Creative Cakes

Trenton's friend, Jared, came over to play one morning when I needed to work on the cake for Mikelle's baby shower. I had enough extra batter to make this snowman cake that they decorated with Valentines sprinkles.

This is the finished monkey cake for the shower (the blurred edges are to hide the mess I make when I bake) :-)

Look who's getting BIG!

Tessa is now big enough to use the bumbo seat!

I realize her hair looks really red in this pic, but that is mostly due to the lighting...still, there is some fire in there!

Fun with Family!

Amber is great at playing with Trenton. I think they are playing walkie-talkies, here.
I thought Grandma and Tessa both looked so "pretty in purple." She's wearing the Winnie the Pooh dress that Grandma gave her.

Ice, Ice, Baby!

(I must have early 90's songs going through my head today!)

Did you know that Prescott Valley has its own minor league ice hockey team? Neither did I but it has become quite the big deal in the area. So we all went to check out a game. It was lots of fun except for the guy behind us who was teaching Kira all kinds of new vocabulary words, and the woman behind us whose whistle is unlike any other sound I've ever heard a human make (and my ensuing headache!).

As a parent I have to wonder about the disciplinary techniques used by the refs. Putting those guys in time-out (penalty box) sure didn't seem to dissuade them from fighting more. :-)


Trenton hanging with Uncle Jared

Things that make you go...VROOM!

While we were staying in Prescott, Barry's parents rented a backhoe and enlisted the help of their sons in clearing out a large section of their property. Of course, Trenton had to help, too! When he wasn't helping, he enjoyed riding on the 4-wheelers, with our friends, the Goringers.

First Christmas

Cool Christmas Presents

Here are the hooded towels my mom and I made after Tessa's birth. I designed and she sewed--I think we make a good team!


Here they are being put to use.

Some of the neatest presents we could have recieved came from Barry's parents. They gave each child their own 72-hr. kit in these fun personalized backpacks. It is so great to have these and be able to check that off of our list! Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa!

Christmas Morning!

Coming downstairs...

Santa's been here...
who are all of these for?

Please can we open our presents now?

The kids actually let us get a good night's sleep and were quite patient about the present opening. When Trenton made it down stairs he immediately reached for a present. He was reprimanded and told it wasn't time yet, to which he quickly replied,"I was just fixing the bow!"

Sure you were, Trenton!

Christmas Jammies!

Every year my mom nearly kills herself (this year she drove a sewing needle through her finger) making Pajamas for all of her grandchildren to open on Christmas Eve. Kira loved her turquoise nightgown (her favorite color), but as you can see...Trenton wasn't at all excited about his Star Wars Jammies! :-)

Christmas Outings in Prescott

Prescott is known as Arizona's Christmas City. This may come from being one of the few places where it is cold enough to feel like Christmas, but beyond that, there are many fun activities to do in the area. On Christmas Eve we visited the Gingerbread House display at the Prescott Resort, went to see an awesome train/Christmas village display at a friend's house, and drove through the "Valley of Lights" in Prescott Valley.

Sleeping with Tessa

My little girl apparently has the power to make those near her very sleepy. Resting with Tessa was a favorite activity over Christmas in Prescott.

Barry "had a ball" for his birthday!

Lots of them, actually. I sent him on a paintball adventure this year on his b-day. I had some of his buddies (thanks, Adam!) kidnap him early in the morning and take him out to the paintball field. (They kept threatening him that they would shoot him 32 times for his b-day).

It was great fun to surprise Barry just a little with this, mainly because it drove him crazy to not be able to be perfectly prepared in advance!

The kids and I drove out to surprise him at lunchtime with the three-layer "Motherload" cake from Claimjumper. The kids had fun throwing around the old paintballs and Trenton loved getting to practice shooting the gun. He will be a formidible opponent in a few years!

Later that night, Barry and I went to My Big Fat Greek Restaurant for a yummy dinner. Barry was a bit beat- up after his adventures, but he says that's part of the fun.

Invisible

One quick post and then I promise I will catch-up from Christmas and all before January is over! My friend Neera forwarded this to me, and it really resonated with me today (probably because Barry is out of town again and I can start to feel picked upon when that happens).

I am invisible. It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please." I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She's going ... she's going .... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean.. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, " I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees." In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit..

* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees." I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become." At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there." As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

author unknown

Colon Cancer

This morning, a friend of ours, Tony Mortimer, passed away from colon cancer. Tony was a great guy and so talented! He gave Barry some guitar lessons and lots of pointers about what guitar to buy. It was less than a month ago, I saw him perform at the Stake music fireside, looking well and sounding extremely well. He leaves behind a wife and five kids. Our hearts ache for them tonight, and we are sad that we won't have the opportunity to associate with Tony any more in this life.

Ironically, last Thursday, Barry's Grandad had surgery to remove several tumors (one softball sized) from his colon, and it has been confirmed that they were malignant. Though the surgery went well, the word we are getting from his doctors is that this cancer may have spread more than we initially had thought. We are waiting for a visit from an oncologist to get a better idea of what is going on at this point.

In the meantime, the Mortimer family and Grandad could use some extra prayers.

ANNOUNCING...

...the engagement of Trenton to the lovely Emmie Glazebrook.

While I am pleased with his choice (nothing wrong with an older woman), I must admit I have my doubts about the solvency of the engagement for the following reasons:

1) When Kira was this age, she became engaged to Sam Porter, and now the two of them rarely speak.

2) In the same week of his engagement, Trenton was also heard discussing the possibility of marrying Tessa...and Kira.

3) When Emmie accepted Trenton's proposal, she was wearing a veil and may have just needed a groom as an accessory.


But don't they make a cute couple?!?

An Argentine Christmas

My Utah family has a tradition of having an international Christmas party every year. They research the Christmas traditions of different countries and celebrate them as they would in that country. This year was Argentina, and we were lucky enough to be there for the party. My dad, and brother-in-law, Sam, shared stories from their missions, we ate Argentine food and drink--although I'm not sure anyone but Sam had the mate (mah-tay).

Kira and Trenton are finding the goodies left in their shoes (instead of stockings).

Here Trenton is demonstrating the tradition of shooting random gunfire in the air at midnight. (Actually, he just wanted to play with the gun, be we discussed that that really is the traditon in much of Latin America and people die from it all the time).

Trina made these cool leather ornaments to commemorate the event.

Christmas Cousins

While we were in Utah, Tessa got to meet some of her cousins for the first time...

Tessa & Talia Hickman (Shanda's daughter) in their Christmas dresses. (Talia wouldn't let her mom put her bow back in her hair).

Kasen Brown (Marenda' son--5 mos.) Talia (9 mos.), and Tessa (almost 2 mos.) at the Argentine Christmas party.

T 'n T in their Christmas jammies by Lita, with Lita.

How many crying children can you fit in one bench of a car?

The way to travel

On our trip to Utah for Grandma's party, Trenton waited until we got off the freeway at Hurricane to fall asleep. He stayed asleep as we unloaded all of our stuff at the hotel. Finally Grandma had to go, so she took Trenton (carseat and all) and loaded him onto the cart. We wheeled him to the room, where he slept contentedly at least another 15mins.

Happy 2008!

For months now, I have been saying, "I will do that in January," or "I will think about that in January." So now it is January and I'm realizing that I have a bit too much of "that" to do. We spent Christmas and New Years in Prescott and haven't been able to recover from the holidays, unpack, or get on any kind of schedule, yet, so I am having to wait on some things, like all of the posts I have been planning (and maybe even a second blog). I'm just realizing that I have to factor in 3 kids now so my to do lists are usually far more ambitious than I can get done in a day. (sigh)

Anyhow, Happy New Year! Hope your holidays were great and that you are feeling renewed and invigorated in 2008!

Year End Summaries--2007

Kira is 6 going on 36. She LOVES to read and write things in notebooks. She likes singing and doing crafty projects with Mom. We are trying to convince her that it is OK to be a little girl for now, instead of a grown-up.

Trenton is 3 1/2 years old and is all BOY! I think he is Curious George incarnate, because he must touch (and often break) everything! He has boundless energy and an infectious laugh! He makes friends with everyone he sees. Lately everything with him is spaceships and rockets. He wants to be a firefighter/astronaut/policeman/daddy when he grows up.

Tessa is a happy but determined baby. She joined our family last October. She is following in the footsteps of her brother and sister by growing up extremely fast and loving attention from people. She brings so much joy to our family!