~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.

~Ouch, Cool Hat, 2 month checkup and Weather

This is Noah's chin after he fell down the stairs at the beginning of the month. Even though it's been a few weeks, you can still see the pink skin where his ouchie has healed. Noah has also been blessed with the "Lee" nostrils. He is so lucky!
Papa and Granny mailed us a package that had lots of fun winter stuff in it. Simon is modeling his favorites from the box. Papa gave each of the boys a hat. They are all red and white. Thanks Papa! (by-the-way, Papa is recovering from his accident...thank heavens)

Jett had his 2 month check up. At the beginning of the month he weighed 11 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 22 inches long. His breathing is totally normal and the dr. said he's a very healthy boy. That's what we like to hear. Keep on growin' Jett!!

Adam has been working hard on the house still trying to get it ready for the cold weather...even though the cold weather is already here. Today has been the coldest, topping out at 37 degrees below zero. It did warm up to around 29 below by the end of the day.

We have also realized that washing machines are sensetive to the cold. We have now gone through 2 washers only to find that once they thaw out, they work just fine. Adam has a solution though and he'll be working on that tomorrow.

I'm pretty obsessed with the weather since this Arizona girl has never lived anywhere this cold. The amount of daylight is decreasing also. Today the sun came up at 9:42 a.m. and sunset was at 3:27 p.m. The length of daylight is 5 hours and 44 minutes. We are losing 6 minutes and 10 seconds of daylight a day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

~Tears and Prayers

This is my Papa and Granny. Last week my Papa was in a terrible accident. On his morning walk, he tripped and got ran over by a small truck. He had multiple broken ribs, open skull fracture, multiple cracked vertebrae, internal bleeding and a collapsed lung... he was in pretty bad shape.

He was flown from Eagar to St. Jo's hospital in Phoenix. After surgery to clear a blocked artery, a tube inserted into his lung, a back brace and lots of medication, he is starting to heal. He is such a great example of strength and endurance. He's not giving up yet!

So many prayers have been offered for his man, but I know that none of them have had the power and strength than that of my Grannys prayers. She loves her life-long mate. I have never known them to be apart, always standing side by side, holding hands.

I was privileged to grow-up just blocks away from these two special people. So many wonderful life lessons were learned from them. I miss them tremendously and pray for them both.

~Spot, the little Lion and the Baby

Noah the Lion

Simon-Spot the Dog

Jett the Baby

see Spot frown, hear Lion roar
Aren't they cute little animals?

It was pretty cold on Halloween, so we ditched the idea of trick-or-treating and went to the school carnival. The boys played lots of games, ate tasty cupcakes and got some yummy candy.

~ThE boYs loVe tHe SnOw

Sledding is hard work!

Noah trying to be helpful...Simon not liking it!
Silly faces on the old couch
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"Faster mom!"

Isn't this a cute picture!?!

~Jett

Almost two months old and doing great!

~Sim Sim

Lately we've been getting a kick out of

Simon and his words.

All of his "f" sounds come out as "sh" sounds.

He says things like:

• Shench Shies - French Fries
• Shone - Phone
• Shiretruck - Firetruck
• Shootball - Football
• "Daddy hurt my sheelings" - translation - "Daddy hurt my feelings"
• "I want shoggy cereal" - translation - "I want froggy cereal (Honey Smacks)"
• "I want some shood" - translation - "I want some food"
• "I can't shind my journal" - translation - "I can't find my journal"
• "mommy, that was shun" - translation - "mommy, that was fun"
• Adam's Favorite "my shoe "sh"its - translation - "my shoe fits"

so shunny!!

~Noah had a good day

Noah learned how to ride a bike without training wheels.

Thanks Dad!!

GO NOAH!

After trying taekwon do, we decided that it wasn't the best fit for Noah. Gymnastics was next on our list. Noah started a KinderGym class today. He did great.

Good instructors with lots of praise. Perfect for Noah.

Look at that form...he's a natural

~things that make us smile!

U2 or Grandma Slade?

Last night Adam and I were chatting and I mentioned that U2 is going to be in concert in Phoenix at the end of the month.

Noah had been listening to our conversation and was asking about "the concert". I explained to him that it's a place where you go to hear people play music and sing songs. He replied with, "So we're going to Phoenix to see Grandma Slade?"

Noah kind of missed the "U2" part, but Adam and I had a good laugh. Yes, Grandma Slade does play music and sing songs.

I think we should get Grandma Slade and U2 together for one big show. I bet Grandma could teach them a thing or two!

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For Family Home Evening on Monday night we talked about Ammon and King Lamoni. We read from the Book of Mormon about how the bad Lamanites kept scattering the sheep of the king. Then about when Ammon cut off the arms of the wicked Lamanites
when they tried to kill him.

For our activity we made swords out of cardboard and tinfoil. Adam was a bad Lamanite with his club and Noah and Simon took turns being Ammon. They had a great time trying to cut off dad's arms!