Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mauri gave me blogging duties today so you aren't going to get the witty humor you usually get from her when she updates our blog. We did have a great Christmas though and here are some pictures to prove it!

On Christmas Eve, we had a very special guest come visit. Kyri sitting on Santa's (My Dad) lap and telling him what she was going "to get" from him. "Santa bring me smarties"!

Thanks to the wonderful talents of my Mother, all us adults became kids again!

You can never go wrong with these footy pajamas, well, unless you have to go to the bathroom and can't get your zipper down fast enough.

Even we got to sit on Santa's lap!

The Guys (Gary's brothers)

The Gal's (Our wives)

Mauri even got a special present by sitting on Santa's lap while he was in his pajamas!

Christmas morning......looks like Santa found us!

Kyri got lots of presents, but this one was the only one from Santa.......Her very own vacuum. She loves to help Mauri clean and now she has her own vacuum to do it.

The aftermath! They all look so happy....Mauri and I are still thinking, how are we going to get all this stuff back home?

We hope all of you (Friends and Family) had a great Christmas.

Tis The Season

This year we tried really hard to get Christmas cards/pictures/letters out, but it just didn't happen. I even typed the letter up, but it never made it into an envelope. So to allow close friends and family to still know our going-ons over the past year we decided to post our Christmas letter here on our blog. So, read on...and don't be afraid to ENJOY!!

Kyri's first Santa experience. I think she finally realized he's an actual person, not just a decoration. But now she tells me that Santa will come see her if she's good...and the snowman too!!

CHRISTMAS LETTER 2009

In the Spirit of this holiday season we thought it appropriate to send you a little letter with what has been happening in our household this past year. If you check our blog on a regular basis then you know what has been going on in our lives, so please feel free to stop reading now and just enjoy our family photo a bit more. However, you may miss out on something of slight entertainment if you do. If you don’t check our blog on a regular basis then shame on you. You really ought to. Then we wouldn’t feel like we had to frantically write something up just in time to send out with our Christmas cards!

We are pleased to announce that this year has brought us nothing but joy and happiness….right along with the feelings of wanting to poke our eyes out because we now have a 2 year old. Need we say more about her? Probably not, but if you keep reading you’ll get to hear about her anyway, because despite her gift of knowing which buttons to push to cause hairs to either fall out or turn gray, she sure does know how to put a smile on our faces! And we are not ashamed to brag about her and her cuteness.

When Graysen was born in April it seemed like he came out smiling. He loves to smile at anyone who will look at him or walk past him. He loves taking baths and eating. Typical baby. Graysen loves to do what we call “the caterpillar”, also known as crawling. He gets up on hands and knees only to throw himself forward. He’s pretty fast at it and definitely gets where he wants to go. Since this new discovery, Graysen has been a much happier baby. If only he could keep up with his sister and get into as much trouble as her! Graysen loves to laugh at his sister, except when she climbs in his crib while he’s sleeping and lays on him, then it’s only screams. Graysen is very tickle-ish, so the poor little guy gets tickled almost constantly, for our enjoyment. This little bundle has sure brought us a lot of joy!

Kyri turned 2 in September. With that has come much drama, tears, fits, and time-outs, but also many words, tricks, jokes, and laughs. Here’s a few that have not yet been mentioned in our blog (see, aren’t you glad you’re still reading?):

* One night while Kyri was taking a bath Gary habitually turned off the light when he walked out of the bathroom. He quickly realized what he did and turned the light back on. Kyri said, “Hey! Turn the gark back on, Daddy! Turn on the gark!!”

* One day Gary was eating a “baby orange”. Kyri had already had 4+ and we really didn’t want her to have any more. But she saw Gary was eating something. She said, “whatchya eatin, Daddy-o?” Gary said, “Oh, nothing.” After thinking for a moment, and concluding she’s not dumb or crazy and knowing he was eating something she replied, “I want to eat some nothing too!”

This year Kyri is finally catching on to the idea of Christmas and presents and Santa. It has been a lot of fun and we are all looking forward to Christmas morning. The only thing she has asked Santa for, though, is Smarties! I sure hope he can manage!

Kyri definitely keeps us on our toes and makes sure she keeps her toes (or whole body, really) on her brother. She loves him SO much and is constantly “checkin’ on him”, but sometimes she just goes too far. She has finally realized that if she hits, kicks, bites, or does anything else to make her brother cry she might as well put herself in time-out, because that’s what’s coming anyway. At least she loves him, and always has.

Mauri has continued being a full-time mom. Amazing how it’s not just a temporary job, isn’t it? Some days she wishes it was, but that feeling only lasts until one of the kids does or says something that simply melts her heart. And although Mauri has been known to sometimes mention putting her kids up for bid on e-bay, the truth is that she wouldn’t trade a single day (yep, that even includes the poop infested days) for any amount of money or alone time. There truly is nothing like being a mother!!

This year Gary has been enjoying his job at Wells Fargo. After some hard work and determination he managed to work his way from “online banker” up to a “Team Lead”. This new title seems to be much more important and enjoyable for him, but for Mauri and the kids it has only meant one thing, less phone calls home during the work day. We are happy he is working so hard and that Gary is happier in what he is doing. This year Gary also had an epiphany: he is to go back to school and eventually become a high school history teacher and coach. Even though the thought of 3 more years of school is a bit discouraging, we are all very excited for this career change, especially Gary. I mean, who wouldn’t look forward to dealing with overly dramatic, self- centered, invincible teenagers on a daily basis?

And that’s our year, in a nutshell. We hope your 2009 was as exciting and enjoyable as ours. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good 2010!!

Much love,

Gary, Mauri, Kyri, and Graysen

Catching Up On The Past

Gary's Birthday

On Nov 23rd Gary turned 30!! It seems like a big deal, but Gary's not really one to make a big deal about birthdays. Maybe part of that is because half the time is birthday is on Thanksgiving. I didn't plan a surprise party for him or anything, but he did come home from work early, which is always a big deal to me. It was nice to have some extra time with him, especially for the kids since they're normally in bed by time he gets home from work. I decided I would make him a delicious dinner including Crab and Shrimp Bisque, Red Lobster Biscuits, and Cheesecake to top things off. The soup is one of my favorites, so here's the recipe:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1/2 pound medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 1/2 pound pre-cooked crab meat
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

In a large saucepan, melt butter and cook onions over a low heat. When onions are cooked stir in flour, salt, pepper, bouillon granules. Blend 3/4 cup half-and-half cream into the mixture. Mix in shrimp and crab meat. Turn the temperature to medium heat and continue stirring until the mixture thickens.

Blend the remaining half-and-half cream and broth into the mixture. Serve and enjoy! (Serves 2)

recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Shrimp-and-Crab-Bisque-2/Detail.aspx with a few of my own changes

Everything was so easy and, if you ask me, SO delicious! It was a great meal for turning 30! Let me know if you're interested in the recipes for the biscuits and cheesecake.

Happy Birthday to Gary!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we went to my parent's in Pocatello. Unfortunately Gary had to work Thanksgiving Day and the 2 days after, so he wasn't able to come with us. We were so sad he wouldn't be able to join us and enjoy some yummy turkey, so we made him a turkey of his own

I think he loved it :)

It was a fun few days at my parent's. Devin and his family were the only other ones there, so it was pretty quiet, yet lots of fun! Kyri still talks about playing with Brody. We wish we could see them more! The food was delicious, of course, and we made enough for everyone to eat Thanksgiving Dinner every night for weeks! You'd think we were making food for my whole family!! Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures over the weekend. What was I thinking?! But a good time was had by all, even though we missed Daddy-o.

So, there it is. Happy Birthday AND Thanksgiving....until next year.

Growing TOO Fast

I have a LOT of blogging to catch up on (like Gary's b-day and Thanksgiving, etc.), but for now you only get updates on the little ones. My how the time flies! How did they get so big so fast?!?

Well, a lot happened for Graysen all within about a week. Here's what he's been up to:

* he got a nasty cold :(

* he started sitting up on his own

* he starting crawling...well, it's more like an army crawl than a hands and knees crawl, but he sure knows how to get where he wants to go

* he quit sucking his thumb (because when he had a cold he couldn't breathe with his thumb in his mouth, even when he held it in with his other hand....I think I sort of miss the thumb sucking in a small way)

* he started teething (which may explain the cold symptoms), but that tooth still hasn't cut through...it's been a fussy few weeks

* he has a new girly laugh and cry. Yes, girly. It's so high pitched...where did that come from?

* he is starting to figure out how to get to a sitting position from a lying down position and, on occasion, from a sitting position to a standing position (this has only happened when he's been sitting in the laundry basket, but has happened more than once)

* he likes to cry if Kyri even gets into his space...she doesn't need to touch him, just get close and out come the tears. What a baby :)

crawling under the chair to get something he knows he shouldn't have. Notice his look of victory.

up on hands and knees, just to throw himself forward

just TOO cute!

Kyris' been up to a few things as well. Here's an overview:

* she learned how to climb into her brother's crib, but not out. This is not a happy situation for anyone when it's bed time and all I hear from the other room is BOTH kids screaming because she climbed in and sat on Graysen and woke him up and now she's stuck in there!

* she was potty trained for 2 months and now only sometimes uses the potty (she WILL tell me she needs to go and then run to the other room so she can go in her panties)

* she is not very nice to her brother, but sometimes decides it's worth it anyway. She will kick, hit, push, bite him (whatever will make him cry) and then run into her room to put herself in time out

* new names for her brother: Gray Gray (occasionally just Gray) and Baby G

* funny Kyri phrases: "not yet" (especially when I tell her she needs to put clothes on or go potty), "hoo-ray!!!" (she gets VERY excited sometimes), "oh my goodness!!", "umm, maybe" and really, pretty much everything she says brings a smile to my face...

* the other night after she climbed into Graysen's crib and woke him up I also noticed she had messed with the humidifier in her room (which she knows she's not supposed to touch). Her dresser was soaking wet and Graysen was screaming. I put her back in bed and was telling her how angry I was. She was grinning from ear to ear. I said, "Kyri, this is NOT funny! So you better wipe that smile off your face RIGHT now!!!" She slowly took her hand and wiped off her smile. I had to turn away so I wouldn't laugh because I still wanted to be angry about the situation, but how could I be after that? However, she did get back into the crib after that. Seriously! So I went in and gave her some blankets and told her she could sleep in there. Gary's a bit nicer than me, though (or doesn't like listening to her scream), and eventually got her out and put her in bed.

I love when she does her own hair

just checkin out the ads while peepsin

nice outfit! At least her feet won't get cold! And, yes, those are Graysen's feet at the bottom. He always has to be where his sister is...because she's always getting into mischief

and I love it when she does her own make-up...beautiful!

Well, we put up our Christmas decor early! (the first part of Nov) and one night I was making dinner only to realize both my kids were awful quiet. I went into the living room to find this (click to enlarge...it's great):

I said: "Um, what are you guys doing?"

Silence.

Me: "Did you make a mess?

Kyri: "uh huh"

Me: "Were you guys eating it?"

Kyri: "Nope"

Me: (as Graysen is gumming something) "Did Graysen put any in his mouth?"

Kyri: "NO!"

Me: "Did YOU eat any?"

Kyri: "Nope!"

let the tall tales begin....good thing they are SO stinkin cute or I would have them up on e-bay right now!! :) Oh how I love them!!