Silly Hair

I twisted Savannah's hair up the other day to look like a flower. (I put it in a ponytail and then made about 7 or 8 little twists in a circle with one in the center.) It looked really cute for church, which is always fun. ( I should take a picture next time I do it.:) The funny part was when we took it out before bed and tried to brush out her hair, some major curl was created. Now realize this is Savannah we're talking about here, who has VERY straight hair. Needless to say, I had to take some pictures:
That crazy curl did calm down a bit after she slept on it, but it stayed in her hair until the next time she took a bath. It was crazy, but Savannah loved how silly it was. She told me more than once how beautiful her curls were. (I think she was excited to finally have curly hair like her dad. She always draws him with super-curls when she colors a picture of our family. You can definately tell which of her stick figures is suppossed to be her dad.:)

Our Skiing Adventure

A few weeks ago, Jason informed me that this year I finally need to learn how to ski. I went night skiing once with my family when I was 12 or so, but that's it. Jason's whole family skies extremely well, and I've always wanted to learn, but every winter I was either pregenant or nursing a baby. Of course, I was super excited, but extremely nervous as well. I mean, when it comes to music and dance I do just fine, but I'm not really that coordinated with sports. Well, I had gotten myself all psyched up to go last Saturday, so we dropped the kids of at Jason's parents' house and headed up to Alta for their rope tows and free lift (after 3:00, anyway.) There was only 1 problem. The Utah highway patrol decided to stop letting people up Little Cottonwood Canyon, since apperently everybody else wanted to go skiing that weekend as well. We were a little discouraged, but decided to head over to Big Cottonwood Canyon and pay a few bucks for a half-day pass at Solitude or Brighton. But when we got there, the highway patrol had closed that canyon, too. At this point, I felt a little like a kid when you're suppossed to be going swimming with your friends, only to have it rain that day. Jason could tell I was bummed, and he was especially cute about it. We ended up taking a drive for about an hour, and eventually, the canyons were opened again. We were able to make it up to Alta around 3:00, which worked great since that's when the lift is free, anyway. It was snowing really hard and I could barely see, but I can't remember the last time I had that much fun with my husband! He was very encouraging and supportive, and he didn't make fun of me when I fell and couldn't get up. Thankfully, I only fell a few times, and by the end of the day I could get up on my own. (Yay!:) I was pretty tired after a couple of hours, so we headed back to the truck, only to have it take us AN HOUR AND A HALF to get down the canyon with all the snow and how many people there were (it usually takes about 20 minutes). Ah, memories...:)

Potty-training Smiles

We've been trying to potty-train Mary these last couple of weeks, but it hasn't exaclty been going very well. She loves to get her stickers for it, but I don't think she's quite ready for it yet. The only problem is that she's too big for even the largest size diapers, so we have to buy the training pants either way. (sigh:) There are definately moments to make me smile, though. For example, one of the problems is if she's wearing her pjs or a dress, Mary has a hard time holding it up and out of the way. Here's Jason's solution (he's always such a practical thinker:):

I suppose it keeps things up and out of the way, right? It sure made me laugh, too.:)

The Boat is Finished!

Well, he didn't quite get it done before his brother became a missionary, but the sea kayak is finally done! I have to admit, I'm still a little concerned about how sea (or lake) worthy it is, but it does look pretty sound, all in all. Besides that, Jason said that if it does fail in the water, he at least hopes it fails spectacularly so that we can send the video into Americas Funniest Home Videos and make some money out of it.:) I definately admire his building skills, though, especially figuring out how to use more pvc membrane as the seat. I don't know that I'd ever be able to pull something like this off...:)

Taz, the Missionary

Jason's brother Taz left for the MTC a couple of weeks ago. He's been called to serve in the Monterey, Mexico East mission. We've gotten a few letters from him via email, and he's doing great. I think you could say he's now fully emersed in the missionary lifestyle, and he seems really excited about it. It's neat to because he's always offering his younger brother Isaac advice about his mission, since Isaac will leave on his before Taz gets home. It's great to see him so excited about everything, and I know he's going to be a fabulous missionary. The people of Mexico are so lucky. I pray that he'll be safe when he gets to Mexico with all of the messed-up stuff that's going on down there right now. Luckily, he'll be away from the main area of the conflict. Here's his exceptionaly cute mission picture:

Sorry about the color on the picture. Taking a photo of a photo when the flash doesn't work on your camera is kind-of complicated.:) The other really neat thing about Taz leaving on a mission is the example it sets for my kids. They are constantly wanting to know how he's doing and wondering if they can send him a picture. (They recently sent drawings of fireworks, as they were somehow convinced he needed the excitement from them.:) It's great to be able to teach them about what he's doing, as well as having fun putting stickers on the chart to count down the days:

I know, there's still a lot of empty space on this chart, but 2 years is a long time when you count each day individually. It's also funny to realize that when he gets back, Savannah will have just been baptized! How crazy is that?:)

Savannah's Birthday

I can't believe how big my little girl is! It's crazy for me to think about, and yet when I remember what life was like when she was born, it seems like forever. (I mean, Jason and I were living in Wymount then!:) Savannah's birthday was an absolute blast! Jason and I have tried really hard to separate it from Christmas (since it's the day after) so she can still have her own special day. She surprised me this year, too. When we told her she could pick where we'd go to lunch, I was expecting McDonalds or Arctic Circle. But she picked Sweet Tomatoes, which is a salad and health-food buffet. (That's my girl!:) That night we all go to go to a Grizzlies hockey game where we had a joint party with her uncle Wally, whose birthday is the day after. (Thanks, Aunt Toni!) What a fun time! Although, I'm still trying to explain to my kids why fighting is okay in hockey and not in our house...:)

The Boat, Part 2

I mentioned a few weeks ago about Jason and his brothers building sea kayaks. Well, I gotta say I'm really impressed with my husband. When he was building the frame, I was having a hard time figuring out how it was all going to work. But now that he's putting the covering on it, the thing actually looks like a boat! Now hopefully it can float like one...

Merry Crazy Christmas!

What a crazy Christmas season! I swear every year that I'm not going to let my family be involved in as many things, but I somehow end up with even more. At least it's all worth it in the end, even if everyone does get burned out. Here are some of the highlights.

Savannah had a showcase in her dance class, and she did such an amazing job. It's so sweet to watch her little feet do lots of ballet and tap dancing steps. She's absolutely adorable!

Isaiah had a program the last day of preschool before Christmas break, complete with songs and presents for the parents. He did a really great job. He tried SO hard to remember all the words to the songs, even if he had no idea what he was saying.:)

Christmas Day itself was pretty nuts, too. Although it was better than usual since Jason's parents were in Hawaii. (We had yet another Christmas party when they came back.) I just love watching my kids get so excited to open all of their presents, and I really enjoy that they are just as excited to give presents to everyone else. I'm glad the true spirit of the season is shining through for them. It was absolutely wonderful to be able to celebrate in our own home this year as well. It's always interesting to find out where to put the tree and all the decorations in a new place, but there's nothing like the feeling of Christmas in your first home.:)

It's hard to tell what's going on here, but Isaiah is absolutely THRILLED to have his own "mcuter" (computer-a VTech thing.) He absolutely LOVES it!

Savannah was so excited to have her very first "real" bike--as in, not a tricycle or a wiggle car. She's even been braving the freezing cold to try it out on our sidewalk.

Mary was so excited about everything! I don't think she even cared that much about her presents compared to all the fun stuff going on around her. (This cute picture of her is at my parent's house.)

What crazy times! And this list doesn't even inculde all the light rides, famiy parties, Christmas concerts, friend visits, and everything else that goes along with the season. (It's made me tired again just to think about it all.) Oh, well. Like I said before, it's definately worth it.:)