St. Patrick's Day

For those who have been following our blog for a few years, you know that we always go to the St. Patrick's Day parade. This year was no different and we had a great time. We got to see the dancers and the pipe bands which are our favorites.

 

Well, Christian and I love hearing the bag pipes. Here is what Jack thought of them:

In the last post, I mentioned that Jack is pretty sensitive to different smells. Well, he is also sensitive to loud noises too. The bag pipes were a little loud :)

There were also a couple of random entries like these Civil War enthusiasts. Not sure how they are connected to St. Patrick. Then there were the Shriners dressed as clowns and riding horses. I don't think I have ever seen a parade without a couple Shriner entries.

 

I love that the kids are old enough to enjoy parades. I don't know why I love them, but I do. Can't wait for the next one.

Funny Faces

Deep Thoughts by Jack Weggeland:

Me: What is fun?

Jack: Well, fun... fun is kind of like an illusion.

I don't think he knows what illusion means, but it sounded pretty deep for a three year old:)

Here are some of Jack's funny faces:

Jack has a crazy sensitive nose. He is quick to tell me when Anna is stinky, or when something doesn't smell right. 

This is his: my Mom is crazy face

Here is Anna's version of a street urchin or little beggar girl. Pretty sad huh? It would be hard to resist those big blue eyes. Maybe if there is a local production of Oliver Twist we can take her in for an audition.

Next is a classic Anna stink face :)

And finally happy Anna

We are here! We are here!

It has been way too long since we posted last. I wish we had some exciting activities or events that we could report on, but nope! We have spent a pretty quiet winter at our home. The kids are growing fast and have started to enjoy playing together. We bought a new camera this weekend and that inspired us to take some pictures, even if they aren't that exciting. Hopefully we will get some nicer weather and can go on some family trips this Spring. Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids:

Anna has had a problem staying on her feet lately. She has two matching bruises on her forehead from bonking her head on our back door. She spent a lot of time with an ice pack on her forehead this weekend:)

Jack is almost 4 and it is hard to believe. He is such a fun boy and is turning in to a great big brother. He cracks us up a lot and keeps us on our toes for sure!

Anna would spend all day in a princess costume if we would let her!

Fun at Home

Anna went almost a week living in a house full of sickies without getting it herself, but last Thursday she started coughing and we all knew what that meant. So we have spent a little more time at home, trying to help her get better and not to go crazy with cabin fever at the same time. Here is how we have spent our time:

Anna felt so bad that she didn't want me to put her down for days. My arms got tired and so I decided to see if her old wrap still worked. It did, and she was in heaven. Can't get much closer to Momma than that.

We've had lots of snow and Jack wanted his own shovel to help his Dad. Who's going to argue when their child begs to do cleaning?

My friend has a daily schedule for her kids and I have wanted to start one for a while. I figured the new year was a great time to introduce it to the kids. One of my favorite parts of the day is quiet time. Anna decided on this day that quiet time meant nap time. I didn't mind :)

This was before she got sick but we forgot to post it

Jack thought he was ready to go outside but I think he forgot a few things.

The other day we caught Anna talking to her Uncle Mikie in a picture. She finds pictures of him throughout the house and just has conversations with him. It's pretty funny so we tried to get one on camera. The picture she is talking to here is our from our wedding. Boy is going to be excited to see him and Li-Sha this weekend.

Once he felt better, Jack had lots of energy but not a lot of ways to get it out. He gave himself a pretty good workout doing some Avatar bending moves. They all kind of look the same, except for earth bending, but I love his enthusiasm.

Quarantined at Christmas Time

The beginning of last week was full of holiday fun. Here are the kids dressed up for church. My mother-in-law, Lisa, made Anna's adorable dress and Jack's matching tie. Super cute!

:
 On Wednesday, we met Christian after work and went to see the lights on Temple Square. It was crowded and cold, like always, but was really pretty and the kids enjoyed it. I had the brilliant idea of eating in a cafe next door to Temple Square to save time and enjoy the atmosphere. Everyone else had the same idea too:)

On the way home from seeing the lights, Jack started to cough a little. He woke up the next day with a fever and a full blown nasty cough. This is the point where our holiday plans started to change. On Thursday night, we stayed home and watched Toy Story 3. We brought down tons of blankets and pillows to the living room and just snuggled up. It was the first time any of us had seen the movie and we loved it.  On Friday, we had plans to go spend Christmas Eve with family, but decided not to go in case we would get them sick.  We did end up going to see Tangled that afternoon, since I guess it is okay to get strangers sick but not family. It was Jack's first time seeing a movie in a theater and it blew his mind. Anna was tired and was ready to go about half way through, but I just stood with her over in the entrance and that seemed to work. We all really enjoyed it and I can't wait until it comes out on DVD.  Later that evening, we put carrots out for the reindeer in the wooden shoes, and made some cookies for Santa. The kids went to bed early and so did Santa and his helper.

Christmas morning was really nice. The kids were excited and had a lot of fun opening presents. Here are some videos of the kids opening stuff: 

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Christian and I were both sick at this point and we didn't feel well enough to make Christmas dinner, so we went to Ihop and let them cook for us:) We finally had Christmas dinner on Monday evening with our friend Mila. It was really nice to celebrate with good food, even if it was a few days late.

All in all, it was a quiet Christmas, but really nice. We enjoyed our time together and in some ways, I am grateful that we were forced to take a time out and stay home. It made us appreciate each other and also, made us remember how much we love and missed our other family. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that your New Years is just as merry!

The Festival of Trees

Today, the kids and I went to the Festival of Trees, which is a fundraiser for Primary Children's Medical Center. For the last 40 years, people have created amazing trees, gingerbread houses, wreaths, and other holiday items which they donate to this festival. Each item is then sold, with the proceeds going to Primary Children's. I had never been to the festival before, but many of my friends consider it a holiday tradition. We had a really wonderful time. There was good music and good food. Jack and Anna had a blast looking at all of the different trees. They are all decorated with a theme in mind and many are created as memorials for a family member.  I'll be honest, I choked up a little bit walking through the trees. There were pictures of fathers, mothers, grandparents, and many children set around trees that held favorite items from that person. There were candy trees, sports trees, cartoon character trees, and many trees decorated with angels. What a special way to remember a loved one and also help a wonderful hospital at the same time.  There were a few trees which had not been purchased yet, and that broke my heart a little too, especially when they were memorial trees. I am sure those families will wonder why now one bought their tree. Hopefully they will all be bought by the end of the week. Anyway, here are some pictures from our day.

Checking out the candy amusement park. I think he was drooling a little:)

 Up close view of candy land

 Fishing in the kids play area

 Two crazy reindeer

 This set of trees was amazing! Those are blue trees, filled with fish, that are bent to look like a wave for Santa to surf on. Wish I could have gotten a better angle but it was pretty popular.

Birthday Video

Here is a quick video of Anna trying to blow out her candles. She needed a little help or we would have been there all day.

Anna is a pretty chatty two year old. She has no problem letting you know exactly how she feels. Lately, her go-to phrase is "Where my" with the emphasis on the word my. Here are some of my favorites:

"Where MY Ipod"

 "Where MY phone?"

"Where MY (Insert anything you pull out of the fridge or pantry)?"

"Where MY feelings?"

She is a sweet little thing and we love her. It has been a fun two years with her in our home!

Some Happy Holidays Around Here

We had a really wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Christian's parents and sister, Carly, flew out to spend the week with us here in Utah. Despite the chilly and snowy weather, we ate at some great restaurants, went to Harry Potter, and did some serious holiday shopping. For Thanksgiving, we got together at Grandma and Grandpa Weggeland's for a big family dinner. Grandma Hancock was there as well. The food was wonderful and we had a really nice time catching up with family.

 This is Christian, Carly, and some of the Weggeland cousins. If the one in the middle looks a little stiff, it's because it is a cardboard cut out of cousin Nate, who is currently in Brazil on a mission for our church. It's his first Thanksgivng away from home and so they wanted him to know they were thinking of him :)

 The kids love to play on Grandma Weggeland's baby grand piano. Aunt Carly showed them some of her piano skills and they were very impressed. 

We also celebrated Anna's birthday this week. She turned two, which is crazy!

I forgot to get the forks out, but the kids didn't mind.

 

The day after Thanksgiving we got busy putting up the Christmas decorations! The house looks very festive and I am very happy. The kids had a great time trying to help as we set up the tree. Here they are looking in the box for more pieces of tree.

My Grandma

   This is my Grandma, Dorothy "Dot" Joslyn. She was born on July 5, 1917 and was married to my Grandpa for 67 years. Together they raised a family of four girls, farmed, made maple sugar, and went on wonderful vacations in their retirement.  She was also had her own career as a high school Home Economics teacher for over 30 years. In fact, my Mom ended up in one of her classes, since she taught at the only high school in their town.  

   Grandma was sweet and gentle and gave great hugs. She had a sparkle in her eye and this cute little Maine accent. She would say things "come hee-ya" instead of come here, and "bay-yuh" instead of bear. She loved being from Maine and would call herself a "Mainiac" and giggle. Her home always felt warm and cozy and smelled great.  I loved her food, especially the vegetables that were fresh from their garden. She taught my Mom important cooking tips, like making good pie crust and how to plan a good colorful meal, which my Mom passed down to my sister and me. 

   Looking back, there are a lot of things I wish I had had the chance to ask my Grandma. I wish I had sat down and asked about her childhood, how she met my Grandpa, and what my Mom was like as a child. When I was a kid, I never cared about those things, I just loved exploring her home and eating her food. As an adult, I realize there is so much I wish I had known about her and her life. I guess I am realizing that we shouldn't waste the time we have with our family. But even with those regrets, I do feel so very lucky for the things I do know about her and for the lessons she taught me. She was an incredible example of love and patience.

  Sorry if this got a bit long. I couldn't sleep and she was on my mind a lot. Just missing her a bit and wishing I could be back in Vermont to say goodbye. She really was the best of Grandmas.