More from New Years.....

Today is Sunday and we woke up to MORE snow. This time they actually cancelled our church meetings... which is a bit humorous because our church building is less than a 1/2 mile away... but the parking lot wasn't plowed and after the snow plows came through the streets, no one could get out of their driveways. Michael is out shoveling right now. We had an added bonus to our day.... after Michael showered this morning, there was a strong gas odor in the house. And then the smoke alarms started to go off. Grrr. So Michael went out in the blizzard and cleared the vents. That seemed to remedy the problem. Til I showered. And then, no gas smell, but the alarms started again. Okay, then everything seemed fine again. Well then, no hot water. Sure enough, the pilot light was out. Problem now is we can't get it lit. Grrrrr again. Wonder how this will resolve.... Okay, so more about New Years....

We spent New Years Eve playing "Settlers of Catan." Does anyone else play this? (Besides those of you I know about.... Bohlings, McIllece.) Lots of fun, but it would be more fun if I won every once and awhile. For the record, Karen won. Even Max got in on the guitar hero action.... Michael would hit the notes and Max would strum...very excitedly!
Mommy and Ari....
Ari just looking cute....

New Years Day and beyond.....

Our good friends, John and Karen Davis and their children, Ashleigh and St. John (Sinjin), invited us to spend New Year's in St. George with them. They recently purchased a condo there, and we welcomed the break from all the snow and frozen temps. We spent a lot of our time honing our guitar hero skills. For some reason, my skills did not mature as quickly as others, so I did not come home "guitar hero" heroine. But had fun nonetheless. I think we actually had withdrawal symptoms upon our return. I would fall asleep hearing the songs and seeing the notes come up the tv screen.... I could have been a contender! :-)

John and Karen brought their sweet puppy, Scout. (Obviously she's not really a puppy....) Ari is fascinated by animals and Scout was so accommodating of Ari's constant attention. New Years Eve.... Ari didn't make it til midnight, but Max (what a surprise!) did.....
Guitar hero wannabes in action! Doesn't it look like Michael could have been a rock star by the look on his face?? It looks like I am singing along.... I'm not. I'm probably hurling expletives at the tv because I just missed ANOTHER note!
Ari modeled her New Year's tiara well before midnight....

Christmas morning

Max in front of the tree. I don't know why, but Ari did not want to pose with the tree as background. In the present-opening process....
Drinking in the magic of the season.....Ari testing out the weight capacity of her new doll stroller.
Michael supervising Ari's doll-pushing test run. (And apparently sucking on something very sour.)

Pre-Christmas festivities...

So here are a few photos of some pre-Christmas traditions.....

Santa visited Max's preschool, and younger siblings were invited to sit on his lap as well.... I really thought Ari would be alright visiting with the big red man.... wrong.
We made Christmas cookies one afternoon. Okay, "made" may be too misleading. I bought the pre-made sugar cookie dough and then Max and I rolled them out and baked them.
Ari just ate the dough... :-)

2 January 2008

So I finally decided it was time to figure out how to set up a blog for our family. I really don't know what I am doing, so we will see if this works....

I have added some pictures from the "Michael and Max setting up the Christmas tree" adventure. Hopefully this blog thingy will go well and I will add Christmas pictures soon.....