I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Snow Total for Monday Dec 22nd

So it snowed and snowed and snowed today. All day long, it never really let up, I took my ruler out and stuck it in the snow on the deck and it totaled 8.5". My dear neighbor Don, bless his heart, shoveled our driveway around 3:30 today. By the time that Zack got home at 6:30 he shoveled off another 3 inches. It has been crazy. It is a beautiful sight to see, but I get cold just looking out my window. I want to run and jump in bed and snuggle under the covers only to emerge sometime in mid March. The kids loved playing in it though. Don and Alicia entertained them and their two kids while they plowed through all of the mess. I love living here, we are so bless with wonderful neighbors and friends. Well if I don't get a chance to post again "Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good night."

A Christmas Wish

We had a wonderful ward Christmas party this year. And what ward party would be complete without a visit from Santa. As he walked into the gym Reese's eyes perked up, but when it came to sitting on his lap she could be torn from Michelle's lap. (She loves Michelle) Claire on the other hand was enamoured by Santa's white beard, jolly voice, and soft red suit. She reverently approach him as if he might break if she touched him. She tenderly hugged him and drew a great response from the audience as she just kept hugging him. Lance was not so reverent about the whole experience. He stood in line jumping up and down. You would of thought that he needed to use the restroom the way he kept moving up and down. But in the end they where both able to tell Santa their Christmas wishes and on the way home Lance explained to Claire "that Santa wouldn't bring them what they asked for until Christmas day, so don't expect it to be under the Christmas tree when we got home." He made that mistake last year.

A Winter Wonder Land

It has done nothing but snow today. At a pretty good rate I might add. It has taken so long for the snow to get here, but we have sure made up for it this last few days. However the snow you see here on the grill has all fallen today. Sound make for interesting traveling over the holidays.

Reese Has teeth

I am posting this mostly for historical reference. Someday I am sure Reese will come to me and asked why it is that her 13 month baby doesn't have any teeth. tI will be then that I can tell her that she didn't get teeth until she was one year, one month and ten days old. Yes it is true. Reese's bottom two teeth finally broke through her gums today. You can barely see them but you can defiantly feel them. I guess I can spend the money I was saving for her dentures on Christmas.

Growing Old

So how do you know that you are getting old. You start to lose your hair, and what hair you have left turns grey. You notice wrinkles around your eyes and your mouth. You get tired quicker than you use to and you start to think that 10:30 is really late. How about when you go to the doctor because you think that you might have broken your thumb and he tells you that you have arthritis. Yep!! That is when you know that you are getting old. Zack started complaining about his thumb hurting on Monday. When time didn't help and the complaints got more frequent I started to think that it was something more than a strained muscle. This morning when he couldn't hardly move it I knew it was time to get him into the Doctor. So this afternoon he went in and after x-rays and other test came back negative the Doctor concluded that Zack is indeed old and has arthritis in his left thumb. Side affect of work I am sure, but I guess it is official I am married to an old man.

Rubba Dubba Resse Fell in the Tuba

So this morning I was filling the bath tub with water in preparation for the kids bath, while the water was running and the kids were watching T.V I gathered up their clothes. I was in the bed room when I heard a scream and a splash. I ran to the bath tub and this is what I found. The look on her face when it happened was priceless. The funny thing was, when I started to take off her wet pj's she started to screech, like I had the nerve to not let her take a bath with her clothes on. What a morning.

It is beginning to look alot like Christmas

It is December 1st and although there are still leaves on the tree's and no snow on the ground it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We have put up the tree and turned on the light and we can now say that Christmas is on its way. We decided to forgo the traditional Christmas tree in favor of something more kid friendly since Reese is in to everything. While we were shopping at IKEA we saw a tree covered in stuffed animals. I thought not a bad idea. Nothing can be broken and we won't have to buy anything new (except lights cause I guess the burn out after 11 years). So Saturday we decorated the tree and then the kids redecorated the tree, and the Sunday they did it again and again and again. Monday came and I thought I better get a picture before the poor tree falls over or all the stuffing comes out of the animals. I think between them and us we have done a pretty good job.

Happy Thanksgiving

It is this time of year we always have so much to be thankful for. I love the holidays because families and friends make an extra effort to get together. While so many of us live far apart from each other those that live close sometimes don't see so much of each other because life is just to busy. But the celebration of Thanksgiving and the observance of Christmas always brings us closer together either through visits or phone calls, or cards. Whatever the means I am grateful for this time of year because I get to get a glimpse into so many other peoples lives. I see how they are doing, we reconnect and we can be reminded of the influences that they have had in our lives. This holiday was no exception to that.
We spent Thanksgiving day with Zack's parents and his brother Jacob and his family. Although Mom and Dad Bailey live far away and Jacob and Ember live only in Murray it seems like we never see enough of them. The food was okay (and I can say that because I cooked most of it), but the company was great. We ate and ate and then sat and talked. Friday brought along an old friend from my mission. Anais Haase, some of you may remember her. She is now living in Washington D.C working there as a personal secretary for a retired congressman. She loves it there. I was so excited to see her, she looks just like I remembered, and just hearing her voice reminded me of good old times. I was glad to hear that she is still strong in her beliefs and works hard at living that way. After she left we took off for Salt Lake to see "The Body World" exhibit. It was fabulous. For those of you not familiar with it, it is a exhibit of real bodies preserved in some way. We got a real up close look at the human body. I thought for a minute that the kids would be freaked out, but they loved it and it kept their attention up until the very end. Saturday we put up the Christmas tree and on Sunday we had a lovely dinner with Zack's aunts and uncle's. This morning bright and early Grandma and Grandpa Bailey left for California. We will miss them. I should be sad that the house is quite and it is just me and the kids, but my heart has hope because in just 24 short days we will get to Celebrate Christmas and have another excuse to see family and friends. Until then.

A new Princess in town

We have these little chairs that the kids sit in while they watch movies. Problem is that we have only two. Last week however Reese laid claim to one. She sat herself down in the chair and refused to move most of the day. She would screeched when she dropped her toy and would continue until one of us met her demands and handed it back to her. When she saw one of us eating she would again scream from upon her thrown and demand a morsel of food. Finally tiring of the whole thing I coxed her out by tossing cheerios onto the floor in front of her and doing nothing for her. Finally her Highness got down off her thrown and devoured the cheerios on the floor. But when they where all gone she quickly climbed back up into her thrown and remained there until dinner time.

Surprise

A few weeks ago the Lance and Claire thought that they would surprise me by making their own beds. I was once told never to redo what a child has done, it hurts their self-esteem or something like that; so like a good Mom I made a big deal of it. I took pictures, gave them a little extra cereal in their bowls, and a treat (oreo's). Their efforts were appreciated even though the next day when I suggested that they make their beds again I was only met with incorporation and refusals to be moved from in front of the T.V. I guess you have got to take it when you can get it.

The First Snow

A few weeks ago on Nov. 5th it snowed for the first time. The first snow is always magical. The look on Claire's face was priceless as she looked out the window and discovered the snow. "Wow" she exclaimed, "it's beautiful.' The kids were so excited to play in the snow that they wouldn't even let me get them dressed. They let me put coats on, Claire however refused the shoes until she stepped into the snow, she screamed "Too cold, Too cold" and came running in for shoes. It was a good thing that we took the time to relish the moment because by the time we were dressed and ready to go the snow was melted and only the chill lingered.

From the mouths of Babes

Oh if you could have just seen Reese today. First in Primary while the kids were singing "The Wise Man Built his house upon a Rock" she started to do the actions with the kids. It was such a distraction that the kids would no longer pay attention to the song leader, but it was so cute. Then after dinner while Dan and Michelle were playing with her she tooted. It was very loud and after she finished she clapped for herself. Again not really appropriate but very funny. Last of all while we were getting ready to say family prayers she stood by the couch, folded her arms, bowed her head and started to jabber. It was like she was saying her own prayers. When she was finished she looked up at all of us and smiled. Claire and Lance where laughing so hard that they couldn't stop during the real prayer. It just amazes me still how much children pick up just by observing us. She knows that when we say "time for prayers" that she should fold her arms. She loves to move her arms to the music. After I kiss her she will sometimes mimic the sounds of thank you, because I say that after every time she gives me kisses. It is a testament that we should be teaching, showing, and exposing our children to many good things from the start, because they DO absorb everything.

Happy Halloween

In the rush to get everything finished today I am going to post this blog tonight before the candy coma sets in and I forget everything. We spent the day watching the new "Tinker Bell" movie courtesy of Alicia, (a cute movie for all of you wondering)and readying ourselves for the Trick or Treat rush. The ward trunk or treat started at 5:30 and after we passed out the last piece of candy we packed up and headed home. Once we arrived we quickly lit the pumpkins and ran over to the "Youse House." This is the first time in four years that Joyce's husband Craig has been home for Halloween. He and Shannon had made a haunted house in the garage. Claire was scared at first but once she realized it was Craig she warmed right up. Zack then took Claire and Lance around the neighborhood and topped off their buckets, to the point that they were having to drag them along the sidewalk to make it home. Meanwhile Reese and I made dinner and manned the passing out of the candy. Now that all is quiet, I wonder why we make such a fuss over this holiday. Would it not be easier and just as fun for the kids if we simply gave them a bag of candy and popped in a movie and let them enjoy. I guess it would be nice if I commented on the pictures. Lance was a scary mummy, Claire a princess of course, and Reese was a China doll. The two additional kids in the second photo are Sidney (Jessie) and Kade (Woody). The other picture is of the neighborhoodlems Lance, Claire, Sidney, Kaden, Ben(man in the big yellow hat) and Joey (curious George). Last picture is off the pumpkin carving patch. Becky and the kid were here the night we carved pumpkins so the joined us in the festivities. That is all. Happy Halloween to all of you. I am bushed. I am turning out the lights and declaring this the end of Halloween at the Bailey House. Happy Haunting until next year.

Pumpkin Cookies

Becky and the kids came today for a visit and in my attempt to be a good aunt we made and decorated pumpkin shaped cookies. They were a sorry excuse for a pumpkin when they went into the oven and an even worse one when they came out. Slap a little orange frosting one the whole thing and you get the idea. The kids enjoyed it. And that is all that counts.

Baby Ireland

We went to see Jacob and Ember's new little girl yesterday. She is so pretty and unexpected. She has a great olive complexion and a ton of black hair. That is right, black hair. She is a sweet baby and since we got home Claire has talk of little else. When I was tucking her in bed last night I was asking her what she liked best about "baby Ireland". I asked her if it was "her hands, her tiny feet, her little toes, or her chubby, chubby checks?" To which she replied, "not chubby, chubby checks Mom. Beautiful, Beautiful checks." And she is right. She is a beautiful baby girl, who I am sorry to say Ember looks great in hot pink. (For you that may not know, Ember is not a real fan of pink. When I told her how good she looked in pink she replied "Or course, who would have thought my girl would look good in pink." I warned her that every mother of a girl warms to the color of pink no matter how much they may dislike it.) We didn't get a chance to take a picture of Claire and Ireland because Claire wouldn't stop cleaning up the toys long enough to sit down and let us snap a shot.

Princess and the "Pee"

Some may wonder at the title of this blog. Well explanation is as follows: When I asked Claire what she wanted to be for Halloween this year it was first a pink ghost. When I inquired further she decided that she wanted to be a "beautiful, beautiful princess". Great! I thought, and her and I made a trip to the fabric store (big big mistake.) The dress had to be pink. But being mom I had in my head a certain picture of what a "beautiful, beautiful princess" dress should look like. After some compromising (on my part) and a lot of screaming (on her part) this is what we settled on. I don't like sewing with patterns because it means following someone else's rules, but I managed to muddle my way through it and after a week of laboring we were rewarded with this dress. Which meets Claire's "beautiful, beautiful" standard.
Now for the pee part. We signed up to feed the missionaries the other night and while we were finishing eating the elders were playing with the kids and tickling Claire. Suddenly it got all quite, not just the kids but the missionaries too. I just had to ask the question and much to my horror the response was yes. She did it. Claire peed all over the missionaries, just his sock. I was embarrassed at first and then I laughed, cause I thought of the great story that the elder would have to share with his family, and friends. I think it was defiantly the first time on his mission that he had been peed on.

Reese's 1st Birthday

So I didn't think that I would have a difficult time with my baby turning one. I have never been one of those sentimental people who don't what time to move forward. But I must say that Saturday (Reese's Birthday) was not an easy day for me. I kept looking at Reese and wondering were the time has gone. It truly feels like just yesterday that I was sitting in the hospital holding her for the first time and marveling at how absolutely perfect she was. From her olive complexion, to her dark hair, to her tiny little fingers and toes. She was so little. Only 5lbs 10oz and 19 inches long. But then at the same time I can not really remember life without her. Reese has this way of calming me and bring a peace to our home, and I think that she does the same for most of the people in her life. She is such a social baby. She loves everyone and will smile readily at almost everyone she meets. Her eyes are blue, which is a marvel to Zack and I. She has the funniest face that she pulls just to make you laugh. She seems to be wise beyond her age, and in a rush for her body to catch up to her spirit. She is walking now, though it is not her main form of transportation, her fine moter skills are getting better as she is really is into taking things in and out of drawers. She can almost always be found sitting in front of the lid drawer emptying it contents. She loves to eat food, though she still doesn't have any teeth. She screams in protest if you think that you shouldn't have to share your food with her. She is defiantly my child as she prefers chocolate over anything else. I can ask her questions like; "are you hungry?" and she will nod her head yes or no; she is starting to communicate her desires. I love this little girl and I want so much for her to stay little long enough for me to enjoy it, yet I long so much to see the wonderful women she will become. It is hard being a mom, and watching all these changes happen so fast and wishing for it to take longer. I am told that I should cherish the time when I can still take my children in my lap and love them, when I still have a chance to help them decide what to wear, what to eat, and even what to play, because it will not be long before they will neither want or listen to my opinion and will no longer fit into my lap. So I think that I will try and stay still long enough to watch not only Reese, but Lance and Claire, enjoy their life's. I think I will try harder on days that are difficult to remember to cherish this time. Because it will be only a fleeting moment before they are grown and gone and I will wonder then, more than I do now where the time has gone.

Joyce's Birthday Party

It has been a week of recovery. Last week was a little crazy. We had a baby shower for Ember, which turned out very well. (FYI she is having her baby on the 20th) Then Friday night was the big one, for Joyce that is. Many of you know Joyce and love her as much as me. You now how amazing she is and so you won't be surprised to know that I and my equally amazing neighbor Alicia threw her a fabulous party. It was so much fun putting it all together and it was great to spend the evening with friends both old and new. Unfortunately my camera took terrible pictures of the whole evening, so to see how it all turned out click here http://www.hickmanhaven.blogspot.com/ to view Alicia's blog entry about the evening. Saturday was a busy day. We had an relief society activity and then I was talked into playing volleyball with the ward. Needless to say by the time church was over on Sunday I collapsed into bed and slept for four hours. This week I spent a few days taking it easy and then I jumped right into a few sewing project one that includes an insane attempt at making a "beautiful beautiful princess" dress for Claire for Halloween. We did manage to take a trip to Gardner's Village to see the Witch's and to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins. But of course I left my camera at home, so I have no photos to share. This week we are gearing up for Reese's first birthday. I really can't believe it has been a year.

More international travels.

Last November I took the final and hardest ASE certification test for advanced engine performance and managed to pass it this time. It was the last requirement i needed to become a Ferrari Master Certified technician and in february i was awarded with exactly that and as of now there are only 28 masters in the US. At that time I was told that the national training manager wanted to take all of the American master techs to the Ferrari Training Center in Maranello, Italy at the factory. and that I'd better get my passport ready. Well in early september i received a letter inviting me to go to the factory and be trained by the actual people that designed and built the cars that i work on every day. I didn't need to be asked twice.

I left on sept 27th and flew through Paris to Bologna Italy. Another tech from Toronto was on the same flight from Paris so we took a taxi from the airport to Maranello together. When we got to our hotel we realized how basic the hotel rooms in italy are. just a place to sleep and shower. so we walked around town together to check it out. Downtown in Maranello there is a movie theatre where they show the F1 races live and anyone can go in for free. It just happened to be a race day with the first ever night race being held on the streets of Singapore. It was great to watch from a place with such a long history of motor racing. A bit like "travelling to Mecca" for me. Unfortunatly the race was a disaster for Ferrari. Oh well.

Class started the next day, we had only 5 techs in the class so we were able to get very deep into some great problems that the instructor had set up for us. Actually the whole class was absolutely first rate and I really learned alot. Wednesday we got a tour of the factory and got to see everything from the foundry where they cast aluminium for the engines, to the final assembly for new cars, to the classic car restoration shop where they keep all the archives for the history of all the racing and road cars going back to the beginning, 1947. Simply Amazing. Unfortunately inside the factory there are no cameras allowed so most of my pics are just from the museum, which wasn't so bad in its own right.

We ate amazing food and everyone had a great time making new friends from all over. Perhaps I'll get to go again in another 7 years.

Zack's international travels

So I'm finally posting a blog about what i got to do this year. Last november my brother Jake told me that he had a good friend that lived in Montreal Canada. Jake knew that there was a Formula 1 race in Montreal and that i was a huge fan, so he asked his friend if we could come and stay with him for a race weekend. He said sure no problem, so Jake and I started looking for cheap tickets to fly there.

For those of you unfamiliar with Formula 1, it is the world championship of motor racing. Auto manufacturers from around the world compete in a global series where races are held in different countries each time. The drivers are the worlds best and the cars are on the leading edge of technology. Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Toyota, and Ferrari all currently race and Ferrari is the only one to compete all through the modern F1 era, and has more Championships than any other by far.

Anyway, this years Canadian F1 race was the only one on the North American continent. Jake and I found tickets for the race in june and booked them in December along with our flight and we were set.

When we got there we were met by Jake's friend Poresh and his friends Sonny and Kunal and they said they had a suprise for us. We had brought our sleeping bags so we could sleep at Poresh's place but they had gotten us a hotel room downtown on Grand Prix weekend and simply refused to allow us to pay for any of it. Then they took us out for some of the best Chinese food I've ever had. We sat on a balcony above the street and were able to watch all the people and cars out for GP weekend which is about like the 24th of july in Manassa but with about 3 million more people. I'd really never seen anything like it.

The race is held on public roads in a huge park on a man made island in the St Lawrence River that was constructed for the 1968 World's Fair. The park is very beautiful with tons of huge trees and waterways and a giant rowing basin that was made for the 1972 Olympic Games. We took the subway to the track and then crossed a bridge and as we were crossing we could hear the cars as they rocketed down the back straight at 215 mph. We were still a half mile from the track! We found our seats and we were only 5 rows up from the track with the cars braking from 200+ down to 45 for the hairpin right in front of us. 4 and half negative G's for the drivers. Anyway we spent 3 great days in Montreal with the track during the day and Jake's friends taking us all over town at night. You can see that I got very sunburned, I didn't care. Thanks to my brother Jake for making this one of the best trips for me ever.

Reese and the Great Outdoors.

Reese discovered the joy of being outside today. While we were working on our craft project today she had such a great time crawling around the yard. She ate grass, twigs, and many other wonderful thing. Every time we went to take her inside she started to scream. So soon we left her outside on the step so we could see her while we worked. After that she convinced everyone of her cousins that she needed to go outside.

We get busy and create

Anjeantte, Mitch, Mom, Dad and I got busy today and made up some really cute blocks. It was a group effort. Dad and Mitch cut and sanded the wood. Then we all painted the blocks (all 42). Then while I cut paper, Annie and Mitch sanded the blocks again and then we all put the finished products together. We had a great time. And the finished product looks really good. If you can't see the picture very well the blocks have the seasons on them in cute paper. We will be sad to go home tomorrow.

Sweet Dreams

The other day I took Lance to the Dentist, he loved it. He walked right in sat right down and opened his mouth. Later that night Jacob and Ember were over for dinner and while the kids were out on the deck enjoying the stars, they saw a wishing star. Jacob asked Lance what he wished for and he replied "I wish that I could go to the dentist tomorrow." That said, notice that he is sleeping with a toothbrush. I took this picture because I thought that they looked so cute. This is their bed here at Anjeanette's and they think that it is so fun cause the ceiling is covered in stars. They have played so hard while we have been here that they fall to sleep pretty fast. I don't think that they have sat down for one moment since I got here.

Yummy Cupcakes

While Zack is in Italy this week we decided to take a trip to visit my sister Anjeanette and her family in Colorado. Tonight for family home evening Becky directed and narrated a wonderful skit about Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah. Afterwards we had delicious cupcakes that she made. We all enjoyed them but no one more than Reese and my niece Grace. Poor Taylor didn't get to eat much of her cupcake, bless her heart she shared it with Reese. She didn't have much of a choice because every time she took it away she screamed until she got it back.

Potty Training Claire

Well I am never sure when to say a child is potty trained. But it is something that we have been working on the last few weeks, and I must say that is has not been as hard as the last time we went through this. Actually Caire has done very well. She tells me when she has to pee and we make it to the toilet most of the time. We started to go poo in the potty the last few days and we have only had one accident since then. I wouldn't say we where completely done but I would say we are about 85% there. I am so proud of her. But it was something that she wanted to do. If she doesn't want to go to the bathroom then there is no way in .... that you can make her. Luckily she has pretty good control. Here is a picture of her first pee in the potty, her potty chart and her doing what she does now. Pee on the Potty. We have a song that we sing every time. It goes like this "Claire went pee (or poo) in the potty, Claire went pee in the potty, Claire went pee in the potty and we are so happy about that." It is so cute to see her dance around so proud of herself in her little pantie covered bum.

Fall is in the air

I love Fall. Nothing signals the change in season better than the leaves changing colors. There is no other place to view this change than driving through the alpine loop. This is sort of a tradition for Zack and I. We started doing this when we were first married and it is something that we do every year. It is nice now to have children to share this with. We started the drive off by telling the kids what to look for, yellow, red, and orange leaves in the canyon. Lance loved it. Claire enjoyed it until she fell asleep. We finished the drive off with a picnic at the falls. We walked and looked for more signs of fall, felt the sun beat down on us but didn't mind because there was that cool autumn breeze in the air. Lance and Zack even tossed the ball around a few times. What great times. I love looking at the beauty all around me and I am grateful that Heavenly Father gave us such a wonderful place to experience mortality.