Service

I have been feeling a little down in the dumps lately. I think it might have to do with the weather. Around this time of year I feel like spring should be coming, but here in Wyoming we still have to wait a couple more months. Anyway, on Saturday I received an e-mail saying a lady in our ward needed someone to babysit for her. Of course at first I thought of all of the reasons why I couldn't do it and then I decided to volunteer. I watched her kids all day and invited them over for dinner that night. It was a very long day to be followed by Enrichment (or whatever they call it now) after the day, but I feel so good today. I think the idea of losing yourself in service is really good. I'm not saying I am a great person or anywhere near it. I just wanted to share the joy I felt from helping someone out. Now if only I can remember this the next time I am down in the dumps:).

Total Girl

I know Gabby is going to be our little girly girl and this morning proved it. She is 15 months old and I was in the middle of doing laundry. She had gotten bored and wandered off, but I figured she couldn't get into much trouble. Boy was I wrong.  She got into my makeup! She found my favorite lipstick (of course it had to be my favorite) and got it on her face and hands, clothes, the floor, etc. I didn't think she would start into the make-up until much later. I should have taken a picture, but I never remember when something like this happens until I've already cleaned everything up.  All well.

Emma is 10!

Emma had a Birthday Party!! She wanted a Rainforest Theme, so we decorated with "vines" and big "leaves". 

They painted boxes. These are our kids boxes. We forgot to take a picture of all the girls' boxes. They did a great job and were all very beautiful. 

She had an elephant cake which Dan and I had fun making the night before.

They played pin the beak on the toucan.

They also played pass the fire ant (hot potato).

And of course, we had a snake pinata, that unfortunately for eveyone but Emma, broke on the birthday girl's first hit. Next time we'll use more layers of paper mache.

I think everyone had a good time. One of the girls even said it was her best birthday party ever as she was leaving. I'm just glad it is over. I've got 3 more months until Gideon's. Then we'll have 3 more months after Gideon's until Eliza's and then we have 2 months after her's until Ben's. They are spread out pretty well which is nice for Mom and Dad to recoop.

Fun with Dirt!

The builders made a big mound of dirt that they left on the lot behind us. This last week it has been relatively warm (40's and 50's) and the kids went out to play on it yesterday. They started with the push toys and worked their way up to their bikes. They had a lot of fun. By the afternoon though, the ground was pretty thawed and so they got pretty muddy. I think it was worth it though to let them have a chance to play outside. Our rental apartment did not have any kind of yard, so they really enjoyed the little bit of freedom.

The House

Here is the house. We need to put in the yard, but we will wait for spring before we do it.

This is the view from the corner. We have a corner house, and an oversize 3 car garage that we just barely fit all of our stuff in.

This is the view of the back. We have about 1/3 acre of property. Right now we don't have any neighbors adjacent to us and we have a really nice view of the acreage homes across the way.  When we first moved to Cheyenne, we decided we didn't want acreage and at this point we are glad we made that decision. There are homes close to town with acreage, but they generally aren't for sale and when they go up they are quite pricey.  We are happy with our house and I really like Cheyenne. I have made more friends here than Rock Springs and Rawlins combined. The kid's school is fabulous. We really enjoy our ward, though part of me wishes Dan hadn't been called to the bishopric. We are doing good, and as soon as our carpet is installed in our basement family room, we will be a lot closer to being totally "moved in".

Christmas Morning

Santa found us even though we were at Grandma's house. The kids are wearing the soccer ball pajama bottoms I made them that they opened up Christmas Eve. Santa brought the kids a wii, which they were very excited about. Our big present to them was Disneyland, so we didn't get them much else.  The older kids had a secret santa shop at school and bought presents for us and for each other from that, so we still had a lot to open and had fun on Christmas morning.

Christmas with Cousins

On Christmas Eve Day we drove up to Grandma Pam's. After dinner, my brother and his family and his wife's family all came over for dessert and the kids acted out the Nativity story. It was very cute.

We spent Christmas Day with my mom, but one morning we went over to my brother's house and leet the kids play. Here are Gabby and summer playing with summer's new dollhouse. The cousins had a lot of fun playing together. It would be nice if we lived closer so they could get together more often.