Cancun

We spent the week after Christmas in Mexico with Jared's family. We had such a great time and it was nice to be somewhere warm and soak up some sun. We were near Playa Del Carmen in a little resort. We spent a lot of time relaxing, building sand creation, eating and eating some more. Uncle Matt and Uncle Andrew were the main sand architects. Here is one of their creations.

Here is another (you could always count on Claire to be helping with the building).
Uncle Taylor was really trying to meet new people.
We visited Tulum and learned more about the Mayan ruins.

We also went to Xel Ha, but none of us got our cameras out while we were there. Jacob and Claire got really brave and actually played in the water (especially Jacob).
We found the perfect shirts to help us make our big announcement while shopping in Playa Del Carmen.

another sand creation.
Downtown Playa.

The best way to babysit kids on the beach. We all had our fair share of yummy drinks.
Yet another sand creation.
Uncle Matt.
We had a lot of delays and such on our trip, by the time we were about to board our last flight Claire was so exhausted that she fell asleep half standing. We celebrated New Years in the air (twice since we were changing time zones).

What a polite kiddo!

Jacob: "Mommy, did you make dinner?"

Dani: "Yes, Jacob."

Jacob: "Did Daddy make dinner?"

Dani: "No, Daddy didn't help tonight."

Jacob: "Why didn't Daddy help?"

Dani: "Because Mommy was done when Daddy got home."

Jacob: "Oh. Thanks for dinner Mommy!!!"

I love it!!!

Twincredible News!

Pretend King

You know those movie scenes depicting the king sitting on a big, comfortable chair, with servants fanning him and others bringing food to him? If I lived in the world of make-believe that my children were engrossed in this morning, that totally would've been me!

Claire was carrying that pitcher up and down the stairs bringing me candies. One of the great things about these candies - their wrappers were candy too, coated in sugar! She was sure to have one every time I had one... "I love candy!"

I was served my main course by Spiderman (who was Buzz Lightyear earlier). He brought me sandwiches, spaghetti, fruits, veggies ("Daddy, your carrot goes inside the hole in the celery, then you dip it in the Ranch"), and drinks, including a spicy pepper drink (?).

The whole meal began upstairs in the playroom on the rocker, and moved to the kitchen as I was preparing lunch. They probably did a dozen round trips up and down the stairs to keep me well fed! Everything was delicious!

I love this picture!

I saw Jacob leaning into the sink, with a helium balloon tied around him. I thought it looked so funny!

Christmas 2010!

After a couple busy weeks, it's finally time to give a report of our Christmas. John and Vicki came and joined us, spending their first Christmas away from home with us. We were thrilled to have them!

Before Christmas, John, kiddos and I went to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. It's in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, there's pretty much nothing around it. But, the museum is awesome! It's the home of the Spruce Goose (seen behind Jacob). Kiddos and I went into a B-17 (Jacob is in the front gunner's area). It really was a cool place!

Claire and Jacob both got cameras from Santa. They were thrilled! I'm not sure how many great pictures we'll be getting from them - half of their pictures were of the floor, their forearms, the couch cushion, etc. Vicki got a kick of how excited Jacob and Claire were all day long.

Here's Grandpa John! He cooked us lots of yummy meals!
Claire got a doll from Nana. She was thrilled!

Jacob and Claire both got scooters. They've been riding them all around the front of the house. Claire was a little more timid at first, but has quickly caught on.
Claire also got princesses. She and Jacob have been playing 'shopping' many days of the week. We also often find them naked - that's because they're sleeping.
Here are the kids new Christmas pajamas!

Ugly Sweaters!

The Third Annual Ugly Sweater party was a success. We enjoyed a night of clam chowder, sausage tortellini soup, cider, numerous appetizers, and lots of sweets. We enjoyed everyone's ugly Christmas Sweaters... they were great and there was so much creativity. This year we did Sweater cookie decorating, Bling My Stocking, and Christmas Bunko! We had a lot of fun... here is a small sampling of the pictures.

Ugly Sweater Couples winner went to the Smiths who spent the entire night in a snowman hug.
Host and hostess.
Josh was trying to make the same face as his cats.
The winner of the contest this year was Carson with his not very Christmasy, but oh so complete look... he was very sparkly and tight and the hair and mustache were special for the occasion.

An Awkward Conversation

Jacob and Claire made these really cute nativities out of milk cartons at preschool. They brought them home today and were talking about the differences between them. Here is how the conversation went.

Claire: "Jacob, and look, your Mary is awkward."

Jacob: "huh?"

Claire: "your Mary is awkward."

Jacob: (whining) "Mom, what is awkward? what is awkward?"

Me: "uhhhh"

Claire: "Jacob, it is just like a lighter than blue."

Me: "Ohhhhh... Aqua Claire, that color is aqua"

Claire: "oh... awkard!"

Jacob's is on the right... you can tell by Mary's awkward dress.

Thanksgiving

We had another very successful Thanksgiving (I am pretty sure I have a couple pounds to prove it). Claire and Jacob helped us remember the first Thanksgiving.

Amber took some great pictures to show off the table and the food.







We enjoyed having Amber come to visit for another Thanksgiving (I think this should be a yearly thing). Chris, Jim and Mel, Ben and Ashley and their families also joined us for dinner.
We had plenty of yummy desserts as well. Wyatt and Brittany and Carson and Paige also came to join the rest of us for dessert.
For my reference, here is the menu:

Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread stuffing, cranberry grape pomegranate salad, green beans with roasted red peppers and almonds, Chris's Mac and Cheese, Mel's delicious rolls, cranberry sauce, veggie tray. Chocolate Mousse Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Bread Pudding. Thank you everyone for helping out.
While Amber was here we did some crazy late night after Thanksgiving shopping. We both found a lot of stuff. We also went to the Portland Saturday Market and Powell's Books (2 things Amber loves in our city).
We love the food at Saturday Market.
I am so grateful for my beautiful healthy family, our warm home, and especially my Savior Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone... Christmas is underway!