Goodbye January!...(or was it March?)

As you can see, our January has been very mild for Spokane- this particular day that the kids were jumping in short sleeves, was Martin Luther King Jr. day...January 18th...and 53 degrees!! We have loved the weather! and hope that a mild January does not mean a crazy winter-y February!!


Addison was attempting the air guitar in this picture- The kids were both excited to be exercising that day!

This month out Relief Society started a program called "New Year, New You"...we all set goals, and we get points for exercising, eating right, drinking water, etc. It has been very motivating! And the kids have noticed my new motivation for exercise and are great spectators! Not only do I have "points" for motivation, but also the promise of a beach body when we go to Dominican Republic!! I even signed up for a "boot camp" this month with a trainer! He is pretty tough, so I better be looking good by the end of February!!

(Are you proud of me Mom?) Not keeping at all with my goal to eat less...I also made bread for real for the first time! I added cinnamon chips to one of the loaves (and then made French Toast with it...YUM!) I've tried a few new recipes this month and all of them have been a hit! I'll add them to http://www.domesticdittodiva.blogspot.com/ very soon!
I also kept busy this month by adding one more child to my already crazy brood- Our next-door neighbor had to do a certification that lasted all month long, so I had an extra 2-year-old every day, all day! I'd love to say that it was terribly hard work and I earned every second of the work that same neighbor will do on our basement...but let's be honest, what's one more child? Unless he was stinky, it was pretty easy :)

Kelly has had a great January also- He's been snow boarding twice with his new bindings!, nearly been drowned in mud at a scout camp-out, and found out from his latest eye exam that his vision is now 20/15! Better than it was when he wore glasses!!

Addison continues to blow us all away with his reading skills, that and the fact that night after night he can have the same argument with us about clearing the table...

Laynie also loves school, has to get a cavity filled tomorrow (be nice uncle Logan!), and is a great help to me.

Hailey astounds us with her cuteness...just when we think she couldn't possibly be any cuter, she is! She is a pure delight and we are in total denial that the terrible two's will ever come!!

Casey and Katalyn's Wedding!

We left Spokane on the afternoon of the 29th of December and got to Baltimore at 12:45am! By the time our heads hit the pillow...it was 2am, and we were up at 7am to get ready for the wedding breakfast! It was a short night, but the kids were happy to be with their cousins and aunts, and we were just happy to be off the plane!!

We LOVE aunt Mimi!!

Getting ready is always tough...

I kind of like the wet hair look!

Finally we find uncle Casey!!

And we're off to the temple-

as a side note...Hailey had the toughest time with the time adjustment, she fell asleep DURING breakfast! however, despite her tiredness...she is still adorable!

I got to hold Katalyn's bouquet and try and protect it from the little girls!

Lots of loved ones outside the Washington DC temple...what a perfect day!

Addison looked VERY handsome in his new suit coat...

But I think the little girls took the prize for cuteness-

Especially Hailey!

Congratulations Casey and Katalyn! We love you both and are so happy for you!!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Kelly was a great "giver" this year- so I had an awesome Christmas! :) My favorite present is the book Laynie is holding; Kelly "slurped" my blog into a book! It is SO fun for the kids to look at ad really makes me feel like I am keeping a family history, instead of just playing on the computer! He did a BEAUTIFUL job and I know it will be a family treasure forever!

My other favorite was the 'FLIP'- it's just a tiny video camera that makes it so easy to put videos on my blog! FOR EXAMPLE: here is Addison making his own music video? He thinks the Flip is a dream come true and he totally cracks himself up!

And here is my sweet Hailey "reading" inside her toy drawer while singing the ABC's!

This took a lot longer to post than I wanted it to, because I didn't know how to get my videos from the FLIP to my blog THANK GOODNESS for an oh-so-clever husband who has taught me everything I know about computers! Hopefully now I'll get back-on-track with blogging!

*** Christmas Eve ***

Is there a more exciting day than Christmas Eve? Judging by Addison's sleeping patterns, no way! (I don't know if he slept AT ALL Christmas Eve!) What a great day it was this year!! We started a new delicious tradition: Santa Pancakes! Thanks Deena for the great idea! We loved them!

How could you not love something smothered in whipped cream?!?

Here I am making last minute adjustments to some Christmas presents...it had been FOREVER since I had pulled out my beads! Thanks for the beading lesson Erin...the *Bling* was a hit! :)

The REAL festivities started with some DELICIOUS food! and that's what you'll get every time the Dittos are all together!

Then the famous program- Addison and Laynie sang "Meine Familie liebe ich" for their talent (that's Families can be together forever in GERMAN!) and then we watched the Nativity starring all the grandkids! SO FUN!

Jammie time! Hailey just discovered she has pockets!

We took about 5 of these, and this is the best one...not good...but they did look cute in their new jammies!

After Santa came :)...and stay tuned for more!!

BEFORE Christmas....

Yeah, I'm a little behind, so let's start off with right before Christmas and I'll work my way through the joyous holiday, and hopefully I'll get it done by Easter!

Get used to these EYES!!

That's right folks, Kelly said an ecstatic GOODBYE to his glasses on December 18th and underwent Lasik surgery! The procedure lasted all of 15 minutes per eye and was an unbelievable success! Kelly couldn't be happier with the concept of NO MORE contacts (which he had developed an allergy to) and NO MORE glasses!! (which were busted and broken from a couple years of children yanking on them!)

Also BEFORE Christmas, Kelly made "President's Club" at work! A prestigious honor that, when accopmplished, is awarded with a trip for the awardee and his significant other! This year: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic! Kelly worked so hard to reach his goal and the kids and I (but especially I) are SOOOOO proud of him!! Way to go Babe!! I can't wait for our trip!