Megan's Bargains

My sister-in-law just started this awesome new blog.
Go check it out.

Idol

Best moment from last night:

"Let My People Go"

Happiness is...

- A completely stocked and organized food pantry.
- My kindergartener off to her first day at her new school.
- A freshly bathed, clean baby whose first tooth finally broke through.
- My husband finally having a car again (read this post for why he didn't have a car).
- Having nowhere to go today.
- Blinds in my bedroom.
- An organized playroom(minus all of the books David happily covered the floor with)
- Renters in our Murrieta house(thank you Chris and Vinnie!)
- Taking a shower with soft water (I can finally brush through my hair!)
- American Idol tonight!!! WOOHOO!!!
- Being home

December in a nutshell

With all of the crazy moving I haven't had a chance to post much about our month of December. So here's a (not really)quick picture/video recap:


Our sweet David is 10 months old! He's crawling everywhere, waving "Hi!", opening cupboards, and doing just about anything he can to make us laugh. He is still the most calm and happy baby I have ever seen. I finally cut his mullet right after Christmas and trimmed the sides of his hair. He still needs a trim on top, but I did the most I could before he got anxious to get away from me. Here is a before pic(I don't have an after yet): This picture was too cute to pass up. David was so proud of himself for emptying the toilet paper roll. I know all babies do this at some point, and I'm sure it will annoy me eventually, but how can you not smile at this?

One night while I was at out, and Ian was in charge, David found the girls' dinner plates and had an absolute blast devouring their food(and this was after he had finished his own dinner). Happy boy!

Mckenna was sad to say goodbye to her ballet teacher, Miss Cassie. She loved dance(even though she always spent the first half of it being shy and doing nothing) and can't wait to find a new teacher in AZ. She loves our new house and is always asking to put her shoes on so she can go outside and play. Also...she finally learned her colors!!! I honestly thought for the longest time that she must be colorblind, but she finally learned them and loves telling everyone what color everything is.

Emma had her kindergarten Christmas song presentation that was so super cute. I took videos of every song, but this one entertained me the most - especially her saying "Rudolph" before everyone else, and her great facial expressions.

And here is the sweetest picture of Emma and her Cali girlfriends, Emma and Hailey. She already misses them! This pic was taken the day before we left for AZ, on their last play-date and also the last day of school before the winter break. This picture also happens to be the last picture we have of her with long hair...more pictures to come as soon as I find my camera. She misses California, but has quickly adjusted to our new home. I think the new Christmas presents helped. All day she sits at the dinner table playing with her new Polly pockets or feeding her new baby doll.

Ian got in a minor car accident that did major damage to his Ford Focus. He rear-ended a truck and just slid right under the truck, tearing up the engine. So we sadly said goodbye to our first car together. Ian and Emma were in a Christmas play put on by our stake at church. It was amazing! They practiced for months and performed 6 times over 4 days. They filled the building with attendants and did a great job. It was crazy and stressful and Emma didn't get nearly enough sleep, but I am so glad that they were able to be a part of something so inspiring during a season that celebrates the birth of our Savior. Ian had 3 parts: Nephi(a prophet from ancient America), the innkeeper, and he sang in the angels' chorus. Emma was a dancing star in the star ballet, and so cute. Here's Emma getting ready:

Auntie Chris and Uncle Vinnie with Emma after the play:
The "Star" and Nephi:

Emm and Jed(in the middle of Emma attacking Jed with kisses)

Aunt Shannie and Emma:

Emma and "Joseph," with the real baby lamb(who's name was Mary) from the play: I think this is the only time in our lives where Ian has more makeup on than me(let's hope so).
Here are the video clips from the play. The first two are Ian in the opening scene. The second is Emma and her ballet(so cute!). We were in the first row so she kept smiling at us. The last is the finale and if you look to the left side near the end, you'll see Emma spinning on the stage.


(there's a third video that I keep trying to post here but I think it's took big of a file... I'll keep trying.)

Quote of the day

Emma: "I don't like geting learned."


(context: talking about what cable package to get, one of them had The Learning Channel and Emma didn't want that channel because she doesn't "like getting learned.")

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I'm back!!! And hopefully for good... Let's just pray that there are no more surprises or business going on in this house.

We are officially Zonies now!!(Arizonans) We loaded up the Uhaul on the Thursday before Christmas and drove to Arizona, arriving late Thursday night(or early Friday morning). We were supposed to sign the paperwork for our new house on Friday morning and close escrow and get our keys before the day was over but there was a (lame) holdup in the paperwork. The sales agent was nice enough to let us unload our truck into the garage so we didn't have to pay for it over the weekend. We unloaded a few things on Friday night and then Ian and James unloaded the rest on Saturday. We spent the weekend with Ian's sister, Megan, and her family and finally signed the paperwork and got our keys on Monday morning(Christmas Eve). We moved our stuff into the house and then went back to Megan and James' house for Christmas Eve and morning. As soon as we were done opening presents and eating breakfast we packed up and came back to our new house, anxious to unpack.

So, here we are in our beautiful new home! I christened our house yesterday by making chocolate chip cookies, so it's officially a home now.We've met some of our neighbors(and even had dinner with one family) and very much enjoy the neighborhood. Our dog even escaped and met even more of our neighbors.

We hope all of our Californian friends will feel welcome to visit and stay with us because we miss you already. And if anyone else wants to visit and you're not a Californian, we're accepting applications. ;) I hope the new year brings blessings and joy to all of our family and friends! Happy New Year!!!

Mckenna-isms & Sunday Ramblings

Today while we were driving home from tithing settlement, Ian and I were talking about how sad we are to be leaving such a great ward with such an amazing new bishop. Emma joined in the conversation with, "Mommy I'm sad we have to move." As I was starting to ask why she was sad, Mckenna interrupted with, "Mom! I'm happy to go to our new house!!" And it was said with such pure and happy gusto that Ian and I both just loved it. Emma was sad about something and Mckenna looked for the positive in the situation. She didn't say it the way the girls sometimes talk back and forth - in a bit of a competitive way, she was just genuinely trying to make us all happy. She is definately the middle child - the peacemaker.

So continuing our conversation, Emma was sad for the same reasons we are. She is going to miss all of the amazing friends we have made in this great area and especially our ward. Ian was released as Young Men's president today and Bishop told the ward when he released him that it was because we were moving from Arizona. So, for the rest of church so many people came up to us and told us how sad they are that we are moving and how much we'll be missed. It was nice to feel wanted but it made me even more sad to leave.

When we came home, hot cocoa sounded yummy so we blasted the Christmas music and had hot cocoa and cake. Ian and I both agreed that we need to do things like that more often. It's been so long since we just hung out as a family. We try to eat dinner at the table every night, but it's always so stressful with kids who don't want to eat, or David who wants to eat and isn't getting what he wants fast enough, or spilled food, or slow eaters. It was nice to just sit at the table and talk and eat and have fun. After, Ian danced with Mckenna for a little while and I was going to video it but I think I lost my memory card.

Last ramble(I promise!): Now that we know where we're moving and pretty much know when, things are a lot less stressful. I still have a busy husband(although he skipped out on choir practice and play practice tonight - which is unheard of!), but at least I know there's an end in sight. I was so grateful to go to church today and hear my sweet primary singers bring the Spirit of Christmas back to my crazy life. This is such a beautiful time of year and with all that's been going on(and my lack of Christmas decorations) it's been easy to forget the sweetness of the holiday time. Christmas is made so much sweeter by my kids and their perspective. And this is always one of those times that I realize the impact the Gospel has had on my life and how grateful I am for the Atonement of the Savior. The experiences in my life have left me without a single doubt that He is real. He lived, He died, and He did it for me. He loves me and knows me. He knows what it feels like to hurt, and is aching to comfort us if we only turn to Him. The best way to explain it is that since losing my parents I automatically feel a connection to anyone else who has lost a loved one. I yearn to comfort them and take away their pain because I know how much it hurts. And that's how the Savior feels for us. He lived on earth, he suffered more than we can comprehend. Because of his pain, he not only can comfort us, but yearns to. All we must do is turn to him and let him embrace us, wipe away our tears and give us strength to keep going. And that is the end of my Sunday ramblings. :)

Purpose

Saw this on Heidi's blog, had to share:

Subject: Radio caller

You will DEFINITELY want to hear this. Click on "about the video" if you want to read more about it.
A remarkable phone call from a 13-yr old boy to Houston radiostation KSBJ FM 89.3. So profound, the station has it posted
on their website. Click below to listen to it. It's short.

Click here.

Our new house!!!

Deleted...in case there are crazy blog stalkers in our midst!

It's Official!!

The past 36 hours have been insane! Yesterday morning we got the call that Ian is to start January first or as soon before that as possible in Phoenix. So after making a few calls, going to the obligatory dance classes, we packed up and drove to Arizona to shop for houses. We got in to Megan Bennett's at 4 o'clock in the morning, slept for a few hours, played a little with the Bennett's and then set off to shop. I will post many more details later but we're pretty sure we've settled on a home. We're going to wait it out a day and then go back on Monday and finalize things. We had decided on one for sure but then realized we were a couple of doofuses because it only had 3 bedrooms upstairs and not the 4 like we had originally thought. And I was SO bummed because I loved that home. But the one we're thinking about now is a little closer to Megan and James and a little closer to Phoenix, so that's a plus. Anyway, I'm exhausted, more to come!

Also, thank you all so much for your calls and sweet emails. This past week was (0bviously) a trying one for me but it helped so much to feel so loved. Thank you!!