Our New Puppy

Our boys have been begging us for a dog for years now. Jeff has been sensitive to their pleadings and might have given in for a dog, but sadly for the kids, I've held firm. I like dogs, but I'm just not ready for the commitment of owning one. I know the work that comes with getting a dog- especially a puppy. It's almost like having another child that needs lots of attention and time and love and work. I also know there's no going back- I don't believe in getting a dog and getting rid of it later because it's more than you can handle. If we get a dog- we're in it for the long haul and I knew I wasn't ready to commit to that-not at this stage in our lives.

Well, it just so happened that Dad Stevens was looking for a new dog. He really wanted to get another German wiredhair pointer after his beloved dog Indy died last year. That particular brand is fairly expensive where they live, but it just so happens that they are significantly cheaper by us. It also just so happened that Mom & Dad would be coming out to our place for Jacob's baptism in February. Anyway, Dad found a man who was selling puppies and we came up with a great idea. We would pick out a puppy for him, and keep it at our home for a few weeks. That way the boys could have their wish of having their very own puppy, and I got my wish of having a puppy without the long term commitment.

We visited the puppies a few times, the kids loved seeing the puppies (all 9 of them!) and finally we picked out this cute little girl. Dad named her Misti, and she became part of our family. The kids were so excited when we brought her home. They loved playing with her and taking care of her.

She's been a really good-tempered dog. She doesn't bark much, and she's been so happy to play with the kids. She's a great sport and doesn't mind being carried around and drug into their games. Matthew especially has loved taking care of her. In fact, the morning after we got her he said to me, "I can't believe we got a puppy!" Hopefully he's not too heartbroken when she goes home with Grandma and Grandpa in a few weeks.

We really think she's a darling little dog, and we've gotten many compliments on what beautiful markings she has. Many of the dogs of this breed have spots all over, but she just has a dark head and dark feet and is gray over the rest of her body. I don't think she'll have quite as thick of a 'beard' as the other dogs either.
Although we have had to get up to take her out at 4am to use the bathroom, she's been pretty good about making sure she goes potty in the right places. Sure she's had some accidents, all puppies will, but I've been impressed how quickly she's caught on.

She loves to play with the kids, and she loves having a soft place to lay. She also loves to run around outside. It's hilarious watching her try to play basketball with the kids- she really goes after that ball. The kids have been helpful with making sure she has food and water and they take turns cleaning up after her as well. Misti has been very popular among the neighborhood kids too- the all love her and will run around with her on her leash for hours. She loves it and will play until she's completely tuckered out. It's so cute.
I'm pretty sure my opinion on having a dog isn't going to change after having a puppy for a few weeks, I'm still not ready to commit to a dog long-term. But we have enjoyed having a cute little puppy. She's been a lot of fun and it's been a great learning experience for our kids. We love our little Misti.

Random January

The laundry basket is a popular toy around here. Matthew loves to push Emily around, and they both like to pretend it's a boat.
You can't really tell from the picture, but the boys stuffed Emily's pajamas full of tinker toys. The poor girl could hardly walk! It reminded me of days when we would play in the sandbox at my grandma's and fill my brother Houston's clothes full of sand. It was so funny. Emily was a good sport, but we did empty out those pajamas not too long after.
This is a pretty common site, the kids snuggled up together on the chair or the couch reading books. Emily and Matthew love books, Caleb is starting to read pretty well, and Jacob reads very well. Sometimes if I need some time (or quiet time:) I'll have the older boys read a story to the younger kids. It works great and I love seeing them all snuggled up together.

All the kids love time with Daddy too. It's pretty common to see at least one of them sitting on his lap while he works on his lesson or other things.
Emily got this stroller for Christmas and is pretty possessive of it- she's not too happy if anyone takes it from her, but she does like Matthew to give her a stroll around the house in it. Sometimes I just have to remind him that it's not the Indy 500, he likes to go fast. :)


January has been filled with lots and lots and lots of tinker toy playing. Matthew loves these things! I haven't been very good at taking pictures of his many creations, but they provide hours of entertainment and I've been pretty impressed at all the cool things he comes up with. Definitely a great investment!

Happy Birthday Jacob

I have a hard time believing we've already reached this monumental birthday! Jacob is eight! It has been a much-anticipated day, especially by Jacob. We went right into the birthday festivities, and started off the day with Jacob's favorite- crepes for breakfast. Later on, we opened birthday presents.

Jacob got some really nice things for his upcoming baptism, including a special book and his very own journal from Great Grandma Tanner. This really has been the highlight of his birthday- being so excited about his baptism.

He also got another gift he's been wanting for a very long time, an alarm clock. I thought it was interesting because I remember getting my very first alarm clock when I was 8 years old too, and I still have it! It's been great having the boys get themselves up and dressed in the mornings all by themselves.
I love watching all the kids during the present opening. You'd never know whose birthday it was by the excitement- all the kids are so excited regardless of whose birthday it is.

As you can tell by the look on his face- he was pretty excited about everything. He got a metal detector, a cd alarm clock, some shoes, pants & a couple shirts, a book, a journal, and some cool legos from Grandparents.
For his birthday cake, Jacob requested a BYU cake, so this is what we came up with. Nothing too fancy or exciting, but Jacob and the boys loved it.

Everyone had fun taking turns blowing out the candles. All the kids did pretty well- even Emily, she's definitely gotten the hang of it. Then we all enjoyed cake and ice cream and playing games together. Both sets of grandparents are coming to town for Jacob's baptism and we'll continue the part then!

Annual Staff Party

I thought that Jeff's annual staff party was held before Christmas time, but apparently that was just their special anniversary celebration and the annual staff party for all the physicians is held in January. But I sure wasn't complaining, any excuse for a party, an excellent meal and entertainment is good with me! We got a babysitter for the night, and headed off to the party.

As usual, Jeff's employer did a fantastic job putting on the evening. We first had a social hour with all sorts of hors d'oeuvres and drinks, followed by a dinner with filet mignon, marinated grilled chicken, rolls, and fresh vegetables. During this time, there were some presentations on company business, financial information, etc. I love that everything is always opened with prayer and once again, we were both filled with such a feeling of gratitude to be part of such a wonderful, amazing company. Jeff loves his job, and it's easy to see why.

After the speakers and presentations, mini chocolate mousse trifle desserts were served and the evening of entertainment began. It was an evening of 'magic' and we had a pretty impressive magician. We loved watching his acts- he was excellent! That is, until he needed a volunteer.
We specifically sat well in the back, but the magician came down from the stage and you know when you just have that feeling that you know you're going to be chosen? Well, somehow I just KNEW I was going to be chosen out of that group of 200+ people. Sure enough, he came back to our table and I found myself as the next not-so-willing volunteer.

I guess it wasn't too horrible, I helped him do a couple of tricks, felt dumb being up in front of such a big crowd, and finally got to go sit down again after about 20 minutes. But because it is such a close-knit company, I was sure people were going to remember. And sure enough, about a week later, Jeff got a call from another physician who had questions about a patient with an eye emergency. They talked for a while but before they hung up, the doctor asked Jeff if his wife was the one who had been the volunteer during the magic show. I joked with Jeff that he would forever be known as the doctor with the wife in the magic show. At least we had a fun evening out together and I did get a pretty cool magic book for participating- the boys have loved it!

Welcome to Scouts

With Jacob turning 8 this month, not only will he be able to be baptized, he will also get to start his highly-anticipated, long-awaited entrance into the scouting program. He has been so excited! We were invited to come to the den meeting a couple days before his birthday to be officially welcomed to the program. Jeff teaches institute the same night as scouts, so he couldn't make it, but all the kids and I were all excited to be there with Jacob. I feel a little overwhelmed with everything the scouting program entails, but I'm grateful to have a good program with dedicated leaders and a husband who knows all about it and is willing to help!

After the den meeting was over, Jeff still had another half hour of institute to teach, so I took the kids to go get a car wash and cash in their coupons for a free drink at the local gas station. You'd have thought it was Christmas again by how excited they were.

I can't believe this awesome big guy is already in the scouting program!

Then the boys started being funny with the camera and wanting to take all sorts of funny/crazy pictures. It was fun until Caleb dropped the camera & it started acting up.

Caleb was telling me that he can hardly wait until he gets to start scouts too, but I'm glad we've got a couple more years before he gets started with it! (Especially since I just finished sewing on all of Jacob's patches onto his new scout shirt. :)

Visit from the Moores

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have a visit from one of my good high school friends, Caroline (Walton) Moore and her family. We haven't seen each other in almost 8 years and when we found out they would be traveling through the area on their way to visit their family, we thought it would be fun to get together for lunch!

It was so fun to see them and meet Calvin and Sophie for the first time. Jeff was able to come home for lunch, which made it even better. We ate lunch together and let the kids run around and play for a while.

It was fun to catch up and especially entertaining to watch the kids play together. Ryan, Calvin, and Matthew had fun racing cars down the track and Emily & Sophie were totally enthralled with the treadmill. They loved to climb up and then jump off over and over again.
We finally had to say goodbye, and the Moores loaded up in their car and headed off on their trip, but it was sure fun to spend the afternoon together.

Snow Day

As I've written about before, we are having an exceptionally dry and warm winter this year. So the kids were pretty excited when we got a snow storm that dropped about 6 inches of snow. When the boys got home from school, everyone got bundled up in their snow gear and went out to play.

My aunt Tammi gave me this little snowsuit for Emily that she had used for some of her girls, my cousins. I thought Emily looked so cute, all bundled up. She looked like a colorful little marshmallow puff to me. Of course I need to get her some of her own boots so she doesn't have to wear her brothers' hand-me-downs, but I guess it's better to have a girl in boy boots than a boy in girl boots. :)

Jeff was finally able to use his snow blower, but you always end up with a wall of snow in front of your driveway after the snowplows go by. So Jacob and Caleb helped me shovel the snow again, then they started working on an igloo. Emily and Matthew had fun riding their bikes around on the driveway, and we even did a little sledding on the big hill in our backyard.
I loved watching Emily ride her 'tractor'. It was only about 8 degrees outside that day, so I wasn't sure how long Emily would last, but she loved being outside playing in the snow.

Winter

It's definitely winter here. Many days will look like the picture I took a couple weeks ago at about 8am when the boys were headed to school (Current temperature: -5, feels like -20, with a high of 2 degrees (which still ended up with a 'feels like' temperature of -10)

The weather is cold! However, it's the wind that really makes you feel the chill. I love the winter cold advisory- telling you to take care in the weather because frostbite can occur in a matter of minutes. I definitely believe it!
Fortunately this winter has been abnormally mild and warm compared to years past. Apparently most winters, there will be many days down at -40 and many days that will never even come close to reach 0 degrees. We also haven't had much snow at all this year. That's probably good because once the snow lands, it stays cold enough that it doesn't melt until Spring. I'm definitely happy with a more mild winter!

We have had some really beautiful weather this winter. One morning we awoke to a a beautiful layer of frost that covered everything in sight. A 'winter wonderland' seemed to be a perfect description, even though the temperature was well below zero. By noon, with the sun shining, the frost was gone, but it was fun to see it while it lasted!