Catching Up!

So after much nagging from an unnamed individual, I am finally updating my blog. The holidays came and went much too quickly this year. I felt like I was always 3 weeks behind all season. We had a busy November. Hailey turned 8 and Marissa turned 12 within five days of each other. And in the midst of birthday celebrations, I was trying to work the Book Fair at school and do 2 callings at church. Instead of having a big friend birthday party, we convinced Hailey it would be funner to have a date with just her mom and dad. We were able to go out to eat and Dad took her to see High School Musical 3. I think she really loved the attention.

Hailey was baptized on Dec. 6th, 2008. She was so excited to get baptized by her father. She looked so lovely in her dress that Grandma Clement made. She felt and looked like a princess.

Marissa also had a big birthday. We finally consented and let her have a sleepover with a few friends. They were actually very well behaved and went to sleep with minimal nagging. (I had gone to the Twilight premier the night before and only gotten about 3 hours of sleep and then worked at the school all day at Book Fair that day so I was a bit exhausted.) Marissa was especially excited to turn 12 so that she could go into Young Women's. She has had a hard time going to church with all her friends already in Young Womens instead of still in Primary. We are happy that she is so excited to join the youth in the ward with so much to look forward to.

We were able to spend a great Thanksgiving holiday with Dave's family this year. Of course, Thanksgiving would not be complete without eating yourself sick, watching movies, and planning the great "Black Friday" marathon for the next morning. I was able to get a few good deals and Marissa was especially excited to go with me this year and use her birthday money to get some great deals on clothes.

With Christmas fast approaching, we scrambled to get the Christmas cards out, decorate the house, make gingerbread houses, and get some shopping done.

Christmas Eve was spent at the Clements re-enacting the nativity. The kids were great sports and hopefully they were able to understand the true meaning of Christmas. One funny story: Santa paid us a visit on Christmas Eve at grandma and grandpa's house. Mason was terrified. He would not go near Santa. Afterwards, we kept trying to get him excited about Santa visiting late that night to deliver presents. Well, a 2 year old doesn't quite comprehend that we learned. While Dave was trying to get him to go to sleep on Christmas Eve, Mason just kept fidgeting. Finally, he told Dave "Santa not come to my house." As soon as Dave told him that Santa wouldn't come, he settled right down and went to sleep. I guess he was really worried about it.

We had a really nice simple Christmas this year. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. Mason was rather grumpy Christmas morning with the lack of sleep but he eventually warmed up to the new trains that he got. Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts, which is always a big relief. Some of you may know that we got quite the snow storm on Christmas Day. Dave had had a broken rib and was unable to shovel the snow. So I went out and proceeded to try to shovel the over 1 foot snow drifts from the driveway so we could go to my parents. After a few minutes, our neighbor appeared with his snow blower and saved us. Of course I explained to him why Dave wasn't doing it himself. Mason has also tried his hand at snow "mowing".

I guess the biggest news in our lives is that Dave has moved his practice to a much larger facility. He felt like he had overstayed his welcome at the previous office because it was so small. He is able to share office space with a doctor/friend we went to chiropractic school with. It is close and very nice inside. We hope this will be the place we can stay long-term. Things have already been going well for him and he and Jay work really well together.

The kids have remained off-track since Dec. 23rd and mom is literally counting down the days until they go back to school. It has been a very long break for kids and mom, but I have enjoyed spending more time with them and, most of all, sleeping in.