Our Forever Family

Is January really over?? Man oh man, time is passing! I just wanted to write down some thoughts and happenings going on lately. Jenna is weaned!! Wow, that was quick for me. Next to Melanie, she is the youngest to be weaned. I love the fact of being able to leave her for long periods of time and now overnight if I need or want to! A new sense of freedom!! Thursday night our van got broken into. I guess it wasn't really broken into, our doors were unlocked! But various papers were on the passenger seat that were from the glove box and our DVD's were all taken (about 7). The good thing is they showed us a new drawer under the passenger seat that we never knew about! They left it open for us! I don't think they took anything else. Lesson learned. ALWAYS lock your doors! I still felt violated and it really scared Melanie. My goals I set at the beginning of the year are still going strong...amazing! I am 1/2 way through the Book of Mormon and into my 3rd week of ...

Isn't it funny how when you say something of what could happen, does happen? David left Wednesday morning to fly out to South Carolina for business. We were talking the night before he left about his flight plans. He was frustrated that he had 2 layovers. I told him I was worried because what if the plane was delayed (winter weathers!) and then you missed your connecting flight? The trip is only from Wednesday-Saturday and they had plans all scheduled out. Well Wednesday at 3:30 I got a call from David and he was in the Colorado airport. Apparently they left Colorado, but a crack in the airplanes windshield made them have to turn around, drop fuel before they could land and then land. I guess there were fire trucks and the whole works ready for them upon their return. Then they did the waiting game. So needless to say they missed their connecting flight from Atlanta, GA to South Carolina. And then they also lost their luggage. So they spent the night in Atlanta, got an e...

Melanie has been asking since last summer to have her hair cut.  First Dad said no (he likes it long) and I was a little attached to.  But after them being off track for several weeks and a brush not combing it everyday I was tired of seeing it scraggly.  So when Melanie asked to have it cut the other night I said “okay!”  She loves it and when she looked in the mirror afterwards she said it was “just how she wanted it.”  She looks more grown up to me with it shorter.  She was happy when she woke up the next morning and it was still smooth.  **I broke the news to David over the phone that night.  He is in South Carolina for business!  He will love it, I know! 

Jenna is finally OUT of our room!  Hallelujah!  While in California we set up Jenna’s porta-crib in the 2nd bedroom and she (and I) slept great!  So after a week of that and 2 days home and sleeping terrible I decided I had had enough and she was out!  First step to me being able to wean her!  She was so happy the first night when I put her in with the “big girls!”  She was all smiles and she had no problem going to sleep.  She did good the first 2 nights.  Then Melanie brought her in a few nights to me in the middle of the night because she was crying.  I told Melanie that she was going to have to learn to sleep through the night and to let her cry.  Well Melanie didn’t get a great night sleep that night!  Hopefully Jenna catches on quick because I don’t think Melanie will be able to handle it much longer!  The room is becoming more crowded with the Christmas toys and now the porta-crib!

Melanie and Alyssa have been have a blast playing with their American Girl dolls! I am so glad I got one for Alyssa. Melanie treats her doll like they are best friends and Alyssa mother’s hers by rocking it! It is very cute! The first week of January I made the dolls sleeping bags and a tote bag to carry their dolls in so the dolls could go along on our vacation to California. (The sad part is Melanie had all the doll’s stuff packed and in a corner in her room ready to go. While helping me get other stuff ready to go she forgot to grab the dolls! She was heart broken!) The girls set up a blanket and brought down their “kitchen food” and had a picnic with their dolls. It was fun to see them pretend!

Thursday we went to LEGOLAND.  It was so great because the lines were short!  Some lines were about a 5-10 min. wait and others there was no wait at all!  It was so fun!  It was definitely geared towards the younger kids.  There were no teenagers at all.  It was great weather and we just loved everything about the park! This was a skit that we watched.  It was very funny and one of the kids’ favorite parts of LEGOLAND.  I had to catch a picture of Cameron laughing because he was CRACKING UP watching it! The park closed before we were ready to leave, 5 pm.  We still had smiles on our faces though! Friday we had to be checked out of our place by noon.  So we packed up a little and then went down and enjoyed the pool one last time!  This was our only time during the day of swimming.  We swam every night after dark before the kids’ bedtime.  It was so much fun!  I did not want to get out and neither did the kids!...

Last week we took our very first “family vacation” and we LOVED every minute of it! David’s parents gave us a timeshare to Oceanside California and it was the PERFECT week to go! Thank you SO MUCH!!! The kids are off for 3 weeks in January of school and this was really the best time to go. Not many tourists, kids back in school, winter…awesome!! We stayed the night in St. George Sunday night and hit the road to Cali Monday morning around 9:30. The kids traveled great as usual and it was a fun drive (since it was our first time). We arrived Monday night and got all settled in. Our room had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a hideaway bed, kitchen, dining and living area. We had a t.v in our room, which was a treat! Also there was a balcony with a BBQ that we used one night. We were on the 5th floor and had a beautiful view of the ocean. This time share was not right off the ocean. We drove down and parked when we went. So the next day ( Tuesday ) we did just that. We went and foun...