SICK of Valentines???

Happy Valentine's Day!  Well . . . sort of happy.  We all got packages from Grandpa and Grandma Jackson, and that WAS exciting.  Michelle and Lena had fun opening and playing and reading stories.  I made Valentine Cupcakes and delivered some to neighbors.

Unfortunately, both girls were sick.  And Michelle's is getting bad enough that she had to get an iv in her arm because she is so dehydrated.  The cool thing was, we didn't have to go to the hospital!  We went to this cool place where they hooked up the iv and told me what to do to flush it when it is done and now she is sleeping away happily in our bed.

Michelle Reads Scriptures

Michelle has started taking her turn during family scripture study, and it is pretty cute, though it is hard to put on camera because as soon as the camera comes out she thinks it is time to play, detracting from the point, but I had to catch it at least once.

Weekend Fun

This past weekend we went to Island Park to see all the gorgeous snow!  First, we decided it would have been a miserable place to be before the time of heaters and cars!  Then we had some fun in the snow.  Michelle LOVED sledding in the makeshift sled.

We came home for church and afterward the girls were playing in Michelle's room.  Lena was talking up a storm and having a ball on the floor!

Playtime

Michelle was so cute having a tea party by herself I tried to catch it on video without her noticing me.  I got it, but I only got the end of it, of course, not the cutest part . . . still.  She loves her new table she got for Christmas from Santa.  She plays everything on her table!

Lena has been playing a lot more lately too.  She is sitting up all the time, and even makes little attempts at crawling (thought that milestone is probably still a ways away.

Welcome Home Colby

My "little" brother Colby came home from New York just before Christmas.  He spoke in church about his mission this past weekend so we went to listen.  He had some wonderful, inspiring messages!  I didn't even realize until we were driving home that I didn't take ONE picture the whole time!  There were a lot of kids running around and a general chaos.  Michelle LOVED playing with all her cousins, and they liked playing with her too.  Everyone liked holding Lena and telling her how beautiful she is.  I enjoyed watching Colby interact with people, still a little in his post-mission weirdness phase.  He started school at University of Utah and is generally back in the swing of things.  Anyway-- Welcome Home Colby!  It's good to have you back!

8 Months

While we were in Washington Lena turned 8 months old!  She is not crawling or cruising or even scooting.  She doesn't have any teeth.  But she is finally sitting up unsupported for longer amounts of time and eating solid foods very well (baby foods anyway).

Toys Coming Out Our Ears

I have to laugh a little about a conversation Jim and I had before we had kids.  We were at a local little league baseball game and a little girl in front of us was playing a game of house with sticks and rocks.  We decided kids don't need a lot of toys, they will use their imaginations to have fun with whatever they have, in fact they seem to prefer the sticks and rocks sometimes.  Contemplating this fact brought us to the conclusion we would not get many toys for our kids when we had them.  Yeah . .  . well, that decision didn't stick long!  Michelle and Lena already had a lot of toys before the big day, but after Christmas . . . we have toys coming out our ears, or at least spilling out the doors into the kitchen, living room, and even the cars!  They got so much fun stuff for Christmas!  The good news is, they play with it all and really are enjoying it!  It was so much fun to watch them have fun Christmas morning (and all the days since).  Thanks to grandmas and grandpas for fun, thoughtful toys (and Santa too!)  This is just a small sampling!