Saying Good-bye to 2009

As I sit here with only a few minutes left of the year, the first thought that comes to my mind is, how pathetic am I to be sitting her updating my blog on New Year's Eve, but what else am I supposed to do when I have a sleeping little one and a working husband? I also look back over the past year. We definitely have had our ups and downs this year, a lot of changes and a lot of growing. I hope this next year we can continue to grow and find joy in the things around us, but I also hope that we have some time to breathe and just enjoy life before we have to start jumping hurdles again (or at least big hurdles). I have to admit, I've had one of the hardest years of my life, and while I probably haven't learned as much as I should have from my trials, I didn't walk away empty handed. And this handful of knowledge that I've gained comes a few resolutions for the upcoming year. I'm going to focus more on the family and making lasting memories with them now. I'm going to show more gratitude for my blessings and all the beautiful things around me. I'm going to be more patient with my family, and especially with myself. Lastly (but definitely not the least) I'm going to strive harder at keeping the commandments that Heavenly Father has given, pay more attention to the basics (scripture study, prayer, FHE, going to the temple, etc.). I hope that the new year finds you all Healthy and Happy.

Cinderella's Cleaning Service

The other day I was treated to a total house cleaning by Cinderella's Cleaning Service. If you ask me, this girl is worth every penny, and she knows how to dress for the occasion. If you'd like to have her come clean your house just let me know and I'm sure we can make arrangements.

CHRISTMAS (and Christmas Eve)!!

*note: there are not many pictures in this post because I didn't take very many on Christmas day. I was enjoying the moment and completely forgot to pull out the camera until later in the day when things had calmed down.

We were fortunate enough to have Erik home with us on Christmas eve. To start the day off, Erik (with Jordyn's help) put cabinets up in the garage so that he could finally unpack the boxes in there (now I can officially say we are finished with the unpacking). While they were busy in the garage, I was busy inside getting things cleaned up and ready for our 1st annual Christmas breakfast. Then we started the celebrating. We read Luke 2 and watched Joy to the World and then each of us got to open a present from under the tree. Surprise! Surprise! We all got new jammies! That evening we went to a friends Cajun Christmas party. It was fun, but a bit cold so we called it an early night and headed home for some hot chocolate before bed (but not before we made sure our stockings were hung by the chimney with care). Santa came to our house fairly early (he knew he'd have to get up early to take the dogs out and wanted to get some sleep). Up with the sun rose the puppies and one very excited little girl. Santa brought her a Care Bear castle, and a camera, along with new gloves and a hat. Erik got a lump of coal (seriously, I or rather, Santa found a bag of candy at Walmart that was wrapped to look like coal, it was awesome!), I got a new TV for the playroom and some bath stuff. After we emptied our stockings it was time to start the cooking. Since Erik had to work Christmas evening we couldn't do a traditional Christmas dinner so we opted for a Christmas breakfast. We invited Erik's parents over, our good friends Caitlin & Jared and Thomas & Amanda (and the missionaries from our ward, but due to a miss communication they couldn't make it, maybe next year!). We stuffed ourselves with crepes, quiche, cinnamon rolls, fruit kabobs and casseroles. It was good food and GREAT company. So, great in fact, that we plan on doing it again next year (but next time invite everyone to stay in their jammies since it's so early!). After breakfast everyone settled down in the living room to watch Jordyn open her presents. For this, my family joined us, via skype. Jordyn was definitely spoiled this year. A few of her presents included, a cleaning cart (so she can help mommy clean with tools that are her size) a rocking, doll that says "give me a kiss and brush my beautiful hair" in 6 different languages, Disney princess toys (dress ups and several types of dolls). Overall, I'd say we had a great Christmas, and I hope that you did too!

Makeup

One day while Erik was getting ready for work and I was doing who knows what (probably making Erik's lunch) Jordyn decided that she needed to get start getting ready for Mimi's Christmas party which was later that night. To start things off she probably put some blush on her cheeks and forehead then some foundation on her chin and cheeks (but below the blush so it wouldn't be covered). Since this was a special occasion she decided to finish things off with a bit of mascara around the eyes. She's quite proud of herself, what do you think?

Our Family is Growing!

Our family is growing and this little one couldn't be more excited! To see pictures of the twins scroll down. . .































Okay, so that's probably not exactly what you were expecting to see and not exactly twins, but I'd like to introduce you to the newest additions to our family. Belle (in pink) and Beauty (in purple). We've been discussing getting a dog for a while, but there was always some reason for putting it off, but those reasons are no longer valid so when we saw an article in the local paper about our county animal shelter practically giving puppies away because they'd had so many dropped off in recent weeks, we jumped at the chance. We went on a Friday afternoon and came home with Belle, Saturday night, Erik and I were talking about how we felt like we needed another one, so first thing Monday morning we headed back. Our original plan was to get a little boy, but Belle didn't like any of them so we came home with 2 little girls. They get along great and Jordyn LOVES them. The three of them enjoy playing outside together and Belle tries to sneak up to Jordyn's room a night so she can sleep by her! We couldn't be happier with our new additions. We all love them and look forward to many fun adventures with them!

Visit To Santa

Santa came to visit our local mall a few weeks before Thanksgiving so we took advantage of there being no lines and made our yearly trip to put our Christmas requests in. Jordyn was quite excited to see Santa until we sat her down on his lap and then she wanted out. We tried bribing her with a Rudolph stuffed animal (the brown lump she's holding onto) and that worked well enough to get her close to Santa again, but not on his lap. Finally Santa, in his infinite wisdom came up with a plan and we sat Jordyn on his footstool and he sat behind her. She was still a little nervous around Santa after this, but she was so proud of herself for sitting on Santa's lap long enough to ask for a candy cane at our ward party.

Christmas Crafts and Other Activities

To help Jordyn get excited for Christmas this year, I made a Christmas chain with activities on each piece to help us count down to Christmas. Here's a few of our activities. We made a large Christmas chain to hang across the window in our living room, snow flakes to hang in the entryway, reindeer cookies (as well as sugar cookies), a local toy store had one of Santa's elves come and visit so we went and took a picture and came home with our own elf to help us to remember to be good. At a Christmas party at Mimi's house, a friend helped Jordyn make this snowman out of plates. We also read the story of Christ's birth in both the Book of Mormon and the New Testament, watched "Joy to the World" and made a gingerbread house and read a Christmas story every night before bed. Jordyn enjoyed breaking the chain to see what the activity was for that day, and some days she tried to break more than one so we could do several activities. She was quite excited for Christmas by the time the big day finally rolled around!