President Gordon B. Hinckley

I was very sad to hear the news that President Hinckley (President/Leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) passed away tonight at the age of 97. He has been the prophet for the last 15 years and so has been probably the most influential prophet in my life. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to be a member of this church during his term as prophet. He truly was a man called and guided by God.

He was an amazing man who was so good for the church at this time and did a lot to further the work of the gospel. He was so sweet, kind and loving and I always looked forward to hearing him speak. He lived a very full life and I am sure he is happy to be reunited once again with his dear wife. He has left his mark on the lives of millions of people around the world and will be missed.

Official Press Release

Carson & Rachelle's Wedding

Even though it is mid-January, I still have one more event from December I need to post about!

On December 29th, my brother Carson got married! We are so happy for him! Rachelle is a wonderful person and we are excited to have her in our family.

It's been a little weird to have two of my brothers married but it's kind of fun to not be the only ones now! Our immediate family seems so much bigger now!

Friday night before the wedding, we had a nice wedding dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We were missing quite a few of the extended family due to it being the week after Christmas but we still had a good time. The hand dipped white chocolate/caramel pretzels were soo yummy.

Saturday morning, we had omelets at my parents house then everyone dispersed to get ready for the ceremony. We took Addie down and because it was so cold outside, Cardin sat with her in the car and they watched a movie. It was right during nap time and Addie fell asleep in the car about 5 min. before we came to get her. Clay stayed with her until we were ready for all the pictures and she woke up just in time. We took pictures outside on the temple grounds but it was FREEZING and WINDY! Poor Rachelle was probably frozen in her short sleeves! After a few pictures, we headed home in hopes we could get Addie a quick nap, eat something and get ready for the reception.

The nap was a no-go so we finally packed up everything and headed to the reception down in Alpine. The setup was beautiful and the everything looked great! We took pictures and then waited till the reception started. Poor Addie was exhausted before it even began! It had been a long day! The reception was nice and lots of people came despite the weather. It was snowing a little here and there throughout the night.

After the cake cutting and bouqet throwing, we had to leave because Addie was exhuasted from the day! All in all, it was fun and we are so glad that Rachelle is "officially" part of the family now!

Below is a slideshow of some of the pics from the dinner, temple and reception. I'm still waiting on the main pics from my uncle so I'll probably add more at a later date.

Congratulations Carson & Rachelle! We love you!

Snowstorm!

We woke up to a big snowstorm this morning! I think this is the most we've received at one time so far this winter! We've probably got about 10-12 inches!

Addie enjoyed helping Dad shovel with her sand toy shovel!

We borrowed a sled to take Addie for a ride- it looked like fun but she didn't enjoy it! She just wanted to get off and pull it!

Children's Museum

On Wednesday we went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. I've been wanting to take Addie there for awhile because I used to love going there when I was younger. It's been moved to a new building and it's a little different but it was still great.

We spent most of our time in the Garden area and the Kid's Eye View areas. It has some really fun stuff in there! Here are some pictures of some of the things the kids can do in there!

They have a market where the kids can go shopping and ring up their groceries.

There is a farm where they can sit on a life sized plastic horse.

A service station with a car & gas pump along with a bunch of the Little Tikes ride on toys.

Water Play with tubes, balls and buckets, and more.

It was fun seeing them all explore and enjoy all the things there were. The area most of the kids seemed to love most was the Water Play in Kid's Eye View. Addie's shirt and pants were pretty wet by the time we left.

Out in the Garden Area they have a big beehive type structure and there are a bunch of balls going through tubes, down holes, etc. They all go back to this one main thing where the balls drop down into this pit. The balls are pretty far down and I kept telling Addie to go get them out of an easier place but she insisted on doing it the hard way! She's such a climber!

I thought this picture was funny. They have a tube that acts like a vacuum- when you lift up the flap, air comes blowing out. You then stick the ball in and it sucks it up into the tube. This is when someone else lifted the flap up and the air is blowing on Addie's face!

Lately Addie has an obsession with stuffed animals. She usually wants a particular stuffed animal with her most of the day. She talks to it like it's a real person and plays with it. She found a stuffed bunny and a stuffed dog at the museum and pretty much carried one of them around with her the whole time. Here she is with the dog.

It's a bit on the expensive side so it will be something special we do every once in awhile but it is a great place to visit! We got there at 10 and finally convinced the kids to leave at 12:45 because WE were tired!

Happy Birthday!

This month we celebrated Clay's 30th birthday! We had a fun day. Addie and I made him S'mores and took them into his work yesterday afternoon along with a couple of black "Over the Hill" balloons and a card from Addie.

He came home from work a little early and we decided to take Addie bowling. We had a great time! She loved it and she actually beat me. Very sad, but true. In my defense, she did have the bumpers up and a ramp to push it down! She liked trying to pick up the balls and carry them around. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to going again sometime.

After bowling, we headed back home and opened presents while dinner was cooking. Addie thought that the presents were for her and as she helped him open each one, she'd say, "I think it's going to be a baby!" Fortunately, Addie gave him Hungry, Hungry Hippos and it was a big hit with her! After presents, we enjoyed a nice, yummy dinner!

Hope you had a great birthday babe! Thank you for all you do for us! You are a wonderful husband and father. We love you so much!

Time Out

We've had to start using Time Outs a little more frequently lately. Most of the time it's for hitting us when she's mad or not obeying. It's been going really well- we just use a chair away from the main area and it's nice because we can do it anywhere since it's not a specific chair or mat. She stays on it but as soon as I walk away from her, she'll start telling me she's sorry and she loves me, yelling for me, etc. It's very hard to not crack a smile or laugh! When she is finished, she has to give us a hug & kiss and tell us she's sorry before she can get down. Lately she gives us a big hug and then starts into the "I Love You, You Love Me" song from Barney. I think she does it to try and get out of saying sorry (she's stubborn like her parents)! It's so cute it almost makes me forget about the thing she did to get put on there!

Today when I went in her room after her nap, she was playing with her stuffed animals in her bed. I walked in and Pooh was sitting against the side away from all the other animals. She immediately told me that Pooh hit Abby (from Sesame Street) and that he was in time out. I went to get the camera to take a picture and when I came back, Pooh had hit monkey! Bad Pooh Bear! At least I know she understands the concept!

And yes, she HAS to have all of those stuffed animals in her bed when she goes to sleep. If one is missing, I have to go find it before she can go to bed.

More Funny Things...

Here are more funny (and cute) things Addie has said and done in the past month or so...

Her favorite thing to say right now is, "it's kind of like". It is used in a coversation at least once a day. For example:

One night, we were driving home and there was a public bus (they look similar to our light rail/TRAX cars) in front of us. The conversation went something like this:
Addie: Look Mom, it's a train!
Me: No, it's a bus.
Addie: It's kind of like a train.
Me: Yes, it does look kind of like the train we rode on the other night but it's a bus.

Another night, we were at the gas station and Clay went inside to get something. While inside, another car pulled up and some guys were filling up.
Addie: Mom, is that Daddy's friend?
Me: No, it's just a guy getting gas in his car.
Addie: I think it's kind of like Daddy's friend.

The other day, my Grandma (knowing that she likes to frequently tell people she's 14 when asked her age), asked her if she was 14. Addie looked at her like she was silly and said, "No, I'm Addie!"

Whenever Addie is grumpy in the morning and I'm tired of hearing about it, I ask her if she needs to go back to bed. Of course, she always says no! The other morning, we needed her to take a bath and she was putting up a real fight. While Clay was getting the tub ready, I was holding her and she was crying. All of a sudden she looked up at me and said through her sobs, "I go back to bed". Of course, as soon as we headed back into her room, she didn't really want to go back to bed.

She loves to be flipped upside down, or bend over and look through her legs. According to Addie, it's "upside up" not upside down (even when she's been corrected multiple times)!

The other night, Addie was having a hard time falling asleep. I had been in multiple times to make sure she didn't have a poopy diaper or something else was wrong. Each time I'd gone in, I'd hold her but she just wanted to talk my ear off so I'd put her back. The last time I went in she was talking to me and the conversation was too cute for me not to record.
Addie: I'm not little.
Me: Oh, are you a big girl then?
Addie: No, mommy is big.
Me: Oh, are you a little girl then?
Addie: No, I'm not little, I'm Addie!

She has finally figured out how to sign "I Love You" in sign language. She is doing pretty good with it. I tried to get a picture of her doing it but of course, each time I tried to get a picture, she wouldn't do it very good. This is the best picture I could get!



We are starting to think a little more about potty training Addie and some recent events have helped keep us on that path. She showed some interest in it a few months back and so we have a little potty that we keep out upstairs. She likes to go sit on it and wipe herself but she's never actually gone in the potty.

The day after Christmas, I had some friends over for lunch and Addie disappeared. I found her in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet lid with her diaper and pants off! That was the first time she'd ever done that. Clay took her upstairs to sit on the potty but it went just as all other attempts go. Nothing.

The next day, as I was getting her ready, I opened up the Elmo panties she got in her stocking for Christmas. She thought they were great and after trying a couple of pairs on, she picked a pair to wear over her diaper.

A few days after that, she went upstairs to play with something in her room. All of a sudden, we realized it was very quiet up there and it didn't sound like she was in her room. I went up to check on her and I found her in my room with her pants off, trying on her Elmo panties.



Maybe it's time to try a little harder. She looks so cute with her little panties on!

That's all for now....