Service

One thing Lindsay is always thinking about is ways to serve others. Whenever Dan is baking a dessert (I say Dan because he's the baker at our house), she always wants to take some to the neighbors. Or wants to take dinner to people. The week before Christmas during one of our many snow storms, she begged me to let her go out and shovel our neighbors driveways. I finally gave in, even though the snow was still coming down like crazy, but I told her to do the sidewalks because our driveways are very long. So out she went. I felt bad because by the time she was done, the sidewalks were all covered in snow again. I guess it is the thought that counts. So Zane saw that she was doing that and said, "mom, I want to do something nice." Then he told me not to come in my room. A few minutes later he and Gavin told me to close my eyes and they led me into my bedroom where they had made my bed for me! I was shocked because they even alternated the pillows like I do. I just love these kids!

Lindsay shoveling the Dean's sidewalk.

And then the Lambson's.

My bed after the boys made it.

Testimonies

Yesterday at church, Lindsay and Zane decided they wanted to bare their testimonies. They had never done it before. Lindsay tried a few months ago but got scared when she got up there and just sat back down. So before church, we talked to them about some of the things they could say and what exactly a testimony is. Zane asked me if he was supposed to close his eyes and fold his arms like a prayer. I thought that was cute. During the sacrament, they were both a little antsy. Finally after the bishop was finished with his testimony, I sent them up together. I think they were a lot more comfortable because there were about 6 other kids up there waiting to bare their testimonies. They both did it! All by themselves and they didn't say anything we were embarrassed by. They were short and sweet. When Zane first got up there, he forgot how to start so he just took a deep sigh. Then he said, "I'd like to share my testimony" which I thought was cute. He also said he knew Jesus was really real. It warmed my little heart to see them up there doing that and brought tears to my eyes. Then I was ashamed that my 5 and 4 year olds had more courage to get up there than I did. I guess they are the example I should be trying to follow.

Our Annual Christmas Video

Here's our annual Christmas video that we do every year as a tradition in my familiy. We all do a video (my parents included) then we watch them all on Christmas Eve. It's fun to see what everyone comes up with each year. Click here to see last years video. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! P.S. Pause the music at the bottom of our blog first.

Lindsay's Christmas Dance Recital

Lindsay had her Christmas dance recital the same night as Zane's Preschool program, so we had to split up to see both. Luckily we were able to borrow my sister's video camera so I could record Lindsay and Dan recorded Zane. Grandma Tracey, Granny Annie and Uncle Mike were able to come see her. Thanks Granny for recording Lindsay while I was back stage. Lindsay is a natural. She is in the very middle (7th from the left). She's the one smiling the whole time and is pretty much on beat the whole time. We're very proud of her.

Zane's Preschool Christmas Program

Dan, Gavin and both Grandpa Harry and Grandpa Kevin got to see Zane perform at his Preschool Christmas Program, while I was with Lindsay at her dance recital. He practiced his part a ton and I told him to say it slowly and loudly so everyone could hear him. I also told him to sing the songs good. He sang so well you can hear him the most. I love the video of him saying his part. Watch how after his friend Eli says his part and walks away (he wasn't supposed to) and the look on Zane's face, and then he mouths something to himself. It's hilarious!

St. Nicholaus came

As a German tradition, we set our boots out on December 5th and during the night, St. Nicholaus visits, leaving a present and a treat. He usually leaves us movies. This is what we got this year.

I eat a chocolate!

Every year my mom buys our kids the little chocolate advent calendars. This is the first year Gavin has really understood them. And boy, does he love his daily chocolate after breakfast. I had them taped to their bedroom doors, but the tape didn't stick very long, so I set Gavin's on his dresser as far back as I could. The other day he came into the kitchen with his hands over his eyes.
I said, "what are you doing, silly boy?"
G "I eat a chocolate!" throwing his hands off his eyes like it was a surprise!
Me "where did you get the chocolate?"
G "From mommy."
Me "no you didn't. Show mommy where you got it." He took my hand and led me to his room, where his advent calendar was still on the dresser but knocked over. I picked it up and one of the little doors was slightly opened. I opened it and this is what I saw.
At least he put it back in the same spot. He just needed a little chocolate fix, I guess. Needless to say, the calendar is now on top of the computer armoire.

Festival of Trees

Last week we went to the Festival of Trees. The kids were very good, so good that we took them out to dinner afterwards. The highlight was seeing Santa. While we were waiting in line, Zane asked if it was the real Santa or just his helper. I told him he should ask him when we got up to see him. I thought Gavin might be afraid of him like last year, when he ran the other way, but he walked right up to him and sat on his lap. They all asked for Scooters. Zane and Gavin specifically asked for Spiderman scooters, Zane wants one with 3 wheels. Zane was too shy to ask, so Lindsay asked him if he was the real Santa. He got close to her face and said, "what do you think?" She said she didn't know, then he said, "I am." Their faces lit up! They couldn't believe it! It was so cute. Then they had to run and tell my family that it was the real Santa. I will always remember how cute they were about it.

I love this picture. Gavin is telling Santa he wants a Scooter.

Happy 11th Anniversary Princeton Princesses/Croft Cove Chicks!

11 years ago, on December 1st, my sister, Karen and I met Melissa. We were good friends with her cousin Heather A O (that's what we call her to distinguish between 2 Heather's), then Melissa moved here from AZ. We were all the best of friends. We lived on Princeton Avenue in a little apartment, then moved into a townhouse on Croft Cove Circle (hence the names in my title). Heather A O moved to San Diego a few months after living on Princeton. Oh, the memories we have. So last Monday night (December 1st) we went out to dinner to Red Robin to celebrate. Heather is now living in San Fransisco, so she wasn't here. We had fun chatting and talking about old times. We are so getting old though. Afterwards we went back to my parent's house, ate dessert and sat around chatting more; so different than what we were doing 11 years ago (coning, cramming, drive-by's, "iceburg! right ahead!", "a month?!?!?!","I got my girls", stupid guys, many times of peeing our pants, "you want to go to da mountains?", "those 2 hours will save you life!", "we are so young!", our journals, the good old singles ward, our awesome Roadshow's we wrote,) I could go on and on. So here's to 11 years girl's and many more to come! Love ya!

Do you like how we're making 11 with our fingers.

Our true selves. There's a story behind this picture but it's not appropriate for my blog, Christian!

Dear Santa, I'm not being nice

The other night, Gavin was being naughty during dinner. He kept smashing his spaghetti and playing with it, then dropping it on the floor. I told him I'd call Santa and tell him that Gavin wasn't being nice. Then Gavin started spitting at me. I was so enraged! So I scooted his chair that he was sitting in his booster seat in over to the back door for time-out. As I was doing the dishes I looked over and he had his hand up to his ear (like he was on the phone) then he said, "Hi Santa Clauses. (yes, he made it plural) You bring me presents? I not being nice. Ok, Bye!" I was trying so hard not to laugh while he was still in timeout. After the timer beeped and I made him apologize for being naughty, I pulled out the video camera and asked him to pretend to call Santa again. He wouldn't do it like the first time, so I gave him the phone and this is what I got.....

I'm back......

So I know it's not that hard to put an occasional post on here, but seriously I've had no motivation in my life at all. I'm so, so, so happy to be out of the 1st trimester of pregnancy and that I'm not constantly feeling ill-stricken all day. It just comes and goes now. I'm also happy that I'm getting some energy. To be honest, I don't enjoy being pregnant. I actually have had great deliveries, so I don't mind that part, but I don't really care for feeling like crap, busting out of my clothes, grumpiness, being emotional, wanting to lay in bed all day, not being able to take ibuprofen and major back problems. I do enjoy the fact that I'm carrying a sweet little baby, that my nails get strong, my face doesn't breakout and my hair stops shedding. I guess I just like the end result the best, holding my little one in my arms. So with all of that being said, I've been a slacker on many things and my blog is one of them. I was feeling some motivation tonight and I decided to catch up on October and November.

Thanksgiving 2008

Early in November, my brother and his little family came to visit, so we did a "Fakesgiving" with my family. If you want to see pictures you can check out Karen's blog. It was fun to have them here for a week. So for Thanksgiving, we got to spend it with Dan's family. We went to Dan's parent's and had a yummy dinner, games and relaxation. The kids especially had a fun time playing with Brie and Mike. We missed having Sis, Zach and their boys and Chris and Char. Travis came, but I missed getting a picture of him and Cassie before they left. It was a very fun day!

Zane and Gavin relaxed while Grandpa read them a story.

Gavin insisted on being in this picture with us.

Pa and Ma



Brie and Mike (Lindsay acting like her mother)

Josh thinking really hard while eating his pie.

Trevor enjoying his pie.

Zane, ready to eat

Gavin couldn't wait for the prayer.

Lindsay asked for a Turkey leg, so that's what we gave her. She only ate about half of it.

Grandpa Ted and Grandma Della were able to join us.

Leaves are falling all around....

Dan got some great pictures of our kids and our nephew, Nathan, playing in the leaves a couple of weeks ago. They loved it!

Halloween 2008

Dan and I have dressed up for Halloween every year, except once. But this year will make it twice. I just was not feeling good and dressing up in a costume was the last thing I wanted to do. So, sorry, we were fuddy-duddy's this year. But the kids had a great time. Lindsay had a costume parade and party at school and Zane got to wear his costume to Preschool and also had a party. We did some early trick-or-treating in our neighborhood (before the rain started) then went to Granny Annie's for a Halloween party. My mom really gets into the holidays, so she had her house all decked out and we had tons of food to eat. The kids are at such a fun age to take trick-or-treating. I don't think I want them to get much older. Sniff!

Gavin as Peter Pan, but he kept saying he was Captain Hook.

Zane as the "red" Spiderman. Next year he wants to be the "black" Spiderman.

Lindsay as Hannah Montana. "This Girl Can Dream!" haha! That's what her shirt says.

Hee Haw Farms

In October, Gavin and I were able to go with Zane's Preschool to the Hee Haw Farms. It was a gorgeous day and the boys had so much fun. They got to play in corn, ride down a big slide with mommy (I hurt my tailbone so had!), go through a corn maze, pet some animals, ride in a big wagon and play on little tractors. At the end they got to pick a pumpkin to take home.

Zane's first year of soccer

Zane was so excited to play soccer this year. Dan got to be his coach, which both Dan and Zane really enjoyed. Because Zane is so sensitive, we were a little nervous he might cry or pout if someone stole the ball from him. But he never did! He was such a good sport. Whenever he'd get near the ball and almost kick it, he'd look over at me to make sure I was watching, then give me a thumbs up. He is so cute. Way to go Zaners!

We've been Elfed...again! Pause music at bottom of our blog, first

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Heather, you just found out you're pregnant. What are you going to do next? I'm going to Disneyland!

Ok, so after a week of Dan being out of town and my life feeling like it was going to end, I finally can breathe for a minute and blog. I would love to go into detail about my week from hell, but I've talked and cried about it so much over the past few days, I don't want to think about it anymore. So on to blogging my fabulous trip to California that happened on October 9th-12th. It was a quick trip, but very fun. My only brother, Matt and my sissy-in-law, Lauren had their first baby, Mattison, on August 26th. They decided to bless her on October 12th. We would have loved to have been able to take the whole fam, but with money being tight for everyone, we decided on a sisters/parents trip. So my parents, Laurel, Missy, Karen, Heidi and I headed to California in one mini-van (mine) and met Jenny (who lives in Arizona) there. (Amy is still on her mission in Texas, but we brought her head along). The drive there was fun and didn't feel like it took very long. Now of course the Skousen's are not going to drive all the way to California and not visit their second home. So of course, we planned one day at Disneyland. On Friday, we woke up bright and early and arrived at The Happiest Place on Earth at 7:30 am where we met Matt, Lauren and little Mattison. It was out first time meeting her. She is a doll! The park opened at 8:00 am and we swiftly walked to Fantasyland. Of course we didn't have any kids with us, but if you know us, you'd know that doesn't matter. We still go to Fantasyland. I took a lot of pictures inside the "Dark Rides" (ie Snow White, Peter Pan) which was really funny because most of the time my fam didn't know I was taking a pic of them so they turned out pretty funny looking. We rode pretty much every ride we wanted to. In the afternoon, we headed over to California Adventure so we could ride a few of our favorite rides over there, but everything was an hour wait and all the Fast Passes were already sold out for the day. So we ate lunch and hung out for a while anyway. The park closed at midnight and Main Street was open until 1:00 am. Of course we weren't going to waste one second by leaving early. So we hung around Main Street until after 1:00, waiting for everyone else to leave so we could be the last ones out of Disneyland. We finally were and it was a happy day. We were in Disneyland for 18 hours straight and it was lovely!

On Saturday we slept in a bit and then headed to Lauren's parent's house to meet up with them for lunch. We went to a fun burger joint called Legend's and some weird, psycho guy that was eating at the counter, kept turning music on at the Jukebox and dancing. It was hysterical! After relaxing at Lauren's parents for a few hours, we headed to a different hotel that was closer to Matt and Lauren's then went to find a place to eat dinner for Karen's 32nd birthday. It was getting late and we were hungry and haggy. So after getting raged at The Olive Garden, we went across the street to a Soup and Salad place. After we all ate, we were much happier.

On Sunday, we went to Matt and Lauren's church for the blessing. Matt did a great job and Mattison looked beautiful. We ate delicious food at Lauren's grandma's afterwards then we were on our way home. We got home in the middle of the night so we were pretty tired. It really was a fun trip and great time was had by all! Some of the highlights of the trip were:

Getting to see Matt and Lauren

Getting to meet Mattison Brooke for the first time

Mom sitting in the back seat of the van, holding the handles, yelling "WEEEEE!" Now you all know where I get my gayness from.

Laurel wearing her maternity pants backwards on accident.

Me and dad riding in wheelchairs after the park closed. Then I tried to convince the candy store workers (while sitting in a wheelchair) to let me into the park the next day for free so I could buy caramel apples for my kids, which they were out of. It was all my kids wanted me to bring back. Then I accidentally stood up out of the wheelchair to see the cast members name tag, then Karen yells "It's a miracle!" I hurriedly sat back down so they wouldn't know I really could walk, but they knew. Then I tried to steal the Toffee I was holding, while trying to roll out of the store in the wheelchair. Ok, I wasn't going to really steal it, but it was dang funny.

Dad being left off Space Mountain because they didn't allow us enough to sit down and buckle up. He went to get on and the gate closed on him. We started to ride off and we turned around and Dad was standing there with his arms up, like "What the H?" So he rode alone. Then they gave us passes to get back on without waiting in line. The picture of Dad by himself on the ride is dang funny!

On the drive home, Karen had unbuttoned her pants to be more comfortable since she's prego. We stopped at a gas station and as she was getting out, she hit her knee on the side of the van and came spilling out of the van, while her pants fell down. A man was standing there filling up his car with gas. Needless to say we pretty much peed our pants!

The man who saw Karen fall out of the van

Karen's injured knee

While relaxing over at California Adventure, some guy was just sitting in the middle of a bench, while we were all trying to cram on a separate bench. My mom nicely asked the guy if he could scoot over so she and Heidi could sit on the bench. He looked at her like he was stoned and ignored her. We almost peed our pants from laughing. So Karen took this picture so we could remember it.

Enjoy more pics here on the slideshow!