Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

My baby girl turned three last month. It's amazing to think about how it feels like the past three years have flown by, but at the same time, I can hardly think of our family without this precious little girl.

We just love spending time with her and listening to the crazy things that come out of her mouth. She's constantly bossing us, sassing us, or being sweet. She weighs about 32 pounds and has gone through a growth spurt recently. She loves to sing and dance and is looking forward to going to ballet class now that she's three. Her favorite foods these days are tacos and guacamole. I'm pretty sure she thinks chocolate should be a food group. She's a picky eater but will usually eat her meals with the possibility of a dinner treat.

A favorite Amora story of the year: In her nursery class at church in November, the teachers are rounding the kids up for the lesson. Amora stands in the corner and says, "Anyone who doesn't want to hear the lesson, come over here." One little girl, Ivy, decides to join Amora. When the teacher tries to get Ivy to join the rest of the class, Amora holds out her arm in front of Ivy and says, "Ivy doesn't want to hear the lesson."

Yes, I am toast.

Amora is also going through a Tinkerbell phase. So we had to have a Tinkerbell/Princess/Pirate birthday party (pirates for the boys). This was as creative as I could get for the invitation with minimal time working full time, planning her birthday party, and getting ready for Christmas.

She asked for a Tinkerbell cake, so her not-so-crafty mom made the attempt. Not too bad with a cake mold. I was proud of myself and Amora loved it.


And here is all of her loot. Probably one of her favorite parts of her birthday was going to choose what balloons she wanted.

And here is my little princess. We were all set to wear the Tinkerbell costume for the party until she opened this princess costume from an aunt and uncle. Tinkerbell party magically morphed into Tinkerbell/Princess party.


She figured out the art of blowing out the candle. I don't think there was even much spit on the cake. Way to go, Amora!

We love you little girl! We look forward to discovering what 3 has in store for you!

Christmas Letter 2011

What better way update the world after many months of absence than my Christmas letter? More to come, eventually.

Dear Family and Friends,

As with every year as of late, this year has been a year of change for our family. We have added new jobs to our resumes, experienced new adventures, and felt gratitude for the abundance of blessings received this year.

We’ll start with the most important member of our family, Amora. She has continued to grow and develop into a jewel of a little girl. She loves all things girly, especially princesses, fairies, and dressing up. We successfully mastered potty training which proved to be a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. Her favorite potty activity? Playing on the iPad while doing her business. What can we say? We have a diva on our hands. This year she has shown her artistic and creative sides by speaking “Spanish” (her nonsense language), cutting shapes, drawing people, singing, dancing, and making up silly names for her imaginary siblings and friends. We continue to be amazed at her developing vocabulary and sense of humor.

This year has been the year of many jobs for Wendy. She started the year as a stay at home mom then went back to work as a long-term substitute teacher at a local middle school. She then landed a job as a part-time summer school health teacher at an alternative high school. And in August, she changed careers and began a permanent position with the state of Idaho working in public health. The best part of this new job is the financial stability and the low stress nature of the position. The most difficult part of this has been the challenge of being away from Amora. Luckily, she is in wonderful hands with her daddy.

Adam landed a great job as a psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) worker that gives him flexible hours and allows him to try to make a difference in the lives of the children he works with. He goes to work part-time in the late afternoons and evenings, takes care of Amora during the day, and does a good job making sure the house is in tip top shape. He even finds time for his fun experiments in the kitchen (which mostly turn out well).

It’s definitely been a crazy year for us, but we are grateful for where it has led us. We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season and count our blessings daily. We hope 2012 brings us continued stability and maybe home ownership. Merry Christmas and may God bless you this Christmas season!