Vacation

Merry late Christmas to everyone! We have been having a lot of fun with family and have neglected the blog. We are enjoying the great weather (now that the rain finally let up.)

We spent the beginning of last week with the family and going out to eat at all of our favorite restaurants that we don't have at home. On Christmas Eve we went to the Annual Clark Family Christmas Party (James' Mom's family.) James has some cousins that are the ages of our kids so they had a blast playing with their cousins. It's fun to see how much the kids grow and change when we see them every two years. To end the evening the kids all performed the Christmas Story, MacKayla played the part of Mary and Annika was a sheep. When it was time for baby Jesus to be born MacKayla just opened up her robe and pulled baby Jesus right out, everyone knows that babies just come right out of your belly. The kids did a great job and it was fun to watch.

Christmas morning the kids were spoiled by the grandparents and then we went to their great-grandparents house and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas brunch (one of the things I miss the most when we are not here.) The kids were then spoiled again by their great-grandparents. All told the kids had a blast opening presents and delighting in the joys of Christmas.

Saturday we went to the famous San Diego Zoo. The weather was perfect and the animals were very neat to see. The kids wanted to see an elephant, rhinoceros and a giraffe more than anything, so we saved those for last. We were a little disappointed in some of the biggest and most touted displays as the animals were all sleeping (Hippo Beach, Tiger River and Polar Bear Plunge.) We had a wonderful time seeing everything else though.

I will post pictures and more of our trip later. For my Idaho friends enjoy the snow and cold, today we are going o play outside and enjoy the 70 degree day :)

Great Friends

I was lucky enough to get to go out with some wonderful friends for my birthday. We went out to IHOP for dinner. I love breakfast anytime of day, so this was my choice for a birthday dinner as I wanted breakfast for dinner. Then we went and watched Twilight, and I had a great time. The movie was cheesy, fun, some parts different than expected, but overall a lot of fun.

So thank you to my wonderful friends who made it a great night and thanks to James who bravely took care of all of the kids, even putting Arabella to bed by himself.

We are taking off for the warm weather tomorrow, so I don't know about posting, but I might try to get around to it. So have a very Merry Christmas!

This day in history

1843 - A Christmas Carol is published

1903 - The Wright Brothers had their first flight in Kill Devil Hills, NC (although as most don't know where that is, most just say in Kitty Hawk) .

1953 - A wonderful man, Ed Wammack, was born to Phil and Bea Wammack. He is a great example to his friends and family, and is dearly loved by his children and grandchildren

1980 - La Tisha Monique Moore was born in San Diego CA at 1:01 pm. She was not due for several more weeks, but could not miss out on her first Christmas.

Deal of the week

I love coupons! I almost feel like I am cheating the store when I walk out with four full bags of groceries and only pay $10.29. So today's wonderful trip included getting:

20 bags of vegetable steamers (corn, pees, broccoli, and green beans)
11 cake mixes (I didn't have a coupon for these, but I needed them)
1 box of Cheerios
1 bottle of Cascade
1 tub of yogurt
4 candy bars

What fun!

Annika'a first haircut

Yesterday Annika got her first haircut. Her hair was quite long and we were ready for a change. She was able to give her first donation to Locks of Love, we are proud of her.

Just before we left, showing off how long her hair was

Again showing off her hair

Getting it cut

Her cute new look with the hair that she donated, I will miss those cute curls on the end.

Tamale party

A friend and I are going to be making tamales on Thursday and I was wondering if anyone else wanted to get in on the action. They are a lot of fun to make and they taste great. If you would like to join us to make some let me know and I'll let you know what you need to bring.

Arabella by any other name

Arabella is one cute little kid. She has a happy disposition and is a fun little kid to play with. She loves to laugh and is quick to give you a smile; I especially love the squinty eyed smile that you get when she is very happy.

Just home from the hospital Feb 2008

She is also the child that we have given the most nicknames to, she is never going to know what her real name is. The first and obvious nickname that she picked up was Bella, and that is what we call her the most. The name morphed into Bell, and she loves when dad swings her side to side and says that he is ringing his bell. Bella-boo is another fun one that has stuck. The name that is the funniest and that Annika has latched onto for her is Bellzebub, yes the child who is the best behaved is the one with a nickname reminiscent of the devil.

Overall this is one fun little kid and we are so lucky to have her in our family.

November 2008

A post that must be read

I will be posting the last post of my kids later, but for now I wanted to link to an article that all LDS members should read. James posted it on his blog with the highlights, the actual article can be found here.

The articles are about the "boycott of the Mormons", we are apparently the new "Mormon Question" and quotes are provided for how to deal with us. This type of behavior and mindset scares me to no end. The LDS people have been harassed for years, however, I had thought that we were moving past that in most places. But to see the blind hatred and treatment of our people is a scary thing. I cannot believe that people don't see their actions as the same type enacted by the Nazis in Germany against the Jews.

Take a few minutes, read the articles, and let's talk about ways that we can work on this.

Just Annika

When I try to describe Annika I often have a hard time doing so. The best way to describe her is just Annika. She is a smart, daring, mischievous, cute, funny, sly, whiny, kind, ball of energy. She can be the sweetest kid in the world and then she turns on me and becomes a little terror. Just as soon as you think you have her pegged she goes and changes.

Annika February 2005

Annika loves to help me though (except for clean up). She is the one who always wants to be in the kitchen helping me to cook. She wants to try everything that I am doing and she is proving to be a very good bread maker. I guess part of her love of cooking comes from her love of eating. This kid will eat all day long and everything that she can find if I let her. The only thing that saves her in that regard is that she is always moving and she enjoys good snacks.

I love that she can be a fearless kid, ready to tackle anything that life has in store for her, until an animal comes on the scene. She is terrified of animals in person, she loves them at the zoo and in books, but don't you dare let one near her.

So to sum it up she is...just Annika, and I love her just as she is.

September 2008