Happy Birthday Jacob

Today Jacob is 10 years old. He's been looking forward and planning his birthday all week. Tonight we're taking him out to dinner, with just mom and dad. I'm looking forward to the time to spend just with him. It doesn't happen very often.

Jacob has always been a very obedient son. He always does what I asks him to, even if it's amid a few grumbles, but he still does it. He has a very sensitive heart and his conscience gives him a rougher time of it than almost any punishment does. He's been telling us a lot lately that when he grows up he wants to be an inventor, (uncle Jared clarified that today "Inventors" are called Engineers.)

Jacob enjoys playing games. Video games, board games, and sport games. Right now he's involved in basketball, piano lessons and Weblos. He's a very talented boy! I love watching him grow. Love you so much Jacob! Happy Birthday!!

Isaac's Baptism

Isaac was baptized on January 2, 2010 by his dad in our stake center. It turned out to be just a great day. Grandpa and Grandma Marker did great pitch hitting for us. They filled in with the music, since we didn't have a music leader and Dennis was on the program to play the piano. Isaac asked his uncle Ammon to give a talk about the Holy Ghost and chose "When Jesus Christ was Baptised" for the closing song. It turned out really well. We had a lot of family there and the Wallace's also made it home from their trip in time to come. It was really special for Isaac and made his day very memorable to have so many friends and family there. His only comment on being baptized was that the water was really cold.

We were able to get together at our house after for an early lunch of roast turkey sandwiches and lots of fixings. I ended up making lots of goodies for New Years Eve so I was grateful for the clean up crew.

On Sunday Isaac wanted to bear his testimony about his baptism and told me that he wanted to write it down so he didn't mess it up. It was very cute. I can't believe that he's 8 years old already! What a special guy!!!

Teddy

OK, I missed blogging a bit of holiday news. We have a new little boy to welcome into our family. Curly blond hair and. .. a wet nose. Yes, our little boy is a puppy named Teddy. Santa sure did surprise us this year with this little addition. He's a 6 month old Lhasa apso. He's the most docile dog you ever saw!! He doesn't shed, loves the kids, is so cute with his major under bite, did I mention he doesn't shed! We're working on the separation anxiety, and house training still but he's just sooo cuddly and just loves the attention! He fits right in and amazingly enough helps with the energy level in our home. He follows us where ever we go. The kids are having fun teaching him tricks and playing with him. The dilemma every night is who he gets to sleep by, or rather, who get's to sleep by him. He's restricted to his kennel at night.

So, in doing a bit of research on Lhasa apso's we found out that they were trained to be watch dogs in Asia. Yea, we learned this part the very first night. He's got a very alarming bark!! We usually put our cat out for the night, but when she wants to come in she'll paw at the door. He heard it and let us know!!! So, he's been "getting used to the cat" now. Mainly we think he would like to eat her, and she really is leary of him which is very unusual for our feisty feline.

Welcome 2010

Aaauuugh, (long releasing sigh) the new year!!! Welcome 2010.

I know most people are usually sarcastic about new years resolutions, but being the very goal oriented person that I am, I actually love making new goals and find that yearly evaluations tend to motivate me more than feed me full of guilt.

Almost 10 years ago I made 10 year goals to put in a family time capsule. Unfortunately I didn't make a copy of these goals, (yea I know what's the point then), however I do remember a few of them. I think it's about time to check them off the list.

1) Learn Spanish
2) Learn to play the guitar
3) visit another country

Now that the holidays are over I'm more than ready to get back into our regular life routine. This means school and house work instead of so much down time. I need to dust off my house keeping system which has kind of slipped too. I've found the best "guilt free" system for me comes from HouseofOrder.com. It's the only system I've found where I'm not constantly cleaning, not constantly full of guilt and still doing the things that I like to do, all with a clean(er) house.

So here we go!!

It's a Girl!

We found out yesterday that we're going to have a little girl in May. Yes, we're excited. I was a bit surprised thinking the whole time that it was going to be a boy, but we're all pretty OK with a healthy little girl too! So that's our news for now.

Isaac's Big Birthday

caption reads "This is what happens when you have a kid a camera and a lot of time to spend."

Today my Isaac turns 8. It's been a big birthday for him. He has been so excited to finally start scouts and got his uniform at the beginning of the month so he could wear it to his first official Pack Meeting.

We're spending the day at Grandpa and Grandma Sorensen's house. Mahonri & Melissa took the boys out sledding behind the 4-Wheeler driving "so crazy" in a big field going round and round in circles. Then later on, Dennis took the older kids to the pool and they had fun there finding it little warmer than the snow outside. We're holding out with the cake and ice cream party until Saturday when we'll have family and friends over after he gets baptised. We did get pizza though!

The best part about Isaac is that he is such a leader. He knows what he likes and goes for it. He's very self motivated. He has a special spot for his little sister and loves animals. His favorite color is, well, camouflage and he loves to learn about animals and dinosaurs. He likes to ride his bike and fish and built things with blocks. He spends a good bit of time in the bathroom doing his hair making it look just right. When he grows up he wants to be a Wildlife Biologist and study bears.

Love you so much Isaac!

Christmas Sunday

After years of suggesting, hinting and very kindly asking with batted eyes, Dennis won out and he and I played an organ/piano duet in our Sacrament meeting program Sunday. Dennis is such an amazing pianist that he's a bit intimidating to play with. I told him that this was going to be his Christmas present this year. I would much rather sing than play the piano. Since I'd been practicing this song every Christmas season for 4+ years I guess that did help a little. I was definitely blessed with steady hands though and even managed to enjoy it.

Per tradition at our house, we gathered all the children together by the Christmas tree before church and took their picture in their new Christmas outfits. It's a funny experience and the outtakes are hilarious! Here is one of our usable takes though.