Christmas Scenes

Legos. Trains. Cute Stockings From Nate's Aunt Diane. Animal Crackers. Air Compressors. Juicers. Teething Biscuits. Hunger Games. Tonka Trucks. Christmas Lights. Excitement. Pajamas. Diapers. Polenta Pizza (Yuck!). Family Time. Lego Train Ramps. Love.

Happy Christmas

"Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us,
that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance.
It may weave a spell of nostalgia.
Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer,
but always it will be a day of remembrance -
a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved."
-Augusta E. Rundel

As our family prepares for Christmas, our hearts have been filled with gratitude and love. Gratitude towards our Savior and His life. Gratitude for answered prayers. Gratitude for the atonement.

With our most recent decision to sell our chiropractic business and pursue PhD school, we are filled with love and gratitude for our many family members and friends who have supported our dream. The year 2010 allowed us to recognize and acknowledge our dream to own and maintain a successful business, and we will forever be grateful for the blessings the business has brought into our lives.

Looking ahead, we are not quite sure where 2011 will take us... but regardless of where that path may be we are grateful for each of you. As we celebrate Christmas this year, we will think of our blessings and the things we love in our lives. We love you and wish you a very Happy Christmas!

Some of the best presents fit in the back of a dump truck...

What do an Altoids box and sock have in common?

Growing up, Nate was known as the boy with all the jokes... I mean all the jokes. Everyone would gather around as he told tales of frogs in blenders and elephants in refrigerators. He could go on for hours, and I am pretty sure he did.

Desperately wanting to impress this brown-eyed hottie, I started my own joke collection. I purchased multiple packages of the sticky Laffy Taffy candy to only discard the sweets and keep the jokes. Pretty soon, I had my own joke collection that won the heart of my curly haired jokester.


Caleb has this thing for toys. We can not leave the house without a favorite toy (or two) in hand. All too often, Caleb becomes frustrated with his two small hands and their inability to carry fifty toys at once. The world might as well end in these hours of complete desperation.


In honor of my Laffy Taffy history- What do an Altoids box and sock have in common?




They both carry toys!




Caleb has solved his inability to transport all his toys at once with socks and Altoids boxes.

How many cars can fit in a mommy sock? Six or Seven.



How many marker lids fit in an Altoids box? Five to Six.




Problem Solved. Joke told. The End. This princess is living happily ever after with her joke telling prince, three adorable boys, and an array of marker lids.





Thank you Laffy Taffy. I owe you... so much.

The book I never thought I'd see at my house...

In October, we were blessed to receive counsel from Dieter F. Uchtodrf, a leader of our church. In his counsel, he encouraged us to slow down and focus on the things that matter most. His counsel had a profound impact on us due to the many hats Nate simultaneously wears.



Our family has spent many quiet hours in prayer and life evaluation. Questions, values, and interests have been deeply examined. Goals and our life climb have been redefined.



I have hinted towards a change in our lives. I am so excited to share.



This week Nate has spent a lot of time with a book I never imagined would reside in my home. The GRE study manual.

Tomorrow morning Nate will take his GRE exam. Applications to various graduate programs will finally be complete and we will begin that long college application wait.



Our school of choice is the University of Utah.

The program of choice is a Ph.D. in neuroscience.





You may be wondering how this simplifies our life.



It simplifies our life like this: we are selling our Chiropractic business. We love chiropractic. We love our business. But ultimately when all the cards are on the table, Nate loves teaching so much more than he loves Chiropractic.



So, we have a favor to ask all of you.



Please. Please keep us in mind if you happen to know of anyone looking for a Chiropractic business to buy. We have been blessed with an amazing clientele and beautiful location. We will miss both. But it is time for us to move on.



We are so grateful for the opportunities and amazing individuals this business has brought into our lives. Thank you to all of you for helping our dreams come true.

If You Drink Your Spinach, I'll Let You Take Your Fish Oils...

Caleb sporting his green spinach drink mustache.

I make my kids drink spinach on a regular basis.

Cruel. I know.



Unusual punishment? Sure. Some may think so.



Packed with spinach, kefir, soy milk, orange juice, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, nutritional yeast, spirulina, calcium lactate, and agave nectar - our spinach drinks contain essential nutrients vital to health and vitality. So, my boys drink it.



Some mornings they like it.



Some mornings they do not.





A couple weeks ago, we were going through a rough patch. It did not matter how I flavored the smoothie - no one wanted to drink it. Not even chocolate flavored smoothies.



Then we learned about Barleans Liquid Omega Swirl from Grammie. One small taste and we instantaneously transcended to a higher plane of oral sensory bliss. The boys begged and begged for more.



Naturally, I started to bribe my kids (and husband) with Omega Swirls.



Beds were made.

Faces clean.

Toys were shared.



Aside from the boisterous smoothie protest - life was wonderful. Almost perfect. Then brilliance struck. Surely the all powerful omega swirl could motivate my kids to drink their smoothies.



And it did.



A one cup consumption of spinach drink yielded one teaspoon of omega swirl - a.k.a. "liquid treat." When told they could have more "liquid treat" in exchange for another cup of smoothie, they got to work. They surprised me by drinking three cups of spinach.



Never. I repeat never underestimate the power of liquid treats. What would you do for a serving of Omega Swirl?

Our Very Simple Christmas Advent Calendar

The boys and I finally finished making our Christmas advent calendar.



Made with construction paper, glue, and stickers - our calendar is very basic and simple. On each slip of paper there is a number and an assigned activity for the day. When the day is over and the activities are complete, the piece of paper is removed and thrown away.




When there is only one piece of paper left, it is Christmas day! I am so excited about some of our daily activities. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house :)

• 1st - Buy candy canes and Santa hats
• 2nd - Decorate the Christmas tree
• 3rd - Make hand ornaments
• 4th - Decorate presents for family members and mail them
• 5th - Make a snow globe
• 6th - Discover the smell of Christmas spices while blindfolded
• 7th - Buy a treat for the cashier at the grocery store
• 8th - Make hot chocolate and drink it by the Christmas tree
• 9th - Deliver gifts to the people working at the post office
• 10th - Deliver gifts to the librarians
• 11th - Christmas movie marathon party
• 12th - Deliver Christmas goodies for friends
• 13th - Make gingerbread cookies and eat them for dinner
• 14th - Play with snow inside the house - save some snowballs in the freezer for a summertime snowball fight
• 15th - Make a shaving cream snow scene
• 16th - Sing jingle bells to people at a assisted living home
• 17th - Give gifts to bell jinglers outside grocery stores
• 18th - Take a special drive to look at Christmas lights
• 19th - Act out nativity
• 20th - Make Reindeer food
• 21st - Deliver a secret Santa gift
• 22nd - Leave Christmas notes for people to find at the mall.
• 23rd - Make cookies for Santa
• 24th - Deliver gifts to the firemen on duty
• 25th - Write down one thing we will do as a gift to Christ next year

The Superhero Car

I told you about Caleb's Superhero Friends.

These friends are great... that is until you try to survive the grocery store with ten friends holding onto your fingers. We lost three friends.

Yesterday when I announced to the boys that it was time to go to the store, Caleb instantly ran for his friends. When I told him that his Superhero friends needed to stay and protect our house, Caleb was more than upset.

Out of sure desperation, the ingenious Caleb invented the superhero car.



No wheel drive. Bright green. One door entry. Cardboard interior. Seats six.



The Superhero car accompanied us to the grocery store. With pride, Caleb walked around the store holding tightly to his best friends in their bright green box. I would give anything for a picture of that moment.

It is all about the pumpkin...

Colton is a big boy. Very big. We are talking 20+ pounds big. He is always hungry.

Desperately, solids have been introduced...slowly, and one and a time. Anytime a new flavor or texture meets his tongue he spits it out in absolute disgust with an audible "blah" or "blegh."

That is until he tried pumpkin last night, and he loved it!



Colton is definitely daddy's boy. Anyone who knows Nate knows that he would do just about anything for pumpkin. Pumpkin and cinnamon.

Let's just say that Nate is one proud daddy. Not only does he have one pumpkin lovin' baby, he has another boy who has magically discovered how to makes his hands and feet spontaneously emerge from a box!