4 Reasons to Celebrate!

1.The birth of the Savior Jesus Christ.


2.Dominic is doing a fabulous job on his potty training. We started about 2 months ago and the first 2 weeks were awful! He would literally kick and scream about sitting on the toilet, so after a few time outs and making him sit still long enough to make anything happen he got the hang of it. We told him that once his sticker chart was full he and Papi would go to the toy store and he could pick something out. This is the boys getting ready for their celebratory outing to the toy store. There are still a couple accidents once in a while, but I'm happy. "Mommy's Happy, Papi's Happy! YEAH!" is the little sing-song chant we do after he goes potty and he loves to sing it to!


3.Tessa is walking!! She's been at it for about a month and it has made her so happy! She's pretty fearless and has been trying to walk very fast since the start!


4.The most exciting of all is that we will be moving to VIRGINIA this coming Summer!!


All the grueling work and time Cole has spent studying and getting involved at the Dental School has paid off! Cole got into the VCU Orthodontic Program!! He is SO HAPPY and so am I! It was his first choice and he deserves it! I am so proud of him. It's only for 2 years, so although we'll be sad to be so far from our family we'll be back to the NW before we know it!

We are very excited for this move and even more excited that we'll be so close to Washington DC, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach and get to experience the East Coast for a while! Hopefully the sites will bring visitors too!

This is Cole and I before we headed to Claim Jumper to Celebrate!!

It Feels like Rexburg!

The snow has fallen, the temperatures are in the teens and the east wind is going strong- I totally feel like I'm back in Rexburg. The snow started falling Sunday morning and so of course church was cancelled. The snow plows are far and few between here in the NW so it feels like the city shuts down when it snows. We've enjoyed playing out in the snow, especially Dominic. He and Cole were out for more than and hour on Sunday walking around and having fun, even without having any boots.



Monday school was cancelled for both Cole and Macie. We did some sledding. Dominic loved it and Macie was scared that it was going too fast. We also took a walk to a Papa Murphy's around the corner to get pizza for dinner and had a fun time being together.



Macie is out of school again, but Cole had to go back today. We're supposed to have another 2-4 inches tonight, but I really wish this pretty white stuff would go away now. I want to be done stressing about having any pipes freeze, any tenants slipping on the ice and trying to keep walkways clear which I have found nearly impossible with the thick layer of ice!

The Tree

Macie and I enjoyed decorating the tree together last weekend. She was very careful not to put two similar ornaments next to each other and was very pleased with her work.


Dominic spent his time playing with this large stick that somehow made it in the house with the tree.


The finished tree before the kids got to it.


Tessa has loved climbing under the tree, pulling ornaments off and clapping them together - of course the plastic ones are on bottom.


After I got out of the shower the other day Macie yells that Tessa has taken more ornaments off the tree which wasn't surprising, but she had also pulled down the beaded garland and wrapped it around her neck (just glad Dom didn't strangle her with them).

This is now what the bottom half of the tree looks like. I probably should have only decorated the top half to begin with!

4 Years in a Row

Mid November was Turkey Bowl for the Dental Students again. It's a much anticipated event, especially because the classes were out to beat the 4th years (Cole's class) and ruin their 3 year winning streak.


It's always fun to watch football on a Saturday morning while my hands and toes freeze, but I didn't have the kids with me this time (thanks to my parents who had them) so I got to watch the game more. I usually get a quiz from Cole after the games asking if I saw his touchdowns and how many he had . . . I failed the test- I was visiting with friends too much I guess. He had some great games though!


They played 2 games. The first one was close, but the second was a blow out. All the flag pulls, sacks, and touchdowns led to a happy bunch of guys who now are 4 YEAR Flag Football Champions!! Congratulations!