Chicken Songs and Bunk Beds

Sorry, no pics to post right now. I'm actually in Utah with the kids for a few days until Jacob comes up to meet us next week. You can tell I'm used to small towns because I was so stressed driving the busy freeway from Orem to Ogden. So stressed. I like little roads, even if they are dusty and full of potholes. One of the reasons we were shying away from the mini-van was because we weren't sure if it would be able to make it over all the roads in Taos. I still need 4-wheel drive to do my visiting teaching until all the snow and mud goes away...even then I'm a bit unsure. Anyway, Nani & Papa and Shayla came for a visit last week, and we had lots of fun exploring the town and hanging out. Dave and Jacob put up the new bunk bed, which has become the best new toy for the kids. They play all over it, and Kei has only fallen from the ladder once...so far! Sage is truly growing up. I can't believe she's sleeping on the top bunk. The other night, I was trying to come up with some ideas for storytime at the library the next day. The theme was on chickens, I asked at dinner if anyone knew any poems or songs about chickens. Sage came up with this great song about a chicken. It went something like this, "A chicken was jumping on the trampoline. She fell off!" The kids laugh. Then Kei adds, "Bump head!!" The kids laugh even harder. So the next morning, as I'm starting storytime, Sage jumps up in front of all these people and sings her chicken song, with Keiger's addition. All those cute storytime kids thought it was funny. We have been able to meet some really nice people through storytime. So that's what's new with us, unless Jacob has anything else to add from Taos.

Our fun

Ok- so it’s been a little bit since we’ve updated this blog. It hasn’t snowed for a while and the weather’s been warm—I was so hoping for spring! Then it snowed 4 inches today, and more to come this week! We were able to take a little trip to Arizona in January to see Justin and Maile’s family. Jake had actually been planning this for a while since he wanted to be able to hunt with Justin, and the kids and I were more than happy to go! The other day, Sage told me it must be warm in Arizona and that if she were in Arizona right then, she would probably be jumping on the trampoline with Kelai. It was a really fun trip.

So we have been on the hunt for a larger vehicle. And from the get-go, I have been adamant that I am not a mini-van person. I have the mini-van stigma. So we have been looking into the crossovers, which are very nice, but also pretty spendy. And, seriously, all this car shopping has been giving me such anxiety! I worry too much. Anyway, we finally did find a great deal on a very nice new car, but I figured the Prizm needed a little tribute. I’ve driven that car since high school, and it has been a great little car for us. As I was driving it over to the dealership to trade it in, I thought about all the crazy stuff we’ve driven it through, and I was almost sad to see it go…almost. I will miss the 38 miles per gallon though!

So we ended our search for the new Young family car by getting a….mini-van. Yep, a Town & Country….mini-van. I can hardly believe it myself. And no one who noticed the car at church today would let me forget it and told me to start slicing oranges for the soccer games. What can I say? We decided to just test drive the van simply because they were so much more affordable than the crossovers, and the van actually grew on me, especially after we figured the price. So I told Jake I’d be happy with the van since now we’re able to save enough for Disneyland so he doesn’t have any excuse for us not to go! And the kids think it’s so cool that we could all sleep in the big black car if we needed to! And through all of this crazy car stuff, we are really just grateful we were able to get a larger vehicle that will fit our family’s needs.

Jake and I had actually had a date night this past week—our first in a while! We decided to try our hand at homemade sushi rolls. I heard they could be pretty tricky, especially the rice, but things worked out pretty good. I was surprised. This is what we called our sushi burrito since it turned out so big!
So I got the family to help me make a volcano just for kicks. The kids were freaked out of it at first—can you see it in their eyes? It took them a while to figure out what on earth was going on when the thing started fizzing.

Sage had a tea party with some of her friends the other day. They had a great time—any excuse for cupcakes and Jello!

Chistmas/Winter Fun

What a fun Christmas we had! And we have loved receiving the darling Christmas cards and updates! I was too lazy to send any cards out this year. December seemed to be sooo busy, that I was so grateful for the holiday to come so we could just be at home. I stayed in pajamas for most of the time following Christmas, and it was heaven! We loved having a white Christmas, and have had plenty of fun in the snow already. We’ve received about a foot of snow today! It’s going to be hard to get back into the swing of things after the holidays and having family around.

Jake attempted to make tamales for Christmas Eve, and for a first try, they weren’t half bad. We’re almost real New Mexicans! And, yes, Sage did get a stuffed animal chicken from Santa. In fact, she ended up with 3, so there’s enough to share with Keiger. Here they are hugging their “chickee-bawks.”

We took Sage skiing again this year. On New Year’s Eve, we took her up to the practice hill at Sipapu where me, Jake, and my Dad just jogged beside her while she learned her balance and how to turn…sort of.

Then on New Year’s Day, we all headed up to Angel Fire and took Sage up the quad to the top of the mountain. The lift made her nervous at first, but she got used to it. She skied in between our skis since she hasn’t figured out the whole stopping thing yet. We had to keep close tabs on her! But we had so much fun! Sage loved it and kept asking to go faster and faster. I think we’ll hook her up to one of those ski leashes next time we go.

We got made fun of for missing out on the ward New Year’s Eve party, since I was half-asleep by 8:30 pm, but what’s new? Oh, Jake and my dad did end up finishing gate for the new fence. It looks great!

2009

Thanksgiving, Keiger's B-Day & more

Even though we weren’t able to visit any family, we still had a great Thanksgiving this year. We ate with some friends and their family, and it was fancy! All of the food definitely had a southwestern flair. I’ve never had such spicy mashed potatoes! I guess I should be getting used to hot food by now.

Once again, we ventured out into the woods to cut our Christmas tree. Thankfully, we had a wee bit of a snowstorm this week so there was enough snow in the mountains to be able to play. The kids got tired of looking for a tree pretty quick, so we sledded while Jake tromped around the forest. I don’t think he minded that, and he ended up finding a fantastic tree. Sage got pretty brave while we were sledding and decided to go solo. She had a few good runs…and a few good biffs. Jake managed to capture this sweet sequence on photo.

We were able to meet up with the Glecklers while they were visiting family in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving. It was really nice to see them. Jacob is seriously very cute, and such a good baby.

Ski season has opened here in Taos, so I’m super anxious to go. Even Sage says she’s ready to try again this year. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Keiger celebrated his 2nd birthday this week. I can’t believe we have two-year-old! Kei was basically afraid of everything during his b-day. He was totally scared to unwrap presents, and there was no way he was going to blow out the candles on his front-loader cake. I’m glad we have a boy so I could finally create that cake!

Jake had meetings in Albuquerque this week so we stayed with him in the hotel and had a great time swimming and playing at the children’s museum. We also got to hang out with the Munns, which was very fun. Bailey is getting sooo big, and so pretty! She has such gorgeous eyes! We went to the River of Lights Christmas show at the Botanical Garden. Sage was so excited to lead us all around. She was running all over the place! And Beth and Chance were super kind to watch the kids so we could go to the temple which was really nice.

Oh, and if anyone cares, Chicken has finally started laying eggs. We just happened to look into the nest on Sunday and low and behold 3 eggs! It must be a combination of more food, light during the night (we rigged a heat lap up to keep the water from freezing) and the kids not torturing her.