Once More to Oregon

The weekend after Girl's Camp was the memorial service for James' Grandpa Tom. Some gracious and wonderful neighbors watched the kids for a day so James could leave for Oregon and I didn't have to miss too much fun at camp.

I wish the kids and I could have joined the Archibald family but we just couldn't make it work. James had a great time anyway.

Grandpa Tom

As I alluded in my Christmas post, James' grandpa passed away. He was diagnosed with cancer toward the end of the year so we all gathered together for Christmas. On March 7, less than a week after he found out chemo had not worked, he passed away in his home. We love him and will miss him so much.

Last Stop: BEND

We had a great, relaxing time in Bend. We took a short trip to the river, did some shopping (no sales tax in Oregon), and celebrated Kellen's 20th birthday. Mostly we just hung around the house, and at night the fire pit, talking and catching up.


The trip home from Bend was not so pleasant. Both kids were overly tired but wouldn't sleep, making everyone miserable. At one point I yelled at Zoe, took Tigger away from her, and pretended to throw him out the window. I'm not proud of myself. A trip that should have taken us 10-12 hours took 14.5, getting us home in the middle of the night. Yikes, I am not excited to do that again any time soon. Sorry family.

But it was really great to see everyone. We miss you all so much. Sorry it took so long to getting these pictures up.

Our Oregon Trail

This is the penultimate vacation post - Hooray!

Yes, this post is all about our trip from California to Oregon. It deserves it's own post because:

1. The drive took just as long as expected
2. The kids were the best on this leg of the trip - no puking and only minimal screaming
3. Beautiful scenery
4. In-N-Out (yes, we plan our vacations around these)

So here we go -

First we had to say goodbye to Papa and Grammy K. And of course Lucky.

We stopped in Redding for lunch. It was our third time visiting this In-N-Out and we only had to make one u-turn without having to stop and ask for directions (note: The Redding In-N-Out is hidden really well and we usually have to drive back and forth for quite a while before we eventually give up and ask someone). Yes, we took pictures eating our lunch. Many, many pictures. We are those kind of people.


In Oregon, we stopped at a logging museum. It was the perfect spot to stretch. For the first time I felt like we were on vacation and not just on a trip to see the family.

"Hi Tractor!"

Please Keep Off Equipment

A Rare Family Photo

Next stop - Bend!

Merry Popcorn!

This year, Christmas equaled "popcorn." Not that we ate any, but having white lights on our Christmas tree caused Zoe to call it a "popcorn tree" which then led to her replacing every "Christmas" with popcorn, ie popcorn lights, popcorn presents, popcorn "own-a-mints," and popcorn songs. Christmas was pretty low-key around here. We got ourselves a new tv and a blue-ray player after Thanksgiving. We got Zoe a little kitchen set and Owen a bouncy seat (although that was more for me). Of course the only toy that Zoe got remotely excited about was the $2 Care Bear in her stocking, even though she already has 2 others. Oh well. We stayed in our jammies, watched movies, and had a relaxing day at home. It snowed for the fourth time in a week, leaving us with about a foot and a half of powder all together. We would have loved to be with family, but it was nice not to worry about traveling. Plus it was Owen's first Christmas and our first Christmas in our house.

I didn't get to participate in the 12 Days of Christmas this year, but I did make a giant Christmas To-Do list and every day we tried to do something to get us in the Christmas spirit. Here's what we ended up accomplishing:

Decorating Zoe's Advent calendar from Nursery
Syncing the iPod with Christmas music
Decorating the Blog
Taking the kids' Christmas pictures
Making hot chocolate
Reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Making paper snowflakes
Watching the Christmas Devotional
Checking out Christmas books from the library
Visiting Santa
Getting and decorating the tree
Attending James' work Christmas party
Seeing the lights in Spanish Fork
Making felt snowmen
Watching endless Christmas movies - The Christmas Card, Rudlof, Charlie Brown, Elf, Mr Krueger's Christmas, Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas story
Reading the Christmas Story from the Bible.

To save my sanity, I cut out sending Christmas cards this year. It was a hard decision but I really just had to let it go. 2008 was a crazy but wonderful year filled with new experiences and a few hardships, but we are happy with where we're at and where we're headed with our lives. We wish everyone the best of luck in the new year and hope your Christmas was as happy as ours!

Where the heck have you guys been?

Short answer: None of your business.

More tactful short answer: On vacation.

Long answer: My oldest nephew Bryson got back from his mission in Argentina last week so we drove out to Colorado to see him. We left Friday morning and arrived in Vail in the afternoon, just in time for Dillon (another nephew) to get finished up in the emergency room - he cracked his wrist shortly before our arrival. We settled in and hung out for a while, then took a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain to go tubing. It got pretty late and since Zoe had only slept 1 hour in the car the whole day she had a huge meltdown before finally giving in and falling asleep in my arms.

Saturday we went snowboarding. And when I say "we" I really mean that James went with my brother, 3 of his kids, and Bryson's girlfriend, while my sister-in-law and I hit the outlet mall with the injured nephew. We packed up and left just in time to miss a storm but we still arrived pretty late at my brother's house in Parker.

Sunday was a typical day at church. Actually it was fairly a-typical for us since no one had to wake up early to go to extra meetings or be responsible for ANYTHING all day. It was great. We came home, lounged, and watched movies in the downstairs theater. Yeah, we're spoiled. By this time, Zoe was getting pretty tired. She hadn't had a decent nap for a couple days and we had been keeping her out late. Most Sundays she doesn't nap for more than 45 minutes so I was prepared to skip the nap and put her down early for bed. Just before 4:00 she was getting unbearably grumpy so I decided to try a nap, thinking she'd be up before 5. She slept for 15 hours straight (waking up at 7 the next morning). I kid you not. Poor thing.

Monday we headed to the Denver Aquarium with the injured nephew and his girlfriend. Tons of fun was had by all. Of course that is the only time we actually took pictures. Zoe loved all the fish and there was a tiger which enthralled her. Tuesday was MY day. My sister-in-law treated me to a facial and when I came home she took Zoe out for a walk. That night James and I hit the hot tub and then slept peacefully until 5 am when we pulled up stakes and headed back to Orem.

Zoe tolerated the time in the car fairly well, but was mostly grumpy the whole time we were with my family. She freaked out each time I gave her a bath, which she hasn't done since she fell into the tub fully clothed. The only pleasures she found were in playing with a helium balloon, following the dog around, and sneaking away from mom and dad to climb up and down the hardwood stairs. It freaked me out a little, but I was glad she got some practice in since we are buying and, consequently, moving into a two-story townhouse in Payson at the end of March. WHAT? Stay tuned for more details!

Zoe at 18 Months

Well, Zoe is 18 months old, as of last Sunday. So why is the nursery countdown still, well, counting down? Because Sunday happened to be Stake Conference as well. Grrr. This whole nursery debacle has been so frustrating. I found out a couple weeks ago that a boy only 3 days older than Zoe has been going to nursery for about a month with no complaints from the leaders. I refer you to this rant, I mean post, to see why that is maddening to me.

I waited to post until today because Zoe had her 18-month check up and I wanted to let all the grandmas know how she is faring. She is awesome! Small, but awesome. Her head is now in the 13th percentile, which is higher than ever. She is 31.5 inches tall and weighs in just under 21 pounds. I'm guessing that last number would be better if we could EVER get her to eat dinner. She flat out refuses even her favorite foods at dinner time and freaks out when we put her in the high chair. And if by some miracle she does eat a particular food for dinner she won't eat it twice in a row (i.e. leftovers). We are pretty much at our wit's end with her. So much wasted time and food. But she seems happy (other than when we are trying to feed her) and she has tons of energy and sleeps through the night, so we are more annoyed than worried.

As far as physical and verbal skills go, Zoe is right up to par. Here is a sampling of her "every day" vocabulary (words she says without being prompted):

• Mommy, It's Mommy
• Dada, Dada's here
• Hi
• Tigger
• Ball
• Baby
• Bear
• Doggy Woof Woof
• Moo
• Eat
• Nose, Eyes, Ears, Mouth, Tummy (and identify all)
• Cereal, Crackers, Fish, Cheese, Milk, Water, Toast, Chicken (the only foods she eats are foods she can say)
• Snow, Snowing
• Outside
• Shoes
• More, Please, All Done (and their signs)
• Up
• Toys, Book
• Soft (as in , Zoe, be SOFT)
• Jump (she yells "DUHM DUHM" while she jumps)
  

She also repeats a lot of what we say (everything from "bath time" to "shiny" to"fluoride") so I will refrain from listing all that. She loves to dance, twirl, twist, and especially jump. A couple weeks ago she finally figured out how to get both feet off of the ground at the same time! Before that she just stomped around in a circle. She loves to watch her Baby Einsteins so I can get ready for the day. She loves to go outside, as long as we don't make her walk in the snow. She is so independent and strong willed (that becomes a problem sometimes) but generally mild-tempered and well-behaved. It usually takes us by surprise if she is in a bad mood (apart from the whole dinner time issue). Everyday seems to be more fun than the previous and she learns so much it just amazes me. I just can't believe she is the same little "bean" we brought home a year and a half ago. I know she misses you all and we can't wait to visit as much family as we can this year!

So Apparently, I ROCK!

At Thanksgiving, anyway. Although I'm sure this applies to many other aspects of my life as well. First let me apologize for taking so long to get around to this. We've had company and I haven't been on the computer for nearly a week. But now our house is empty and Zoe is watching a movie so here we go.

James' dad and stepmom got to our house late Wednesday night, just after I'd finished preparing the mashed potatoes. On Thursday, I started cooking at nine in the morning and everything went smoothly from there - Sweet potatoes, turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls (not pictured, they were still in the oven and I forgot I was waiting for them to finish), gravy, and stuffing. I did it all! I was a little nervous to try a few new recipes, especially for Thanksgiving classics that I had never really done before. Everything was all ready right at five, table set and everything. I've been planning everything for weeks so I was really happy that everything went according to plan. It's what I live for!


James said that the sweet potatoes were the best things he had ever tasted in his life. So I guess everything turned out pretty well. I totally kicked some Thanksgiving butt and I can't wait to do it again next year! (if we're finished with all of our leftovers by then). Maybe some day I'll be brave enough to attempt the pies - I DO NOT bake. Just as a rule of thumb. Thank you Coldstone! Pumpkin ice cream pie is awesome.


Sorry to neglect Flashback Friday this week, but we were in Salt Lake all day with the family. We hit Ikea (of course) and then met up with cousin Jessie at the Gateway Mall. You can tell Jessie is great with kids because usually Zoe freaks out about facial hair and she didn't even flinch around Jessie. After wasting as much daylight as we could at the mall, we ventured over to Temple Square where the spectacular Christmas lights were on for the first time of the season. It was crowded and cold, to put it mildly, but we had a great time. Zoe was a trooper and put up very graciously with being bundled, unbundled, and hauled in and out of the car and the stroller.











All in all we had a GREAT time. We played tons of Nintendo and watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy - the extended version of course. Bill and Kathleen left this morning and Zoe cried for 10 minutes after they were gone. She's never done that before so I guess that means she likes them.We love you and miss you already. Can't wait to do it again!

Baby News

My goodness, would you people just chill out? This is about James' uncle and his wife! Congratulations Tom and Joy Archibald!! Lillianna was born about 4 weeks early, but is doing great. I can't wait until I can meet your entire family. Poor Zoe, she is not the baby anymore, although I guess she is still technically the youngest great-grandchild. So only Kenzie's title has been overthrown. Sorry kid. So, James has a cousin who is 31 years younger than he is. Sounds like my kind of family.


In other baby news.... seriously, NO! I'm just wondering where one goes to find a decent baby doll. The only thing I'm looking for is a doll that is not too hideous, has eyes that open and close, an opening in the mouth to stick a bottle/pacifier, and makes NO noise. Everything I've found either talks, giggles, cries, pees, wiggles, sneezes, grows hair, eats, crawls, etc. I want to get Zoe a baby doll for Christmas, but I just can't find what I'm looking for. I would just get her a Cabbage Patch Kid, but the eyes are just stickers and Zoe really likes "playing" (um, gouging) the eyes that move (you know, shut when you lay the doll down). If anyone knows where I can find just a normal doll that is not ugly, please let me know.