Did you know hair gets darker when it's wet.

Sam loves his purple eyes.  They really are blue with a ring of violet around the pupil.  But if you tell him they are blue he will either yell at you "MY EYES ARE NOT BLUE THEY ARE PURPLE!" or he will respond calmly, "Well actually... they are purple."

He loves his BLONDE hair.  Mom's hair is brown.  Dad's hair is brown.  Adam's hair is blonde.  Joseph's hair is almost brown.  Josh's hair is brown.  When he takes a bath and his hair turns brown he gets upset that his hair isn't blonde.  The other day, he ran into the bathroom while his hair was still wet, and upset said "it's still brown."  About an hour later he ran into the bathroom and got very exicted, "My hair is blonde again!!"

Three-yeear-olds, crazy temperaments and funny attitudes.

Disney Volunteers

Last year Disney had the promotion where you could go to Disneyland (or World) on your birthday for free.  I registered the whole family, however the only convenient option was for Joe and me to go for our birthdays and anniversary.  I bought 2 discounted 2-day park hopper passes online so we could each go every day.  On my birthday I used my free pass and Joe used his first day ticket.  On our anniversary we both used our tickets at both parks, and on his birthday I used the last day of my ticket and he used his free pass.  Since our birthdays are 2 days apart and our anniversary is right in the middle it makes celebrating easy.  This was Joe’s first visit to Disneyland and both of our first visit to California Adventure.

This year Disney’s promotion made it possible for the entire family to go all at once.  The only problem was actually trying to get registered for it.  Everyone was trying to register for the promotion.  We were able to finally get accepted to volunteer somewhere and I was excited about that.  I have heard there are volunteer vacations that people can do but I don’t know much about them.  I remember reading a brief article once about them in LDS Living magazine.   So I was excited that that with this promotion, the kids could earn their ticket and go.  All but Sam were eligible

The first appointment that I set up only would take adults.  I would have done it but it while partially while I was at work so Joe got to take it.  It was working at a bake sale for a retirement community fundraiser event.  He had fun.  They even fed him.  I should have done this job.  What I got to do with the boys (Adam, Joseph and Joshua) is yard work.  We brought 3 hibiscus plants.  The boys each planted one.  Then we asked what else we could do.    We went and placed mulch down over a flower garden.  Then we shoveled gravel and moved it from a big gravel pile to another area where they were laying down plastic.  Under that plastic had been weeds, which Joseph had helped weed.  It was fun nonetheless. 

About a week later, we received our vouchers by email.  Now it's time to plan a trip.

Photos

Adam working hard

Joshua posing

Joseph planting
Adam posing

Admiration

Have you ever looked at your children with complete admiration?  I secretly check them out while thinking about what handsome men they will be.  I hope their good looks will be surpassed by their good nature.

I was checking out Joshua the other day.  He's so gorgeous.  And he's sweet and an all around good kid. I was admiring him, forgetting all his flaws and mistakes and looking at him for all his goodness.  He demonstrated his goodness today.  His brothers were playing a game and he knows they can be rather competitive and he wanted to play too.  He told them he wanted to play but just for fun, they didn't need to keep his score.  He was showing his peace-making skills.

Sam was sleeping.  I love to look at my boys when they are sleeping.  They are so peaceful and it's the only time they aren't trying to drive anyone crazy!  I was noticing how much (as always) Sam looks like Joe.  His personality is a lot like mine, but he looks like Joe.  I admire him when out of the blue he'll say "I love you," "you have pretty green eyes," or "you're awesome."  He gets his affirmations from his dad.  I admire his willingness to show unconditional love and express his love for others.

Adam is going to be such a great man.  He's still learning and growing.  He can be very sensitive to some things and I attribute that to teen hormones, but that sensitivity shows me his softer side.  He is really good at remembering to open my door and let ladies enter first.  I was thinking about that today how he can be chivalrous and I hope he finds a girl that appreciate that.  I look at him and admire how mature he wants to be.  Although he wants to grow up quickly, at this time he's still happy to be my little boy. (don't tell him I said that!)

Joseph is a momma's boy (they all are actually, but he's more so.)  He wants to do everything for me.  I admire him for his servitude.  We went to a wedding reception the other day and Joseph was in the kitchen helping them dish and serve cake and various foods.  He was so well-behaved.  Joseph has ALWAYS been a good helper and getting him to help out is actually the best way to get him to behave.  His teachers at church  let him get the classroom ready and pick up the chalk and eraser from the library.  When he helps, he feels needed.  I admire his service to others.  He is the first one to fall asleep and I stare at him praying that he'll have friends and success in his life.

I feel like I can understand how Heavenly Father and Jesus felt when they created man and saw that it was good!!!  I feel joy in my posterity when I look at my children with admiration.

Canning & Year's Supply.

Lately I have been canning.  My parents got me a pressure canner for Christmas because Katie Forsberg taught 2 canning classes at church and got me excited about canning.  I always wanted to learn.  My friend Madeline used to do it all the time, but I thought it was this horrible process.  I suppose it could be if you have to cut up a bunch of fruit and spend all day doing it.  But I haven't had that experience yet so for me it is very easy, refreshing, exciting and rewarding.  Since Christmas I have canned beans, ground beef, chicken (twice,) made my own spaghetti sauce and canned it, and am planning to do another batch of ground beef tonight.  Joe loves how easy it is to have prepared meats available to use.  No worry about freezer burn or food spoilage.  I love it!!  I want to make some fruit juice jelly next.
Also I have been working on our year's supply.  I highly recommend using this site and signing up for their baby steps.  I am a little behind but I am in the process of assembling our 72-hour kits.  Joe has also made me a can rotation shelf for the kitchen island and I am excited to use it.  The plans were off this site too, but since Joe has awesome carpenter skills, he made a custom one that would fit our shelves (length and height.)
So canning is actually helping us build our year's supply even more.  I can about 6-7 quart jars at a time and we maybe use 1 or 2 per week (total.)

What we did in 2009

So I've never done a Christmas Letter and I used to be so good at sending out cards. I actually do have a box of cards that I can use to send out. However, I've become lazy and haven't done it. So this year I am writing a New Year letter of what we accomplished last year. So if you don't care to read it, then you can move onto another of my blog entries instead.

Joe – He fixed the green car (Dodge intrepid) so now it works and Victoria can drive it to work. He went to Disneyland (and CA Adventure) for the first time for his and Victoria's birthdays and anniversary. He works in the Junior Nursery in the ward.

Victoria – She learned to make pumpkin desserts out of fresh (not canned) pumpkins. She went to Disneyland, CA Adventure and Magic Mountain this year. She also works in the nursery in the ward. She learned seasonal loan products (RVs, boats, etc) at work. She's been with USAA 2 years now and her 401k now is completely vested.

Adam – He received the Aaronic priesthood and was ordained a Deacon by his Papa. He serves as the second counselor in the Deacon's Quorum. He played softball for his school earlier this year (7^th grade.) He made the football team again for this school year (8^th) and made the basketball team (8th,) all that practicing with the scouts paid off. He went to camp Geronimo for the first time. He went to Magic Mountain to celebrate his entrance into teenager-hood. He got glasses. He got to play with the Ironwood marching band during halftime of an Ironwood Football game. He went to the temple for the first time with the youth. He got stitches earlier in the year when he collided with a fence at school and it cut his leg.

Joseph – He earned his Webelos and Arrow of light. He is in his 2^nd year of home schooling through AZ Virtual Academy. He is in 5^th grade. He started taking medication. He got glasses. He almost met a rattlesnake. He has recently started reading books and really enjoys them. He went to Day Camp during the summer.

Joshua – He turned 8 and had a fun Army party. He got baptized along with his best friend Aaron on the 4^th of July. He got glasses too. He earned his Bobcat (with help from Aaron's mom, too.) He is in 3rd grade and his teacher at school is one of the counselors in the Primary so he sees her almost every day. He loves his teacher. He got to go to Cub Scout Day Camp for the first time.

Sam – He had surgery. He spent his last year in nursery and will be joining the ranks of Sunbeams. He was potty-trained and had a big boy party. He turned three. He fell in love with Lydia (Aaron's baby sister.) He loves to talk and tell stories and his language has improved since we started blogging although he still can't pronounce eses (S.) He kissed a chick. He dislocated his elbow once when Joshua and he were playing.

I am sure there is more and find that as I blog more I'll have a better record for 2010. Happy 2010!!