"See You Later, Sa!"

December 1, 2011 was a difficult day for our family. Our dear friend Theresa who's been helping care for Jackson and Kate since March 2010 returned home to Australia to help her ailing grandmother. I don't know who it was harder on: me or the kids. Lots of tears were shed at the airport. We love Theresa. She has been such a source of strength and comfort to us. The kids adore her like an older sister and she has become one of my very best friends. We are so grateful for all she has taught our children while she was here. Jackson always says "Sa, Back" when he wants her to come back from wherever she is is going and has said it numerous times since then. We wish Sa all the very best in her new adventures in Australia and can't wait until we see her again!

Christmas Lights and Jackson

Jackson is really into Christmas lights this year. I admit I've encouraged it. I love Christmas and all that comes with it and I guess I'm passing that excitement along to Jackson. Nearly each night we go out on foot, bike or in the car to look at Christmas lights. He is so thrilled when he spots them. He'll yell "Christmas lights" then say "beautiful." It's very precious. One late afternoon I took him to look at the lights on the bike. He wasn't thrilled because it was a bit cold and he had all of his snow gear on to keep him warm. His expression sums up his attitude towards the bike ride, but in the end he actually enjoyed himself. Jackson weighs about 30 pounds and is a bit over three feet tall. He knows and speaks as much Russian as English. His favorite things are fire engines, Thomas the Train anything, and bikes. He loves nursery now (Phew!) and making Kate laugh. He enjoys swimming, biking, climbing, running - all things active! He sings songs (I Love to See the Temple is his favorite) and says his prayers.

Update on Kate

Kate is now 10 and a half months old. Hard to believe how quickly she is growing up! She is cruising on furniture and crawling upstairs. She loves eating table foods and so far doesn't have any food she dislikes eating (although she's still allergic to rice and oats). She wants to do whatever Jackson is doing like reading, driving cars, talking on the cell phone, etc. She says "Da-Da" and "Mum, mum, mum". She likes to wave and clap. She loves getting her hair done and wore pig tails for the first time today. She weighs about 20 pounds and is about 28 inches tall.

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. Jackson dressed up as a dog and Kate a bee...the Queen Bee to be exact (totally fits her personality). The ward trunk or treat was a lot of fun and the kids got into trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with Theresa while Jason and I were out of town. Only downside is the mounds of candy we now have to stare down and try to keep Jackson from getting his hands on :)

Fun moments at home

I love playing with the kids in the morning because they usually are well-rested and happy. One morning I took these photos of Kate crawling and Jackson exploring his curious side...as always.

Saddle Up

A few weeks ago (October 15) we attended Jason's work party. It was held at a ranch about 30 minutes east of our home. It was fun to dress up like cowboys and cowgirls, watch Jason try to rope a calf, and eat the most amazing barbeque I've ever tasted. We had a great time. Thanks to Dr. Durrie, his wife Ann, and the amazing office staff for such a wonderful evening.

Kate's blessing day

Thanks to my Aunt Nettie, we have this one picture from Kate's blessing day. In the frenzy of her blessing and the luncheon and trying to get to my brother-in-law Sam's missionary farewell, we only took one picture. So grateful Nettie snapped it for us so we can remember this precious day.