February

February was nice and full. Grandma and Grandpa Rudd came to visit us, and so did my sister, Janelle, and her family. These beach/park pictures are from a day the three kids spent with Grandpa Rudd watching the sea lions and playing at La Jolla. It was a little shocking to me that my dad can just hop in the car with three kids and few granola bars to be gone for the whole day. I am so used to packing and preparing for every contingency: jackets in case it's cold, swimsuits in case it's hot, sand buckets, hats, chairs, etc. They had a great day.

It was nice to have a sister in little kid mode, too, to pass the time with.

Todd and I spent a wonderful 3 days in Los Angeles. We stayed in Beverly Hills and went to Knotts', the Getty Center, a Jazz/Clippers game. It was so fun to have fun, without keeping track of anyone. The folks at home held FHE without us.

Parker's 6th birthday!

He wanted those (I think) icky pink-frosted "Lofthouse" sugar cookies instead of birthday cake. But he agreed to also have cupcakes so the rest of us could choose which we preferred.

With his birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa Everett, Parker wanted to go to Build-A-Bear. He walked in, knew exactly what he wanted, and was back out in around five minutes. I admire decisivesness like that. He named his bear, Sporty, and dressed him in karate clothes because he was taking karate at the time.

My favorite bikers.

Why is it so entertaining to watch two babies together?

Graham and Daisy

Christmas

Here is the best photo to help us remember Christmas 2009. Emma followed my family's tradition of sleeping by the Christmas tree on the night before Christmas Eve. Except she got hit with the flu in the middle of the night, which is why the slipcover is off of the couch; it was being cleaned. So, the flu bug got in the way of our planned Christmas Eve party. The two families we had invited were left in the lurch, but were gracious about it. Our Christmas Eve was very quiet. These pictures are in backwards order.

Graham's first Christmas, but not his first "re-gift". What is the point of buying MOre baby toys? In fact, this toy was even a hand-me-down when Emma received it. I'm guessing it was purchased in 1993.

Gerber Puffs: the perfect stocking stuffer.

All Truman asked for was candy. And I was surprised by the pink bike!

Parker's Polar Express

Parker's kindergarten class as engineers.

Walking out with 100 kindergarteners to perform for the the kids at the flag ceremony.

Truman's Christmas Program

Truman's preschool program was funny. We had expected him to be our most "stagey" child, but he was really shy (as you can tell from the shoulder shrug pose.) During the songs he would try to discreetly scoot behind the other kids, a little side step at a time.

A day or two before this program, Truman burned the back of his hand really badly when he pulled the iron off the ironing board. We had to take him to the burn clinic in San Diego. I hate injuries. He still has a good-sized scar, but is otherwise fine.

His class this year is all boys - 2 of them are missing in these photos. His teacher's afternoon 3 yr. old class is all boys, and his Sunbeam class is 10 boys, no girls.

Newport Beach

Crystal Cove State Beach, December '09 I loved these colors! Which one would look good on our family room walls?

One of the perks of coming to the beach on a cold and drizzly day in mid-December: a lot more seashells to find.

I gather by his face that Todd suspects me of taking a few too many photos.

I really was freezing. Todd graciously said that I looked like a nun? after my first picture, so for this shot I took off the hood I had cinched around my face. It's actually reminding me of most of my mission pictures taken between Nov. and March; scarf, pink nose, same coat, same damp cold, same forced exposure to the elements.

And this just reminded me of a funny story: A few weeks ago at dinner, Todd mentioned the MTC and then explained to Parker that the letters stand for Missionary Training Center. After a pause, a big, "OOOhhhhhh!" from Emma. "All this time I thought it was the empty sea!" And she started laughing. "I thought you were just out in the middle of the ocean, paddling this tiny boat all by yourself!"

It was pretty funny. And could this possibly be a reason why whenever I've asked if she wants to go on a mission, I get a very quick "no"?

We spent a long weekend in Newport Beach in December staying at a Marriot timeshare we had first booked around 18 months ago! We had various postponements, but finally had to use it or lose it. Except for the almost non-stop rain, we had a great weekend. In addition to the beach, we went to the Irvine Spectrum where Emma got to try ice-skating for the first time. The boys and I watched, and below is a picture of Truman giving fives to the skaters as they came around. At first he would duck down so that only his arm showed when anyone skated by except for Emma and Todd. He gradually got to the point where he would show his face as strangers gave him five.

Cute father/daughter moments. Todd wore out before Emma did. The other kids and I killed time by eating funnel cakes and looking at puppies in the pet store. They were so adorable that I actually got to the point where I was 25-30% in favor of getting a dog.

I also lost Truman and was completely stressed out for five minutes. That has got to be one of the top ten worst feelings as a parent when you've been looking for a few minutes and you really have no idea where your child could be. Anyway, sorry to taint the good times. We eventually found him! Yay!

No triple Salchows yet, (and yes, I just checked the spelling on that) but she had fun. Can't wait for the Olympics!

This year was our first with two Christmas trees. Some girls in our neighborhood were fundraising by selling trees, so we got a tiny, real tree that the kids were in charge of decorating, and set up our pre-lit beauty in the living room. It was so nice to have the smell, the colored lights, and the keepsake ornaments on display. Graham's first Christmas!

(I still want to paint the family room, so I'll take any suggestions out there. The living room is Benjamin Moore Philadelphia Cream, but I'm leaning towards something cooler here. Thoughts? The sectional is kind of a moss brown.)

Emma's Webkinz get taken for a ride. They are like family since we know them all by name and celebrate their birthdays, as well. Emma's two best friends are also Webkinz fans. They have a club where they communicate by mail (the stamps are disappearing) mostly about what they have made or will make for their pets to wear, or when the club will meet again. The penguin shown here was a visiting friend.

Thanksgiving 2009 in St. George: Perry (a second cousin), Truman, and Tyler at the little, little kids table.

Emma, Makayla (Perry's sister), and Parker at the young-ish kids foosball table, and Todd and I rounded out the mid-adolescent to teenager table, while everyone else was grown up.

Parker got a place on "The Pyramid of Success" at school for "Hard Work." When I can find the paper in my oh-so-organized filing system, I'll share what his teacher wrote about him.