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.

Twilight

So I went to see Twilight last night with some friends, and yes, there were a lot of "oohs" and sighs from the audience. A couple who went with us who hadn't read the book, kept asking why everyone was chuckling and oohing when a new character appeared in the movie. I thought it was well cast. Jacob and the husband of one of the ladies I went with kindly refused to go. I don't think they were interested in a vampire movie that a bunch of girls wanted to go see. Anyway, it's crazy how this series has reached so many people, young & old. It's been so fun to be able to connect with so many people at church or around town because I've seen them reading the Twilight books. Who'd have thought that Sage's speech teacher, the manager at my gym, a friend from storytime, sisters from Relief Society, me and my mom, and so many others, would all go ga-ga over a vampire book? I love it. So thanks to Katyanne for introducing me to Stephenie Meyers way back in our Moscow book club. And if you see the movie, let me know what you think!

Happy Halloween

You can’t imagine all the comments we got when people saw Sage’s stylin’ Halloween costume while we trick or treated. Things like, “Oh, what a…cute costume.” Or, “What are you? A pumpkin? No, a fairy!” So imagine our surprise when one nice young lady looked at Sage in her planetary get-up and said, “You must be Jupiter.” Jaws dropped, and I asked how on earth she knew. She replied, “I saw the big red spot.” Good for her. So all of our planning and effort paid off, and I think we made a pretty convincing Jupiter costume for Sage. And she played it up big time. She loved how bouncy the costume was. And during the costume parade at the ward Halloween party, Sage marched down the runway and rotated on her axis by spinning around. We were so proud. Next year she’s convinced she wants to be a chicken. Sage did say to my mom one night, “You could be a ghost for Halloween, instead of an old woman!” We love grandma and grandpa!

Keiger loved his football costume. He insisted on wearing the jersey around (night and day) for days. Although he was not too sure of the big helmet. At least Daddy made use of it.

It was balloon festival time again in Taos. This year we managed to get up early enough to go over to the mass ascension, which was well worth it, although it was chilly! It was crazy to see so many balloons go up at once.

My family came to visit, and we put my dad to work building a new fence for us. Our old one was falling over. So we took it down, threw out the rotting posts, and cemented in new posts. Now we have to wire all the latilla poles back on. That may be a bit time-consuming, but already it looks so nice. I’m anxious to get it finished so we can let the kids out to play in an enclosed area again. The house feels so naked without the fence!

We also celebrated Jacob's 29th birthday on the 30th. I think his best present was that he ended up getting an elk tag, so he's off hunting again this weekend.

(Hey, who said you can't eat the antlers!-)

And, lastly, here’s a picture of a four-year-old’s attempt to reach the Halloween candy hidden on the top of the fridge - and one of here with her beloved "flufferbelly".