Miracles happen

Our house is under contract!!!  We close on Feb 24th.  We are selling to a family about a block away (the Duffins for those that know them).  YEAH!!!!  Prayers are answered.

Now to find someplace to live in Albuquerque. . . . 

Doll Makover

This last December Karissa bought herself an American Girl Doll with some money from her grandmothers.  Then for Christmas she gave her Target doll, Amanda,  to Alexis.  One problem, Amanda had horrible hair. 

So Brandon's mom said we should just get a wig and replace it.  (She always makes things sound so easy, and they are -- She is fabulous!!!)  So now we have a new Amanda

Doesn't she look stunning!

To see how we did this you can go here.

Time

I should mention that I have taken so long to update since we were getting ready for Christmas and getting our house ready to sell.  It officially went on the market today.  YEAH!?!?!?!??  Anyway, since we are pretty much done, I can now take a breath and relax, at least until someone wants to look at it.

Ten HUT!

Spencer has been having some serious problems with cradle cap, you could call it a "blessing" of having so much hair as a baby and sweating like crazy.  I have tried hydro-cortisone, major scrubbing, bathing more, bathing less, head and shoulders, Aveeno shampoo, etc. and nothing worked.  So we finally took drastic measures.  We shaved his head.

Pretty good looking kid!

I must admit I like my boys with a bit more hair, partially because Andrew has always looked so much better with more hair.  But I was surprised when he looked so good with it short.  I might decide to keep it.  Thankfully, it has been the miracle cure, and his head is almost completely better.  As for Spencer's opinion . . .

He thinks he is pretty handsome!

Christmas Day

We told the kids they weren't allowed out of their bed before 6:00 and they couldn't set an alarm and they couldn't wake each other up.  Miraculously, at about 6:03 all three kids came into our bedroom ready for Christmas.  We chose to pretend they were obedient.  We then read the Book of Mormon Christmas story found in 3 Nephi Chapter 1, and talked a little about it and then went and got Christmas.

Andrew found that Santa had left him a new blanket since he was outgrowing his.

He promptly named it "Wheelie" since it has lots of things with Wheels.

Karissa and Alexis got some doll clothes, a couple from the store and some from me.

What you can't see is that this box holds a lot of doll clothes that are cut out, but not actually sewn.  Ran out of sewing time.  Next weeks project.

Alexis' favorite present was perhaps her crayons and coloring book from her Preschool teacher.

She was so excited as you can see

Spencer was thrilled about Christmas, especially since it was his first.  Santa brought him a new car seat and he also got some books along with a few other things. 

As you can see he loves books!  I must recommend Doggies by Sandra Boynton.  It is so fun!

I got some new pans which was so exciting, especially since I can make candy again.  My previous pans just didn't work for candy.  Brandon got two large Nerf guns, one that is automatic, so him and Andrew spent a lot of time shooting each other.  Brandon also got a .22 so you could call this his "gun" Christmas.  The rest of Christmas for the kids was a little boring since Santa also brought us a Wii.

Which we promptly spent the rest of the day playing.

For breakfast we started a new tradition and made donut balls

YUM!

In the past we have gone to grandparents for Christmas dinner, but since it was the Eames' turn and they were doing their festivities on the 26th we just stayed home.  I cooked a ham, but when it came time to eat we decided we didn't want a fancy dinner so we just ate it with some instant potatoes and snacked and enjoyed just relaxing and spending time together.  It was a perfect Christmas!

Christmas Eve

So it is just about 2 weeks late, but here is our Christmas.  This year we had Brandon's mom come and visit us for Christmas Eve and Christmas.  We just love having her here, we sometimes wish we lived closer, too bad we are moving further.  Anyway, on Christmas Eve we did a "Nativity."  Alexis got to be Mary and Andrew was, of course, Joseph, with Dad being the Donkey.

notice Andrew's "linen sack"

Karissa was the Angel

Got to love the headband "halo" -- Grandma Eames was the Shepherd(s), you can see her leg at the bottom.

And I was the Wise Men (Women???).  It was a lot of fun, and perhaps a little spiritual.  Then the kids got to open their Christmas Pajamas.

Andrew loved that him and Spencer had the same shirts.

Then off to bed we went waiting for Santa to come.

Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times

We have decided to just accept our life as a continuous roller coaster. After climbing the "what should we do with our lives" hill for a year and a half we are now heading in a downward direction -- quite literally. We are moving to Albuquerque (The hardest part of which will be spelling the name of the city, this is how Brandon taught me to remember how to spell it:Al-b(you)-qwer-qweee). Brandon is going to start at Sandia National Labs the beginning of Feburary. We haven't decided when the kids and I will move, whether before or after the house sells, time will tell. While we are sad to leave family and good friends (and close proximity to distant friends' relaatives so we can see them when they visit), we are excited about this new chapter in our lives