Ok. So long since I last posted but life has been eventful for us. I've been keeping busy getting ready for Christmas. I've had most of my shopping done since the end of November, which has been awesome. The only person I hadn't shopped for was Dan. His is done now so all I have left are the stockings to fill. I've even accomplished all the wrapping and decorating for most of it too. I think I only have half a dozen left to do. I'm actually excited for Christmas this year. Usually I'm just stressed but since I'm not racking my brain to come up with gift ideas, things are a lot more relaxed this year. We have been passing around lots of colds. We were all sick around Halloween and now we have the colds again, although we are at the tail end of them now. Well. I went in to see a spine specialist cause I've been in so much pain lately. I wake up sore every morning and I don't sleep well. I think I need a specialty pillow but the don't do that kind of thing. The spine specialist scheduled me for an MRI so they can check some things out. MRI... Another word for EXPENSIVE. All well. At least I met the deductible this year so I only have to pay 20%. We shall see what comes of all this. Today is the MRI. I've also kept busy decorating the walls in our house. I've had lots of fun and spent a little too much money, but I rationalize cause it is stuff that I'll use for a long long time. Maybe not it the exact same place but somewhere in the house. Here are some pics.




Dan has finished his last semester for the year. WAHOOO!!! Only one left and he has a Masters Degree!! I'm so proud of him! He works so incredibly hard. I can't wait to have my husband back. He wants to go on a vacation when he gets done. Just the two of us. I'm a little paranoid to leave the kids for more than one night. I know we need it and it will be nice but I really don't want to burden anyone for too long. I'd like to go to Yellow Stone since I've never been there before and it isn't too far away. I just really worry about something happening to us or the kids. Hopefully I get over it soon. Now for and update on the kids.

Addi is still loving school and has been keeping us surprised with what comes out of her mouth. We were driving down the road one day and Dan had farted. He didn't say anything but all of a sudden Addi pipes up and says "Dad, I want you to roll down your window." Dan says "Why?" Addi responds "Cause I want you to get your stink out of here!!!" She just cracks me up. Although she has said some things lately that have been disappointing. The other day I was standing in front of the mirror and she says "Mom, those pants look gay on you, your butt is too big." I have no idea where she would have learned to talk like that. We were watching Funniest Home Videos the other night when a little girl, who had just caught a fish, was annoyed with her dad. She wanted him to turn on the camera (it was already on) so she tells her dad "Just turn on the Damn camera!" Of course everyone laughed and a second later you hear Addi.. "Damn Damn Damn!" ARGH!! She has been spending many a night on our bedroom floor too. I don't know what the deal is but she seems to be having a lot of vivid nightmares. Nightmares that she can remember and talks about. The latest was a dream that I had a baby in my tummy (she talks about that a lot but we are not expecting) and that it popped out (not sure if the way it came out was scary or if it was the next part of the dream that was the scariest) and that I had no face. Very strange. Her new thing is playing games on the computer on the Disney website. I'm hoping some new toys from Christmas will help keep her off a little bit cause she is on the computer way too much. She gets so addicted that when she gets interrupted by anything she gets very mad. At that point she gets booted off.

Xander. Well. What Can I say? He is learning tons and just cracks us up all the time. He can repeat just about any word you ask him to say. He is talking so much more. I watch a little boy named Parker a few days a week off and on. They live right behind us and Xander knows his name and says it constantly. He loves to read and rip up books. Drives me NUTS!! He has been working on his numbers. We will count with him and we say the number and he says the next one. I'm surprised how well he knows them. The other day I was playing around with him and I shook his had and asked how he was doing. He shocked me when he answered "Good!" He made me laugh so hard. He loves to play hid and seek and the other day he climbed into the lazy susan in the kitchen. Went behind everything and shut the door. I could hear him yelling "Mom!" but I couldn't seem to figure out where it was coming from and neither could Dan. We finally found him in there. He is pretty dang sneaky! He was so cute when we put up the Christmas tree. He stood there blowing on the lights telling me they were hot! I wish he still thought that but right after that he touched them just to see. Now he knows they aren't really hot. He is learning from watching me clean all the time. Now when he spills his drink or gets something wet he goes and gets a rag and wipes it up for me. What a big helper!

I forgot to update on Thanksgiving so... We had Thanksgiving at our place this year. We had Zenobia (a girl that joined the Church While Dan was serving in France) over for Thanksgiving too. It was fun and busy. I don't think I sat down for very long that day. It was fun and good to have family around except for Kristen and Walter since they went to Arizona to see Kristen's sister. We missed them but were glad they had a safe trip even though Walter was sick for most of it. It was nice that the kids had their own things to play with and kept busy. They had fun making apple turkeys. Something that we did as kids on Thanksgiving.

Where to start.... Well. I can't seem to figure out why there are huge spaces in the middle of my last post. So annoying! But I've tried to edit it and it looks just fine until I post. Then it goes all crazy. Last Thursday we went to my Dad's work for the West Valley City Halloween Party. The kids got to show off for grandpa at his work. Then they got to go trick or treating and pick out a pumpkin. Went super fast and was lots of fun.

Last Saturday was Halloween. A super wet Halloween, but we still had fun. we went out at about 5 and it started pouring rain. Thank heaven I went out and bought 3 umbrellas earlier in the day. We went out anyway cause we still had some day light and it was still warm. We didn't think the rain was going to stop at all according to the weather so we figured we'd be wet and warm instead of wet and cold. We tried to have Xander in the stroller but it go completely soaked and getting him in and out while trying to hold an umbrella was a joke. So. Dan and I took turns carrying him while the other pushed the stroller. Thankfully Addi walked just fine most of the time and held her own umbrella. Xander dropped his bucket (thankfully early on in our excursion) and so we tried to carry if for him. He wasn't having any of that. He wanted to do it himself. We finished at about 7 and at about that time it stopped raining. Just our luck. All well. The kids had fun and it was certainly a Halloween to remember.

Xander was Growling

Ready to go out in the rain!

This last week has been a really productive one. I've been able to get a lot done around the house and ready for winter. Tuesday I cleaned out the garage and hung a few shelves and put all the dangerous stuff up high. I also mowed the lawn. Wednesday I finally re caulked the counter top in the kitchen that runs along the outside wall. We had it crack last winter and then one of the real estate agents from reliance came out to try and fix it. Well rather than fix it he used the wrong color and type of caulk. He didn't even take the old stuff off so it looked horrible!! So. I had to take all the caulk of and repaint since it pealed some of it off, and then I recaulked. Doesn't look as good as the first time but better than what the Realtor did. Then, Thursday, I washed the car inside and cleaned out the street gutters. They were full of rock and dirt from us doing the sprinklers. The lawn also got treated but Trugreen so I watered it for the last time. All we have to do now is blow out the system and clean out two windo wells and we are done!! Thank heaven I got everything done since now I have the fall cold. It started yesterday and I feel pretty crappy now.

My mom watched our kids yesterday so we could go to the temple. We hadn't been in a very long time. The deal was I'd help her rake her leaves today since she watched them. I'm not gonna chicken out but when I'm done I'm gonna come home and crash.

We found out on Wednesday that my brother Walter and his wife are gonna have a baby boy in March. We are so excited!!! This is the first grand kid on my side of the family that isn't my kid. They will be naming him Abram Thomas Weidner.

My sister Michelle is out of the hospital but is refusing to cooperate or continue on the program they set up for her. Kinda frustrating cause she didn't stick with it when she went in to the anorexia center last time either. I just wonder when this is gonna end and hope it doesn't end badly. I confronted her on it and told her to quit chickening out on everything. Give the program a chance to work before you say it doesn't. She just blew up at me and yelled. So frustrated trying to deal with her rationally when she doesn't deal with reality like a normal person cause she is sick. She hates being treated like a teenager but that is how she acts. I told her that too and she didn't like hearing it. I have a lot of conflicting feelings when it comes to her. Sometimes I just don't want to care cause it is too frustrating and exhausting, but I can't just not care. As much as it would be easier I can't do it. In a lot of ways I'm really ANGRY! Angry she doesn't listen, angry she is hurting herself and in turn hurting those who love her, and angry that I can't fix it or change things. I'm sick of the roller coaster. Sick of thinking she is really honestly trying to get better and then finding it is all a lie. This anorexic disease is all about lies and I hate lies!!!! I hate that I can't trust anything she says. I hate the manipulation. I'm just to tired. I can't imagine how my parents feel right now. They have expended sooooo much time, energy, and money on trying to help her and nothing works. That the other thing. I hate to see how much my parents are hurting and how exhausted they are. Now that I'm a parent I understand a little better the love you have for your children. Even when they hurt you. You'd do anything to make sure they are safe and happy. It is just so hard to watch it all. Well. Enough of this. I've vented enough.

So. On a positive note, I've started shopping for Christmas already and the kids are just about done. This year we decided to draw names on both sides of the family as far as the siblings are concerned so that makes things a lot easier. Just have to figure out what to get the parents on both sides.

Well. I lost my keys last week and still haven't been able to find them. I'm also missing my credit card. I'm not quite sure where they are or where to look. I think Xander hid them. I've searched the entire house and cleaned everything twice and still haven't found them. I wonder if Xander threw them in the garbage and I threw them out without knowing it. I found out that a new key would cost 48 bucks. We also found out that we have to replace our tires. I hate how expenses come in droves. We also got our property taxes. They didn't escrow enough so we have to pay 500 dollars more. ARGH! Thank heaven for savings.

Ok. So I've been a bit a of a slacker but at least it hasn't been a year. I said I'd update on the freezer and I'm just now getting around to that. Well. When I called back after the tech came out and recorded that the hole was made by the tech, things finally got moving. This time I didn't have to argue with anyone and my hold time wasn't too bad either. They just said that they would replace it and it would be delivered on Friday, and they would take the old one. Well. That is what happened. However I had to take the railing off the staircase in order for them to get it down the stairs. It wasn't too hard though. I was so relieved that the fight was finally over. It sure took up a lot of my time and I'm sure caused a huge spike in my blood pressure.

I spent all day Monday getting the fall cleaning done. I calculated and I'd spent about 13-14 hours cleaning. But I'm glad I don't have to do it again till spring :) I dusted all the blinds and vacuumed around all the baseboards and under all the furniture, cleaned out everyone's closets and dressers and cleaned the bathrooms and mopped. It sure took a long time and my back was killing me when I was done. The funny thing is that I kept going cause I knew if I stopped my back would hurt. As long as I was moving I felt fine.

Next week I get to ease up on the Chiropractic visits. I hate going. I hate hearing my body snap and I hate the inconvenience of having to go every other day. At least I met the deductible and it is only 12 bucks. That sure was a blessing.

I can't wait for Halloween. I'm so excited to dress the kids up and take them trick-or-treating. I just hope that the weather cooperates. I'm glad I bought Old Navy fleece costumes. At least I can bundle them up under them and they won't cover up their costumes.

Now. For an update on the kids. Addi is so excited for her school Halloween party. She really wanted to go out and play in the snow today but I don't have any winter stuff that fits so we are going to have to take a trip next week and get some things for winter. I watched her put her brother in time out the other day. It was kinda funny. She did it exactly the same way we put her in time out. Make her sit in the corner (sometimes it works sometimes she has to go to her room cause she won't stay in the corner) and then when she let him out she asked "why did you get put in time out" Then she answers for him. Then she asks "are you gonna do it again ... No? Ok. You can come out now." I had to remind her that I'm the mom and I do the putting in time out. She just realized how to play the wii mario kart game (with a little help from mom). she knows how to hold the go button down and I'll sit and drive with her. She loves to play dress up with mom or dad. the other day Xander and Addi and I all dressed up and ran circles around the island in the kitchen. They had a blast and I got worn out pretty quick. They still LOVE to play hide and seek but mostly they love when I pop out and scare them. She has been a bit better lately about not being intentionally naughty. She is learning sooooo much. Preschool was just what she needed to keep her busy. Lately she has been learning the days of the week at school and so Dan has been teaching her the days of the week in French. I'm amazed at what a good teacher he is and how well Addi responds to him. I got her to perform on Camera so here are her days of the week in French.

Addi just being Addi
As I was driving today Addi just kept making me laugh. First we are stopped at a light in front of a house that ha no Halloween decorations at all but has an old wood door that has the paint peeling. She looks over and goes "Well that house is pretty spooky!" I asked her white and she matter of factly says "Cause of the door Mom!" Then just up the road she sees people advertising for Mr. Snelgrove. She asked what they were doing and I told her they were trying to get people to vote for Mr. Snelgrove. Immediately after she goes "Does that make your heart hurt?" I have no idea why or where that came from. The best was as we were waiting in the car up at the U to pick Dan up. She looks out the window and says..." Mom, there is a lot of old people here. Lets go." Sometimes she just makes me giggle. It is a good things cause most of the time she just makes me growl.
Xander has been fun lately with all his new words but he has also been learning how to be quite the brat. I think he has hit the terrible twos early. Just in the last week he has learned how to say "No" to me. I'll ask him to do something and he just says "no" and refuses to move. He has also started hitting a lot. I'm having a problem getting him to stop. He says sorry and gets a time out when he does it but he just keeps doing it. I've even tried tapping him back to show that it isn't nice but he just doesn't care. I guess the concept of getting in trouble for hitting is gonna take a while to make sense to him. I think he has been cranky cause he is still working on 6 more teeth. He also is starting with a cold or has an ear infection. We will see on Friday. I have an appointment to get the ear checked out. If it isn't the ear then I guess he has a cold. Poor guy. I hope he feels better by Saturday so we can all go trick-or-treating. I thought I'd try and get Xander on camera saying a few things and he was quite cooperative. We have three short videos of him for your viewing pleasure.

I hope to get some Halloween photos up here after we carve our pumpkins. Tradition is to have them both sit next to the pumpkin in their costume. I forgot to mention earlier that Xander is a HUGE fan of cheese and bananas. He can finish a banana in like .25 seconds. He barely even chews. Last weekend we weren't watching very closely when we were making lunch and he got a hold of a brick of cheese. Here are the results.

Xander and the cheese with his teeth marks

Xander the banana man.

I took him in today cause I thought he might have an ear infection. He was pulling at his right ear yesterday and so I looked, there was a ton of wax. I pulled out as much as I could see and then yesterday he started sneezing later on in the day. This morning he was all stuffy so I took him in and the doc said that in that ear he couldn't even see in past all the ear wax. I was shocked there was a ton that was still in there. He checked it after he got it all out and there was no infection. I guess he just gets to have a cold for Halloween. I'm so sad. I hope he feels well enough to go out for a little while on Saturday.

I will never again buy any appliance or large item from Sears. I have a good mind to never shop there ever again. We purchased a brand new top of the like Kenmore freezer. Top of the line meaning the best freezer Kenmore offered. We purchase the Kenmore Elite 25 cu. ft. Freezer in December of last year. We use the quick freeze once and it worked fine (we were flash freezing berries) but the second time we used it it didn't work at all. Well. About a month ago a tech came out and said that we had a broken heater coil. In a freezer we had only had for 7 months? Absolutely ridiculous. NE way. He ordered the part and sent out someone a week later to install it. That someone said that when it was diagnosed the guy put a screw through the freon pipe and so he sent someone out the same day to fix it since that is a huge deal and nothing freezes with that sort of leak. Well. The guy who came out to weld and recharge it told me at that time that it was made at the factory that way and not damaged by the tech. So. For the last 2 weeks I've been calling A&E (the people who send out the techs) my old sales person (who just quit the week before) and the sears appliance manager at the Jordan store. After talking With my brother in law that specializes in refrigeration I was informed that those are factory sealed system that are not designed to be recharged or tampered with and that doing so will cause a lot of trouble with the entire system. In my thinking it would be only fair that they replace it seeing as how it was made that way according to that tech. Well. They wouldn't do anything for me. No one would. In fact the A&E customer service manager thought it was pretty funny that I was upset cause when I was telling them how unacceptable this situation was she was snickering in the background. I was so angry I called her on it and she of course denied it all. NE way. After talking to the appliance manager at the Sears store where we purchased all our appliances (over $3,000) she said that the only way they could get it replaced was if they had documentation that there was a defect. Of course the tech that told me that didn't record that he had said that. Just that he had fixed it. Well. After she said that I decided that I'd have them send the same tech out and make sure that he records it this time. Well. He came out today. Now the story changes. Now it isn't the manufacturer according to him, after a little more research, it was the first tech that diagnosed it after all. He put a screw through the freon pipe when put the panel back on. So. that was documented and now tomorrow I get to call the Sears number the tech left for me and see how they plan to take care of it. Seeing as how it was an A&E tech that ruined it I doubt I'm gonna get anywhere. I guess we will see what they say and from there I'll argue with A&E and from there I'll see if Gephardt wants to help me. I'll keep the stupid thing as long as they guarantee it will last the standard life of a freezer, which is 15 years. Ya. There is no way they are willing to do that. So. In all fairness the right thing for A&E to do would be to replace it. I'll see how far I get with that tomorrow.

Well. Xander has been talking so much more. Every day he has something new to say. Yesterday when we said the blessing on lunch I said "Amen" and the next thing I hear is Xander saying "Amen." He also likes to say two in french. We will say un (1) and he says deux (2) and then we say trois (3) He loves to say "Ice" whenever we fill up our cups at the fridge and he just learned the word "bubble" today. So fun to watch him progress and learn. He knows all his face parts in french too. You ask him in french (where is your head, ears, nose, tongue, teeth, eyes, lips, stomach, feet, hands, or hair) in french and he will point to it. He also signs a little. He knows more, thirsty, hungry, please, and thankyou. It has made communication so much easier. Well. We lost the last binki last night and so he has had to quit cold turkey. Bedtime and nap time has been difficult but I think it will get easier soon.

Addi has been keeping me busy. She is still testing her limits so she spent a lot of time in her room today. She does great at preschool. She gets really excited to go and cooperates on the mornings she has preschool but about a half hour after she gets home there is a complete personality change. She is defiant and disobedient. I don't know why she is pleasant and happy for that little bit after school and then after lunch she is back at her old tricks but that is the way it is working lately. Maybe I'll try and sit down with her after school and do something fun or have her teach me what she learned. I just wish I could capture that pleasant, helpful, obedient personality that I know is in there. She did say something pretty funny today that made me laugh though. She came up to me after she had been playing on the chouch with staticy hair and said, "Look mom! My hair is all crazed up!" When I started laughing she asked me "What are you freaking out about mom?" Sometimes she does crack me up.

So. I'm pretty sure I got hit by a mack truck. I'm so incredibly sore. I had my first visit to a chripractor and I feel complete validated in being terrified of them. I can't stand the sound of cracking bones. Even as a kid I hated it when people would pop their necks or crack their nuckles. I went in on Friday and, while waiting with a heating pad on one of their fancy beds, listened to him crack 2 other patients' necks. I started getting really freaked out, the cold sweat started and I felt sick to my stomach. UGH! I had some Xrays taken of my neck and he told me that I had 3 ribs out, 5 vertebrae in my neck out and 2 more in my lower back (it was bad enough he said there was swelling in the lower back) So. After several snap, crackle and pops I felt relief for a second, but by the time I got to the car I felt even worse. I ended up back in Saturday morning and for the next 2 weeks I have to go in 3 times a week. It is a darn good thing that I met my deductible so each visit is only 12 bucks, and he said he should have the problem solved by the end of the year. When I went in on Saturday he showed me the Xrays and my head is not siting on my neck straight. It is kind of angled off to the side. He also showed me that most people's necks kinda curve forward at the top, or base of the skull. Mine is straight and is starting to curve the wrong way. Hence the reason for all the numbness in my arms and headaches all the time. I can't wait to get back to the gym and to normal life. I hate being in so much pain all the time. Every time I wake up my neck and shoulders are killing me. I couldn't even get out of bed to go to church this morning cause I hurt so bad. My fabulous husband was great and took care of a lot today so I could relax. We even got to go to my mom's and dad's for a double birthday party for my sister Annie and my sister-in-law Kristen this evening, which included dinner :) They are the same age and exactly a week apart.
Xander and Addi have been keeping me busy. Addi, for some unexplained reason, has been throughing the most horrible tantrums. She doesn't stay in the corner for time out and thinks it is a game to have mom chase her around and put her back in. So. Mom is very smart (or i'd like to think so any way) and figured out that she hates being confined to any area. So. I took the locking knob off my bathroom door (we have one on the bedroom door so we just keep people out with that one) and I put it on her bedroom door with the locking side out. Now when she is naughty I lock her in. The bad part is that she will lay down and kick the door as hard as she can until I come in and put her on her bed or spank her butt. I haven't quite figured out how to solve this problem so suggestions are welcome. Most of the time just threatening to lock the door will keep her in there but when she is super defiant she just keeps throwing her fit and leaving her room before time out is up.
Xander has been making us laugh and keeping us running. He just started saying "go" the other day. I was telling Addi "ready.... set...." and then all of a sudden Xander goes "GO!" It so stinkin cute how he puckers up his lips for the "O" part. I think he is teething though so he has been throwin a lot of irrational tantrums lately too. He has been eating like carzy too! The kid is ALWAYS hungry!
We had my sister-in-law, Shannon, take our family photos last night. It was fun but frustrating at the same time cause Xander was just not going to cooperate and then Addi decided to be rambunctious too. I'm hoping we got some good shots though. Shannon's husband Dave was using another camera and shot some pics too so between the two I think they got over 400 pics. I'm sure we will find a couple that work just fine. I'm just glad that the hunt for outfits is over and I don't have to worry about it for another year. I will be posting pics as soon as we edit and pick them. I can't wait to see how they turned out. Shannon did them last year and they were fantastic! I strongly recommend her for any photo needs. She is just beginning so she could use the practice too :)

Wow! I forgot how much fun it is to play hide and seek! Addi has finally grasped the concept but she never counts all the way to 10, mostly only to 5, not cause she can't but cause she gets too excited to find me. She cracks me up. When she says "ready or not here I come" she says "ready for not here I come!" instead. I was reminded what it was like to play the game when I was a kid. Didn't seem to matter if I'd gone to the bathroom before the game or not I'd always have to go while sitting in my hiding spot. Xander was so funny. He'd stick with who ever was counting and help them look. He was the one to find me a few times. I think that game is a new favorite along with "head, shoulders, knees and toes", which we played a few times today as well. io'm so worn out now between cleaning up the house, mowing the lawn and chasing Xander. he has been getting into a lot of trouble in the last month. He figured out how to climb over the back of the sectional where there is an empty corner and no way out. He also figured out how to slide the coffee table over to the sliding glass door and unlock and open it. He also figured out the child proof latches on the computer desk and now he knows how to open the disk drive and he kinda hangs on it. Then, today, he starts sldiing chairs over into the kitchen and sucking on my dirty wash clothes that are in the sink or he'll play with the answering machine. I have needed a shower ever since I mowed the lawn and I don't dare too when he is awake. I'm so scared he'll escape. A few months ago I found out I had a rib out of place. Well. I think it is out again and I'm scared to back and have it adjusted again cause it hurt a lot after he did it last time but I realize no matter what I'm gonna be in pain. Well. Now that my husband is home I think I'm going to attempt to get the shower in sometime this evening.

Well. I've decided I'm going to make more of an effort to keep this updated seeing as how it is serving as a journal as well. I got really furstrated with this a while back cause I wrote a big long update in Word and then tried to cut and paste it, but blogspot doesn't allow that. So. This is going to be one LONG post. Last I wrote was about a year ago I think. I posted pictures from Christmas that I was going to attach to my blog update written in word. So. Incase you are wondering the most recent pictures are from Christmas in our new house.

Well. First I'll update you on the house. We spent about 4.5 days in the middle of October last year painting the inside of our home because we opted to do the sweat equity to save some money. BAD IDEA. It is a rip off to choose the sweat equity cause they don't pay you as much as they would a contractor. You barely have enough to cover the cost let alone be paid for the labor. Lesson learned. Next time we will NOT be doing the sweat equity. We decided to do 3 tone paint in the master, hall, kitchen and living areas. It was a long 4.5 days. Many nights we were painting till midnight or 1 in the morning. We had so much help from family which was really nice. Dan's brother Dave spent the entire time with us. He is a pro at home improvement stuff so he was the director of everything. We were so grateful for his help. We had family members coming and going the entire time and Dan's mom and my mom spent lots of time watching the kids and feeding everyone. We really couldn't have done it without all of their help. We are so fortunate to have such great families. It turned out really well except for the stairwell and the doors. For some reason they hadn't installed the heating and it was pretty cold. That caused the paint in the stairwell to bubble when it dried which resulted in peeling. It also caused the paint on the doors to run since we sprayed them in the basement. Just last week I went through and touched up everything on the doors and all the nick marks on the walls from us just being here for a little under a year. It looks so much better. We left the bathrooms white and the bedrooms and the laundry room. Bathrooms we left mostly so that it was brighter and the kids rooms we left white cause we were going to paint them later. Which we did end up doing a few months ago. Here are some pics of the living areas and the bedrooms.

The outside of the house turned out pretty well. I wasn't happy with the color of the vents they put on so I repainted the one on the garage. I don't know when I'll get around to doing the others since I need a taller, more stable ladder.

We put the yard in this spring and it was a NIGHTMARE. It was another sweat equity project too and it ended up costing way more than expected and being a BIG frustration. I'd put pics up but I'm not quite done with the gardens so I think those will have to come probably next year when it should look better. For now this is what the outside looks like without the yard in. It was taken shortly after we moved in.

So. We moved in right after Thanksgiving, on the 27th of November 2009 (Friday.) Our first few nights were interesting because I didn't order the blinds in time so we spent till the following wednesday with no blinds. I had no idea how much I value my privacy until I didn't have it for a few days. unpacking and cleaning up only took 3 days, even to hang stuff on the walls, cause I had to get ready to host a bridal shower for my new sister in law. It was a good thing we didn't have a ton of stuff since we were in a small apartment. December was super busy but I was ready for Christmas by the end of November so things went smoothly. My brother Walter married his wife Kristen in the Salt Lake Temple on December 23rd 2009. It was a busy time cause we did the reception. I helped decorate a little and Dan and I did a hot cocoa and cookie bar for the refreshments. It was stressful but turned out pretty good. Walter and Kristen are now expecting their first baby. We get to find out what it is next month and I'm so excited. This will be the first grandkid on my side that isn't my kid. So, my first niece or nephew on my side of the family. We added another nephew on Dan's side of the family this summer. David and Shannon had a little boy they named Hudson. So happy that he is here and safe and healthy. While I'm updating on new additions I should include Thomas and Megan. Thomas is Dan's brother just younger than him. He married Megan in the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple just last month. We are so excited to welcome his new bride to the family. So. Now for updates on our family.

I have to brag a little. Dan officially has his BACHELORS DEGREE!!!! I am sooooooo proud of him. He started on his Masters last spring and after this semester only has one more. He will have his masters this summer!!! He has worked so hard and has been pulling a 4.0 through his graduate program thus far. He received the highest scholarship in his program but it is called an assistantship meaning he has to work as a TA to get it. So far it has been really easy, not much has been expected. He is still going to school and working full time. We have been greatly blessed. We have no debt for school, bought a home that was a price that would allow us to continue to save and Dan has a fabulous job that pays 5,000.00 towards tuition per year. We have certainly seen the blessings of our hard work and long suffering. Waiting to buy a home and saving really paid off. We have no debt and the additional blessing was seen a few months after we moved in. Dan was promoted within the company and given a $30,0000.00 raise. I couldn't believe it. We had planned well enough we didn't need the raise so I found my self wondering why the Lord would bless us with something so big. I have to admit I kept wondering what was going to happen that would mean we would need this additional income. So far I really don't know but we have been doing like we always do and saving all we can. We were also greatly blessed shortly after deciding to build our home. We were to late to get in on the 6,000.00 the state offered and too late to do the $7,500.00 interest free loan that the governement was offering. Just before we decided to buy we found out about the $8,000.00 free money from the government and right after we signed we found out the state was offering $4,000.00 to new home buyers. We sure lucked out! Actually, we were just really blessed. I'm so glad we listened when the Lord said that we needed to wait longer and it wasn't the right time to buy. Granted I was frustrated with our small space but putting up with it for a little while sure put us in a great situation. So that is about all that is new with Dan and I now for an update on the kids. Lots and lots has happened with them.

Addi just started preschool in September and she absolutely loves it! She turned 3 in March and I have to agree that 3s are so much worse than 2s. She is learning a lot and understands just about everything Dan says to her in French. She knows almost all the days of the week in French and she can count to 10. she knows all her body parts. she doesn't really speak it much but she understands and I'm learning with her. She loves her new room with all the polka dots and has become quite the little tatletale. She likes to boss her brother around a ton but for the most part they get along well. She is mostly potty trained but goes through phases of peeing her pants a couple of times a day. She is sure growing and changing a lot. I hate to say it but at this stage she pretty much drives me nuts. I hate that naps are a thing of the past when it comes to her. The defiant stage has started. We have moved from putting her in the corner for time out to putting her in her room and locking it from the outside. She hates that the most but she doesn't stay in time out when I put her there. Right now she is pretty sneaky and likes to destroy things or make large messes. Yesterday when I came out from taking a shower I had found that she had twisted in the curtains and yanked the rod right out of the wall. At least she understood that she did something wrong and put her self in her room. She still makes me laugh though. The other day when we were trying to leave the Walgreens parking lot the lady in front of us kept not paying attention and missing all her chances to turn and in frustration I yelled "GO! YOU IDIOT!" From the back seats Addi tells me "Mom, we don't say that to people" I responded, "you are right, I'm sorry" next thing I hear is " Mom, we say GET OUT OF THE WAY to people."we had a discussion after that about asking kindly for people to do or not do things. Not to long ago she said something really cute. I hadn't noticed that she wanted more yogurt, she just helped herself and she put a Ton in her bowl! I told her she better plan on eating it all and she responded "I will mom, My belly button is REALLY hungry." to my surprise she did finish it all and didn't even complain about a yucky tummy. As much as she drives me nuts sometimes I really do love her. She loves to sing and dance and make up songs. She has really improved with drawing, At church the other day she drew a really good ghost with 2 eyes a nose and a mouth. Speaking of ghost. She is pretty funny in her thinking. She doesn't realize the difference between the holy ghost and a ghost like for halloween. So. sometimes she puts a sheet or a blanket over her head and walks around saying in a creepy voice, "I'm the holy ghost!!" My favorite thing though was when she was a little younger. She couldn't say her S very well and we had smarties in the house. She kept asking for some but she kept saying Farties instead. It took me the longest to figure out what she was saying. Here is a video of her trying to say it...

She can say it now but it sure was funny at the time. Well I think it is time to update on Xander. Lots more has changed with him.

Last I updated Xander was 6 months old. It is hard to think he was once not mobile. He is now 18 months and just started nursery (thank heaven) we can now enjoy sunday school and relief society/ priesthood. He started walking at 9 months and of couse he is running all over the place now. He climbs on everything and gets into tons of trouble. He still is as chunky as ever. I took him to the doctor last week and he was 26 Ibs. He looks a lot like Dan's mom. Many times people ask me if he is Islander and if he and Addi are even related by blood. He is such a handsome kid. He had curly hair until last month when I had to cut it cause it was too long and just kept getting all tangled. I think when it grows out a little more he will still have some curl. Xander's latest interests have been climbing up and standing on the table and dancing, dragging chairs around the kitchen and getting up to what ever he wants (mostly the phone) and sliding out coffee table over to the sliding glass door and unlocking it and walking out. He also just figured out last week how to open the child proof latch I have on the computer desk to keep him from shutting the computer off. He is way too smart for his own good but I can't stay mad long cause he is so stinkin cute. He has the cheesiest grin and is so loving. He gives fabulous hugs and kisses. When he was a year he thought it was hilarious when people sneezed so every time they would sneeze he'd pretend to sneeze too. here is a video...

He has learned a few word and still uses signing to communicate. He knows how to say "All done!", "gone" "momma" "dada" and the classic one.... "denied!!!" We kept telling him denied every time he would get into something he shouldn't and one day he just repeated it and says it all the time now. He learned "Damn" earlier on but thankfully has forgotten that one. He also just learned how to say Grandma. A few months ago I caught hime with Addi's dolls lifting up their shirts and scratching at their belly buttons while saying "tickle tickle tickle." He will do that any time he finds skin showing where it doesn't normally show. Here is a video of the Tickle tickel. Took a while to get him to say it though....

Sad part is he pinches more than he tickles. He also has learned "hi" and "bye" Both he and Addi just love the camera. I'll be posting a few more recent pics up and then try to keep them updated from here.

As I was writing I noticed I've forgot to include the not so good news. We found out a few weeks ago that Dan's Grandpa, Doug Terry, was just diagnosed with bone cancer. From what we have heard it sounds like things are optimistic, they can slow it down and give him more time but he will have to take life slower than he is used to. also. My sister who has been stuggling with anorexia for a few years now was just checked into a hospital cause she can't seem to get better on her own. She was in a facility in febuary for a few months but they let her out so she could graduate highschool. I'm hoping she tries harder to conquer this cause we can't do it for her. She has to want to get better. Well. i also realized I hadn't updating on the new callings we have in this new ward. I've been called as the visiting teaching coordinator and Dan is Scout master. He is SUPER busy now but the Lord has blessed us for it. Well. That is it for now. I need a break from all this typing! :)