Newest Addition

This is our third attempt to have a dog. :o) The first two were puppies of this cute mommy.
The first one was run over. :o( And the second we got two months after Asher was born, and it was just too difficult on me. I felt like I had two babies. So, another home was found for him. Alisha decided that three dogs was a little bit much so we gladly took this one off her hands over Christmas break.
Meet Maizy! She is 3 years old and is mellow and calm and the perfect dog for our home.
Asher LOVES her! He has taken to crawling around on his knees following her around and when she stops he lies down next to her. She is very patient with his "petting" and playing.
Oh, and she is a miniature long-hair dachshund. We love her!!

She likes to get under our bed and poke her little head out from under the covers. And in case you're wondering what that cord is... Josh got me a heating blanket for Christmas! It is the best gift ever!!

And this picture is a little PS. Asher likes to dress up in daddy's work boots when daddy gets home for the day. And he likes to talk on the phone. He puts it to his ear and says "Ha-dah!" (translation: Hello!)

Christmas

Ok, better late than never, right?  Here are some pictures from events over the Christmas break.  These aren't necessarily in the right order. 

We spent Christmas Eve with my side of the family.  Here is a picture of Asher enjoying my dad reading the book we read every Christmas Eve.  It is called "The Christmas Miracle of Johnathon Toomey."  I highly recommend it for those who have not read it.

We also spent Christmas Eve up at my Grandma's.  I just had to include this picture.  My grandma got my 17 year old cousin onesie pjs for Christmas.  It was hilarious!

Ignore me in this picture.  :o)  What I wanted to show is Asher.  When we were at my parents' house for Thanksgiving, Asher started playing with the broom after dinner, something he does frequently at our house.  So my grandma got him his own little broom and dust pan for Christmas.  He loves to help sweep!  It's adorable!  We also got him a little lawn mower that he likes to push around, like he's vacuuming.  He loves the vacuum!

These next pictures are of a day I spent up in Salt Lake with Brandi.  She wanted to go to dinner and to Temple Square to celebrate her b-day.  So, on the day of Josh's final in Salt Lake I went up early with him.  While he was testing, Brandi and I took the kids to see Santa and then over to the Zoo lights.  Those were cool!!  We then met up with Nate and Josh for dinner at Applebee's and then we all went over to Temple Square.  So, here's Asher all bundled up at Temple Square.  It was so cold!  And he didn't complain one bit.

This last picture is of Asher and Camri playing with this really cool maze for balls to go through in the Hansen Planetarium.  It's huge!  Brandi and I came upon it one day and spent a good 45 minutes... hehe, we're like little kids.  

Those aren't all the pictures from the break, but some fun ones.  We also spent Christmas day with Josh's side of the family.  Unfortunately, we video taped a lot and didn't take pictures.  I don't know why we can't ever seem to do both at the same time.  

Our next adventure will be getting me through this next semester, as I am planning to double my school load in order to finish my Associates degree quickly.  So, we'll see how often this is updated after this week.  :o)

Finals--Bleh!

Well, this will be a boring post. Josh and I are completely consumed with final exam preparation. I have two finals tonight and one on Wed. afternoon. Josh has one on Thurs. night and one Fri. afternoon. Then we will be free from school requirements for two weeks!! So, I'll post later when I have something better to talk about... and more time. :o)

Family Pictures

We finally got some professional pictures done. I LOVE them and wanted to share some of my favorites with you! Our photographer was in love with Asher. :o) She was surprised at how good he was. Anyway, it was so fun! Enjoy!!

Self Reflection

An event from last week has forced me into self- reflection. This event was hurtful and made me realize that I still have a long way to go. But as I think about it, and try not to think about it, I am ashamed to say that I find myself wanting to show that I am hurt around this person so that there is no way that they do not know how much they hurt my feelings. This feeling probably stems from a lifetime of learning to play the victim. I have had to fight myself to not act this way. This experience has been a big reminder to me of how "young [I] am spiritually", to put it in the words of Elder Maxwell. But I am grateful for these reminders because it shows how much my Heavenly Father loves me. I recently heard it said that we should not get upset when people point out our faults because it means that they have not given up on us yet. Isn't that true of Father? He will never give up on us, how comforting that is. It is so difficult for me to punish Asher when trying to teach him obedience. I cannot imagine the hurt it causes Father to have to gently, and sometimes not so gently, remind us of our weaknesses. But as we read in Ether 12, He "gives" us our weaknesses, just like he gives us blessings. They are for a specific purpose, and I take comfort in that as well. Can you imagine life if we were not reminded of our shortcomings? We would have no desire to be better. What a generous and loving Father. So at this Thanksgiving time, I am grateful for reminders of our weaknesses and for the infinite love from our Father!!

6 Quirks

I was tagged by my friend, Stef, to list 6 quirky things about myself...this should be interesting.

1. Popcorn is like a food group to me. It goes way past comfort food. I could live off of popcorn and juice. Josh worries about me sometimes because that's all I feel in the mood to eat. It's definitely not the worst thing I could be eating, but not the best. When I was pregnant I ate popcorn at least 2 or 3 times a week, and when I say I ate popcorn I mean I ate an entire bag each time.

2. I still enjoy old cheesy tv shows like Full House and Saved by the Bell and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the one I am most emabarrassed to admit).

3. I am obsessed with chapstick and lotion. I put both in whatever room I am going to be in the most that day. When I was in high school and forgot either/both I would tell my parents that I forgot homework so they would turn around and go home so I could get them. Josh used to tell me that I was addicted to them, and that addictions are bad. He eventually got used to the idea. I joke that when we have a big home I am going to have chapstick and lotion in every room...but it's not really a joke.

4. I am a little OCD about some things...ok after hearing this, you'll probably think I'm a lot OCD, but it's only about a few things. For example, when I was sending out our wedding announcements, I hand wrote every single one and wouldn't let anyone help me because it would have bugged me to have them not written in the same handwriting. I know that no one else would know, but it would bug me.

5. I have a really hard time not finishing a book once I started reading it, even if I don't enjoy it. I am constantly reading, and I have probably only done that once or twice in my life. And on that reading note, I read every single page of every single book I was assigned in high school. Even if I didn't get time to read the assigned chapter before it was due, I would always go back and make it up.

6. I am really scared of really big things, like diesel trucks. When one is coming up behind me on the freeway I feel like I'm being chased by a dinosaur and I have to change lanes. And I have a hard time looking when I'm passing over large expanses of water (especially when it's dark) because I just know that some huge sea monster is going to jump out of the water.

Wow, I've just realized that I am a very strange person! :o)

Oh, and I tag Cherisa, Arian, and Sarah. And anyone else that wants to do it.