly what he wanted. Everyone in the family has tried it out. Playing the drums is kind of fun.

Christmas Eve we went to see Santa at his house. He was so nice and took a few minutes out of his busy day to chat with the boys. After telling Santa what we wanted for Christmas, we let the boys pick out an ornament for their tree. Simon picked a camouflage boot. Noah liked a train ornament and Jett got a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament.

I did miss my family and friends, but I wouldn't have changed a thing! This was a great Christmas.

~2009 Christmas Pictures

My scanner is terrible, sorry, but I wanted to share. Other than Jett looking kind of funny in our family picture, most of them turned out pretty good. My boys are so cute...all of them. Doesn't Adam look built? Alaska life suits him.