A New Addition

Sorry. I couldn't resist that title. I just wanted everyone to meet Grayson, (named by Sabrina) our new Zhu Zhu pet hamster. Who knew that this electronic rodent could bring so much joy and happiness to my children? I can tell you who knew...the Blackhursts. This was Sabrina's Christmas present from Kate. Grayson lets you pet him, cuddle him, drop him, and step on him. He doesn't bite, shed, eat (although the girls have tried), stink, leave messes, use your carpet as a bathroom, or need to be bathed. He talks to you and can even sleep for any amount of time you'd like. If we want to go out of town, no one has to care for Grayson (a hassle I remember from my childhood). In short, he's the perfect pet.


Here are Lucy and Sabrina sitting under the table waiting for Grayson to come to them.


And here are my two saggy bottoms lovingly watching Grayson together. There is just something about cute girls and their fake hamster that gets you right there, doesn't it?


Note: I really don't hate pets altogether. Emmy (the cat) and I had some really special moments in the past. It's just that there are two types of people in the world; those who love animals and those who tolerate animals. I happen to be the latter. I didn't choose this; I was born this way. No offense to those of you on the other team.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Well, here we are. There seems to be so much to post about that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of time I could spend doing this. So of course, I'm just going to highlight some things.

Christmas Program: Sabrina had a Christmas Program at preschool the week before Christmas. She was involved in all the singing until she spotted me in the audience. She spent the rest of the program half-way singing and pointing Paul and me and Lucy out to her friend, Jane. Classic.

Christmas: We had a great Christmas. Sabrina is the ideal child when it comes to gifts. She has a natural talent for enthusiasm that makes Christmas awesome for her parents. We got some great video footage of this, but in true form, I forgot to get out the still camera. Lucy toddled around it all, wondering what was going on. She'll discover that Christmas rocks next year. Christmas Eve was spent at the Ellison Family Christmas Party where the "Ugly Christmas Attire" contest was a lot funnier than I had imagined. We spent Christmas day with the Sampsons which was fun too. Sabrina got a late Christmas present in the form of a 102 degree fever that evening. After a few days of laying on the couch, she has made a full recovery.

The Break: Paul was home for a solid two weeks (well, except a few days where he had a project to work on) and we enjoyed having him around. We watched a movie almost every night, stayed up late (even for us), and slept in. I think I spent about 4 days in sweats after Christmas. We read, layed around, let the house go to the birds, and let the girls watch way too many shows. Paul did take Sabrina sledding one day, which he said was really fun. It was a nice break from reality, but it also feels good to be back on track.

Resolutions: We didn't make any. I've never kept a resolution for an entire year, so we decided not to worry ourselves with this. (Has anyone ever kept a resolution for an entire year?)

New Year's Eve: Sabrina slept over at Grandma Sampson's house and we went to the Ritchie's for dinner and games. It was a great time. The next day we went bowling with the Sampsons and had the Blackhursts over later that night for dessert and chatting.

Surprise Un-Shower: My sister Natalie is due in a few weeks with her 5th child. We wanted to do something for her so Shelley and I invited some of her closest friends and family out to eat to celebrate. I can't believe we pulled it off, and it turned out to be the perfect surprise. I am super excited for Baby Sadie to get here; since Natalie only produces beautiful newborns, I am sure she'll be gorgeous.

January: I want to know how others are overcoming January. This is the worst time of year, in my opinion, so if you've got something that gets you through let me know.

Really liked this; thought I'd share

"There have been times, often at Christmas, when we have felt parts (forgiveness, charity, and light) of what we will experience when we at last come home to the Father who loves us and answers our prayers and to the Savior who has lighted our lives and lifted us up. I testify that because of Him you may have an assurance that you can go home not only at Christmastime but also to live forever with a family whom you love and who love each other."

-President Henry B. Eyring (Ensign-December 2009)

Monthly Update

I want our 2009 book to be complete, so every now and again, I need to do a general re-cap of our latest happenings.

1. Lucy has gone vertical. Our little one seems too little to walk. At least that's what people keep telling me as she toddles around everywhere. She is pretty fearless so far too; she heads right for stairs any chance she gets. I have tried to teach her to turn around to go down them, but she refuses. She wants to walk down them like every one else. I both admire and fear her courage. She loves her "da", saying what we say, Curious George, Elmo, tickling, dancing, the toilet (gross), and following Sabrina and me around all day long.

2. Sabrina had a field trip to the Lehi Hutchings Museum. I think we've seen more interesting artifacts at my parent's house, but the kids seemed to have a decent time. There was a tribute to Porter Rockwell there; I took a minute to tell Sabrina that this was her 5th great grandpa, to which her teacher piped in with, "Oh, well that explains where Sabrina gets it from." Thanks, Miss Megan. (I'm pretty sure she was kidding... pretty sure.) As for Sabrina this month, she digs drawing, dress ups, cooking with mom, Angelina Ballerina, reading stories, and still playing with kids.

3. Paul and I got to go with the Petersons (Dave and Amy) to the Jazz game and had a swimming time despite the loss to Oklahoma City. There was one intense moment in the game when out of frustration I accidentally hit the guy in front of us. (Amy I don't think I shared this with you.) My bad. Thanks Dave and Amy!! It was great to have an evening out.

4. Thanksgiving was great and solidified itself as my favorite holiday. We went to Shelley's this year, and we had a fantastic day.

5.I did Black Friday this year with Natalie. We laughed our heads off all morning long watching the spectacle that is this day. It's ridiculous.

7. The Blackhursts were doing a good deed by hanging out with me while Paul studied, and Baby Kate (who's not a baby any more) broke her foot while she and Sabrina jumped on the bed. Nice. Aish, will you ever forgive me?

6. I'll end this post with the Sabrina conversation of the week:
(Scene: At Costco pushing both girls in the cart)
Sabrina: Mom, this cart is like our carriage.
Me: Oh really. Are you a princess.
Sabrina: No, I'm Sabrina. Lucy is the princess.
Me: So you're just riding with her.
Sabrina: Uh huh.
Me: And I'm the driver.
Sabrina: No mom, you're the horse.

Glad to know where I stand. Happy Holidays!

My First Half

I finished my first half-marathon in St. George with a time of 1:49. That's faster than I had planned; so I was pleased. Justina and Jessica came to St. George and did the race with me, and Shelley and Emily Smith came down and did the 5K. As you can see from the picture some people look like they are ready to have their picture taken for the cover of Elle Magazine after they run 13.1 miles. Others...are NOT so lucky. I would have felt like I was in the shape of my life after completing such a feat if I hadn't spent the rest of the weekend eating...and eating...and eating some more. A huge thanks to my mom, Carolyn, and Paul for watching my offspring so I could relax and refuel. I had a great weekend!

P.S. Justina, I stole your pics!! I'll be sure to take some next time!

30 for 30

Paul's favorite sports writer, Bill Simmons, had a brilliant idea for ESPN's 30th Anniversary. He thought it would be cool to get 30 acclaimed film makers and give them free reign to do a documentary about any sports story they wanted. They are going to play one every week for 30 weeks. They are on every Tuesday night on ESPN or ESPN2. If you are not watching these, you should be. I think we're on week 5 now, and while I am not a fan at all of some of the sports they are talking about, the human interest stories have gotten me, not to mention the different styles of the documentarians (pretty sure I just made up that word). We watched the story of Len Bias last night, and I'll admit, I was bawling. I was even riveted by the Ali v. Holmes fight, and that's saying something because I hate boxing in general.

There is no excuse for what you are looking at

Thanks to the Selims, Paul and I broke a streak of 5 years of not dressing up for Halloween. We could have gone as Romeo and Juliet, George and Martha, even Spencer and Heidi, but no. This is what we ended up as. I don't think this look would have been possible without the help of our sponsors, the Radmalls and WalMart. I'm guessing that when Mel Radmall wore this racing suit in the 70s, he broke more than a few hearts, and yes, I have never been as body conscious in my life as I was in those pants.