Auld Lang Syne

Can 2008 really be gone already?! What a year.
Here is a summary of our "Auld Lang Syne":

January

Sick Days

Lots, and LOTS of colds!! One turning into Pneumonia.

Needless to say, we went through a lot of tissues that month

February

Potty Training 101

Amelia finally made the request to wear big girl pants. I can now say we are FINALLY, MOSTLY, trained. She's good when she wants to be. *sigh*

March
Celebrating Spring

Easter was earlier in the year than normal. We loved going to the temple in our easter dresses and enjoying the beautiful flowers and the beautiful spirit that was there. March was a month filled with feeding ducks, going to the park and zoo and just enjoying the beautiful weather.

April:
Visitors

Aunt Kim and Uncle Jeremy came to visit. We had a lot of fun going to the Botanical Gardens, the zoo, swimming and having a cupcake party with lots of balloons and CUPCAKES!

BirthdayHappy first birthday Lucy

Anniversary Trip

Dallan and I got to leave the kiddo's for a week and enjoy the place of our original honeymoon, Park City Utah. *swoon*

May
More Traveling
Happy 90th Birthday Grandma GG!
The girls and I flew to Boise to be there for the celebration.

While we were there, Lucy practiced her walking, which she got much better at later.

June
Gardening

We grew a garden! Well, we tried anyway. I think we got 12 tomatoes, a handful of zuchinni, and one canteloupe before the squash bugs took over. But we are excited to learn more and our gardening story isn't over yet.

Happy Birthday's
Swimming Lessons
July
Family
Homestead Simper Reunion! Yea, cousins!

After the Simper reunion and a Scouting super activity, Dallan triggered a Baker's Sist to erupt in his knee which left him hobbling around with swollen legs.

After all that, the girls and I went to Utah, AGAIN, so I could attend an oboe conference at BYU.

The girls had lots of fun at the zoo, park, Grandma's house and at the pool.
I was just flat out exhausted!
August
Playing at Home

Amelia and Max learned how to play "doctor". Should we really be letting our kids even start down this road?! It's wrong on so many levels!
It was a peaceful, NON-traveling month at home. Ahh...

September
Happy Birthday, Mostly

It was kind of a dreamy like birthday for me. A fun day with kids and my best friend, and an evening spoiled by my wonderful husband. It was the next day when Dallan lost his job, and thus began the greatest learning experience and greatest trial we have had thus far in our marriage.

October
God's Angels

We took a helpful trip to Holbrook when my parents sent some food storage home with Dallan's folks for us to help in our hard time. I look back in awe and the number of times God placed little angels and tender mercies at our feet when we needed them the most. I thank my Heavenly Father for sending his angels.

November
Thanks Given

We were able to make it to Utah (thank you gas prices) for an early Thanksgiving with my family. We got the best of both worlds spending actual Thanksgiving with the Simpers. We had so much to be thankful for. Especially thankful that an end to our poverty was in sight.

December
Rejoice

Dallan got two jobs, one for the month of December and a permanent job starting in January. We were so greatful, extatic, humbled... I can't even find the perfect word to describe our emotions. We feel truly blessed. I am most greatful for the last three months of this year and the lessons of humility they have brought.

We are greatful for a wonderfully interesting 2008 and look forward to the joys 2009 will bring.
Happy New Year to all our family and friends.
(and to all those who made it to the end of this blog post...)

Remember like a Child

The true meaning of Christmas shall not be lost on the next generation.

Amelia (in orange) visits the baby Jesus.
By Amelia: age 3

We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. I am so thankful for Jesus Christ, especially this time of year as we reflect on his birth. And I think of Mary with great awe. What an amazing woman Mary must have been to be the mother of the Savior of the world. She is a mother I respect and admire with a very fullness of heart. I love that my children show so much desire to learn about their Savior, and I hope I can teach them through my testimony and actions how to become like Him. May the spirit of Christ fill your home's this Christmas season, and throughout the year. Merry Christmas!

Temple all a glow

Isn't it beautiful?

Here is the Simper family wishing you a wonderful Christmas!
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Caroling

We had a very joyous morning of carols performed by my 3 year old in the shower this morning. However I only caught the tail end of the performance on camera. Here's Bedelia rendition of Jingle Bells.

My favorite song she is singing this Christmas, I can't seem to catch on camera, is The Virgin Mary, heard at her Aunt and Uncle's Christmas concert a week ago. She sings:

"The Virgin Mary had a baby boy,
The Virgin Mary had a baby boy,
The Virgin Mary had a baby boy,
and she said his name was Jesus!

He comes from the Lawyer's Kingdom!
He comes from the Lawyer's
He comes from the Lawyer's Kingdom!"

I'll post it if I ever catch it. Its SOOO funny!

Why are you doing this to me, mom?!

Our experience with Santa Claus:Ok, it was mostly a success. Only a few tears shed, no words spoken, except Santa thought it important to talk to me and tell me the girls need visitations more often if they are going to have a joyous and positive experience. I thought, YEAH RIGHT!! I don't care if seeing Santa is a joyous experience! There is just some wierd nostalgia to waiting in long lines to force your children to sit on a strange and somewhat scary looking old man's lap and take their picture. It's like my favorite scene from Christmas Story (I even chuckled watching my children, playing this exact scene in my head) where Ralphie goes to see Santa with his little brother Randy. I laugh every time I see that part! And yet, as we were going home I asked Amelia if she had fun. She commented, "yeah, I really liked seeing Santa." So don't let her face fool you!

How were your Santa visits this year?

Aunt Kim, We Love You!

One of the more significant reasons we made the trip up to Utah before Thanksgiving was to see me sister Kim. She calls Illinois home, so we don't get to see her very often. I've been impressed since the first time Amelia met Kim when she was only 3 months old the closeness that existed between them. We try to take advantage of any chance we get to spend time together. She happened to be going to Provo for work, so although our time was short, it was precious. I love my sister so much. She is my best friend, whom I have always looked up to. It was so fun to spend the weekend together.

Carrot Face

My kids?! Eating carrots?! You saw it here first!

My mom has the most beautiful garden I have ever seen, and you can always find something tasty year-round. The girls wanted to pull some carrots up, and I hesitated because that is one of the foods I am constantly fighting them to eat. But sure enough, they thoroughly enjoyed gnawing on their garden finds and even ate AND SWALLOWED quite a bit of carrot. I was very excited!

And still more to come...

Adventures in Utah

We had the opportunity to visit my family in Utah the week before Thanksgiving. After a grueling 14 hours in the car with two small children, we enjoyed ourselves quite thoroughly.

The kids learned what Autumn and Fall truly were. You see, we don't really get much in the way of season's changing, and the girls had never before played in the same magnitude of fallen leaves as they found in Utah. It was also much colder in Utah than our toasty home in Arizona, and my mom's best friend was thinking of my girls and made them these adorable matching jackets! (Thanks Linda!)

Some days were not as cold as others. I told her before she went out she should put a jacket on, and she informed me she was "brave enough" without. But sure enough, it was a rather pleasant day. Perfect for raking leaves and making leaf-angels.

More to come...