Photos from Our Wish Shoot

This past Sunday I got my treasured photo CD from Wish Photography. I thought I would share :) Family members please let me know if you would like copies of any of these!!

Great Grandparents

The very next day after our planetarium visit we decided to visit Wes' grandparents (on both sides) to deliver their belated Christmas presents. I had just made a New Year's resolution to take at least once picture every day, which by the way I have already not kept up with. I was starting to take pretty boring pictures. I appear to have gone completely backwards though and have not been taking many pictures again. I guess it is time to dust off the camera again. Anyway, I digress...this particular day I brought my camera.

We first stopped at Grandpa and Grandma Oates's house. The older girls were very respectful and behaved wonderfully. Violet enjoyed crawling around on the ultra plush carpet. Lydia was kind enough to help keep an eye with her while we chatted. Douglas (Wes' Grandpa) is an amazing man. He served in the Navy during World War II. He suffers from Parkinson's disease, but he still can get around pretty well. He will still work around the yard when he can. Wes' dad is wonderful to come help his parents with whatever they need.

We learned during our visit that Wes' Great Grandfather came from the Isle of Mann, which he hadn't been aware of. He also learned that his Great, Great Grandfather was a postman in Bingham Canyon.

Lois (Wes' Grandmother) is absolutely AMAZING. She is my role model for how I want to be when I am much older. She made Violet a beautiful quilt when she was born and she is always so positive and upbeat. She has such a strong love for her family. She is so sweet and kind. Both Wes' grandparents are so strong in the gospel. They enjoyed telling us about their mission they served as a retired couple in Chicago.

Before too long we headed out to Grandma Christensen's.

I just love her as well! I love that Wes has such a large, loving, extended family :) Ruth had just gotten home from a cruise. She loved giving the girls hugs. Unfortunately Violet got pretty crabby just a few minutes after we arrived and our visit was cut very short. I felt bad that we hadn't spent much time with her. Hopefully we will be able to spend more time with her in the near future!

Out of World Start to 2011

On New Year's Day we decided to have a small family adventure. Adelle had gotten a few free tickets for a planetarium show that were due to expire the next day, so we decided to head to the planetarium downtown. First we watched a movie about black holes in the star theater. Lydia and Adelle seemed to enjoy it. Violet got restless near the end so we walked around the halls of the dark theater. After that we walked around and looked at the exhibits.

Lydia has really taken an interest to doing her hair and make up just so, especially when we are going out. She has a very light touch to her make up though so I have allowed her to wear it. Lydia and Violet are looking here at the large group of kids crowding around the ball contraption.

Adelle was right in the heart of the crowd. As we were driving to the planetarium she mentioned that she remembered a vacation where they had a wonderful, ball thing. To her astonishment she then realized that it wasn't a grand vacation we had taken in the past, but just a little, local stop in the Salt Lake Valley. She absolutely had to have a turn pulling the levers and making the balls go.

She also couldn't resist exploring the mars and moonscapes. I love this picture of her on Mars. She looks like she is straight out of an original Star Trek episode. At least she isn't wearing a red uniform.

Perhaps a future career choice for Violet, if there is a space program still someday. She enjoyed looking around and watching all the kids scurrying everywhere.

Lydia is now too cool to climb around the moon and mars, but she did let me take a picture of her lifting up a heavy rock.

Violet was quite fascinated with the neat rocks as well.

In fact she was so taken with them that she managed to wriggle her way out of her buckle and stand up in her stroller to grab this, heavy beauty.

We really did enjoy the planetarium. It is fun to see the girls get excited and learn about new things. We even strolled the narrow gift shop which for some reason also has a very large amount of Harry Potter items. I was tempted to buy a thing or two, but we were sensible and walked away empty handed.

Sorry for the Delays

I am so sorry for the delays on posting nowadays. I really want to keep up with the blog. I NEVER want to have my blog become a forgotten site, where old pictures fill the pages. Oh..no..I will carry on. Down below you will see the main reason for my blog delays.

That's right folks. Can you say "Gateway computers are awful". I keep debating whether to buy a new one or get the old one repaired. Looking through my past posts you will see that this computer started me giving problems 6 months after I purchased it. It can be so expensive to get a new computer that is decent though. Also each machine is so new on the market it is hard to find any sort of reliable reviews. I'm not even sure where I will get the computer repaired at. Anyone have any ideas? It is bold of me to post a question here since I probably don't even have much of a reader base left anyway. **sigh** Well the ones who matter are still reading right?

Anyway, I will do my best to keep taking pictures, remembering events, and stockpiling posts for when I can get on and update. One of the main reasons I will never give up is I am determined to continue with the blog books every year.

New Year's Eve and Sister Party!

We didn't have anything huge planned for New Year's Eve. That day there was a pretty big snowstorm, Wes worked, Adelle went shopping with Grandma Ellen to Build-A-Bear, and I made a New Year Purchase of an exercise bike. I spent a few hours putting the bike together and Lydia was great keeping an eye on Violet. You should have seen me drive the bike home in my little car. On second though, I hope nobody saw it.

Anyway, we ordered Pizza as night closed in and then we decided to watch Despicable Me. Wes fell asleep in front of the heater, but I woke him up before it grew too late. Lydia and Adelle got special permission to stay up late in their room and have their own special party. They got to have popcorn and watched Barbie Swan Lake. They were so excited they could hardly contain themselves.

Just ignore the mess that surrounds them :) At 11:00 I checked on them. Lydia was sitting half dazed on her bed and Adelle was begging Lydia to watch another movie. The rule was if someone got tired both girls would need to go to bed. Lydia just wanted to sleep so their fun was over and Adelle had a small meltdown. I reminded her that if she ever wanted to have a late night again she should listen.

Wes played a video game while I read the Hunger Games. We rang in the new year side by side on the couch enjoying ourselves. We of course began the year with a kiss. Before long we both turned in.

Glorious Christmas Day

Lydia and Adelle were not allowed to wake us up before 7:00. They are always so excited. I myself always have a little bit of a hard time sleeping. This year we had a mini tree on top of a table. We did this to keep our little Vi Vi away from the lights and ornaments. We didn't put out presents until the day before and then they were piled on my computer chair and desk. Santa's presents arrived in the middle of the night of course.

The girls asked me to put out Santa's treat this year. They delegated. I chose some leftover cannolis that Randy had made and that we had stolen off with at the recent friend Christmas party. Santa thanked the girls for the different treat in his annual letter.

We always eat breakfast before opening presents. I usually make something bigger, but Wes said we should keep it low key. Lydia and I still ended up with an omelet though because it sounded good to us :)

Violet got a special bear from Santa. His paws and ears change color in the sun. Honestly, he hasn't been played with much because she has so many stuffed animals. She did get a Little People Barn from Mommy and Daddy that she really has enjoyed. She really likes to show us how she can moo like a cow!

I love her bright penguin pajamas and that big, big smile. She is such a funny baby! Violet helped open many of her presents. It was fun she could participate this year.

Lydia and Adelle got on their new outfits from Grandma Julie and we all had fun taking turns opening presents. We captured it all on film. It has become our Christmas tradition.

The girls got a lot of presents!!! Wes and I got some great presents too. Wes really loves the two blog books. I made both 2008 and 2009 into books. It is wonderful to have our own little family history in beautiful, colorful books. It has been funny too when Wes has forgotten certain things to pull out the books and remind him :) I have even caught the girls reading the books. I got a external hard drive which is priceless since my computer is on the fritz. I copied all of my personal files onto the drive so if my computer dies I will not lose all my important stuff. I also got gift certificates to go clothes shopping. I would like to lose a little more weight before using those though.


We had so much fun and we were sad when Lydia had to leave to spend time with her Dad. We spent the rest of the day hanging out. Wes played a new video game. Adelle had fun making her very own story thanks to a story making kit she received from her Aunt Erica. Before Lydia left for the day the girls enjoyed playing with their Zhu Zhu hamsters. I wasn't sure what to do with myself. By the end of the day though Adelle was sad. She had the end of holiday blues. I tried to be silly and cheer her up. I also reminded her that New Year's Eve was just around the corner.

It was a different holiday. There were some moments of sadness with my father being gone, but I cherished the family time and the time I had off of work! There is nothing like spending time with my family.