Our Own Annie Oakley

So, my dad got Abby this pop gun from Cabela's for Christmas and she was immediately enamored with it (I wonder if the fact that Dad had soldered her name into it added to her affection?). For some reason, she took on this weird posture and facial expression each time she would go "hunting". After a while, she added the Mickey Mouse ears and now cannot use the gun without the ears. Also, I have to call her "Hunter Mickey" when she's in full garb. Of course, all of her preschool friends loved it as well and we immediately had to set forth certain rules. #1 Do not shoot people... not even pretend ones... not even bad guys... no people! #2 Take turns. Believe it or not, number 2 was easier for them to follow than number 1!

Taking the Bull By the Horns

Well, Paul and I finally decided to go to the doctor to get help with baby#2. I am such a freak and panic every time I have to go to the doctor's office but despite a good excuse to cancel (we were leaving to drive to Idaho that day, etc., etc.) I got it over with (Paul holding my hand of course) and we're on track to get some good drugs... Clomid to be exact. Last time I tried Clomid, I was pregnant with Abby the very next month so let's hope it works as well this time!

We went to Idaho last week for my Aunt Sue's funeral. She had been battling cancer for 16 years (and I mean BATTLE... she was a fighter) but it finally won. There were an amazing 600 people there... unbelievable. I had no idea there were that many people in the whole state. She touched a lot of lives and we'll miss her terribly.

Abby's New Year's Resolution

Abby REALLY wants to read so badly. She tries to play Scrabble with Paul and I and wants to help but all she ends up doing is telling everyone in the room your letters. Not very good strategically. In her stocking, she got these Post-it Notes that have 50 of the most common sight words on one pad and a blank pad for what ever other words we're learning. We've been learning 2 words a day. Our hallway entrance has now turned into the reading room and we take turns pointing to words and repeating after each other. When I quit, she has been getting her own attentive class together and teaching them. It's really cute. I think she'll be reading books before too long. How exciting for her... a whole new world just waiting for her to discover!

What the hail?

Meaning the weather a couple of days ago and also, Abby's new catch-phrase. Now, where could she have learned something like that?

New Year's Eve with the Dinosaurs

...and no, I'm not talking about Paul's parents (ha ha). We went to the Museum of Ancient Life and had a great day together. After the museum, we ate at Carl's Jr. and Abby was happily playing on the jungle gym until she reached the top and realized she didn't know how to get down so she did what any respectable 3 year old would do in that situation: she peed her pants. That was fun. When I told the employees what had happened, they just stared at me blankly like I should tell them what to do. Well, seeing as I'm not under 48 inches and I wasn't allowed by Carl's Jr. Jungle Gym law to go up there myself, I did not feel guilty one little bit for letting them figure it out (midgets? child labour? I still don't know their policy... maybe it's the ever popular, "let it dry and hope no one complains" method... scary) After we stripped her down and let her eat her dinner in her wet undies, we went to Kohl's and got her some new clothes... and took the fam to Cabela's and some more shopping... In Paul's family, they like to give little New Year's gifts... that's a tradition in which I'll be HAPPY to participate!!!

The Christmas Festvities

My family, every Christmas, would gather together on Christmas Eve and open all of our presents from each other and snack on finger foods all night while listening to Elvis singing Christmas songs. The next morning, my sister and I would wake up early to find out what Santa brought us. It was lovely and it worked well for many, many years... and then came marriage!

I didn't even think about differing family Christmas traditions when we got married in June! That wasn't on the church's "things to discuss before you get married" list of important things to figure out before you tie the knot. And for the first few years, we took turns at each other's parent's houses so we just did what they did. This year, my sister and I are both married and both of our husband's think the Christmas Eve presents thing is dumb... MEAN! Not only that, but I just found out that Paul (gulp) hates Elvis! AND we were to have a ton of family here at our house... that would be Paul's parents, my parents, and my sister and her husband... that meant 8 adults and Abby (whose stack of presents was all of the rest of ours combined) in our little home- half of whom opened on Christmas Day. So, to appease the masses, I did the humble, respectable thing and relented... for this year only anyway!On Christmas Eve, my parents took us to breakfast at this little dive they found in Orem called, Callie's. It was good food but I don't know if I would have gone 4 times in 5 days like my folks did... That night, we had a mass Family Home Evening on Christmas Eve and read the Christmas story... then Paul and I gave everyone a dollar-store type gift to open that night (hey, something was better than nothing... I never told him about all the times Carrie and I talked Mom into letting us open a little something on Christmas Eve, Eve!). The next morning, we gathered together and opened the rest of our gifts and that night had a nice ham dinner... I always wanted to do ham, but it was always too big for our small family. It was a wonderful time and Abby just loved her gifts despite Yoda's predictions!

Sunday at Temple Square

For Christmas Eve, Eve, (Sunday the 23rd) we went with our parents to see the lights at Temple Square. Apparently, about half of Utah had the same brilliant idea and the place was packed. It was a cold and beautiful night and it was really special to be able to share that experience with everyone. Don't you just love my totally matching outfit? Just call me Sarah Jessica Parker. Look out for my new fashion designs at a retailer near you... I don't know why the department stores aren't banging down my door for requests!