Hidden Talents

Jonathan has been working on my Birthday/Christmas present for three months. He finally finished my totally amazing homemade cedar chest this week.

This master carpenter finished almost on time and completely within budget ($40)!

Jonathan's faithful assistant was on hand to share her feelings about the project. "I can honestly say that I am no longer afraid of drills or sanders. Isn't this ball pretty!"

Many thanks to my sweetheart. I will treasure it forever!

Autumn's latest saying

Today, as I carried Autumn passed the picture of Chirst in our living room, she called out "Jesus! Beam!" It took me a second to realize she was refering to the song "Jesus Wants Me For a Sun Beam." She made the connection although I've only sung the song two or three times with her and never by the picture.

Picture of the day

Some pictures speak a thousand words. Other pictures need a thousand word explanation, or at least the phrase on Jon's t-shirt!

We had a wonderful family retreat in our tent last night. Autumn played with the lantern and we came up with the most fabulous family goals ever.

How do we get ready for Nursery?

1. You need a rainbow dress to wear
2. You need to know songs like "Popcorn Popping"
3. You need to eat snacks
4. You need to be able to identify Jesus

I think we're ready. Just two more months to go!

Which came first...

The chicken or the double yoke? Jonathan is amused by how proud I am of the double yoke I got when I cracked this egg open. It's my first one.

We've seen a lot of birds in the neighborhood recently because they are building a large apartment complex in a field near our home and they all want to move in. Just kidding! The birds are confused because their home is gone.

This displaced pheasant spent an long time in our backyard while it was snowing the other day.

I'm slightly disgruntled about the new apartment complex because the family that was renting the home where the apartment complex is, didn't get much notice that they had to leave and the mom was pregnant and had just been called as my Miamaid advisor. I often ponder the concept of unexpected change. It may be a surprise, but it is usually for our good, and sometimes we even get a double yoke with it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This year we had a magical Christmas in Idaho Falls. We celebrated with my mom, three of my of my siblings and their families, and my aunt and uncle. Autumn was the angel for the Christmas pagaent. Watching Autumn and her cousins reinacte the Nativity was one of the highlights of Christmas. We ate a lot of good food, listened to wonderful music, and got to go sledding.
We drove home Saturday evening and I stayed home from church Sunday with a sore throat. After we all recovered from our illnesses, we drove down to Orem on Tuesday to see Jon's parents and his siblins and their families, including Amanda, Brendon, and Molly from Washington. It was quite the adventure getting the three grandkids including Autumn to stay still for a portrait at Target.
We are now looking forward to a great 2011. Happy New Year!

Budding Artist

Autumn has been showing off her creative side lately. I find works of art all over the house, but not what you would expect, like crayon on the walls. Autumn is into contemporary sculpture. Feel free to suggest titles for her latest pieces. (I seriously did not help with or even plan these endevours. They just show up.)

Here is Autumn working on her latest work of art. As any true artist would, Autumn has aquired a foreign accent. This is from watching Teletubbies. She now says "alow" instead of hello.