Tanner's 1st Birthday!

I love the first birthday! I love to see how different kids react to their first experience with high doses of sugar just handed to them to do what they will. Kate was so funny on her first birthday. She just poked at the cupcake and then wouldn't touch it. She wouldn't even eat it. Tanner was the polar opposite, like most kids. His birthday was actually the 15th.

I could have kicked myself for not having candles. And this isn't the first or second time I have done this for my kids' birthdays. How hard is it to remember the candles? Apparently it's too much for me to remember. So, we have gotten well versed with the matches. It worked out really well for Tanner because the flame died before he had the chance to grab at it.

He got the idea REALLY fast. Use both hands and shove. Atta boy!

The after look. I had to get a picture of him naked because he is so much smaller than Nathan was, it amazes me they came from the same mold.

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." Eliza was determined to make him happy all day. She didn't like the fact that he would cry on his birthday. That just wasn't right to her.

We didn't do much else for his birthday. We didn't even buy him presents. But before you judge me, he doesn't know any different and we just had Christmas and have plenty of toys. So why not save ourselves a few dollars and put it to more worthy causes?
I just love our little guy. He is so sweet. His smile is my sunshine. I love his dimples. I love that his hair stands up like my brothers. I love how ticklish he is. I love his little hands and feet. And I love, loVE, LOVE, the way he lights up when he sees me. He is such a blessing in our family.

Spontaneous New Year's Trip

New Year's Eve was not like most in the past. We had a few troubles that made it a little challenging. Once again, our furnace stopped working. Of course it happened on New Year's Eve when nothing is open. I was not feeling great with a UTI but was unwilling to go and pay outrageous ER prices to be seen and medicated. Ely does not have a walk-in clinic so it was ER or nothing. Nathaniel gave me a blessing and I drank as much cranberry and orange juice as my body would allow and I actually turned out okay. If you have ever had a UTI (which I have had several) you don't get better without meds so I know it was a direct blessing from above that I got better. Nathaniel tried to restart the furnace and it worked for a little while, but then just stopped completely. We were worried about the kids getting too cold, so we let them have a "sleepover" in the living room to try to stay warmer. We added an extra quilt later when we found out it was supposed to be -22 that night. Yikes! That's really cold with a working furnace, terrifying when you don't have heat at all. We warmed up their rice socks and tucked them in as best we could.

We woke up New Year's morning and it was once again freezing in the house. I woke up to Tanner crying at 4 a.m. and noticed it was in the 50's in the house. I went to the cellar to restart the furnace and see if I could get it working again. It didn't stay on. I went back to bed and had to sleep with the quilts over my head because I was so cold. I laid there in bed worrying about my kids being too cold, not knowing what we were going to do because every time the furnace goes out it is a holiday or the weekend, or both. This was the 3rd time the furnace had gone out on us leaving the house in the 40's at best by the time we actually leave. We once again decided to leave our freezing house, this time going south to the land of the SUN! The funny thing about all of this is that Nancy, Quentin and their family were supposed to be at our house for New Year's, but the roads were so bad they couldn't come. It would have been horrible if we would have had 5 extra freezing children to worry about. We instead went to their house in Yuma. So, we still got to have that visit...just in a better location! Nathan helped us pull into the driveway at about 10 p.m. New Year's night.

Nathaniel dropped us off and turned around on Sunday and drove back to Ely to work and get the Landlord to put in the baseboard heaters they told us they were going to put in while we were gone. Well, Monday they had someone service the furnace AGAIN. We were really frustrated. If the furnace goes out again we are going to stay in a hotel and deduct it from our rent until they properly fix the heat situation.
Monday we got to go to the church and have FHE with Nana and Papa and Becca. It was really fun. We played relay games and musical chairs (for kids and adults). I love Nathaniel's family. It is especially fun to have Nancy in the family since we were friends prior to being married to Sorenson boys.

Oh how I missed Arizona and LOVED the trips to the park especially on Friday when we didn't even have jackets. I will move back there, sooner or later...hopefully sooner than later. One day while we were playing outside I heard Katelyn singing a song she had made up that went something like this, "I love me just the way that I am..." It was so cute. I love her just the way she is too.

Tanner got ear infections while we were there. He had high fevers, had a hard time sleeping, and was just plain miserable the last few days. Luckily, Nathaniel surprised me by coming late Thursday night instead of Friday night so he was there to help out. I really needed it because Nathan had the flu and was throwing up as well. Bless my husband for coming to help out. I felt so bad for exposing Nancy's family to all of our illnesses. She's a gem, she didn't even kick us out, make us feel bad, and she helped me wash Nathan's bedding after a major nasty blowout diaper.

I love my time with family, I just wish I didn't have sick kids when I travel. It makes me stress more. I was very happy we got time with relatives even if the circumstances were not ideal.
Just as a side note, this is the coolest wagon ever. It folds up to fit into your car. So cool. We took it to the park and it was so handy. I think that will be my first purchase once I move to Arizona (see how I am already planning that move).

Nathan trying to cheer up a sad little brother.

Tanner was miserable on Sat. morning, had a fever, and wouldn't sleep. We gave him some medicine and finally he gave out on the love sac. He took a good little nap on it while we loaded up the van.

By the time we got to Parker (2 hours from Yuma) Tanner was burning up again and was shaking. I gave him more medicine and held him while we both cried. I remembered Nathaniel's friend telling us that we needed to have him chew something to help clear out the tubes in his ears. I had bought licorice for Nathaniel so I gave Tanner a piece. He was such a mess, but he was happy. That's all that mattered. This is what he looked like the next time we stopped. I had given him lots of licorice by that point and had to take him into the restroom to clean him up. I will do anything to make a sick child smile. And what a goofy smile that is!

The Magic of Christmas Morning

I love everything about Christmas. I love the anticipation, thinking of the perfect gift for my kids, the music, the lights, the way everything is sweeter, more peaceful, more happy. It is so fun with my kids to see the magic through their eyes.

I love how even a box of cereal or stocking stuffers are so exciting to them.

I love Kate's face in this one. She was so into opening her present that she didn't want to pause to look at the camera.

Eliza is always so cute on holidays. She always says, "this is the best day ever!" My kids are fun to give to at this age because they love EVERYTHING you give them.

Nathan with his cheesy smile and new pj pants.

Tanner loved his cuties (clementines) and wouldn't put them down.

Nathaniel tried to take away his cuties and have him open a present...

he was not happy. So we gave them back...

I'm glad we didn't spend lots of money on present for him.

Nathan is often found in the kitchen stealing my tongs, measuring cups or spoons, funnels, etc. So, I gave him some things for their play kitchen. That way I get to keep mine. Merry Christmas to him and me!

You can ride the truck either way...it just depends on your size. I love how Nathan has his treats on the back of the truck when he is riding it. Never far from the food... he must be mine.

The girls took all of the candy from their stocking and were mixing it with their new bowls and spoons. I didn't know what they were doing until they came over and showed me, it was a sugary mess. They said they were making their breakfast, yeah, you wish. Not even on Christmas do you get to eat that.

Again, Tanner with the cuties.

Tanner started crawling just a few days before Christmas (the 22nd). With all of the fun stuff around, it gave him good motivation. So he is finally mobile (and just a shade under a decade, all right!) He is very happy with his new found freedom. Instead of crying for me to pick him up, he pushes away from me for me to put him back down.

The jammies I made for them. They are huge on them. The good thing is kids grow fast.

Eliza was confused as to why we had Aunt Laurel's car mat. They were happy to know it really was for them. We had a great day and I think I got the best gift of all (besides a beautiful, healthy family) a big, fat NAP!

Christmas Eve

We had our friends, Curt and Dottie, over for Christmas Eve. They live 4 houses down from us and have been so very kind to us right from the start. Curt helped move us in and came over to check on us everyday the first week to be sure everything was going okay. He helped us get situated and has been such a good friend. They are around Nathaniel's parents age and so my kids treat them like adopted grandparents. Kate has Curt walk her to Sunbeams every Sunday. My kids hug them every time they see them and if they don't, Curt comes to give them one. I think it is so nice to have them around. Anyway, our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to a movie and get pizza for dinner. The kids love it and it makes our day really easy and fun. Going to the movies here didn't work out, so we rented a couple of redbox movies and still got pizza. Then the kids opened one present. It is usually pajamas, but since I hadn't finished Nathan's I had them open their capes. I'm glad I did, because I don't know that they would have enjoyed them as much on Christmas morning with all of the other things they got.

I love their faces! It makes the effort so worth it (not that they were hard, but it's nice to see that you got it right).

Tubing on Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we were invited to join some friends to go tubing. I haven't been tubing since my college days. I had an absolute blast! If it is going to be this cold, at least we have friends who hook us up with a REALLY good time! It was a beautiful sunny day, still very nippy, but I'll take the sun ANYTIME! Dave and Lori have a truck and they pull huge tractor tubes behind it. They put a smaller tube inside the large tube and then you climb on and off you go. They had invited us and 2 other families to come along, the Parks and the Walkers. I really like all of the families they invited. Don't know them very well, but really comfortable to be with.

Lori and Lindsey (the moms) each took a tube of kids first. I was holding Tanner and I wasn't sure if there was enough room for anyone else on the tubes. The dads stayed behind to wait for round 2.

The next time around those that didn't get on tubes rode in the back of the truck. It was hilarious to watch the kids faces. Nathan had the funniest expression on his face. It was this huge grin that spread across his face but looked like he was in a lot of pain. I couldn't stop laughing. I tried to get it on camera, but it just didn't do it justice. The snow was coming up over the front of the tube so all of the kids turned into Lori for cover and the poor lady was lost under all four of the kids. She's such a great lady!

Next, Nathaniel and I took our girls on one tube while the other tube held several of the guys. We were having such a fun time and I was laughing and telling the girls, "We didn't get to do things like this in Tucson." Then all of a sudden the big outer tube popped and we only had the little tube for the four of us. It was SO funny! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Bryan was in the tube behind us and he hollered at the truck to stop since no one in the back of the truck saw what was going on. So, no one got hurt and we all had a REALLY good laugh. I hope we get to do that again this winter, at least it adds a fun element to the snow. I loved it when Lori said, "We're so white trash to do this." We may be, but at least we have each other and have fun doing things like this together.

This is after the one tube popped and they were just towing it back to the vehicles. There were a couple of guys on it but they were afraid it would pop so 2 got off and walked. Nathaniel had to ride it back because he couldn't feel his toes anymore so he was not big on the idea of trekking back through the snow. He only wore ankle socks...silly boy, we're not in Arizona anymore!