Can you handle the heat?

Today we found out that we will be moving to Phoenix, AZ next year for Kris to do his Orthopedic Spine Surgery Fellowship. We will only be there for one year, but we are very excited for this new adventure. We are so sad to leave our happy life here in NY, but we are also ready to finish this long medical training process.

This past winter it snowed over 179 inches, which by the way, won us the New York State Golden Snowball Award--yes, I am serious there is such a thing. So, when people have been asking me if I think I can handle the heat in Arizona I have just one thing to say...

Bring. It. On!

A man and his dream...

Kris is a lover of boats. Every February for as long as we have been married we have gone to the annual boat show. Kris insists it is the ONLY good thing about February--I tend to agree. We often discuss/joke about which we will purchase first when he gets finished with all this medical training junk--a house or a boat. You might reason that we can't live in a boat so we should get a house first. Kris says he can live on a boat just fine.

In fact, boats and the boat show have played a big part of our life together. When we were dating we spent many days on Kris' Dad's boat. I am not a very good water skier but Kris must have seen some potential because I am pretty sure he would not have proposed if I couldn't hold my own on a ski.



After we were married, when February rolled around, we went to the boat show. We saw a beautiful boat and went to check it out. It was a MARIAH boat. He turned to me and said, "If we ever have a girl, can we name her Mariah?" Obviously I agreed and the following February we took our 4 week old baby girl to the boat show and took her picture by a Mariah boat. If I knew how to scan pictures into the computer I would post that too, but I don't know how so I won't. Just imagine a tiny Mariah in front of a big boat. Here she is as a big girl...


Our taste in boats has changed drastically over the past 12 years since and now Kris is all about the wake boarding boats. Unfortunately upstate NY does not value wake boarding boats so we were only able to find a few among all the fishing, party pads and luxury boats at the boat show.

We had a great time and we were able to forget that it was 3 degrees outside--at least for a few minutes until we had to walk to the car again.

And the debate still remains...house or boat.....house or boat.....

It is never too early to start! Gabriella called this a skateboard with boots. She cried when we took it off of her.

And now February is over...why does it still feel like winter!?!

Fighting the Winter Blues

Joshua and Gabriella are very tired of the snow and winter cold. They want to go outside and play. After one bad snow storm, that left us stuck inside, they decided they had enough and they were going to do something about it. They found some summer clothes and got changed. Then they made pretend ice-cream cones out of play-dough, had a picnic in the living room (pretend park) and finally got themselves geared up for a Safari in Africa. It was hilarious. They made me cold to just look at them in their summer clothes, but they continued. I am grateful for cute kid imaginations and for siblings who love each other. It was s fun day for them--even if we were buried under 12 inches of new snow!

Celebrations!

It has been a month FULL of celebrations. With 3 kids having birthdays in January it makes for a month full of PARTIES!!!

So, let's review...

Mariah turned 12 this year and I cannot believe she could possibly be that old--especially considering I am only like...23:) She celebrated her birthday with friends during the Christmas break. She wanted to have a sleepover for her birthday and we decided that she could have one last sleepover. We recently decided we are not going to have sleepovers anymore and this party proved to us what a good decision that was. I could not get these girls to go to sleep! I had to turn into the mean Mom after they woke up Olivia for the third time. Mariah had fun and I guess that is what is most important. Happy birthday to the best 12 year old I know--We love our Mariah!




Mariah's friends--the girls had a blast playing the Kinect on Xbox. They laughed and screamed--a lot!

Also turning 12 means that Mariah will be joining the Young Woman program at our church. On her birthday the stake put on a fun conference for all the girls ages 12 and 13. There was a sweet program and lots of fun crafts to do. I am so happy that I am in the Young Woman presidency so I get to be with her. I am so excited for all the fun, spiritual, and growing experiences she is about to have over the next 6 years she is in the program. I can't wait to see her become an even more beautiful girl, inside and out!


Samantha turned 10 this year! She had a long, stretched out birthday. On her actual birthday she had a dance recital and so we celebrated the night before with her favorite dinner and gifts. One her actual day we all went and watched her dance recital and went for ice cream after. Then, a few days later she had her birthday party with her friends. We went ice skating for her birthday. The girls were all really nervous and afraid they would fall, but they were great sports and tried to laugh each time they fell. I am sure they will all have a few bruises.

Samantha is such an amazing girl and we are so glad she is part of our family. She is a beautiful girl and smart as can be as well! We keep saying that this is her year to try to grow a few inches. She hasn't grown in almost two years so this is bound to be the year she gains a couple of inches! But, if not--we will still love her:)


And finally...

Miss Olivia turned one! I do not know how in the world that happened. I feel like this past year was pushed in a time warp because I cannot believe how fast it has gone. She was a very sweet birthday girl. She was very excited about all the balloons!

Olivia is a very precious baby. She has such a calming influence on our family and we all love her very much! I hope this next year does not go by so fast.

She loved dancing on the table and was tempted to eat a big bite out of the cake!


We thought she would devour her cake when we set it in front of her, but she was very funny about it. She flipped it over and looked disgusted at it. One of my friends thought I was mean to give her such a small cake after withholding goodies from her for her whole life. Maybe Livi was mad at me.

Even after taking a bite she still looked at us like we were crazy for forcing her to eat cake. I have never had a baby be so passive about their first birthday cake eating. She did squish it around really well. Joshua was thrilled when she put some in her hair. He was so impressed when Gabriella did that on her first birthday and he has been so excited to see Olivia do the same. He is just living vicariously through his sisters.
Happy birthday to the most adorable one year old I know! Please don't grow anymore.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve started with a bit of sledding at the kids school. Not much of a hill but we had fun anyway. Then it was off to enjoy a nice dinner with some of our friends. We miss our family so much this time of year, but we are very grateful we have friends to share good times with.

After dinner we came home to enjoy our own family traditions. We always act out the nativity. Each year we just pick which part we want to play and then find our own costume for it. Joshua was a sheperd (how do you spell that??) Gabriella was an angel, Mariah was the star, Samantha was Mary, Kris was Joseph and the narrator, I was a wise man. I scared Olivia with my costume, and I have to give credit to Veronica's sister for the inspiration:)



After the lovely story of Christ's birth the kids opened the gifts they always carefully pick out for each other and they open new pj's from us, and this year we let them open the slippers they got from the Palmer cousins. It was so much fun. It was always a very nice night for our little family to enjoy together. The kids were in bed and asleep by 10:00. But, they were up again at 3:50. We held them off until 5:15 and then it was on! We enjoyed a sweet Christmas day. Gabriella took 2 naps and Kris only had to go into work for a couple of hours. We just played and relaxed and played all day! I love Christmas and I am sad to see it over for another year. It came and went so fast this year. I was glad we managed to find a little time to enjoy it!

Olivia and the cuddly bear Joshua picked out for her, she loves it!
Joshua opening the star wars pencil he wanted at the school book fair clear back in Sept. Mariah ran back into the school while I was getting the kids in the car and bought it without him knowing. It was a cute surprise.

Love, love, LOVE these sweet kids!

Love all the cute slippers! Thanks Palmer cousins:)

Gingerbread House Party 2010

We had a gingerbread house party with some of the resident families that Kris works with. The kids had so much candy to choose from it was ridiculous! After they had their fun we put on a movie for them and the adults had a building competition of their own. It was boys against girls and although I think the judges were wrong--the boys were the winners! It was lots of fun and we are still recovering from the sugar overload.

The boys won with the two story Santa's workshop. I think the judges were amazed that they pulled off a two story gingerbread house that was all they could think about.


Here's the girls and their Santa's workshop. It was all about the details, too bad you can't see them:)

Gabriella was not going to be slowed down by involving her hands--she just dove in for a bite!
So much fun!

Now THAT is a snowman!

Anyone think you can do better? We put the challenge out there a couple of years ago and we are doing it again now. Build a bigger or better snowman or snow sculpture of some kind and send us a picture. Come on, it is not that cold outside--be creative and get out there and build something! We dare you...

It was Joshua's idea to go with the 5 segmented snow monster this year:)