Margie's Blog

We enjoyed Christmas as a family this year. Wednesday (Christmas Eve) Shawn took the girls sledding while I made some dinner. I think having the house to myself for an hour was a present enough. We enjoyed our yummy dinner together and enjoyed our family time of opening new pajamas for the girls and reading the Christmas story. Shawn was cute and found the Norad tracking web page to show Paige where Santa was as he was being tracked by satellite. When she woke up the next morning she was pretty surprised to see that Santa had made it all the way to our house.


We enjoyed playing with Shawn's siblings at his parents' house and opened more presents there. We spent our nights at a hotel and I greatly appreciated getting to sleep in a queen size bed and having the bathroom and my girls all in close proximity to me. It gave us an excuse to go swimming on Friday as well. The girls had a blast swimming in the pool and it wore them out enough that they both fell asleep afterwards.Friday morning Shawn pulled the girls on the sled with the snowmobile around his parents' house. They had a blast and luckily their Aunt Tonya was willing to climb onto the sled to hold onto them as they whirled around. We got back to Logan on Saturday afternoon (this time I-84 was open) and have been picking up from Christmas ever since.

I made my Christmas dinner tonight of ham & parmesan smashed potatoes and enjoyed having a nice big meal. The girls are still playing with their new toys and enjoying the lingering fun of Christmas.

December 2008

Merry Christmas to our family and friends,

We hope that this past year has been filled with joy and new adventures for everyone. As I started to reflect on this past year I’m amazed at how busy we’ve managed to stay. We have visited Disneyland; Zion’s National Park; Fort Worth, Texas and Las Vegas. Paige and Brooke loved every minute of getting to meet the Disney Princesses and Minnie Mouse. We all enjoyed the beauty of Zion’s National Park as well as the escapes that Texas and Las Vegas provided.

We still love living in our little house in River Heights. Shawn has been wonderful at helping Margie fix the kitchen up. We have managed to strip the kitchen cabinets and repaint them, strip the wallpaper and put up wainscoting as well as a long day spent by Shawn and his dad putting in a new kitchen floor.

Shawn and Margie were spoiled to enjoy a cruise to Ensenada, Mexico in June with Shawn’s firm to celebrate its 60^th anniversary. They were able to enjoy a new adventure and get to know the people he works with better as well.

Paige continues to be an entertaining four-year-old to everyone that meets her. She has enjoyed taking dance class this year and gladly shares her talents with people who are willing to watch. She loved her first princess birthday party with friends and enjoys playing with any and all kids she can find. Paige has also mastered playing computer games already and can easily get onto her favorite websites to play with her Disney or PBS friends.

Brooke is a master at getting her family to smile. Her adorable grin doesn’t allow for anything other then joy to fill those that see it. She’s a two and a half year old going on four. If you ask her how old she is, she’ll tell you three. She recently made the transition to sleep in the bunk bed and moved Paige to the top bunk. She’s always curious as to how everyone else is doing and will ask everyone at dinner, “How’s your dinner?” Her milestone of the year was that she bravely received her first stitches on her forehead after a fall.

Our next girl is due to join our family on February 25^th. Luckily she already has plenty of pink princess things to fill her closet and her older sisters are already trying to figure out how life will change when she arrives.

Shawn continues to excel at his job as a CPA for Jones Simkins. He spends his early mornings playing basketball with either friends from the stake or co-workers on Saturdays. His firm participated in city softball and flag football teams. He also enjoyed playing with the Elders Quorum as they won the regional championships again in basketball. Shawn took a weekend in September to travel to Seattle, Washington and enjoyed a boys’ weekend with his college friends. They attended a BYU football game, visited Pikes Market and played paintball.

Margie has tried to keep her violin from collecting dust by participating in the Cache Community Orchestra again. She attended her first BYU Women’s Conference with her sister Charlynn in May. It was a fun weekend for her to be completely without children for a couple days straight (probably for her first time in years). Margie also took a solo trip to California in October to attend her 10-year high school reunion.

Thank you for your love and friendships over the years. We hope this holiday season is filled with new joys and memories for you and your family and the New Year is full of new adventures for all.

Love,

Shawn, Margie, Paige & Brooke

This past week I survived being a single parent all week again. If you don't chat with me regularly maybe you don't know that Shawn travels every couple of months with his work. I'm used to it and the week usually flies by as I am glad to make grilled cheese sandwiches and macaroni and cheese for dinner instead of planning regular meals, cleaning the house up a little and cooking all before he gets home from work. This past week dragged on for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that we are entering winter and now have snow on the ground. Maybe it's because I hate going to stores now that the holiday crazies are all over trying to get their last minute items. Maybe it's because I'm seven months pregnant and the tummy is starting to get in the way and wear my back out a little. Probably a little of all, right? Anyways, we were more then happy when dad rolled in the driveway Friday evening earlier then I expected. The girls needed some Dad time and he was happy to give them hugs and snuggles.

Saturday we went sledding as a family. I obviously can't do it alone because A) can't slide down the slope and B) lugging two girls and two sleds up a hill will definitely throw my back out. The girls had a blast sledding. Brooke would start to get tired or feel cold and then remember how much fun she was having and want to go down the hill again. Paige was fearless and was starting to want to try new positions on the sled to be trickier.


I snagged the girls new snow gloves this week and they've been enjoying playing in the snow more ever since. The snow is too dry for a snowman but plenty of snow angels have been made and icicles have been played with. Let's see if it will still entertain them in February, right?

Here are Paige's dances from her Holiday dance concert. She did great and still has a blast in dance class.

#1 Tap to a Christmas Medley song


#2 Papa Love Mambo Tap


#3 Teddy Bear Ballet number

To start off let me get you as uninterested in this blog as I can. I didn't take any pictures this week! None! I thought about grabbing the camera as I was playing with the girls in the snow on Saturday and Sunday but for some reason the camera wasn't the most important part of those moments. Playing with my girls and enjoying the new snow with them was most important so I left the camera inside the house.

This week I got to perform Friday night with the community orchestra again. We did our first Christmas concert and in the tabernacle. Have I mentioned how much I love playing with this group to you yet? I really feel like it's been a blessing in my life. My parents worked hard and payed plenty of money to teach me how to play the violin. Not something that a 5th of eight child would always get the luxury of doing. I came to Logan in 2003, got bored after being jobless and not knowing anyone in town for sometime and somehow bumped into a listing of the orchestra in a community calendar. Usually if I see something like this it'll take me 6 months to actually investigate it. I called right away to find out more information and have been enjoying playing almost last chair in 2nd violin ever since.The orchestra was asked to play a Christmas concert this year in the Logan Tabernacle. We weren't sure how/if we could all fit in there. They set up a stage and we crammed as best as we could in the seating available. I sat on a bench almost shoulder to shoulder with 4 other violinist. Have you ever tried to play violin that close to someone else? I tried to be good to stay on bowing but looking past a fist violinist in front of me didn't help the situation too much. It was hard to figure out which way I was supposed to be bowing. But the music was so much fun to play. I haven't played all Christmas music since high school.
Now it's time to take a break from the orchestra for a few months. Our next concert is three days before my due date and so maybe in the fall if I have any life in me I'll come again and enjoy my time off on Wednesday nights again to play my violin.

On to the snow . . .

Saturday morning we woke up to the snow blowing quite strongly. Shawn set to work early shoveling the driveway. I found all the snow clothes for the girls and bundled them up so they could go "help" their dad shovel. Paige has no fear of the snow this year. She sits right down in it and starts playing away. Brooke wants to follow Paige so badly but is still trying to figure out how to survive this cold white stuff. After getting ready I finally joined them outside and helped Paige and Brooke both make some snow angels. Then we loaded up the cars and took the Civic to get new tires on it.

Sunday the snow was still on the ground. The girls are learning that sidewalks are icy and they have to be careful walking (especially in slippery church shoes) again. After church and a meal they were ready to venture in the snow again so I bundled them up and they played outside again. Brooke would sit down and not be able to get herself back up but she didn't give up quickly. She wanted to stay outside as long as Paige was out there playing. I'm so grateful for my girls. They give me so much joy. Crazy to think there will be three little girls running around me, tugging on my apron strings soon enough.

Enjoy your snowy week!

There really isn't too much to blog about this week. We got our Christmas decorations up which is fun to look at something different for a few weeks. The girls and I attended the ward Christmas party Saturday night while Shawn went to Salt Lake to attend the BYU v. USU basketball game with co-workers. The girls were good for me at the party and Paige enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap at the end. I'm trying to organize Christmas details and hope I don't forget anything major. My pregnant brain isn't always fully functioning (well, neither is the non-pregnant version I suppose). I hope you are all enjoying getting into the Christmas season!

Here you go Jenni, some pictures of before and after of my semi solution to toy storage. We'll see how it works huh? I've dreamed up a storage cubbie for this space but have tried to convince myself that it's too much of a project to make a custom one or buy the one I found on the internet for $500. Plus, we don't plan on being in our house for much more then 5 more years (unless my neighbor Jamie can put a stop to that).



So I didn't want to make a custom cabinet that wasn't going to work in the next house. But these tubs fit right where I wanted them and there's still some space to fill in some.

On an unrelated note, send me your addresses if you are into getting Christmas cards and would like one. margielanderson@gmail.com

Thanks!

Are you ready for the trip overview? I'll try to keep it readers digest version . . .

Sunday I had an orchestra concert and it went well. I enjoyed playing the songs and only wished I could have practiced more. I have one more at the Logan Tabernacle on December 12th before I take a maternity break from orchestra :(

Monday morning we started our trek to St. George. Shawn had some extra points at La Quinta so we stayed there. They kept their pool heated warm so after some extra yummy pizza dinner we tried to wear the girls out swimming.

Tuesday we got into Anaheim. Wednesday morning we check out Discover Science Center.
Thursday Chandler had connections to get us into Disneyland. Thanks Chandler! We had a blast there as a family. Shawn went on a couple rides solo which pregnant me or the girls couldn't go on. The girls and I ventured to walk through Sleeping Beauty's castle. We bumped into Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip inside and they squeezed their way over to walk with them and hold their hands. It was really cute.We took time to see Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse as well. I knew they'd enjoy those pictures the most. Paige and Brooke also both took turns riding Gadgets roller coaster with Shawn. They loved it.We met up with my parents to ride It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear and Haunted Mansion. I actually got my parents on Haunted Mansion somehow. They'd never seen the Nightmare Before Christmas version. They took Brooke home after that and she took a long nap. Paige enjoyed going on Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Nemo and meeting Tinkerbell afterwards. And I splurged on a caramel apple and we watched the Christmas parade. What a fun day!! I think Shawn even enjoyed it a little :)Friday my Dad took over cooking the turkey for our family. (Yep we did it on Friday so we could have Thursday at Disneyland with a smaller crowd.) We entertained the girls by taking them around to some local parks to play. I was wiped out from Disneyland and traveling so after blobbing for sometime ventured to The Container Store for my first time and grabbed some storage for the toys in the girls room. I've been picking my brain for some time trying to think up the most reasonable way to organize their toys and get them out of the way. Hopefully this works okay.

Saturday we packed up and headed back out again. We stayed again in St. George and the girls traveled well. They watched their DVDs and were generally pretty good. Tonight Shawn pulled out the Christmas tree and we started our new tradition of reading a Christmas story a night before Christmas. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

Friday my family spoiled me for my birthday. Brooke came in the morning and said Happy Birthday over and over to me. Paige wanted to learn to play Happy Birthday on the piano so I taped letters on the keys and wrote the letters on a piece of paper for her to follow. She practiced for a couple of days and did pretty good for her first real attempt at playing something.

Shawn went to a furniture store with me at lunchtime and we picked out a new LaZBoy chair for the nursery. Yeah! The endless middle of the night feedings will be much more comfortable next year. I grabbed some hand lotion for myself and had the girls wrap it up and they each got to give me one. That evening we all went out to eat together. The girls tried hard to sit and listen to the rules but it was a long dinner and their little bodies like to wiggle. I did get an extra yummy chocolate truffle cheesecake for dessert though, mmm.

The cutest present was that the girls wanted to look cute for my birthday so they picked out dresses to wear. I did Paige's hair first and Brooke wanted to be just like Paige and have a ponytail in her hair. That never happens. So after getting a bow in Paige's hair Brooke actually let me put a bow in her hair and left it there all day!! She really wishes she had more hair and could have it done like her sister's. It will grow soon!This morning I enjoyed practicing with the orchestra before our big concert tomorrow. I really enjoy my time playing with them even if I'm not good at practicing at home. Just getting to play the amazing pieces with other people who enjoy music is fun. Fun memories of my days as a teenager playing in orchestras always come back to me as well.

First off, I'm glad to hear that all my Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills friends and family survived the crazy fire there last Saturday. I knew several people that were evacuated and I haven't heard of any damage to their property but it came close to some. I heard that close to 200 residences (including 80 apartments) were damaged or destroyed in it. It was fascinating to hear of the heroes that stayed behind and hosed down their house and their neighbors houses. I thought this picture was crazy how some homes looked untouched and others completely gone.
I've been getting creative with Paige's hair as well. I figure I have 3 girls and might as well get better at making cute hairstyles. So we are definitely at the trying out and testing stage.

And then to be fair I let Paige be in my shoes and let her do my hair this morning. She was very proud of it and Brooke told her it looked beautiful.Now starts our busy weekend. Sunday is another orchestra concert so if you're in the area and want to hear a free concert stop by the Kent Concert Hall at USU at 7:30pm. You might surprise yourself and enjoy it!

If you haven't figured it out by now I love my Fleurville diaper bag. Today through Thursday they are having a big sale up to 80% off of their seconds (ones with flaws). My original diaper bag still works great but with my birthday/Christmas and baby #3 coming I splurged and spoiled myself to one for 1/3 of the price of my original!! Hopefully the "flaws" are manageable, right? So if you dying for a great diaper bag stop on over and check out their selection.

Friday afternoon the girls and I headed down to Salt Lake to see Disney on Ice with Charlynn and Chandler. Paige was pretty excited and would ask me every 20 minutes if we were there yet. We got to Aunt Charlynn's a little early so we walked around the Brigham Young memorial site until it was time to get going. The girls were pretty glued to the show and loved seeing all their favorite Disney characters dancing around. It was the 100 years celebration so they had little snippets from everything. Afterward we ate dinner with Chandler and then headed home. The girls were both completely asleep in the car by 8:00pm (when I finally found Brooke's binkie she's been sitting on) and we got home around 9:00pm. Shawn helped me get their pajamas on and tuck them into bed. They had a blast and I'm glad I had the chance to go with them and had the great help of their aunt and uncle.

Today I taught a nice babysitting class. The kids were all pretty well behaved. None were too young, asked way too many nonsense questions or silly comments. A nice family came where the younger brother was a little sick but he really wanted to stay with his brother so the mom stayed the entire class (5 hours) and she really enjoyed it as well and filled out an evaluation for me because she liked it so much.

This week I get to figure out how to celebrate my 29th birthday . . . any suggestions? Do you think making and consuming an entire cheesecake would concern the doctor at my next appointment?

If you didn't catch my last post and live in Cache Valley check it out. Plus read up on Baby Mia's story to the right. She is doing great and I'm loving hearing about her getting one more tube out everyday and becoming more alert.

Any local Cache County citizens this one is for you. Check out the blog about the progress to get a county wide library and sign the petition link on the right if you feel so inclined. It looks like an email or call to the county council might help as well. If you aren't from Cache Valley here's a quick explanation. We don't have a county wide library system. The city of Logan has a nice library but unless you live in Logan city (which we don't) you aren't allowed to use it unless you pay a large annual fee ($163). We do have a local city library that is very small. The county council has been discussing making a county wide system for sometime but it looks like it isn't a go yet. Pass the information on to your other cache county friends.

Shawn's Dad drove down on Saturday to help us lay our new kitchen floor.Here is a reminder of what our floor was like before. 60 year old laminate that has held up like a champ. It was grey with multicolor paint speckles all over it and could hide dirt, cereal, raisins for endless days. I haven't missed it yet.

And Paige wanted to let you know what our kitchen (with the painted cupboards) looked like first thing in the morning. Don't you love crazy morning hair?

Paige needed a project to help with with while Dad and Grandpa worked on our new kitchen floor. She helped me wrap up a bunch of Christmas books I snagged on Ebay. We have enough to start our new holiday tradition of opening one for each night in December and reading the book before bed. I enjoyed getting out my Christmas wrapping paper if you can't tell.

Today is my nieces baby blessing. We aren't going to be able to make it this time due to flu bugs and colds but hope everyone gets feeling better.