Mice Beware!

Nathan made a mouse trap out of paper clips and wood. He baited it with peanut butter, honey, and Nutella, confident that within a short time some poor unsuspecting mouse would be tempted to have a taste (in the same way I am tempted by Nutella), only to find itself hopelessly entangled in the trap. Nathan put it in the cupboard and checked it every couple minutes. So far, no mice have been caught, but the trap may be effective at attracting bugs.

On Wednesday, my mom came down and watched Christian and Clara, while Nathan and I spent several hours together at dentist and eye appointments. No cavities for either of us.(hooray!) Nathan got bored and kept trying to press buttons and take apart the medical equipment. He couldn't understand why I did not want him to do this. "But mom, I want to figure out how it works!" I was sure the eye doctor was going to kick us out of the room, but he didn't. My mom referred us to this Dilbert video clip on Youtube, called "The Knack." It suits Nathan to a "T." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw
I just had to put this cute picture in. This is Christian and his cousin, Sarah. It's from two weeks ago, when David's family visited for Melani's show.

Blue eyes

I can't get enough of this boy! He charms my socks off.

Christian has such a sweet little personality. Nathan and Clara just adore him to pieces.
I'm so glad we have him. He has been just what our family needed.

We found all these huge pinecones outside the Bean Museum at BYU.

David loves taking the kids sledding at the park near our house.

The kids fell asleep this afternoon while counting down the minutes until snack time.

Opportunity Knocks!

Have you ever been glad when the kids have broken something in your house? Yesterday, the kids ripped a HUGE hole in the shower curtain, and I had a hard time being disappointed.. Here's why it made me happy:
When Nathan was a baby, David's sister, Jessica, gave us a subscription to the Family Fun magazine. Over the past few years, I've collected a binder full of clippings of crafts and activities that look like fun. I'm not as good as Jessica is at doing fun projects with the kids, but I do enjoy it. (Not that we don't have fun, but we mostly do the unpremeditated kind.) So, every few months, I look through my binder and actually do one of the ideas. One of the first clippings I saved was a cute idea for decorating a shower curtain. I always stopped to look at it while I was perusing the binder and envisioned it in our own bathroom, but of course, we didn't NEED a new shower curtain. (Yes, I'm ALMOST as cheap as David is.)
So, the first thing I thought yesterday after I heard that huge ripping noise in the bathroom was, "Awesome! I hope they ruined it beyond repair!" And they did!

Christmas in Sandpoint

Now that we're into January, it's time to write about Christmas!

The roads and the kids were almost perfect for our drive up to Sandpoint. Christian didn't cry at all until the last 30 seconds of the trip. (really!) The trip home wasn't quite as easy, but we all survived.
Christian got to be the Baby Jesus in our nativity play, with Aunt Dianna as Mary.

Clara and Nathan helped distribute presents on Christmas morning.

Clara helped Aunt Mel make the traditional chocolate-covered peanut butter balls. She actually did a pretty good job rolling them. Clara had lovely hair during our visit, because Grandma, Aunt Mel, and Aunt Di all took turns trying fancy hairdos on her.

Nathan spent lots of time helping Grandpa work on the little apartment he is building next to his studio. Nathan was insistent on bringing his toolbox to Sandpoint because Grandpa might need some of his tools. Nathan helped Grandpa build two beds!

There was not much snow in Sandpoint this year, but it was just right for the kids.

Clara was brave enough to sled down the hill by herself this year.

The kids enjoyed "sledding" across the frozen pond. It was really slick and they went pretty fast when pushed.

David, Nathan, Grandpa, and Uncle Michael went ice fishing.

Aunt Dianna and Uncle Matt had a beautiful wedding reception a few days after Christmas. David and I hit the thrift stores. (The thrift stores in Sandpoint put the ones here to shame. Lots of nice kids clothes in fabulous condition for just a dollar or two.) We got some really nice school clothes for Nathan, including several pairs of pants in perfect condition...a rare and exciting find! Christian started waking up two or three times a night during our visit, and was grumpy a lot during the day. He still managed to melt Grandma's heart when he decided to smile.

We really loved our visit to Sandpoint. We always do. David's parents are so gracious and kind. I love the experiences our kids have up there that we can't give them at home. They will always have those memories. We are so grateful for all the Lord has blessed us with this past year, and we're excited see what this year brings!

birthday girl and precious boy

Christian joined us at the table this week. He is sure excited to eat with the rest of the family.

Christian smiles for the camera! I had to make sure he wore his little Christmas suit at least once in December before it got too tight. He has started giving us kisses lately. I didn't realize a 4-month-old could copy behaviors in this way. He is sure a sweet boy.

Our little princess is now three. This birthday was kind of anticlimatic for me, since I have already been thinking of her as a three-year-old for several months now. A wonderful lady in our ward made her a princess birthday cake.

Nathan was in charge of this party. He made sure we turned out the lights, sang "Happy Birthday," blew out the candles, and opened presents properly and in the correct order. We had to re-do the birthday song at his birthday party in October because apparently we did the lights and candles wrong.

Our Wonderful Whirlwind Week

Now that we've had a week to recover, I can do a post about what we've been doing lately that has been keeping us from updating our blog. This is going to be long, so feel free to skip down to the pictures if you're not interested in the details!
Nov. 20th - David's family begins to arrive in town. Nathan throws up all night and part of the day.
21st - A bridal shower for David's sister, Dianna. Rosie and Jessica did a beautiful job putting it on. I love David's family! That evening, we had a bunch of the family over for dinner. David made pizza! I love David!
22nd - Church. I stayed home with a sick Nathan during Sacrament Meeting. Then Grandpa Boren took my place so I could go to Primary and teach Sharing Time. After church we had another big family dinner at our house. After that, I went with David's mom to see a choir concert that Melani was in.
23rd - Grandpa and Uncle Ryan watched the kids while all the girls went out to lunch to celebrate Grandma Boren's birthday. Christian was an angel and slept the whole time I was gone. In the evening we had another big family dinner at our place. Uncle Stephen and Aunt Rosie made a delicious gourmet masterpiece. After that was a big family home evening and birthday party for Grandma.
24th - We all went to the Mount Timpanogos Temple for Dianna and Matt's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride and handsome groom. The kids all looked darling dressed up in their fancy clothes. After the wedding was a luncheon put on by Matt's family. It was fun to catch up with relatives and get to know Matt's family better.
25th - David and I went with his parents and a few siblings to the Provo Temple to do a sealing session. It was a special experience. After we got home, Grandpa, David, and Nathan hiked up to the Y. Then Grandpa helped David replace some worn out vent stack covers on the roof. Thank goodness Grandpa noticed they needed replacing. We would never have realized and we could have gotten water damage in our house this winter.
26th - We celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister LaChelle's house. My whole family was there and we had a great time eating, singing, laughing, and playing with all the little kids.
27th - We drove up to Logan to attend the baptism of our nephew, David. It was a very nice baptism. We were so glad he invited us to his special day. We spent the rest of the day up there enjoying more time with David's family before they all went their separate ways.
28th - My brother Michael married Kristin Jensen in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. It was great to be in the temple with my parents, and all my siblings and their spouses. We had a nice luncheon afterwards, and then enjoyed a lovely reception.
29th - Church and Clara's birthday. I have some cute pictures from the birthday party, but I'll save those for another post.
30th - I spent most of the day cleaning up the house, doing mountains of laundry and getting everything back to normal after a week of festivities and not doing housework. Whew!

Nathan and Daddy at the "Y."

Nathan loves Grandpa Boren!

My sister, LaChelle, made the wedding cake. Murphy's Law was definitely at work. Things kept going wrong, including a whole section of the cake crumbling off, but she still managed to make it look gorgeous. I don't know how she makes such beautiful wedding cakes. I can't even make a pretty birthday cake...

...and I'm not 9 months pregnant like she is!

Michael and Kristin are a lovely couple. If I had any pictures of Dianna and Matt, I would also put them on, but we forgot our camera at their wedding.

Don't you ever just feel like sitting in the kitchen sink?

Like Pulling Teeth

Life's so tough, especially when you have the cruelest parents on earth.

In the past two months, our poor kids have been subjected to THREE big sessions of family pictures. Yes, we are the cruelest parents on earth. The pictures on this post are from the first session, back in September when my family gathered for Christian's baby blessing. Notice Nathan's bare feet (He took off his shoes in hopes that it would delay the pictures.) and beautiful "smile". Actually, he either scowled or stuck his tongue out for EVERY picture. (I hear Borens laughing...David made awful faces for many of his pictures as a boy.) This was the first picture of each of my siblings and their spouses. Well, technically, Michael was still engaged then, but that's okay. I still can't believe we're all married.

The second photo session was a few days before Thanksgiving, when David's family gathered at the Mount Timpanogos Temple for his sister Dianna's wedding to Matt Funk. The wedding was beautiful and Dianna and Matt looked radiant. Our kids looked like they would rather be anywhere else, with their tear-stained faces and runny noses. Granted, it was quite chilly outside. Fortunately, they recovered at the luncheon afterward, where Clara discovered the joy of fingerpainting on the tablecloth with cake frosting.

The most recent family pictures were taken 4 days later, at my brother Michael's wedding to Kristin Jensen. As we were on our way to the wedding, Nathan tearfully said, "Oh no! Are there going to be pictures at this wedding too? I'm not going to be in ANY MORE PICTURES!" Poor kid. It was not nearly as cold outside for these pictures, but Nathan wasn't going to put up with any more. As we all posed for the big group photo, Nathan escaped and ran away. David and I shrugged and said, "Well, I guess he's not going to be in these pictures."

Sorry, Nathan and Clara. Pictures are a fact of life, especially in my family. The faster you cooperate, the faster it's over. Sorry, Dianna and Matt, if our kids are looking less than happy at your wedding. We thought it was beautiful, and we're so excited for you. Sorry, Michael and Kristin, if you can't find Nathan in your wedding pictures. He had already endured all that a little boy can endure. We are glad you got married. Someday you'll be wrestling your own kids during family pictures.