Valentine's Day

Since we had just spent a bunch of money in California days before, we decided to have a low key Valentine's with some of my family. Nathan actually ate some spaghetti!! Then we watched Heidi's graduation video, Heather & Dan's wedding video, footage from our wedding day, footage from my parent's wedding day and then to complete our viewing, Death Day Presidents. (A video that Heidi, Matt, Amy and a couple of their friends did - it is HILARIOUS!! - Okay maybe just to us. I'll see if I can post it.....)

Nathan is all about feeding himself. Yes, he makes a huge mess.

He is a picky picky kid.

Christian

Karen

Christian and I when we were dating - we are babies!!

This is the only way Nathan would pose in his shirt. He's sitting in a Tonka Dump Truck.

To sum it up, I love Nathan and I love Christian!!


The Luckiest:

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your handsome face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties
And one day passed away in his sleep
And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong
That I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

Slide Show from Disneyland!

EARTHQUAKE!!

I totally felt it this morning! I was sitting in bed and felt the bed shake a little, and I thought that maybe it was a big truck. Then it kept shaking and then it shook a lot. I then thought there was a killer under my bed!! (I know - my imagination runs a little wild.) So I jumped up and realized it was probably an earthquake and stood in my doorway. Then my dresser started shaking and then it was over! It lasted a lot longer than I thought earthquakes normally do - like more than 10 seconds. Thank goodness we only got the little ripple from it, not the big shake - we were very lucky!!

A Sure Sign of Spring

Okay, I know I'm grabbing for straws, but today there was a fly buzzing around my desk at work. At first I was totally annoyed, then I thought, WAIT A SECOND! LIVE INSECTS!! A sure sign that warmer weather is on its way! Nevermind that the weatherman is calling for more snow today and this weekend; nothing can convince me otherwise - SPRING IS COMING!!!

Slide Show from Disneyland

DISNEYLAND 2008

So, as many of you know, we went to Disneyland! February 1st through the 10th. It was so much fun!! Of course, we have to mention that Nathan was not the happiest little travel companion - he bit through his sipper cup, and dumped the apple juice all the way down himself, which we didn't notice for a long time, so he got a rash on his tummy. Later, he wouldn't stop crying, and then he threw up. Good times in the car!!
When we finally arrived in Cali, Nathan suddenly got a cold - oh what fun! Nathan would go to bed at a normal time, then wake up somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 and want to play - or just cry. We were sharing a room with the Doney fam (my sister, Heather), so we didn't want to wake everyone up, so we hid out in the bathroom until 6:30 - that's when the Continental Breakfast opened - and then we'd hang out there until at least 7. He did this almost every morning. Needless to say, we were rather tired, but who cares?!! There was fun to be had at Disneyland!

Some highlights -

My Dad took all the boys to Medieval Times. They had fun, but wanted more food!

My Mom took all the girls on the Walk in Walt's Footstep's Tour. We loved it! Wendy, our tour guide was so awesome! If you ever want some really cool insight on Disneyland and Walt Disney, I highly recommend this tour.

My nieces and nephews, Kelly, Bentley, Jarom and Zane all were chosen to participate in the Jedi Training.

We met up with my friend, Ginger and her family for dinner and some good times!

My brother Matt and his wife Lauren spent some time with us.

We went to the Princess Fantasy Fair - so cute!

Yes, in most of Nathan's pictures, he is crying. How dare we put him down?!?!?!? Oh well, he hasn't quite been properly trained yet. He did love Goofy's house. After being there about 20 minutes, he finally got down off my lap and crawled around. He then became the bully of the watermelon crawl-through. He kept crawling from one end to the other and not let any other kids inside. Then inside Goofy's house, he discovered the piano and would push other kids' hands away when they tried to play too. Little terror!

The absolute best is the footage of Christian with Nathan on his shoulders, "bumping" into stuff. Nathan is laughing his head off! So cute! We can't wait to go again!

Our New Prophet!

I love President Hinckley. I must admit when he was first made prophet - I was like, Hinckley who? I was all about President Monson. Through the years, I have come to appreciate him so much and I will miss him at the pulpit at Conference and other times. His cute little cane and sly sense of humor - I'm sad we won't see any more of him in this life.

I don't know why I've always had such a soft spot in my heart for President Monson, maybe it's his smooth, calming voice or his tall unintimidating stature, I don't know. Our family has had a couple of brushes with him -

My Oma (German Grandma) got sick and went into a coma, we thought we would lose her. Her stuborn german genes eventually won out and she came back to us! While at the hospital, 2 of my aunts saw President Monson get off the elevator on my Oma's floor. He walked down a hallway and not too much longer, came back. He was about to get back on the elevator, when one of my aunts summoned the courage to ask him if he would see my Oma. My Oma loves President Monson. He's done a lot of Church work in Germany and tells a lot of German stories and visits the German Ward occasionally. President Monson agreed and came to my Oma's room. He also gave her a blessing. She told him the story of her conversion to the LDS Church. Just before he left he said he had come to visit a friend, but when he arrived to his room, he found out his friend had already left. He realized now that he actually was supposed to meet my Oma that day. I really believe that his visit boosted her spirits and helped her to recover.

The next time President Monson touched my life, I met him in the flesh! My Grandpa Skousen passed away in January of 2006. My Grandpa being who he was, A member of the first presidency was asked to speak and President Monson came! I shook his hand as he came into the viewing. Later, he pulled my husband, Christian, my brother-in-law, Chad and I can't remember who else (I think one of the Funeral director guys) and he said to them, "You know what they say about men with dimples in their chins?" (All of them have one, including President Monson.) "They are good looking men."

Hahaha - I can't wait to hear his counsel as he takes on the mantle of our prophet!!