Trip to Temple Square

For family night.....we ditched Jack. Lame I know, but it's always harder doing any type of activity with a baby. So, he got to stay back with Grammy Jill and give her a hard time. Which he did. Details to follow.


We planned a Temple Square evening with the Wilson Family. It was by far Emmi's highlight of the entire year. We first went and ate dinner at Eat-a-Burger, then we drove to the TRAX station to catch the train. You should have seen the excitement on little Emmi's face. Holy cow priceless. Riding a true live train. It didn't get any better. She listened and watched everything. Her favorite was hearing the lady's voice over loud speaker announce the stops. She made everyone stop talking so we could hear the "conductor". Brian and I didn't have the heart to tell her it was a recording and not the conductor. When it was time to get off the train it was a pure meltdown. She wasn't ready!!! The only way to get her off was to tell her we could get back on if we went and saw the lights.


Our entire time looking at lights Emmi kept asking when we would get back on the train. She would have been perfectly fine never seeing the lights just riding the train back and forth.

Emmi did enjoy seeing the nativity. She kept asking to see the "real camels". Pink lights were her favorite. Our last stop was the Christus and it was awesome to just see Emmi's little face just stare in awe. As she stared at Him I knelt beside her and whispered to her about Jesus and why He had holes in His hands and wrists. She said, "ahh" like she was so sad for Him. I know she didn't get any of our conversation, but I just pray that talking about it again and again she will start to grasp just little bits of it here and there.

P.S. Jack was home with Grammy refusing the bottle, requiring her to run to the store in a full panic trying to find the exact bottle we have at home. Why must my kids be so darn fickle?

Christmas 2009 recap!

Wow....I'm back

It's been a whole heck of a long time since I last updated. Yes, we are alive....just barely. I feel like I am just starting to get into the swing of things with my full time mom position and part-time nurse position. It's a juggling act but we are all surviving. Brian has done amazing. He manages the two munchkins, my ups and downs, and his search for "what he wants to be when he grows up" sort of thing. Blogging has been at the bottom of my list, but as of late my conscience is getting to me since this blog is our family's only documentation of what we do day to day. I would like my kids some day to know that they did have a young mommy and daddy, we did play and we had fun. So there you go.....memories.

Christmas Recap!


Here is Jack with White Trash Santa. I think he had a total of 5 teeth and had major halitosis. Emmi wouldn't get within 10 feet of him. Who could blame her. This picture cost me 15 dollars. What a joke. I didn't have my camera, but my mom insisted we get a picture of Jack with Santa. Thanks for this memory Mom!

Birkeland family christmas party we did the nativity with all the cousins. Wow was it hilarious! First of all Emmi was mad the whole time because she didn't want to be a shepherd, and refused to keep her hat on. Stubborn little child!

Who is this kid??? The million dollar question. We don't really know. There is no recollection of either of us, but we can say he is cute. Christmas for Jack was all about the ribbon and his trucks.

Here is a glimpse of the power struggle between the two munchkins. Emmi ripping the gift out of Jack's hands.....Jack trying to hold his ground..... Emmi wins! Jack cries! What a wonderful World!

Emmi asked Santa for 2 things. For months she never strayed from her request. It was never added upon either. Lucky us! A pink jump rope, and a purple "skateboard". Well, Santa pulled through on the jump rope. She did get a letter from Santa saying that he was all out of purple paint for her "skateboard" so he had to go with red. So, he did manage to give her a red scooter, which she calls a skateboard.


My all time favorite gift this year was the button bracelet that Emmi surprised me with. She made it all by herself and then Papa Ric made it into a bracelet. She was so proud of herself when she gave it to me. It is a gift I will remember forever!

Brian this year's theme was orange. He actually got a new Canon Powershot orange camera and this orange sweater. Finally, this year I was able to surprise him on both items.

First Snow Day!

A couple of weeks ago we got our first real snow. Emmi was so excited to get out there and build a snowman. Little did we know that the snow was like sand. It was next to impossible to get the snow to pack. I managed to make somewhat of a ball. That was it. Emmi didn't care. She dressed the head. Isn't this the cutest snowman ever? If you look hard you can see the buttons for the mouth set around the base of the head. Too cute!





Emmi in her new snow suit that Grammy Jill bought her. Thanks mom.....she absolutely LOVES it!

We just can't wait for many more snow days! And Emmi can't wait to spend her time eating the snow.

I'm a working mama

Today I changed my status at work to PART-TIME! Two 12 hour shifts a week.

It was a decision that I have been avoiding for so long. When I chose to get a nursing degree I knew that it just "fit me". I enjoy taking care of others, and I love that I truely make a difference in families lives. I also knew that it would be an amazing career for being a mom and I knew that if for some reason I had to help my family out financially I could. So, I guess it has come to that. In August I was denied health insurance from every company due to my complications in pregnancies so I have been funneled to the government "high risk" insurance plan which is high deductible and premiums are outragious. So right now to insure our family we are looking at nearly a house payment. Ugh! And to top that off we are feeling the sting of our suffering economy. Ugh again!

I hate to leave my little Jackers and Emmers but I know they won't be short of love or attention. I will work mainly weekends so they will be with their daddy who lets be honest plays harder with the kids than me. I think that is because I tend to multi task with the house chores, and Brian just does the kids. He is an awesome daddy!



For now let's just pray for some healthcare reform and a new economy!!!!

"Fall"ing in love

LEAVES!!!!

Emmi was thoroughly entertained with the leaves this year. Peer pressure was the driving force to even get Emmi into the leaves. Her little neighbor Annie was diving into them, swimming in them and burying herself in them. Emmi of course had to do it "herself too". After she finally inched her way into the pile she never wanted out. She begged to play in them daily until Daddy had to rake them up and bag them. It was a sad sad day!

This fall has been absolutely beautiful. We have enjoyed ourselves outside as much as possible. Jack is an outdoors guy too. So, most of our days have been playing in the back yard getting in as much outside time before the harsh winter comes.

TRICK or TREAT

Meet my Beautiful Bumble Bee and my Little Leopard!!!



Halloween this year was again a warm and beautiful day. We spent the day relaxing, baking sugar cookies (that failed mind you). I always ruin my baked goods somehow or another. Reason I don't bake often.

So the night started out by all of us getting our costumes on and heading up to my mom's to show the kids off in their costumes. My mom headed off to work and we were headed to my Dad's to do some trunk or treating. We got into the car....(or should I say "the lemon") And it wouldn't start. We tried for 1 1/2 hours trying to fix it. The night was slipping by. Jack was protesting about being a leopard, and Emmi is in the back seat saying, "mama....can I go trick or treating?" Poor kid! We practiced all day on how to trick or treat. She was so ready to get her candy. We finally got a ride home around 8:00 from my dad. Emmi grabbed her pumpkin bag and we headed up and down Keller Lane. She had a pit stop at Ella's house for a cookie and for a little play. Then she headed out for some more candy. By about the 6th house she asked to go home...she was exhausted.

The night ended on the up side. Emmi got some treats and Jack finally got out of his costume that was a furnace and into bed.

Family Pics!!!

It's that time again for family pictures for the good ol' Christmas card. I always hate doing this, but you know you just got to do it. It took me weeks to get together everyones outfits. I stewed and stewed about where I wanted the shoot and what style I was looking for. I hired this amazing photographer and I am for the first time extremely impressed of how things turned out. Here are a few sneak peeks!

Emmi was handing out fake smiles and frowns the entire shoot. I can't tell you how hard it is to get everyone with their smiles on in one photo. I think that our little Jack stole the show. He was by far the cutest in every photo.

P.S. Oh yeah..... I completely CHOPPED my hair. It's been a little hard to adjust to, but a good change.