An Amazing Weekend

So this past weekend was pretty amazing, for two different reasons. First of all, my brother Tim got his mission call to Conception, Chile a week or two ago & so took his endowments out this weekend at the Manti Temple (he's going to school down there). It was fun to be with family, to go through the temple with my little brother, & to go through a session in Manti (I'd never been there before).

BUT, I have to say that the part that sticks out in my mind the MOST about the weekend (besides being in the car ALL DAY!), happened afterwards... You see, my parents had boughten us all some lunch & then we met at Tim's apartment there in Ephraim afterwards. There wasn't too many of us that actually made the long trip down there, but as soon as lunch was over, my Grandparents were anxious to get on their way home (probably because of the terrible snow storms we had to drive through!). So while most of the family was loading up into cars outside, Laron & I, our kids & my two little brothers were left inside with my Uncle Keith, who was still finishing up his lunch in the kitchen.

Well, without giving too many details, things happened fast from there... I kind-of walked into the kitchen as my Uncle seemed to be throwing up in the sink, so I bee-lined it out of there quick, not wanting my sensitive pregnant stomach to be the next one throwing up, & realizing that most people want a little privacy at a time like that. But after a few more moments, we quickly realized that he was NOT throwing up, but was CHOCKING! Panicking, I quickly called for Laron, & luckily, he wasn't quite as overwhelmed & scared & shocked as me to know just what to do. He rushed right over & started doing the Heimlich Maneuver on him, & after what seemed to be an eternity, the food was dislodged & my Uncle was breathing again. As I was standing there at the kitchen door, shaking from the realization at what had just happened, & overhearing my Uncle mutter a quick, "Thank-you Laron," I realized just how proud I was to be married to an amazing guy like Laron at that moment.

I mean, I've thought time & time again about what a great guy Laron is & how lucky I am to have him as a husband, but never until I witnessed him saving my Uncle's life did I realize just how deeply & profoundly I loved & admired him. I guess I can't quite explain it, but I just wanted to publicly echo my Uncle's comment... "Thank-you Laron." Thank-you for sharing my life with me, for giving life to our children & for saving lives wherever you go with your zest, love & charity for others. Just like my Uncle, I'll never be able to thank-you enough...

Starting the Year off Right!

A couple of weeks ago, after all the chaos of the holiday season had subsided, we finally took a day off to just play in the snow with our little family! Once we were all bundled up good & warm, we all quite enjoyed ourselves, even Kimberly...

Kimberly LOVED eating the snow!

Once she figured out it was edible, we couldn't stop her after that!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Making snow-angels

Now we're all just wondering why we never took the time to do this earlier in the season... It was the easiest & cheapest fun we've had all winter!

Best Buds

It's been fun over the last couple of months to see a true friendship develop between Skyler & Kimberly.

They make each other laugh & me laugh everyday.

I'm sure glad they've got each other!

Going for a drive & Tickling

Playing in the bath, WITH & WITHOUT water! 

Picking Pumpkins & Jumping in the Leaves

Playing with Daddy & Playing under the bed

(there's some kind of magical excitement under there!)

Sharing a sucker & Posing for pictures

(it was even Skyler's idea to take this picture!)

Well, life around here is sure never dull with 2 kids running around! And I'm sure it'll only get MORE exciting once this 3rd one comes along... Either way, I can't imagine my life without my kids, & I'm sure they couldn't imagine it without each other.

We sure love you guys!

It's A GIRL!!!

Yep, we went to the BEST appointment of all the pregnancy appointments today & found out that we're having another GIRL!!! When we first saw it was a girl, we told Skyler he was getting another sister, and he seemed to understand & be happy about it. But after about a minute or so, when the reality of what that meant sunk in, he exclaimed, "Oh man! But I really needed a brother!" Even the Ultrasound Technician laughed...

After we had the ultrasound, I went to my regular appointment while Laron waited out in the lobby with the kids. Once we were all through & back in the car on our way home, Skyler panicked & said, "But wait! We forgot to take our baby home with us!" And we thought we'd made that point SO clear...

Well anyway, we're super excited for Kimberly to have a little sister just 18 months younger than her (almost like me & my sister), & hope that they will grow up being the best of friends. So for now, we're sorry Skyler that you didn't get your brother that you were hoping for, but we already know that you'll make a great big brother, so we're not too worried!

Christmas 2010

Christmas was fun this year, especially because it was our first year celebrating Christmas in our own house! And we live a little closer to Grandmas & Grandpas, which means we had less DRIVING AROUND on Christmas, which always helps to make the holiday a little more enjoyable!

Skyler's first Gingerbread house!

Grandma Pace came over Christmas Eve & had a nice dinner with us & even acted out the Christmas story with us. Then she stayed the night & we awoke to this Christmas morning...

Skyler woke up bright & early like we'd expected, but didn't come immediately to our room like normal... Instead I could hear him tip-toeing out to the Living Room & taking in the scene of presents before him. Then he made his way into the entrance of our bedroom where he announced, "Mom, I slept for 4 hours!" (because of a comment Grandma made the night before that he needed to go to sleep early so he could get 8 hours of sleep before Christmas...) & then he said, "Do you want to come look at the presents Santa brought us?!" So we went to go look at all the presents, this time with the light turned on for the full affect. Boy was Skyler excited! But then suddenly, he became worried... "But Mom, we don't have a chimney. How did Santa bring us all these presents?" I tried to explain that Santa is magic & that he can bring you your presents, even if you don't have a chimney, when Skyler finally came up witht he solution, "Oh, maybe he brought them in the window." "Maybe," I smiled.

And then, like a very mean parent, I explained that he needed to come lay back in bed with us for another 30 minutes because we'd been up with a very sick Kimberly all night & had only slept for about 2 hours by that point! So after cooking a nice Christmas breakfast for Grandma, we were finally on to the present-opening...

Skyler's favorite present he got Christmas morning was a wooden train set! It was the very first present he opened (of course, he went for the BIGGEST box first!) & he was determined to open it up right then & play with it. Actually, he wanted to sit & play with every new present he got, which was fun at first & made the present-opening last a lot longer, but by the end we were kind-of rushing because it was time to go to Grandma & Papa's...

Even though Kimberly still wasn't feeling so well that morning, she sure seemed at home in the arms of Grandma!  Look at her cute Christmas outfit though!

Here Skyler is doing his "string"... Every year my family starts a ball of yarn at each family member's stocking & sends the string all throughout the house until you reach your present at the end. So here Skyler is unwinding his string from around a kitchen chair & following it to find his present...

When we first got to my parent's house my dad had this conversation with Skyler:

-Grandpa: "So are you ready for Christmas?"
-Skyler: "We already had Christmas."
-Grandpa: "Well, are you ready to open some presents?"
-Skyler: "We already opened some presents."

I guess we never explained to him that Christmas & presents were only just beginning...

So after Kimberly had a 3-hour nap at my parents house (VERY unusual for her), we headed down to Provo to celebrate Christmas with Laron's mom & family. There we exchanged presents, acted out the Christmas story again, & had a nice dinner. And then the next day we headed up to Evanston, Wyoming to spend the day with Laron's dad (sorry, no pictures!).

So overall, I have to say that we had a really nice Christmas holiday... It would have been better if Kimberly hadn't been so sick, but I guess we take what we get.

Here's the kids with their spoils from the weekend:

Skyler says his favorite presents were candy, his train set, & the Star Wars action figures from Grandma Erickson (just like what he plays with my brothers anytime we visit!).

Kimberly's favorites were the stuffed animals,
although my favorites that she got were the clothes! So cute!


So, as Skyler says,
"Merry Christmas to all & all!"

Kimberly's 1st Birthday!

Kimberly's 1st birthday was on the 9th of December...

It's kind-of crazy thinking that last year at this time

we were just having a baby!

Kimberly sure has a personality all her own...

I tried doing her hair in pigtails on her birthday for the 1st time,

and they sure seemed to fit her!

She had fun opening presents,
although Skyler was pretty helpful too!

Me & my girl!

She wasn't quite sure about blowing out a candle...

But she TOTALLY got into eating her cupcake!

She ate it by the handfuls & didn't stopuntil the crumbs were too small to pick up.

She liked playing around with everyone the best... And she loved the attention from Grandma & Papa,

like always!

Here's a little more of her attitute showing through!

She sure was spoiled by Grandmas & Grandpas...

And we sure don't know what we'd do without her!

We love you Kimberly!

Happy Birthday!

Skyler's Latest & Greatest

Over the last several months,

Skyler has developed into quite the little boy...

Here's a little of what we mean:

Over the summer, Laron taught Skyler how to kill flies with a fly-swatter. I thought Laron was wasting his time at first, trying to teach a 3-year-old such a tricky skill as that, but Skyler has become quite the fly-killer. This particular day he'd already killed THREE flies on his own! He even has his own fly-swatter that he keeps in his bedroom closet, & when he sees a fly in the house, he runs to go get it & tells Daddy, "Let's go huntin' for flies!" Wow!

Skyler has been obsessed lately with wearing stripes "like Daddy".

Skyler loves fruit!
Over the summer we got some fruit from a neighbor
and whenever Skyler was hungry or needed a snack,
he'd go wash one off & help himself to a healthy snack!


Skyler also loves his little sister Kimberly...
One day I found him carrying Kimberly off somewhere
& I asked him what he was doing.
He said he needed Kimberly to come and play with him.
I guess that's one way to do it!


Skyler also got his first official "job" over the summer.
He is now responsible for emptying out the bathroom garbages
into the kitchen garbage, and BOY does he take pride in his work!
At totally random times, he'll suddenly stop what he's doing,
and say, "Mom, I need to go do my job."
What a great worker you are Skyler!


Skyler loves playing with hangers lately...
It's amazing all the things hangers can become when you're playing.

Skyler has also mastered peeling cucumbers & carrots,
although potatoes seem to be a little harder for him for some reason.
I'm glad to have such a great helper around!

When Skyler says he's full after a meal,
he tries to prove it to us by saying,
"Feel my tummy..." & doing this.
It usually convinces us, unless of course we know otherwise!

One of my favorite things Skyler started doing over the summer

was racing Laron to the corner of our culdesac on his way to work.

He would always get ready in his racing position on the grass next to the sidewalk,

AND THEN...

They'd be off to the corner

with Skyler usually winning

and Laron usually letting him win.

It's a funny tradition I supose,

but it sure made sending Laron off to work a lot easier!

Unfortunately once it got too dark and cold outside during the winter season,

this was a tradition we had to change to the traditional

waving goodbye out the front window...

Not quite the same.

I miss the summer races & hope they start them up again next spring!

Skyler LOVED working with Laron in the garden this year!
Those boys put in a lot of hours out there & Skyler was proud to contribute.
This was one of the biggest carrots from our garden!

And besides all that, he's just a pretty cute kid.

***Here's a few cute things he's said or done lately:

• A couple weeks ago when we were supossed to have a blizzard, I was listening to the radio & then told Skyler what they'd said about it. I told him that they'd said not to be scared, but that the lights might go out & that we needed to have flashlights ready just in case & not go outside in our cars so we'd be safe. Soon afterwards, Skyler suddenly wouldn't leave my side & seemed scared to death about some giant "lizard" that was out to get us. When Laron woke up a little while later, Skyler rushed to his side to tell him all about this giant lizard that was going to come and get us, but that the lady on the radio said not to be scared, but to get our flashlights ready & to stay inside so it wouldn't get us... I guess we'd never really used the term blizzard before, so it was hard convincing him that there was no such lizard.
• At church several weeks ago, Skyler was turned around in his seat glancing around at the people around us when he loudly announced, "Mom, look at that pretty girl over there... Someone needs to marry her!"
• When I left to go visiting teaching the other day, Skyler told me this on the way out the door: "Mom, after you leave, you'll feel something in your heart & it will be me, because I'll be praying that you will drive safely."