Dinosaur Bone

Darwin has finally met his match. This is the largest rawhide bone I have ever seen, much less given to a dog. One of the sisters that I visit teach was given this bone for her dog at Christmas, who tops maybe 35 pounds. The dog was immediately frightened of the large treat and has never touched it. Since that time, it has been kicked around the house and wound up behind the couch. Shayna decided that Darwin would benefit from the challenge, so I brought it home. The first night he spend quite a lot of time looking at the thing. Since then, we are entertained nightly as he tries to drag it around the living room. He has yet found a good strategy to start eating his bone, but he spends time licking it and trying to start a good chew point. I think it's taller than Morgan, who grunts and tries to lift it....she can't get more than one end off the ground.

It gives him something to do at night, and us another excuse to laugh.

Really?!

We have a 1-year-old! Who would have thought?? I found a photo of me one year ago at Valentine's Day....and I was much more comfortable this year than last!

My mom, step-dad Mark, and grandparents flew in from Albuquerque to help us celebrate - and it was a blast! Mom brought her cake decorating kit with her so we made Morgan's cake. I wanted something that was simple and that had a built-in piece especially for Morgan.....and came up with a hot air balloon!
We had the party at Steve and Nancy's house and were joined by Chadwick's two grandmothers. We missed James and his family due to illness. We'll snag them next year! We kept things simple; pizza, salad, and breadsticks for dinner, cake, and presents. Chadwick bought a little flower pinata that had strings you pulled to release the candy. Morgan didn't really get it but we saved the thing for next year....


And here are some photos of the singing, cake eating, with a stroller she got from Mom and Mark, and with her great-grandparents.
Four days after the family left, I said goodbye to Morgan and Chadwick and boarded a plane bound for Santiago, Chile to attend a friend's wedding and play tourist for a week. Those pictures will come later. It was a great time and I sure miss the warmer weather!

Our New "Space"

When we bought our little house last February, the washer and dryer lived in the kitchen (pictured left). In April when we did the major makeover prior to moving in, my father and father-in-law were kind enough to move the units out into the garage, leaving us a lovely "hole" in the kitchen (pictured right).

Now, almost a year later, we have counter space and shelves!!Chadwick has been working and worrying on this project for quite a while and I love the results! The brown door on the bottom shelf gives access to the dryer pipe and there is a trap door on the same shelf so we can get to the rest of the dryer vent. Clever! For my part of the project: purchase contact paper and cover the flat surfaces to finish it up!

The downside to this masterpiece - it can't be used to its fullest potential until Morgan is no longer interested in carting off the contents of the shelves. It may be a while until we put something there....


Morgan is as busy as ever. I had a painful reminder this afternoon that she has teeth when she bit my finger I stuck in her mouth! Note to self: don't let the child grab a finger with her open mouth. And she's wanting to try feeding herself with her spoon. In this picture, she's trying to put a piece of bread on the tip of the spoon so it can be shoved into her mouth. She isn't very accurate, but it's fun to watch her try!

We're counting down until she's one....who would have thought?!

Fun in the Snow

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to the Hunt cabin north of Boise - Chadwick and two friends, Andy and Sara Marie, went up Friday night to get the fire going and I went up Saturday morning with Morgan. We were supposed to be accompanied by other friends, who had to cancel last moment. Rather than be cold at the cabin overnight, I opted to stay in Boise and watch a girlie movie with my cat and drink hot cocoa. =) The day started, for me, super foggy in Boise but cleared out as I neared the cabin. After lunch, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day! We went cross country skiing and placed Morgan in a backpack she got from my parents for Christmas. And Darwin had a blast running all over the place. I can't imagine how many miles that dog put on during those several hours outside.

We also went tubing down the hill behind the cabin. It was a riot to watch Chadwick try and come down the hill with Darwin biting his jacket, nipping at his heels, and generally getting run over in the process. He loves that man!! One of Chadwick's co-workers was nice enough to let us borrow a kiddie sled for Morgan - she didn't mind the cold but was feeling like a marshmellow in her outfit, so she didn't move much.

Andy and Chadwick build a rather impressive igloo in the down time. Unfortunately, they ran out of daylight before it was completely done. I guess they were having architectural issues as the roof kept collapsing. The problem: the individual blocks were too thin. They were conducting an experiment to see if thinner blocks would work better (lighter), but turns out the thick ones were best. Good to know if we need to build a functioning igloo in the future!

In other activities, I made my first from-scratch bread last week. The recipe is from a baby book and the bread has apple juice, cottage cheese, regular cheese, and raisins to boost nutritional value so she's eating more than just carbs. The two of us enjoy it, but Chadwick isn't super impressed. I was just glad it turned out edible!

She's Walking!

Chadwick and I had a bet that Morgan would be walking by Christmas...she missed that date by a few weeks but took her first steps on Wednesday!! She was pulling clothes out of her dresser drawers (which is her new favorite game) and decided to walk to the changing table. Off she went! She continues to walk longer and more places, though she still likes to grab my finger and lead me where she wants to go. Yesterday morning, when we were in the living room, she grabbed my finger and started marching to the bathroom where her daddy was getting ready for work. She was all excited she had found him, and his face lit up when she pushed through the door. Super cute!

The video is from this morning, day "three," of walking. She's getting the hang of it quickly! I'd better invest in a new pair of running shoes....she's gonna keep me busy!



Last night two friends and I attended and signed up for a 10 week parenting class, held at the Meridian Seminary Building. The woman who is teaching has been doing this class for 20 years, had 9 children of her own and adopted one. Her manual is the current and previous church magazine, the Ensign. And she's great! She assigns "homework" each week which is basically a challenge to apply one of the principles learned in class to our life at home. The take home messages for me last night: 1-Each of us needs to create an environment at home where teaching moments and learning can occur. 2-We need to parent more like a coach, not a referee. 3-Of the 9 tools mentioned in class on how to create a learning environment, I have chosen to work on building a positive foundation (being happy, phrase requests in the positive rather than negative, be excited when Chadwick comes home from work or when I pick Morgan up from Nancy's). The tools the class offers will not only help me as a parent, but as a wife and friend to my hubby as well, which is great!! I'll pass on tidbits as I get them each week....

Twenty-Eleven

Happy New Year!This really is the most wonderful time of the year, and I am always sad to see it go. We had the opportunity to spend Morgan's first Christmas with my family in Albuquerque and we had a ball! Two of my three brothers were able to make it to town as well and we enjoyed the time spent with them. It took about 2 days for Morgan to warm up to my family - with the exception of my brother, David, who required at least 3 days before she would smile at him unprompted. Morgan is amazing; she traveled well, slept well (for the most part), laughed and played, and is sooooo close to walking! By the end of the week, she had Grandma Cindy trained to walk her around the house as she didn't want to crawl anymore.

Christmas itself was quite spread out - dinner with Chadwick's family Monday before the day, Christmas Eve with my Mom and Mark, Christmas day with Dad and Marilyn, and our traditional smorgasbord and present opening with Mom, Mark, Nana, and Bop after David and Amanda arrived into town Monday after Christmas. Whew!

One of Morgan's favorite past-times was to "help" with the dishes. Mom was with her and walked out of the room for 30 seconds to return and find the little monkey in the dishwasher! Chewing on a spoon, just like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Morgan finally received her first Coug item. And yes, it fits me!



One of our Swedish family traditions is to eat lutfisk (fish) on Christmas Eve. Pickled or creamy, take your pick. Not a family favorite overall, though each of us kids took a turn at having one bite. Except David. Mind you, this was not one bite each Christmas, but one bite ever. The year David was to have his bite, he cried like a little girl and got out of it. So he's never had lutfisk. This year, his wife said she would eat some with him...mostly because I keep giving him such a hard time about being a baby about the whole thing. And she wanted to see him do it. Unfortunately, she didn't like the little fish any better than the rest of us and barely choked it down. I think I owe her one....thanks, Amanda!

One day I'll have to sit down and make some resolutions. It's on my to-do list.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Christmas! The lights, decorations, the tree (even though ours is small, fake, and has minimal ornaments), the occasional snow, cookies, music, and how people are generally nicer and more thoughtful toward one another. Provided it doesn't interfere with obtaining the last toy on the shelf marked 50% off.....

Last night the young adults of our ward (known as the Young Men and Young Women) put together a Christmas workshop for the primary children (ages 3-12) - it was organized chaos but the children loved it! They made cookies, an ornament, visited with Santa, and participated in a live nativity where they dressed up and acted out part of the Christmas story. They were pretty wound up by the time the workshop ended! It was neat to see the young people work together and with the little ones.

Since the last post, we've had lots of snow, lots of rain, another trip to Colorado, and madness preparing for Christmas. The countdown continues until we head to my parent's house for Christmas! (1 week) Here are a few pictures to catch you up:

Our first snow - like 6 inches! I had no boots that fit, so she is wearing Albertsons bags on her feet. She wasn't too sure what to think of the wet, white stuff.











Who doesn't love a naked baby in the tub?





While in Fort Collins a second time - Steve and I attended a seminar on the use of low level laser therapy - we visited the Embassy Suites for a view of their Christmas trees. The community gets together and donates a decorated tree which is displayed all season. They even had a life sized gingerbread house! Complete with dog house for Max. The specs are listed below.


The detail was impressive!






We hope the holidays are bringing each of you joy!