(2) Mon Dec 01 2008 13:18 Boycott the Mormons: The best part about this story is the call for a boycott on Sundance Film Festival. Yes, could we all boycott that since most of the movies are obscene and pornographic? How absurd to "boycott" a religion. It's non-profit. We have beliefs, it's called a Faith. If you don't chose to believe, then don't. Boycott Utah? I'm afraid the majority pop of the state is non-LDS. How ridiculous and small minded. I'm not calling for resignations or flag burning in front of Obama's house since he was elected, and I hope no one does. Why do people need a scapegoat? The majority voted, respect that. Why do people feel the need to pin it on the African Americans or any group for that matter? The state of California put it to a vote, Prop 8 passed.

I am trying to live my life the way I feel is right, by my own conscience and my belief in God. Others are free to do the same. Let's all live within the bounds of the law and be good citizens of our great country that we are lucky to live in.

"Since the people of California voted to reaffirm the sanctity of traditional marriage between a man and a woman on November 4, 2008, places of worship have been targeted by opponents of Proposition 8 with demonstrations and, in some cases, vandalism," the church's First Presidency wrote.

"Attacks on churches and intimidation of people of faith have no place in civil discourse over controversial issues. People of faith have a democratic right to express their views in the public square without fear of reprisal. Efforts to force citizens out of public discussion should be deplored by people of goodwill everywhere."

Wed Dec 03 2008 22:55 I turn my back for one second: And I find Gunnar in my bathroom. He climbed onto the toilet and onto the sink and he was applying Aaron's deodorant like lipstick. When I walked in he jumped and shuddered. I would have been mad if he wasn't so cute. Plus he didn't make much of a mess for me to clean up. Love the terrible two's.

(5) Mon Dec 08 2008 13:39 I have a thing for accents: So, if I were to have a top ten hot list, which I don't, but if I did, I would have to say that in no particular order I would have Hugh Jackman, David Beckham, Jim Caviezel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ioan Gruffudd, Eric Bana, Karl Urban, Clive Owen, Ewan McGregor, and Johnny Depp. I will give an honorary mention to Brad Pitt. He is getting a little ragged around the edges though, but he once was the epitome of hotness and anyone that disagrees is either crazy or lying. oh, and I almost forgot, Sendhil Ramamurthy from Heroes. So the overwhelming majority are foreign. What can I say? I love accents. I programed my GPS to have a sexy British voice. Incidentally, tall, dark, and handsome is my very favorite . All in good fun, whose on your list?

(1) Mon Dec 08 2008 21:26 My new daily mantra: I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

-Helen Keller

(4) Tue Dec 09 2008 23:06 A little tribute to my blog, a la Susie: Happy 5th Birthday Blog. My blog has seen me through 2 moves (soon to be one more), one horrible/awesome job. It saw my brother Dave and Ashley get married, Julie and Chuck, and brother in law Jake and Erin get married. Plus cousins, of course. It began pretty much on the commencement of my first pregnancy, and plus a second one. (If you really want to hear some sob stories /pity parties read the ones about Lily’s pregnancy), two babies and one hard working husband that got through BYU’s ridiculously hard science program (especially hard for someone that HATES school) and is almost done with 4 yrs of Dental school. I’ve had short hair and long hair through this time, straight and permed. Both my parents remarried since I’ve been blogging. I’ve been on several trips including AZ, UT, KS, TX, FL, & NY. It’s seen the birth of 8 nieces and nephews, and the death’s of my Grandpa , Aunt Frances, Aaron’s two grandpa’s and grandma, and Melea. It has been around for 2 BIL missionary homecomings. We have “owned” 4 cars during it’s life. The past 5 years have been packed full of memories.

The thing about journals is that I always threw them away after I went back years later and read them. I would read what I wrote and roll my eyes and think how lame or naïve or just plain stupid I was or what was I thinking writing this? I get really embarrassed and ashamed of my shortcomings and being reminded of them again is very humbling and uncomfortable so I would just trash it. Having a blog is a little like that. Sure there are things I would love to delete, especially having gone through it recently, re-reading entries. I am so grateful to this blog though. Not only has it kept me in touch with distant family, but I have so many precious memories recorded here. I loved going through and reading about Lily when she was a baby. I remember telling my mom in the hospital that I never want her to grow up. I wanted her to just stay so small and sweet and my little baby forever. My mom said , “oh, then you would never see her crawl or take her first step, or say her first words” and she was totally right, I love being a witness in my kids lives and seeing all their milestones, but a part of me wants to go back and hold them again at each phase. I miss my baby Lily. She was the best baby anyone could ever ask for, and even though she has been getting so fun and exciting to be around everyday, I won’t lie, sometimes it is tough to be her parent, and I am so blessed to get to go back and remember how I feel in love with her from minute one and all the incredibly cute things she did like have growling games with anyone that would growl back (memory of my grandpa, a 90-something yr old man growling for minutes back and forth with Lily when she was like 7 months old, you had to be there).

Anyway, what I am trying to say is I am so blessed with my life. Sure I have had some pretty tough trials, past and present. We all have. I love my babies so much, and I don’t deserve them. They teach me so much. They are such sweet, pure spirits, and I mess up all the time. Aaron may not be perfect, but I think we are perfect for each other. He has taught me invaluable life lessons that a perfect marriage would not afford. I love my little family. I love my big family. I love that my big family is so big. I couldn’t ask for better friends. I hope I can always recognize the ways the Lord has blessed my life and be a little bit better each day.

I feel like I should end this like a testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ :) but I guess it is kinda what it is…the church is true, seize the day, all you need is love.

Now I will try and refrain from deleting this as I have just bared my soul and feel a little naked right now.

Thu Dec 11 2008 12:39 Being bad rad is my job and business is good!: This morning we opened the door to a naked baby. Gunnar has been taking off his jammies lately. It started with the two piece ones. He would just take off the bottoms, and of course the diaper. Now he has mastered the zipper and takes off his sleepers. Nothing is safe anymore! The past couple days I have had to tape his diaper on at night. The boy is crazy. Why he would want to take off clothes when it is cold at night is beyond me.

I've cleaned up poop sheets and pee sheets. Thankfully the tape has worked so far and he has not been able to take the diaper off with that. I hate putting it on, but you do what you got to do. He cries and says owie tape, owie tape, No!, but it is for his own good. Especially when I come in and he is freezing cold and wet. From his own pee.

It just so happened that Aaron forgot it last night. No biggie, I have done early morning loads before to be finished in time for nap time, except that this time, it was not on the sheets. There was a big ring of wetness on his rug. Nice. Rugs don't go in the washer. How do you disinfect a huge rug? The mental picture here is of those Calvin and Hobbs cartoon bumper stickers where there is a stream of pee going up and over. Gunnar got some distance! The wet spot is a good three feet from the crib.

So Gunnar comes up to me after Aaron put a new diaper on and swats his leg and goes uh, naughty! no, no, naughty. uh Dumbo diaper, naughty". (There is an elephant on the front of his diaper, so he calls them Dumbo diapers.) The poor thing was giving himself spankings. I don't know where he got that, we never spank him except for play-you know what I mean, like tickles. It cracks me up, because he knows he is being naughty, but he does it anyway. Because he can. Of course I reinforced that it was naughty to take off his diaper. I just thought it was funny that he was like reporting to me that he was being naughty, and punished himself for it. He will now be known as the Whiz Kid until this phase is over with.

(4) Sun Dec 14 2008 11:45 To do list, and the done list: So far so good this month. I feel like I am keeping my head above water for the most part this Christmas season. Friday we took our family pictures...in the dark. Aaron didn't get home till 5:30 so we just took them in our front yard. Oh well, at least they are done and now I can order them, and hopefully send them out next week.

I pretty much have everything bought for people on the list. I told Aaron that he had to buy for his dad, because I never know what to get him. I think he forgot because yesterday he went with his friend Mark to go scope out a laptop for himself instead of buy gifts for Rick...or me. Really, I am kidding though, I don't want Aaron to buy me anything for Christmas. We got a GPS and that is about all I want. Plus that trip to the outlet mall for midnight madness. Yep, I'm pretty good at buying for myself too it turns out. Don't need any help there. So don't get me anything Aaron, capisce?

Friday night my mom invited the kids to spend the night. It was fabulous. Lily has spent the night at David and Ashley's several times, but never Gunnar. I was a little nervous that he would cry the whole night, because when I put him down for naps over there, he never really stays asleep long, and cries very sad tears when I put him down. It was great though, because he just waved us goodbye when we left him there. He likes Moppie's house now because he knows where her jellybean stash is, and he gets fistfuls at a time.

Mom had them make a gingerbread house, and she said they both went down fine. When I picked them up the next morning, they were both cheerful and bright. Success! Now mom just needs to invite them over more. Gunnar is so cute. When we get onto Circle A Trail he knows where we are going "Mop-mee's house". I think it is cute when he recognizes where we are. He does the same for church. When we get in the neighborhood he goes "yay! church!" or "yay! gym!".

Since we had an all night babysitter for Friday, Aaron and I went to the ward Christmas party, and actually enjoyed ourselves. We didn't have to stress that dinner wasn't served until 7pm because our kids weren't there starving, or tearing up the place in the meantime. We had a good time hanging out with everyone, and then we jetted to the movies. We saw The Day the Earth Stood Still. I still remember the original VHS movie in my dad's collection, and seeing the first 15 minutes of it and laughing my head off at how lame it was. The new version is not much better. Very boring. I fell asleep for at least 30 minutes of it. Keanu Reeves is good at playing robots or stoners because of his lack of depth as a character and voice fluctuations. It was just too boring though.

Sat morning we had scout pack meeting and tithing settlement. I also went on a 16 mile run. Blisters much. Ouch. Aaron fried some hot thighs, drumsticks, breasts, sweet potato fries, and regular fries for dinner. I have the best recipe for hot wings sauce. I love my deep fryer. It gets it to the perfect crispness. Oh boy, what a mess though.

(1) Mon Dec 15 2008 21:49 Baby, it's cold outside!: Aaron had a bad day today, so he wanted to go out to dinner. Not sure that is the cure for a bad day. The equation is probably more along the lines of Gunnar+restaurant=miserable time, but we pulled through alright with the bottomless fries at Red Robin to keep him busy-"uh, dip it, uh dip it" (in the ketchup). And stealing my "moes" (tomatoes). What is up with them jacking their prices up by the way? Not a fan. Plus my pineapple was cold on my chicken sandwich. At least we got a free one that Aaron is going to take to lunch tomorrow.

Seriously, about Gunnar though. Terrible two's much. He is yelling at me all the time. "Mom-mee! Mom-mee!" If I don't pay attention right away.

After dinner we went to pick up our Christmas card photos, and then drove around a nice neighborhood to look at lights and listen to Christmas music. The children loved it. Gunnar loved it so much, he wanted to make sure I was seeing all the cool lights. "Look! Look! uh lights. Mon (more) lights. Mom-mee! Look." And when we left the neighborhood he cried "mon lights, uh back, uh back". I asked Lily if she could see the Santa Claus and she was like yeah, but I just like Mrs. Claus because she is beautiful.

So what is up with it being freezing today. Yesterday was like 80 degrees. I refuse to run the a/c in the winter (technically still fall people) so Aaron and I had the fan on in our room it was so warm. And when we woke up I didn't even realize it was freezing until I opened the door. Yikes. Never fear. We are back up to the 70's at the end of the week.

(4) Wed Dec 17 2008 20:36 I AM:

I am: determined

I have: A beautiful family

I Am: a busybody.

I Think: about things a lot. And then I think about them some more.

I Know: how to have a good time.

I Want: To go back to school one day, I love taking classes.

I Dislike: putting myself into categories. I like having room to choose how I feel at the moment. However I like to categorize outside things.

I Miss: having a Café Rio salad.

I Fear: Aaron failing the last year of dental school.

I Feel: sore from my Yoga class.

I Smell: my babies skin a lot.

I Crave: to clean my house from top to bottom for a week straight, but I either get interrupted or I have to start over because it is messed up again or I get discouraged and don’t want to look at it for a couple days.

I Cry: whenever I see other people cry.

I Usually: eat oatmeal for breakfast.

I Search: for movies I might like on Netflix.

I Wonder: where we will move to in a year and a half.

I Regret: when I am not more compassionate.

I Love: going out to dinner.

I Care: about keeping in touch with people.

I Always: love a good laugh.

I Worry: about not being a good enough mom.

I Am Not: always on time.

I Remember: talking to my sister Aly late into the night growing up. My kids will always share a room unless there is only one in that gender.

I Believe: in the church.

I Dance: rarely. I don’t like doing stuff with my arms. I think it is called uncoordinated. I’ll just watch thanks.

I speak up: when I have had it.

I Argue: for the sake of debating.

I Write: because I like it.

I Win: the worst garden of the year.

I Lose: track of time when I am alone.

I Wish: I spent the energy I use for feeling guilty, on something productive.

I Listen: to good music.

I Don't Understand: men. I honestly don’t.

I Can Usually Be Found: at home.

I Am Scared: to move and not know my way around.

I Need: 8-9 hours of sleep every night.

I Forget: how bad feeling sick feels until I am sick again.

I Am: hopeful.

I tag: Rachel, Susie, Jenni, Hailey

(1) Sat Dec 20 2008 09:18 What?! : When did we hit the home stretch till Christmas? I can't believe it is in the 20's already. Christmas is just in a few days. It is crazy time has flown so quick. This Dec has been so nice and relaxing. We are staying in town, so there hasn't been that last mad dash to get everything done in the short amount of time before we have to go out of town. I mean two Christmases ago we stayed in town for the first time since I graduated high school, but I just had Gunnar so that doesn't count for non stress holidays.

I have been so nonchalant that I realized on Thurs that if I didn't get the gifts in the mail, that they may not get there by Christmas. I couldn't send a couple though because I was still waiting for them. But I am mailing my last package today, and all my Christmas cards have been sent, and I just have Gunnar's trike to get at Walmart, a gift card, and another gift card and I am done with my shopping. I put it off till next week so I can do it sans kids since Aaron will be home for the holidays. He is taking the second part to the national boards test today, and after today he is home free until Jan 5th. PARTY!

It is kinda funny that right now we are loving the Christmas time, but then once it is over, it is all I can do to wait until New Years day to take everything and put it away again. There really is a time and season for everything. I remember one summer before we had kids, Aaron and I went to Alaska to visit, and during the trip we traveled up to North Pole, AK. There really is a city named that, and they have this big Christmas shopppe with everything Christmas you can imagine. They also have a barn type thing with reindeer in the flesh. If my memory serves me right, they have a "Dear Santa" collection where they receive letters from kids, and I want to say that they actually have a letter they send out back to the kids that write in. I may have just made that up, but I know they do receive letters from kids for Santa.

Anyway, we went there right smack dab in the middle of summer, and even though it was Alaska and it wasn't full on summer weather, it was actually kinda depressing. I didn't really want to look at Christmas stuff because we had just gotten out of the cold months and we were totally into summer. The thought of Christmas being around the corner was just depressing. We still had half a year for that anticipation, and any sooner would just be spoiling the fun.

So it is interesting that we (or I) are so driven by schedules and calendars and this internal timer of when timing is right. I always love the first warm day of Spring and I love seeing everything turn green just as I love the first signs of fall, and the leaves changing colors and the air getting brisk. Having gone through one season for a period of time makes you appreciate the next so much more. It wouldn't be good if it was just spring all the time or summer all the time or Sat all the time. You enjoy Sat because you work so hard throughout the week that once it comes you can enjoy your relaxation. But if everyday is like a Sat to you, you just start feeling depressed and like you aren't doing anything productive just as if you work all the time you only want to take a break. I am so grateful for seasons and having a time and purpose for everything.

And this holiday season, I will be living it in the moment and enjoying it with my family and hopefully will making memories to cherish forever.

Sat Dec 20 2008 22:37 Words: Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.- Robert Brault

Tue Dec 23 2008 00:00 Go to bed: I hate when you are so tired that you procrastinate washing your face and brushing your teeth so you can just go to sleep already, but then you end up spending triple the amount of time it would have taken just wasting it doing nothing. Why can't I just do it right to begin with? Oh wait, then life would be easy.

(2) Tue Dec 23 2008 14:08 My peach: We all know Lily's selective taste in clothes, but it turns out she is just as particular with others as she is with herself. Since Julie and Chuck have been in town, they have been the brunt of her bizarreness. She told Julie a couple days ago that she wants her to go home and change her shirt and come back. I guess she doesn't like black and gray button up shirts. And then she told Chuck (who she has a crush on) that she likes it better when he wears his hat.

Probably the most embarrassing of all this month was what she told the care taker at the kids club. I guess she started to wear a hair piece to lengthen her hair and she had it on for like 3 days. I noticed it was longer but I just figured that she had it down. Well on the 4th day she didn't have it on and I asked her if she cut her hair. She said that she didn't and that it was just a hair extension that she put in but someone at the gym said it didn't look good so she stopped wearing it. I couldn't believe it and asked who told you that? Hmm, take a stab in the dark. She pointed to Lily. The lady of course knows Lily and how she is and didn't have her feelings hurt, but she just said Lily kept telling her she didn't like her hair long and wanted her to take the extension out. Geez! Such antics from that one.

The latest thing with Gunnar is her Jedi mind tricks she puts on him. Whenever he has a toy she wants and Gunnar is crying out no, no she will stop and say "Gunnar, say yes, say yes." Of course Gunnar says yes, and then Lily takes that and runs with it. I swear, when I watch Lily and Gunnar interact I feel like I am watching a Max and Ruby episode. There's Max, the little brother (Gunnar) with his two or three word sentences and then there is Ruby the manipulative and bossy older sister (Lily) telling everyone what they should be doing. You can't make this stuff up.

Thu Dec 25 2008 16:23 Merry Christmas: I still need to report all our Dec going ons, but that post is for another day. We've just been busy enjoying Chuck and Julie being here and spending time with the rest of the family. It's been a great Christmas. :)

Wed Dec 31 2008 23:27 2008 Christmas card: This is the Christmas card I sent out this year. For some reason, it bugs me when people write their cards in a way that you can't tell which person is writing it. Kinda silly, but people usually don't write in 3rd person except for when they write Christmas cards. No Elmo talk for me...

Happy Holidays- 2008

Our biggest news to report is that Aaron got accepted into the Air Force Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program in…WASHINGTON DC (Andrews Air Force base)! We look forward to Aaron’s graduation this coming May and we will be official east coasters in July. Please feel free to visit us anytime, and we mean that. When Aaron’s program is up after a year, we will owe 4 yrs active duty. Location-to be determined.

In the meantime, Aaron is rethinking the sports thing since there were a few hand injury scares on his flag football team. I’m thinking that’s a good idea because he’ll need those hands. Instead, he keeps them strong by playing World of Warcraft.

This fall, we were lucky to get Lily into the school district’s preschool curriculum which is everyday for about 3 hours. Lily, being the social butterfly that she is, loves it to no end. She also looks forward to her dance class once a week, asking me a few times a week if it is dance class day. We were able to take a fall trip to Disney World this year, and all this little princess’ dreams did come true. Our whole family loved it actually. Lily is so precocious and delightful that we just love having such a fun firecracker a part of our family.

Gunnar has totally come out of his shell, (and off my hip) to be quite a boy with said vocabulary, vroom vroom, ball!, choo choo train, outside. Even at this age you can see his great sense of humor shine through with his huge grin and slight dimple. He is a crowd pleaser, and not one day goes by where a stranger will comment on how adorable he is. I agree! The most precious thing to see is his love for his ‘sissy’. They truly are best buds, for better or worse.

My proudest accomplishments for 2008, besides being able to recite Finding Nemo verbatim, would be racing the year away running. I’ve enjoyed 5ks, 10ks, and completed my first half marathon. I am looking forward to finishing a full marathon in Feb. I was also able to take a trip this summer with my sister Julie to NYC, while Aaron took the kids to AZ to visit grandma and grandpa. After NYC, I flew to FL to see my sister Alyson’s family and meet their new baby girl, Molly. There is talk, on my part, of having a girl’s trip become an annual tradition.  I have also loved having one-on-one time with Gunnar boy while Lily is at school and seeing Lily’s new accomplishments after her return. My little family has grown so much this year and I feel blessed to be apart of it. We hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy. Thank you for being apart of our lives and sharing in our joy.

Love,

Aaron, Kristen, Lily, & Gunnar