Smell something??

What a cute, harmless, little animal. Don't you think?


Now picture it laying in a bucket, on its back with four sooty, lifeless paws pointed stiffly heavenward.

That's what the chimney guy pulled out of our fireplace today.

I gladly paid him $162 to get the stinking, rotting thing as far away from here as possible.

Living near the woods comes at a high price--although you could argue it was squirrel who ultimately got the raw end of the deal.

Arrival

It's never officially spring until...


PS--I think Ethan needs a new bike.

Four

Adelaide turned four today.

Four?! Where did the last four years go?

She is such a big girl. I complained to her about turning a year older. She promised me she will be three again tomorrow.

This little girl is one of my favorite people in this entire world. She makes me laugh. She is thoughtful and helpful. And lucky me, she loves to snuggle. I think she is in tune with the Spirit without really knowing it yet. She has been such a support to me that past couple of weeks. It is as if she has sensed that I have needed a little extra love.

Adelaide is very detail oriented. Things must always be done a certain way. She turns out lights that are not supposed to be on. She studiously colors. She does not like being reminded a second time to do what she has been told. Don't be thinking she always does things the first time she is asked. No, it just means she heartily complains when things have to be repeated. "I know!" she says in the most teenagery voice she can muster.

Adelaide is our tiny contrarian. She can be as angry as she is happy. She is as shy as often as she is outgoing. And she can be just as sweet as she is a pill. One thing she is quite consistently is stubborn. (She gets it from Randal. I say that only because I'm too stubborn to admit which parent she may actually take after.)

The thing is, we wouldn't take her any other way.

A Door Shut

I've been absent from the blog scene for some time now. Trying to keep up with the nausea of pregnancy becomes a full-time job for me making the thought of blogging out of the question.

I'm feeling much better and am ready and need to start doing the things again that I love, one of which is staying in touch with family and friends who are so far away.

I don't even know how to say this. This is not what I would want to be writing, but I feel it important to explain.

Last week I went to one of my routine doctor visits and learned that our baby was no longer living. I was nearly fourteen weeks and had no indication anything was wrong. We are heart broken.

This is the reason I am feeling much better, however I would give anything to be sick right now.

Even though I feel very sad, I am so grateful for a loving and selfless husband, two fantastic kids and family and friends who love me.

Our family has had its recent trials, this being the pinnacle. Right now the lesson I'm learning in all this is that life is just hard sometimes--for all of us. Randal and I are hopeful a window will be opening for us sometime very soon.

Thank you for all your love and prayers.

Knock Me Over With a Feather

A few miracles occurred around here this week.

First. I was asked to participate in a stake missionary workshop and share some food from Russia. In a valiant effort to make all the youth in the stake gag, I made borsht (beet soup). And guess who ate an entire bowl without complaining? Ethan! I'm shocked. And thrilled. But mostly shocked.


Second. Finally, half a year later, I got over my fear of putting nail holes in our new walls and hung a few pictures.

I realize now, looking at this picture, that one is awfully crooked. I'll go fix that immediately.


And third.

We found out we're expecting a baby!

We wanted to wait a bit to tell everyone. I lasted a week.

And since that bit of news may not make you as happy as it makes us maybe this will:



You can tell I'm pregnant. I cried all the way through this clip--three times. I don't know why. I just think that must have made those travelers so happy.

Question

I have a few questions.

Why is it that if I'm not quite ready to begin my New Year's goals on January 1st do I think the rest of the year is now shot? I'm already counting out 2010 as my year for any kind of growth.

Why do I still own socks from 10 years ago when Randal cannot manage to keep a pair holeless for more than a year. (He has gnarly feet. Don't tell him I said that.)

And why is it that the rest of my house falls apart after only a few days spent painting? Seriously, I, myself, wore the same thing three days straight; and I'm pretty sure Adelaide never made it out of her pajamas. There really shouldn't be this much laundry!

In a Nutshell

Alright, I told you I'd finish the Christmas diatribe last week, and didn't. Sorry to disappoint. Look on the bright side, at least you're not paying to read this blog...yet.

We had a fantastic Christmas. Not that it wasn't without mayhem, mess and even a lot of vomit. Despite all that, I'm willing to bet it will be one of those Christmases our kids will remember forever.

Randal's brother and sister came with their families to visit. A full house. Nine kids and six adults. We were outnumbered, true. Thank goodness these kids are adorable and happy to be with one another again, or we might have been in trouble.

We merged our families' traditions.

Gingerbread houses. (Yes, Adelaide is in her pajamas. I refuse to confess the time of day.)

Christmas Eve we held a talent show as per Bangerter tradition. The kids sang songs, recited poems and reenacted the nativity.

At bedtime Uncle Rich told all the older ones they were not allowed to leave Ethan's room until the clock said 7 am. Then he sneakily set the clock back an hour. Our hats off to Rich!

After a great debate, Randal and I decided not to feed Ethan's video game obsession with a Nintentdo DS from Santa. That is until it was a Black Friday door buster. At risk of being trampled or sucker-punched in the check out line, Randal managed to wrangle a DS for Ethan.

And it was worth it.

This is the money shot. Sorta. It was taken seconds after all the jumping, and the whooping, and the hollering.

We skimped on Adelaide's gift to make up for the DS. Not intentionally! Geez, what kind of parents do you think we are?

She loves to play with food. Its the only thing she does play with, really. She already has a kitchen and playhouse. We decided to expand on it by giving her a shopping cart, cash register and more food. They happen to be pretty cheap toys. In more ways than one. But she doesn't care.

It turns out the best gift was from my brother, Mike, and his family. They gave us four homemade marshmallow shooters. And in a stroke of pure genius, rather than including marshmallows they sent 100 Nerf darts

(This is my best attempt to get Ethan and Addie to look thuggish.)

The kids have had a great time with those shooters. I don't mind so much, until Ethan discovered the darts stick to the windows. They leave a little ring so now my windows look pockmarked.

Whew! With this post I can now say Christmas is officially over. Except for an apology for the absence of a Nelson Christmas card this year. I really have no excuse.