Winter Wallop

So do I sound like the Weather Channel? They make their titles so dramatic, Winter Wallop 2009! But a wallop it was and it was so fun! I don't remember ever seeing so much snow in one storm, all in about 24 hours.

This was looking out my front window on Saturday night.

I though this looked so cool. Although, now I'm just feeling bad that we don't even have a cover for the grill. No wonder it's falling apart...

I opened my backdoor this morning to see this much snow above the door.

Dan spent over a half and hour digging out his poor little Honda.

This is actually a ruler and a half and there's still snow above it. Don't ask why I have a half a ruler.

We had a great time on a little walk this afternoon.

Adventure Aquarium

We were also able to go to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey right across the river from Philadelphia. This was the first aquarium I've ever been too, so I don't have anything to compare it with, but IT WAS AWESOME!!!! We loved it! We didn't allot nearly enough time.

Danny got to pet real baby sharks. But since he has issues with getting clothing wet, this wasn't his most favorite thing.
This sea turtle was HUGE! It was so cool. It was much bigger than the ones I've seen in real life in Hawaii.

This was the highlight of the trip!! I could have stayed at the hippo exhibit for another hour, at least! There were two of them and it was so fun watching them play and swim with each other. This may be admitting my ignorance, but I had NO IDEA that hippos swam like this! It was incredible. They had this 20-ish ft. display window to watch the hippos underwater. Danny and a few other little kids would run from side to side following the hippos every movement, squealing with delight. He made a little girlfriend there, Mary Jane. They wouldn't leave each others side after that, so we hung out with her mom for the rest of the afternoon while the two of them ran around, held hands and had fun together! I loved listening to them talk to each other. Mary Jane is about 9 months older than Danny, so she spoke really well. I had no idea what Danny was saying sometimes, but it didn't matter, they communicated! It was really cute.

Here is his little girlfriend!

Sesame Place

Just north of Philadelphia, there is the cutest little amusement park, Sesame Place. It's geared for little kids, so both of my kids were able to do just about every ride with us. They had the greatest parade and some awesome shows. The characters made it so exciting for both Danny and Kate. I'm surprised how much she got into it. Now, she LOVES watching clips on www.sesamestreet.org and will go to the computer, even when it's off, and point and grunt. That means she wants to watch Elmo, and she wants it now, or else I will hear some serious screams of discontent. She is the loudest baby I have ever known. My mother-in-law likes to define this characteristic as just being "assertive." But regardless of what you call it, she still is a bit of a drama queen. And we love every bit of her!

Dan captured this most amazing action shot! This was Elmo's flying fish ride. Danny got to push a button and it would fly high. When he released it, we would start to fall. This was at the beginning of the ride, so you can see Danny was still getting the hang of how to push the button.

And I captured this action shot on Elmo's Peek-a-Bug. I was promptly reprimanded by the 16-year old ride attendant over the quality PA system that cameras were not allowed. Whoops!

Notice the character hedging in the background? There's Elmo, Big Bird and Snuffy.

Surprise Party

My mom's birthday was on Tuesday. She can now state her age with the help of the word CENTURY!! And for the very special occasion, I decided that I just needed to be there. So with the help of my awesome family, I made arrangements to fly to Idaho to be there on my mom's birthday and planned a little surprise party for her. Nearly everyone except my mom knew about the plans and when she came home from mutual, she walked in the door and entered the kitchen and there we all were. But these pictures tell the story best.

I love this one. It is just so funny. This is raw, real emotion. She had no idea. I don't think her jaw could have been any lower. So fun!

It took her nearly a half a minute to move from her initial position. See picture #1. Once things sank in a bit, then she was able to move and being speaking in a somewhat coherent fashion.

Still in shock.

Josh made the lengthy trip down from BYU-I.

All the grandbabies were there. Danny had been practicing the Birthday song for a month for this very moment. But he of course wanted to help her blow out the candles.

My beautiful sister Alisha and her husband Ben.

Enjoying the pleasant evening out on the patio. We were only missing Kelsey who wasn't able to ditch her class midweek to join us. (She teaches a second grade special education class.) But she will be coming down this weekend. And of course Autie who is serving his mission in Vancouver. We missed him too!

Further Evidence

We went to the circus a few weeks ago and I found him chewing up his popcorn box. Yes, the box was still half full of popcorn.

This isn't really evidence of Danny's chewing obsession, as much as evidence that the tight ropers were awesome!

Evidence that while Kate is growing up, she still is just a baby and just couldn't stay awake for the whole performance.

Family Vacation

We had a wonderful time in Hawaii! We absolutely love it there. The kids were great on the flights and adjusted well to all the travel and everything we put them through...except getting back on some form of a schedule since coming home. They have really struggled with the time change and now don't want to sleep at night! But if that's my only complaint, I'll take it!

The boys making goofy faces, intentional or not, I'm not so sure.

Danny showing off his slippers.

Kate looked so pretty with her lei at the PCC.

Dan's parents and brothers were able to join us on the trip. Danny LOVES his uncles! Here is Mikey and Danny splashing in the ocean. If you look closely, you can see Danny's cheesy Doritos face.

Kate enjoyed her grandma time on the beach. At this moment, Cindy was holding her hands, so it was a rare moment when Kate wasn't trying to eat the sand. She was oftentimes too successful.

Christmas morning

We had such a nice Christmas this year. I know that's a pretty simple statement. But it was. Dan and I got kinda emotional as we realized this was our Christmas for our children in our house. We have been so blessed and we're so grateful for a secure job in this uncertain economy, a comfortable home, healthy children and the love we have for each other.


Santa brought Danny a new train set! He was so excited and would have been completely content if he has just received that. Note for next year.

Kate was a good sport on Christmas morning and even attempted to "open" a present or two, with her mouth! :) But she even had fun and could feel the excitement of the event.

Photo Session

We just got back from a nearly two week vacation in Idaho with all of my family. It was the first time in years that we were all together, all six of us siblings plus our parents. With Josh just getting home from his mission and Austin just about to leave, the timing of this trip was perfect. It wasn't initially planned that way, but that's how it worked out and we are very grateful.

I loved having a countless number of people in line waiting to help me change diapers, hold a crying baby, or watch Elmo with Danny. They all WANTED to do it. It was so awesome. Needless to say, I got majorly spoiled and I had a serious wake-up call when we got home and it was back to reality. But the kids have been really good and Kate is starting to be less grumpy. She has had her first grins, some of which have become near giggles. Her coo's are so cute and when it happens it makes me forget that she cries a lot.

While we were in Idaho, we had a photo session with a wonderful photographer, Kimberly Smith. She took some amazing pictures of my best friends new adorable little son, Landon, and I wanted some too! We wanted to take cute naked newborn pictures of Kate, but she was just too big to take cute sleeping pictures. She was too big for all the props and cute newborn poses and kept waking up and was very disgruntled the entire time. And she had TWO major accidents and she shot poop all over us and all over the canvas backdrop, which required some extensive cleanup. It was so funny! But take a look at this album I compiled of some of our favorites from the session.

Josh is home!

It's taken me a little while to get some pictures posted of Josh's homecoming from Mexico because I haven't had any. I've waited and waited...he got home on August 27th. But after much nagging, my dear sweet little brother Austin, who asked to be mentioned lots in my blog, sent me some pictures today. They were taken at the airport. Here Josh is with my Grandma and Grandpa Tew and Aunt Rachelle. My mom says his suit was hanging on by a thread. I know he worked so hard and I'm grateful for his testimony and committment to the Gospel.
Getting a long awaited hug from the lil' sis!
And doesn't Lexie look pretty! I had to put this in because she just went to Homecoming on Saturday night and she looked gorgeous! She's a junior this year.

Slip 'n Slide

We had such an exciting mutual activty last week at the Bishop's house. Check out this Slip n' Slide!! Two tarps were sewn together to make one massive slide and the kids used dish soap to make themselves go even faster. After everyone's eyes were burning from the dish soap, the YM leaders realized that they should have purchased baby soap instead. But the kids hardly complained and they had a great time.

Dan would get a running start holding Danny in his arms and just FLY down the hill. This one ended up in a small little crash, but Danny just popped up and started clapping with a big smile on his face. Dan is creating a lil' dare devil.

My little warrior playing with all the big kids!

Wild Animal Park

For any of you who doubted that Danny was the spitting image of his father, here is conclusive evidence. I have always teased Dan about when he's standing his hands always seem to end up in his back pockets, see exhibit one, or in his back waistband. It doesn't matter if he's waiting in line at the store or brushing his teeth, his hands always end up behind his back. I found it a little strange and wondered why he did it. Well, now I can see that it's just him 'cause Danny does it too.

He loved feeding the goats and the deer until they got a little aggressive, then he got a little scared and wanted to keep his distance.

Momma and Danny looking at some cute little monkeys.

Dan took Danny over to see the baby camel, whose fur was unbelievably soft, and as he set him up on the fence to pose for the picture, I saw that the camel started nibbling on Danny's leg! Needless to say, Danny was a little startled and didn't want much to do with him after that. But the little camel was so cute, his umbilical cord was even still attached.

I thought he looked like he was really GQ-in' it!

Called to Serve

I am very excited to announce that my brother Austin, the younger of my two brothers, just received his mission call to Vancouver Canada, Mandarin speaking!! He leaves for the MTC at the end of October.

We find his call especially endearing because since Austin was 10 or 11 he has always wanted to serve his mission in China and speak Chinese. We knew China wasn't open to missionary work at the time, so we would tell him, "you never know what can happen." So for the last seven years or so, he has been fascinated with the Chinese characters and the Chines cultural. He has had a Chinese calendar and a souvenir that I brought home for him from NYC Chinatown hanging in room for years!

So when he read his call and came to the part that he would be speaking Mandarin, nobody believe him because he was going to Canada not China!! We had to ask him several times, "Are you kidding?! Austin, are you serious?" We just couldn't believe it because he has wanted so badly to learn Chinese. (I am opening admitting ignorance and I do not understand the difference, if any, between Chinese and Mandarin so I hope I am not sounding too foolish.)

Here is a map of his mission. Before 1974, this area was known as the Alaskan Canadian Mission.

I also did a little research on Vancouver because I was curious as to why there was such a large Chinese population. I didn't quite find my answer---but I am short on time and I have a baby that will be waking up any minute wanting to eat and if anyone knows why, I would love to learn about it---but I did learn that since the mid 19th century, Vancouver has been home to one of the largest Chinese populations in North America. And apparently it has a beautiful and clean Chinatown. And it has the first authentic classical Chinese garden to have been built outside of China. Here is where you can find some more information. http://www.vancouver-chinatown.com/

But we are very excited for Austin that he has this wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary for two years. He is a hard worker and has a strong testimony of the restored Gospel. I know he will do great work in Vancouver!