I love Christmas-time!

There are so many things I love about this time of year. It all starts at our house with the decorations. It means Christmas-time is here!

The most important Christmas decoration is, of course, the tree. I change my tree every year. I just buy things after Christmas when everything goes on clearance. I think I could fully decorate 5 trees with my collection. The trouble is picking a theme.

My girls loved helping with the tree. They thought all the decorations belonged on the tree. They were busy hanging ornaments (from the tags that were not yet removed) while I was still busy deciding which ones to hang. We finally got it all figured out.
Yes, my girls are in their pajamas, we started first thing!

Kendra's Tag

Thank you Danielle, I had been wanting to post some individual things about my girls, and this was the perfect opportunity. Here are 5 things about Kendra at the fun age of 2 . 1. Anyone that knows Kendra knows that she is a mommy's girl. She is always content when I am holding her. If I am not there, someone else holding her will suffice. She just loves to cuddle. I get busy doing things, and the most common words I hear her say are "mommy, I want chou." I am a softee. I am going to miss this when she gets bigger.
2. Kendra is pretty easy going, until she gets mad. That little girl can throw a fit. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, look out! You might need your ear plugs handy too. And oh, the big tears roll down her cheeks. Her face turns red. She is pretty dramatic about it all. It is hard not to laugh (unless we are in public, that happened once).

3. Kendra does not need much discipline. If she does something bad, I take her to time out. The second she knows she's in trouble, those crocodile tears come up. She sobs, "mommy, be good. Be good, mommy." Her attitude immediately changes. I don't think I even leave her in time out for a full minute, and her bad behavior stops. She always says sorry, and hugs who ever she hurt or offended. If only big sisters wanted to be like their little sisters...

4. Kendra loves learning words. She often asks what something is or repeats what you say, almost sounding like it's a question. This morning for example, Kendra says, "what's this?"
Me: concealer
Kendra: con-see-ler? con-see-ler?
Me: yes, for mommy's zits
Kendra: mom-my's zits?
(I'm sure that word will come in handy)
Or she just repeats the last part of a sentence you just said.
Me: We are going to have spaghetti for dinner.
Kendra: spe-ge-ti dinn-er?

5. Her favorite toy is a baby doll. She has her favorite baby at home, but she will pick any baby doll over another toy any day. She loves to cuddle her baby, push it around in a stroller, change its diaper, and just mommy the little doll.

Kendra is my sweet little girl. I am lucky to be her mommy.

People I tag: Sage (Morgyn), Vanae (Violet), Bethany (McKenna), and Jill (Chani). If I tagged you last time, you can pick from the two tags.

Tribal Paint

Camryn painted Kendra with zinc oxide diaper cream. What are they trying to tell me? I was thinking maybe they want to move away and join some Aborigine tribe. Or maybe Camryn knows that zinc oxide is a good sunscreen and was trying to protect Kendra from getting a sunburn (on this chilly, overcast, November day in Idaho). Or maybe Camryn was trying to tell Kendra she thinks she is a big butt.

Underground Caves

There are some really neat things in Idaho. For my brother, Jonathan's birthday, he wanted to go hiking through some underground caves. Part of my family had been to these caves before, but he never had, and neither had I.


So we pile into two trucks and head out. We misjudged the amount of time it took to drive to these caves. They are out in the middle of no-where. Somewhere in the Arco desert. One truck was getting very low on fuel, so we all got to pile into the other truck. Did you know you can fit 9 adults in a truck? Look at the love, what a big happy family.

We arrive and get ready to head in just before the sun sets.

In photo; me, Mickell, Dad, Nicole, Mom, Jonathan, Dane, and Montey (Travis' Dad), Travis is taking the picture.

Don't forget your flashlights. There is no light down there. We turned all the lights off at one point. I don't think I have ever been in dark that dark. Absolutely no hint of light.

The caves were amazing. In most places you are maneuvering around these big rocks.

In a couple places the caves really open up, in others it gets a little tight. There is one spot you have to army-crawl to get through. There are a few small climbs, and a couple ladders.

Oh yeah, and there are bats. They were sleeping when we came upon them. Just little guys. So close, you could have reached out and touched them.

So you hike in about a mile, then turn around and come back. Here we are, about to come back out. A big goofy family, Mickell, Dane, me, Nicole, Montey, Travis, Dad, and Mom (Jonathan is taking the picture).

It was a blast!

Thanks Dad, for taking us all out.

Happy Birthday Johnny!

I got tagged!!!

I'm a little slow getting to this stuff. OK, here goes...

8 TV Shows I love to watch
1. Lost
2. Good Eats with Alton Brown
3. X-files
4. What Not to Wear
5. Untold Stories of the ER
6. Divine Design
7. John & Kate + 8 (makes my life feel less crazy)
8. Oprah
This was really hard. I don't even have TV service right now and I don't miss it. But these are some good shows =)

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Olive Garden
2. The Garden (in Twin Falls)
3. Any GOOD sushi place
4. Subway (the place I eat at most often)
5. Tony Roma's
6. Papa Murphy's (not a restaurant at all, but it's good)
7. Chilis
8. Papa Kelsey's

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
1. Bought a new cell phone on ebay (1st thing in am)
2. Took my girls to daycare
3. Went to work at Dick's Pharmacy
4. Told patients about their medicine
5. Answered doctor's questions
6. Made grilled cheese sandwiches for my girls
7. Camryn spilled a drink in the kitchen, Kenrda spilled one in the hallway (at least it was just water this time)
8. Camryn watched Ariel's Beginning for the 300th time
It was a regular weekday.

8 Things I'm Looking Forward to
1. My next day off work (Friday)
2. Going to Arizona this month to see my good friends and family
3. No more diapers! (Kendra will be potty trained someday)
4. Putting up Christmas decorations (already looking forward to it!)
5. Winter being over
6. Hearing my girls say "I love you mommy" or "mommy, you're the best" (my girls are sweet, sometimes =)
7. Amanda staying with us for a few weeks
8. My new phone coming in the mail

8 Things on my Wish List
1. Having a clean house for longer than a few minutes (I swear they are messing up the room I just cleaned while I am cleaning the next)
2. Being able to work less and be home with my kids more
3. Go on a cruise (something I've never done)
4. Being able to go scuba diving with my family (requires getting certified 1st)
5. My bathroom being finished, and the rest of my house for that matter
6. New kitchen appliances
7. Warm weather all year round (no, Arizona is not the answer, that is not warm all year round, it is scorching hot a good part of the year, though sometimes it is appealing)
8. Knowing which is the right choice to make

8. 8 People I'm tagging
1. Nicole 2. Amanda 3. Sage 4. Tenille 5. Vanae 6. Bethany 7. Crystal 8. Heather
(some of you will be posting on myspace)