A Magical Christmas cont'.... the after party

We had a pinata with lots of New Years stuff inside. Will did NOT like it. He was totally freaked out by the fact that we were all swinging a broom at this thing hanging - I don't blame him, it is a very weird concept. Aren't we trying to teach our kids NOT to hit things? Weird... Go Grandma!
Enjoying the goodies
Happy 2008 - Mortensen Family
Devin and Liz enjoying the hot tub. They helped Sadie build a snowman! Owen and Ashlie
Uncle Ty showing off his snowshoe skills! Check out the creek, it was really pretty.

We spend New Year's at a cabin in Island Park, ID. The snow was great and we had a blast. It was a wonderful way to start the New Year! We went snowshoeing, snowmobiling, played games, and ate lots of great food. Will loved riding on Scott's shoulders while we snowshoed, it was SO pretty - we can't wait to go again. Family Picture in the beautiful snow -
Jess and Kari cross country skiing

Will enjoying a sucker after snowshoeing.
He thoroughly enjoyed it - that's what the holidays are all about right?

Lizzie and Will after sledding -
The day after Christmas we went swimming at Sport's Academy. Our little water baby loved it, and so did Dad and Uncle Ty
JUMP!

A Magical Christmas cont.... Christmas Day

We were lucky enough to have a very WHITE Christmas. So, Christmas day, Jesse, Scott's brother hitched up his horse - Clover and pulled us up and down the street on the sled. It was a blast! It was a gorgeous day, just what Christmas should be....
Yee Haw! Scott and Will...
Gigi and Will
The girls - minus Ashlie and Lorinda - Notice Kari's cute pregnant belly! Only 3 weeks to go Kari!

Opening his stocking - goldfish, an Elmo toothbrush, and lots of chocolate. Will would have been completely satisfied with goldfish - if only we could ALL be so easily content! Oh, and he was still talking about his dinosaur jammies! Showing Papa his Elmo toothbrush
His first (of many) books from Santa. The "Grumpy Book" - I read it to him, then he took it to Scott, and then Grandpa. We could hardly get him to open other presents.
The next HIT - "How do Dinosaurs Eat their food?" Will had been talking about this book for months and he was SO thrilled!
Aunt Lizzie - by far his favorite person of the trip!

A Magical Christmas

Reading with his cousins and Aunt Ashlie - A very sad "Joseph"... he didn't like dressing up. Since he was the only boy, he got to be Joseph, a shepherd, and a wise man all at the same time.
Our little family Nativity (Will with cousins Ellie, Molly, and Sadie)
A very EXCITED Will opening PJ's with DINOSAURS! This was an exciting moment! He LOVED the jammies - He pointed out to everyone what each dinosaur was called.
Family Pic - Christmas Eve

Scott's dad is starting to retire. Scott went with him to celebrate his last day of "rounding" at the hospital. It was a momentuous occasion! YUM YUM YUM - Sunday dinner, turkey legs, need I say more?
Will wanted in on the action....

At my sister Krista's house enjoying a very yummy ravioli dinner and of course, ice cream for dessert. This wasn't just any old ice cream, it was special BYU Dreyer's stuff - it was delish! My little nephew Matt is quite a guy - he doesn't waste any time getting his ice cream... I think we should all start using spoons as big as ice cream scoops!

Will loved playing the piano at Grandma's. Here, he's singing away! We also got to enjoy LOTS of great snow while we were in Utah. Will liked it for a few minutes, but got frustrated that he couldn't really move. He loved being pulled on the sled - I'm think that would be a good investment for Minnesota - especially for hauling all my groceries into the apt!

Get ready for picture overload! We had a wonderful, magical Christmas in Utah with our families - so here's all the photos of our adventures!

A wonderful Christmas

We have been having a wonderful Christmas here in Cache Valley. Will has loved every minute of being at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He just LOVES the cat, Meek, his cute cousins, and we've really had some fun playing in the snow!! We'll post some more later....

Will and his dinosaurs

Man, this kid is completely obsessed with dinosaurs. It is pretty much all we talk about all day long. We are so happy with how much Will is saying, he picks things up and remembers them way too quickly! This video was hard to take because his favorite part is watching it after - so he kept trying to get behind me to see the video.... ENJOY!

Will....

Will is one of a kind, at least we think so! We finally got him a real winter coat. I just couldn't stand putting layer after layer of sweatshirts and jackets everytime we went outside. Scott and I think it is great, but Will isn't sold on the idea. Everytime we go somewhere I tell him to get his coat and he reluctantly says "new coat??" It is funny, but what is even funnier is when we get him buckled into his carseat... no wonder he hates wearing his coat!

(I don't know why the picture didn't change orientation... they usually do?! - Sorry)

On another note, we were buy his coat and he saw this "Brachiosaurus" by the register, instantly, he was carrying it around and holding onto it for dear life. Of course, us mean parents made him put it back because we weren't about to spend money on a stuffed dinosaur that is almost as big as he is! Well, Will screamed and cried and said "no way" while all the holiday shoppers gave us little smiles and facial expressions that said "those poor first time parents, they should just buy the dang thing...." or "what awful parents, that kid can scream!" The whole way out of the store we heard Will crying and saying "Brachiosaurus back" through all his sniffles. He was truly heartbroken. When I told Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins this sob story, they immedietly said, you should have just bought it! And of course they said, go buy it, we'll send you money, and tell Will it is from us! That's what makes grandparents, grand, right? So, all is well that ends well. Will is a HAPPY camper, with his brachiosaurus in tow, he hasn't slept a night without it since we gave it to him. He's even named him fittingly "Brachi-" I wonder how long this dinosaur thing will last, and if this poor green stuffed dinosaur is up for the challenge!

Simple Pleasures

Will sees the world through different eyes, I love seeing him be so happy with the simple things in life... like standing on your head! Or checking out your arm, or belly button, or a bug on the ground....

There are lots of simple pleasures in life, I'm coming to recognize these more and more everyday. Of course there are the obvious things that are great about life, family, friends, your babies, your spouse, etc.... But lately, I've just loved watching Will when he doesn't know I'm watching him. He LOVES looking at his books, and the other day I was spying on him and he was reading his dinosaur book (of course... that is the other simple pleasure at our house - DINOSAURS) and he was "reading" to himself. All I could catch was "saurus" in pretty much every other word. Or he would say one word about each page. The funniest was a page with a T-Rex that says "T-Rex is a giant meat eating machine!" and Will kept saying "HUGE! machine.... HUGE machine!" it was pretty cute.

The Children's Museum

Today, Will and I ventured into the snow storm and spent the morning at the Children's Museum. Our family is blessed to have a membership there, so we can go anytime, and spend as much or as little time as we like playing. This museum is wonderful, it was SO fun. Will had a ball, and I had a great time seeing him so happy and interactive. We've been pretty cooped up for the past little while, so it was nice to let Will get out, run, jump, play, be loud, and just have fun exploring.

We started our adventure at the "Habitot" where everything is centered around bugs and sensory learning. Will's favorite part was the "hilly" ramp, and the ice fishing exhibit. (Mostly, he just loved running around) Then we went to Earth World where Will was thrilled with the prospects of being an ant. Running up and down the ant hill, and crawling through the tunnels. Then of course, we saw the Sesame Street room where everyone is labeled with some form of Elmo - like "Elmo Cookie!" and "Elmo Street!"... funny thing, Elmo is scarce. We also spent time in the "Our World" room and "World Works" where we got to ride a bus, be in a music video, and play with water. Will LOVES the water room, he put the little ball in the tube and watched it float out a million times.

Watching your kids learn, grow, and have fun is the best. We really enjoyed our day, and we are excited to go back soon. Sadly, I forgot my camera, so you'll have to settle on pictures from the museum's homepage.

The Holidazzle

We have really loved living in a big city, and it is especially fun during the holidays. Over Thanksgiving break, we rode the bus downtown to watch the Holidazzle Parade - a storybook parade of lights. Will thought the bus was great, and he wasn't so sure about the parade. It was a good night to go though because it wasn't too cold, we were bundled, but it was still bearable. I'm not sure Will really "gets" this whole Christmas thing, but I'm sure he'll be excited to open presents this year. We've been trying to teach him about the nativity, baby Jesus, etc. However, the only thing he's really caught onto is the Donkey in the stable, and he thinks it is pretty hysterical when he "HEE HAW" at him. Maybe we need to rethink our teaching methods?

We are really looking forward to our vacation to Utah, and spending time with family and friends during the Holidays. We are VERY excited to see snowy mountains, and hopefully go skiing. Just a couple weeks away.....

10 LBS. of potatoes?... no problem

I'm SO excited... naturally, over food! I was assigned to bring the potatoes to dinner tomorrow, so I found a great recipe from my friend and I used my favorite kitchen tool ever! My bosch... it's a wonder, it whipped my potatoes and they look like frosting. I was even licking the beaters, just like frosting going "mmmmm good!"

Don't they look heavenly? I think so, and more amazing, the bosch did all 10 POUNDS at once! I should write bosch a thank you note, I love them.

Pumpkin cookies

With Thanksgiving around the corner... and Christmas shopping in sight, here's something to make the holidays a little sweeter:

Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 cups white sugar
1 cup shortening
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Cream the sugar, shortening, pumpkin and vanilla together. Mix until light and well combined.
3. Mix the flour, baking soda and ground cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes or until set. Let cookies cool on a rack.

THREE THINGS TO LOVE

Isn't it funny what your kids begin to love? We read a dinosaur book a LONG time ago, just once, but it started something with Will. He loves wearing his dinosaur jammies and reading his dinosaur book. He also loves having mom or dad draw a dinosaur and then he colors it. He can even say "brachiosaurus" - what a wonder child! If you didn't know what he was saying, you might wonder what the heck he's talking about when he walks around saying "Nasanay (dinosaur... of course), suchus (sarcosuchus - a huge crocodile that lived during the time of the dinosaurs... found in one of our many dinosaurs trips to the library), or sceeery nasanay.... " He's really loving the books "How do dinosaurs eat their food, What if a Dinosaur gets sick, How do Dinosaurs play with their friends... etc." If you haven't read them to your kids, you should, their great.

Other than dinosaurs, Will's most favorite things right now are: NEMO NEMO NEMO.... we watch Nemo daily, and most of our conversations revolve around who says or does what on Nemo. This kid is obsessed with NEMO - he's getting a fish for Christmas, I hope it goes over well!

He's also very into his Curious George books. When we ask him what George says he says "hooo hoo hahhaaa" just like the little monkey!

We love our little Will, he is growing up too fast!

I survived.... barely

Well, I now finally feel like I have the energy to sit in a chair and type... how pathetic! I had my gall-bladder surgery last Friday. Things went well, but I felt horribly sick until yesterday. YUCK. The pain wasn't even bad, it was the feeling yucky that kept me from recovering. It was quite a bit more stressful than I had anticipated.

Thankfully, we have a wonderful mother in-law who has been here helping us 24/7 all week. We were SO blessed to have her here, we seriously could not have survived without her help. Plus, Will has LOVED having lots of time with Grandma.

Thanks to everyone for your phone calls, e-mails, and support, sorry I've been really out of it the past week! I hope to be back to my normal self soon.

JANE EYRE

If you havn't read the book, or seen the movie... I highly recommend it. It is a classic, and one that is so inspiring and captivating. The newest movie is the best - it is a Masterpiece Theater version and it came out in Jan. of 2007 I believe, so check it out from your library, it is amust see and I promise you'll love all 4 hours of it... well, I did, but I like that kind of stuff.

Last night, me, my sister in-law Lorinda, and two friends (Tina & Monica) went and saw Jane Eyre - the play - at Guthrie Theater here in Minneapolis. It was great, better than I expected actually, maybe because I had such high hopes. It was great to spend a night out, relax for 2 and 1/2 hours, and enjoy such a great love story.... I know, cheesy, but Jane Eyre is by far one of the greatest heroines in history!

Anjelah Johnson: Nail Salon

I am sure I'm not the only one whose had a great experience such as this. I couldn't help laughing, it was too true.