Snow Day

Marcus, Wether, and Holden in a rare moment of working together to build a snowman.

That didn't last long.  W.W. and Holden fighting over the carrot.  Marcus fussing.

Happy boy.

Holden usually plays in the snow twice as long as his brothers.
It's hard to get him to go out but then he won't come inside - typical 3 year old

Kaya Alamea Love

"Whale Hugger" December 3, 2010

My brother J.P. wrote on facebook the day Kaya arrived: "In awe of the cooing little bundle of joy that arrived this morning. The best thing in life thus far. Feeling more and deeper love than ever before. More on this later...for now, sleep :)"

Kaya was born on November 14th at home in Maui (in the bathtub to be exact).  She weighed 7 lbs. 4oz. and was 19 inches long (I think!)

Congrats J.P. and Gina - we can't wait to meet her!

New Daddy J.P. holding Kaya

Happy Thanksgiving!

Marcus ready for his kindergarten Thanksgiving feast.  He choose to be an indian (instead of a pilgrim) because he wanted to make a bow and arrow.  At first Marcus didn't want to wear his awesome vest but he eventually warmed up to the idea when I explained he must of killed a deer and a sheep to make it.

Don't worry Marcus, I hold the bow the same way.  The arrow is just a stick with the feathers taped to the end.

A few days earlier, Dallas came over and we made indian headbands.

Warriors

After school Marcus decided his arrow needed a sharp tip, hence the exacto knife taped to the end.  When I showed Kjell, he said "that's my boy!"  Apparently Kjell used to take knives apart in order to make arrows.  Notice that Marcus has lost another bottom tooth.

Another huge blessing to be thankful for - Jordyn!  Jordyn's a nursing student living in our guest suite in exchange for babysitting and cleaning.  The boys love her and I'm beginning to wonder what I did without her.   Marcus told Dallas that Jordyn has lots of sleepovers at his house. 

Holden loves clementines (he calls them lemon vines).  You can see our table set for Thanksgiving in the background.

Pam and I discussed how we would definitely take pictures this year. Whoops…I guess I’ll have to type at least a thousand words.  We enjoyed a delicious feast with Pam, Heather and Shane Frazier and their 4 children, and Joshua.  Kjell and I hosted and provided the turkey, stuffing, gravy, a chocolate pie, and sparkling apple cider.  Heather and Shane brought mashed potatoes, peas, and a cherry pie.  Pam brought enough rolls to feed an army (and they’ll all get eaten because they were excellent), wild rice, jello salad, and apple, banana, pumpkin, and razzleberry pies.  Joshua brought yams.  After dinner, we played a quick game of trivial pursuit while the kids played in the basement, ate ridiculous amounts of pie, and then called it a night.  We all counted our blessings around the Thanksgiving table, one of which was obvious – a feast celebrated with friends and family.  Unfortunately Kjell’s brother Shawn couldn’t make it but Kjell, Joshua, and Marcus brought Thanksgiving to him with a huge basket of food.  Tomorrow we’ll begin decorating for Christmas and perhaps watch Santa arrive at the mall via helicopter.  Happy Holidays!

Get out of my drawers!

Little imp is supposed to be in bed.

I knew it was too quiet in the kitchen.  Wether loves to color.

Hope my drawers can withstand the weight!

Relief Society

Recently I was called (asked) to be the president of the Relief Society in our ward (congregation).  I eagerly accepted and have been extremely busy ever since, hence the lapse in blog posts.

Relief Society is one of the oldest and largest women's organizations in the world, with over 6 million members in more than 170 countries and territories.  I've personally attended RS in Jerusalem, Paris, Scotland, Tonga, and several states. 

“Charity Never Faileth” stems from the first Relief Society meeting in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. The sisters were asked by the Prophet Joseph Smith to assist the brethren “in looking to the wants of the poor—searching after objects of charity, and in administering to their wants.” The sisters took this call to heart and became a society devoted to seeking out the poor and needy.

Today, sisters in Relief Society strive to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help those in need.  In our ward, we meet every Sunday during church for an uplifting lesson as well as once a month for more instruction and activities.

We also visit teach - each member of the Relief Society is paired with another member; this couple is then assigned by the Relief Society Presidency to be the visiting teachers of one or more other members of the Relief Society.  Visiting teachers strive to make a monthly contact with the women assigned to them; ideally, this contact is a personal visit in the member's home. Visiting teachers are encouraged to look for opportunities to serve the individuals that they "visit teach".  Over the years, my visiting teachers have taught and listened, watched my children, brought me meals, and given me rides among many other acts of service

I feel it a wonderful privilege to preside over our ward Relief Society.  As I fulfill my calling, I'll continue to learn from the women in the ward.  Although we range in age from 18-92, come from every walk of life and family situation, there is great wisdom to be found as we teach and serve each other.

(sources: http://www.lds.org/, wikipedia)

Halloween

It was a rainy Halloween here in Utah.  We began the festivities with a potluck party at our neighbor's house.  Good friends, yummy food, lots of rain.

Holden really wanted to be a bee again this year even though we borrowed a Buzz Lightyear custom that he wouldn't even try on.  Holden does not like change!  At pre-school and the ward trunk-or-treat he wore his skeleton pajamas.  Poor Holden didn't eat a thing and started to nod off at the party around 6pm.  Kjell brought him home and put him to sleep (he woke up later that night with a fever).

Wether managed to find his way outside several times during the rainy evening and made a bee-line straight for the mud puddle.  After 3 different outfits and/or shoe changes, this got rather old!  He loved the party but got a warm bath instead of trick-or-treating in the rain.

Marcus wanted to be Bumblebee, which was a cheap and easy costume to find.  I was in charge of his kindergarten Halloween party where we played Halloween bingo, pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern, musical chairs, donuts on a string, did an obstacle course, and made vampires and/or ghosts out of lollipops.  At the end we played freeze dance to Thriller and Monster Mash.  Kjell took Marcus trick-or-treating with Mason White and Bailey Shauers during a break in the rain.

My sweet mouse.  Yes, he has a blackeye.  That's two in our household within a month.  Once again, I'm not even sure how he got it except that there was a crash in the basement and I found him at the bottom of the stairs.

Holden not feeling well

Marcus (Bumblebee) and Dallas (Megatron)

Angel and Wether enjoying pizza

We have pavers.  We have grass.  We have mud.

I checked in on Marcus to find him sleeping with his mask on.

This was a last minute costume that Kjell and I came up with for his work party.  Any guesses?  Most people were correct in assuming he was Brett Michaels. 

Visitors from Oregon

Kjell's mom and dad (Ruby and Larry) and youngest brother (Tryg-18) paid us a visit for a few days in October.  Ruby has made it out to Utah on several occasions but this is the first time Larry and Tryg have visited us in our new house.  The boys loved having family around and all the extra attention they received (especially since I was less then attentive the week before as I was getting everything in order).

Besides a lot of chatting and catching up, Ruby and I went to garage sales on Saturday morning, Tryg and Larry helped Kjell lay sod, Joshua and Shawn joined us to watch the football game and for several meals, and everyone came to our ward on Sunday, which happened to be the primary program (great job Marcus!)  Larry, Ruby, and Tryg also visited Grandma Nordmark in Mt. Pleasant and spent some time on BYU campus.

We played a couple of board games on Sunday night, but the real source of entertainment was "Baby Pool."  Here's how Ruby descibes it:

"One of Wether’s favorite past-times is to sit up on the pool table and push the balls into
the holes and then take them out again.......I’m sure there’s another name for those holes, but I
have no clue what it is. Anyway, Kjell invented a new game which he calls “Baby Pool”. In it
you play pool the regular way, except that Wether sits atop the pool table and does what he
wishes with the balls. The game takes quite a bit longer as Wether takes the balls out of the holes
at will, but it was sooooooooo fun/funny to watch. It almost becomes a game of chance. Joshua
is looking forward to bringing a date for an evening of “Baby Pool”."
 
Another highlight of the trip was a visit from Rick McCord and family after the BYU football game on Saturday.  Larry and Rick hadn't seen each other since 1972 so it was certainly a special day. We spent about 3 hours catching up. Later that evening Larry and Ruby treated us to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama - thank you!

Wether with Uncle Tryg.  Wether followed Tryg around like a puppy.

Holden and Marcus LOVE wrestling with their uncles.  They affectionately call Joshua "Uncle Joshy".

Holden, Tryg, & Wether

Holden getting started on his favorite puzzle "The America Puzzle"

Kjell quadrupled his recipe of Swedish pancakes for a nice Sunday brunch with his family.  Here are his little helpers.

Tryg found someone sleeping in his bed when he returned one night....

Larry, Kjell, and Joshua playing "Baby Pool"

The star of "Baby Pool"

Joshua, Shawn, Wether, Tryg, Ruby, Larry, Kjell eating lunch and watching the BYU football game.

Penny, Madison, Olivia (didn't realized how big I was until I saw this picture), and Ruby

Joshua, Tryg, Kjell, Larry, Shawn, & Rick McCord

Holden showing off his knowledge of the location and the names of almost all the US states to an attentive Grandma.

Larry shared his bagel with Holden one morning.

Sod Saturday

After weeks of installing sprinklers and leveling topsoil, our sod was delivered yesterday and installed today.  With the the help of Grandpa Larry, Uncle Tryg, and our kind neighbors Brian Nixon and Shane Frazier, the sod was laid remarkably quickly.  Within minutes of finishing, the rain came pouring down.  What a transformation! 

Our dirt yard.

Kjell laying sod.

Grandpa Larry fitting in a piece.

Holden watching Uncle Tryg work.

Grass!