Weird Winter

Here it is, the middle of January, and we have no snow and temperatures in the mid to high 40s! It's sunny and the inversion has been minimal. I am not complaining, just saying that it's strange for Utah. It seems like spring should be right around the corner, and I have to remind myself that we still have a few months of winter left!

I planned to put Layla back in soccer or swim this month, but we haven't done it yet. Seems like we've kept busy enough with day to day things, playdates, etc. We went swimming as a family recently and had a lot of fun. Layla also went roller skating for her first time ever at Classic Skating with her friend from preschool, Amelia. She was SO excited for several days beforehand and is still talking about it a week later!

A couple other things about Layla lately: I had her do a reading test I found online that is supposedly accurate. According to that test, she is reading at grade level 3.5! I was guessing a second grade level, but she was practically reading at a fourth grade level! She amazes me and I love her enthusiasm for learning, particularly for reading. We stopped by her elementary school today to ask a few questions about kindergarten. What I've learned is that she can either do Chinese immersion at the elementary school by our house, or she can do an accelerated program starting in first grade at an elementary school in east Layton, about 15 minutes from here. So, basically after Kindergarten, we have to choose between Chinese and an accelerated program. At this point, I'm pretty sure we'll stick with Chinese since that's half the reason we built in this neighborhood and it would be silly for her to switch schools. They did say if she's really, really bored in Kindergarten they can test and see about bumping her up to first grade, but they rarely do that. If we did do that, she wouldn't get to be in the Chinese program, just a regular first grade class. I really want her to do the Chinese, so we'll just hope that it keeps her challenged enough! I love my smarty pants little girl. She is funny, she's either sugary, super sweet or a dramatic, manipulative 14 year old girl. Apparently she has a "boyfriend" at preschool. His name is Logan. I'm so nervous for when she actually is a teenager! She'll probably be her sweet little self, but the drama makes me nervous!

Combing Layla's hair.

And then there's Marcus. Oh that little boy. He has stolen my whole heart with that cute little face of his! He sure misses his sister when she's not here. He calls her "Aye-ya!" and is always yelling her name. I have the hardest time disciplining him because when he does something that he knows is naughty, he tilts his head and gives me the cutest little grin and giggles. How do you get mad at that? Also, I guess it's a boy thing, but he thinks it's hilarious when he farts and he will even walk to the middle of the room, look at everyone, fart and then laugh his head off. What the?!? Of course it makes us all laugh, which only encourages him. The other day he poured his bowl of cereal on top of his head (on purpose, to make us laugh), so I put him in the bath. While in the tub he said, "Poo poo," and I thought I had misheard him, so I asked, "Did you just say, 'poo poo?' " but I just got a blank stare (he had never used the word to tell me he had to go before, so this would have been a first, hence my hesitation). Then I asked, "Do you need to go poo poo?" and he shook his head no. I continued doing my makeup and less than 30 seconds later he pooped in the tub! Curse! Why didn't I listen?!? So nasty. After switching him to the other bathtub and bathing him, I let him play while I cleaned up the poo bathtub. While I was doing so, Marcus pulled his entire Diaper Genie bag (full of diapers, by the way) out of his room and down the hall. So, that was quite the morning and all within 45 minutes of him waking up. To top it all off, he didn't nap that day. Way too hyper. At least he was in a good mood! He is such a goofball and has the funniest little personality.

He is also a smart kid, though he doesn't seem to have the interest in learning that Layla had at his age. He would much rather run around and be crazy. He knows a few letters by sight and sound: A, E, I, O, Y, and D. He seemed to gravitate to the vowels for whatever reason. He just started saying, "Okay," but his version is "Ah-tay!" and he always says it with so much enthusiasm. He is liking nursery more at church and seems to have a fun time. He is growing a lot and just got two more molars. I can see his i teeth making their way down too. It will be a happy day when he's done teething!

What else? Mitch finally got his last class figured out for school! He had signed up for one and it was cancelled the first week of the semester! So he had to get 5 signatures in order to switch to a different class, which was a pain. But this is his last class for his Ph.D.! Yay! Then he'll write his dissertation and be done with school ... forever! I'm so proud of him, but so excited for him to be done and have more free time. His work is going well; they just won a new contract and things are looking good.

I am still serving in Young Women's at church and am enjoying more each week. The girls are so sweet and such good girls. Last month I kept thinking how it was 10 years ago that I entered the Missionary Training Center and started my 18 month mission for the church! 10 years! That sounds like such a long time, but it feels like yesterday. I can remember it so clearly and I have so many fond memories of that time in my life. I met so many people that I love and can't wait to see again someday, either in this life or the next. I learned many things and I am forever grateful that I was able to have that life-changing experience. Parts of it were so hard, and sucked, to be honest, but there were also happy times, miracles, and love. It is amazing to see how the gospel literally changes people's lives. I love witnessing that change and I can see it in my own life too. I am so grateful!

But I digress. I haven't been up to too much besides wifely and motherly and churchly (made-up word) duties. I told Mitch that the kids must be getting older, because I have more free-time than I've had in years and find myself getting (gasp!) bored. I need a job or something. I'm sure things will get busier once Layla starts school and I volunteer and help her with homework. Also, my photography business will pick up again when it gets warmer. In the mean time I should read some grammar books and brush up on my editing skills so I can do some editing from home while the kids are in school!

Life is so, so good. We are beyond blessed in so many ways. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for blessing my little family each day!

Christmas 2014

(Note to self: Next year, I need to get my camera out for Christmas activities! Thankfully Kathy took some pictures! I only took a few of the toys. Slacker!)

Besides the Christmas 8 years ago when Mitch proposed, this was my favorite Christmas to date. The kids are both at such fun ages for Santa Claus and the magic of it all! I felt the true spirit of Christmas this year as we made an effort to focus on Christ and service. We gave some old toys and new clothes to a family in need, we delivered presents to our neighbors and friends, made Christmas cards for grandparents, made and decorated a felt snowman, walked through the Layton city Christmas lights, saw some more lights with friends, and participated other activities as well during the season.

We made gingerbread houses at the Botts.

And I can honestly say that for the first time in many years, I was not stressed or anxious about the holidays! (Thank you, Anti-depressants! :) )

In December we had the Miles Christmas party with my dad's side of the family. We did an ugly Christmas sweater contest, which Mitch won (thanks to our neighbor who let us borrow his home-made advent calendar sweater), and Santa came to visit! The kids loved Santa of course; Layla was the first one to sit on his lap and wouldn't stop talking his ear off. Marcus was scared of Santa this year, so he sat on my lap as I sat on Santa's lap. Also, the highlight of the party was when my grandma Miles told Santa that all she wanted for Christmas was "a kiss from Santa," so he gave her a kiss on the cheek, then pointed to his cheek and as she went to kiss him on the cheek he turned his head and she kissed him smack on the lips!

Layla drew this herself!

For several months before Christmas, Layla had added items to her mile-long Christmas list almost daily. About two weeks before Christmas the one thing she said consistently she wanted from Santa was "a firetruck that makes noise and has people on it." So we had to get that kind of last minute after searching for just the right one. :) It was worth it though because she was excited about it on Christmas morning.


On Christmas Adam (the day before Christmas Eve, ha ha), Layla and I made cookies for Santa. We tried a new recipe and made eggnog flavored cookies, which were delicious (note to self: do not buy light eggnog- it's just not the same)! We had family home evening that night where we read some scriptures that focused on "gifts" the Savior has given us and we also read the Christmas story from the Bible in Luke 2. I loved that we were able to focus so much on the birth of Christ as a family.

We spent Christmas Eve with Mitch's family and had a very nice dinner and a fun time opening gifts. Kevin and Kathy gave Marcus a pair of Mickey Mouse slippers that he absolutely loved! We put them on him and he seriously did a little jig and kept excitedly yelling and showing everyone his slippers. It was adorable and my favorite part of the night. We were all spoiled and had a great time.

Too cute not to post.

Katie and I got matching jammies!

I didn't sleep well that night because I was so excited for the kids to wake up and see what Santa brought them! We told Layla not to come out of her room until 7:00 am. Marcus woke up at 6:00 am, which is unusual for him, and it seemed like he knew what was going on because he was excited and wanted to go out into the living room. I kept him in our room with us until a few minutes before 7 when we snuck him into the kitchen and gave him a banana (his favorite!) for breakfast while waiting for Layla to wake up. Finally at 6:59 I couldn't take it any more and went and woke her up. I said, "Merry Christmas, Layla" and she kind of rolled over and groggily said, "Merry Christmas." Then she sat straight up in bed and loudly said, "Is it morning yet?!?" I told her yes and that she should look out her window (we went to bed on Christmas Eve with not a trace of snow on the ground and woke up to this:), but she refused and said, "No, let's go see what Santa brought!"


I'm learning that Layla, while she is excited, is not the type to jump up and down and yell and cheer about things. She is very mellow, but you can hear the excitement in her voice. Marcus, however, will be my loud one. :) It was a fun morning spent playing with their presents and opening gifts to and from each other. Santa brought our family Nerf guns and extra darts and we had some fun Nerf gun wars! Those guns are one of my favorite gifts this year. :). We headed down to my grandma's and had a delicious breakfast (my grandma is an amazing cook!) followed by being spoiled with more gifts! Everyone got the kids perfect gifts this year! Layla got lots of art supplies, dress ups, and little activities to keep her busy. Marcus got lots of little boy toys that he loves and he finally has toys that he'll actually play with!



We came home for nap time, followed by a visit from the Botts, including a Nerf gun war with Brandon and Katie, which made my jaw hurt from laughing. The next day was a visit from my grandpa Kermit and Zing, and later my mom and grandma. We had a very busy, and very fun, few days and the kids slept so good for several nights afterwards! Ha!

The only pic I could get with Layla; she was too busy to pose for pictures!

My favorite part about Christmas is having Mitch home with us! He get Christmas Eve through New's Years off and it is wonderful! I love our little family and spending time together! I am so grateful for the birth of our Savior and what His life means to me. Merry Christmas!