Aspen is 1!!!

My baby is 1, which is bittersweet for me. I love to see her learn and grow; saying b-bye and hi and testing her balance as her little legs shuffle along behind her walker. She gives hugs and kisses that just warm me from head to toe. She's also mastered what my sister-in-law refers to as "The Flygare Scowl". I have never seen a baby eat like she does. She's a little piggy! She probably eats twice as much as Mercedes does - but Mercedes also seems to survive on air.

But I miss the angelic innocence of the first months. I have thoroughly enjoyed every day with her. I honestly don't remember what happened with Mercedes from 10 - 14 months and I know it's not the same, but getting to enjoy Aspen during this age is so precious. I sharply and painfully remember when I came home from the hospital after shingles, PCP pneumonia and a collapsed lung and tried to pick up Mercedes; she was about 18 months, and she struggled to get out of my arms saying, "No; Mommy hurt, Mommy cry." I hadn't been able to hold her for so long without pain.

I love my girls, they are such a gift.

Mercedes 6th Birthday

For Mercedes birthday we had planned a Dolphin party and invited friends from the neighborhood and Kindergarten. It was her first real 'friends' party. Her birthday, January 2nd, was the day before school started again and she came down with the 24 hour flu on her birthday. We scrambled to reschedule her party for the coming Saturday. She really didn't care when her party was, she just wanted to have it! We did a short family party the day after her birthday and then Saturday was the big bash. We had blue balloons and streamers all over, the kids started by coloring dolphin pictures and eating fish crackers. We made sea themed pictures decorated with stickers the kids made themselves with a sticker maker Mercedes got for Christmas. We talked about dolphin facts and watched a short National Geographic video about baby dolphins. We popped balloons for prizes and played a dolphin ring toss game. We had a sea animal treasure hunt with pictures and plastic figures of different sea animals hidden throughout the house. The kids all got a dolphin goody bag with all sorts of dolphin and sea themed toys and goodies. We ended with dolphin birthday cake and opening presents. All the kids had a great time, especially Mercedes, and we survived a house full of 6 year old by keeping them busy.

Christmas '07

This was only the 2nd Christmas since we've been married that its been just "us". I wasn't sure how I would feel about being 'alone' but was fun and relaxing. We went sledding almost every day at our neigboring golf course sledding hill. Even Aspen liked sledding; making happy noises all the way down.


Mercedes had made a list of things she wanted for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but the only thing she asked Santa for was the Uglydoll called Ice Bat. She already has the Uglydoll Ox, but for some reason she really wanted Ice Bat. She got all sorts of dolphin stuff too; a flashlight, a calendar, towels for her dolphin bathroom. She also wanted a remote control crawling tarantula - a very girly choice. Aspen had fun Christmas morning even though her new toys couldn't compare to all the paper and bows.

Hawaii

So after 9 years of marriage, Scott and I finally went on a honeymoon. Sure we went on plenty of climbing, camping, and biking trips during our first 3 years, then we had Mercedes, 3 years of chemo and now Aspen, but we've never gone on an actual trip anywhere together. Scott had to go to Honolulu for work so I met him there a few days later. My wonderful parents flew in from Alaska to keep the girls while we were gone (Grandma and Grandpa are so fun Mercedes was a bit sad we came home).

The night I got there we were awakened at 4 am by howling winds and torrents of rain. The next morning there were power outages, downed trees, flooding, cable out, roads closed and record waves on the north shore. It just kept on raining, but we still had fun just being together. We snorkeled in Hanauma Bay - in the rain, went to a magic show, ate in the rotating restaurant at "The Top of Waikiki", exlpored Waikiki's fabulous shopping, visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, drove to Kailua to kayak and then had to turn around because of the weather. Our last day we woke up to sunshine and beautiful weather and we made the most of it. We hiked to Manoa Falls in the morning, drove back to Kailua and kayaked to the Mokolua Islands. It was so gorgeous. Just after we pulled the kayak on shore it started sprinkling again. We decided to drive up to the North Shore just to see it, but by the time we go there it was dark and we had to head back to the airport. We had the 11pm flight (2am Utah time) and arrived in Utah at 9am.

We had such a great time without the girls, but we sure missed them and were glad to come home.

Give Thanks

Things I am Thankful for:
- My life. I no longer take for granted the privilege of moving and breathing. Besides, I haven't eaten enough key lime pie with Mercedes yet.
- Mercedes. I love that she loves kindergarten, her sister, and dolphins. Obsession? Her teacher, Miss Allen deemed it passion; which makes the dolphin craze more purposeful. Who knows, maybe she'll become a marine biologist. She feels life deeply. She cries when she's happy and when she's sad.
- Aspen. She is a miracle. My Dr.'s said we couldn't have more children and she just warms our hearts and makes us laugh daily. She's a little mini Scott crawling around wreaking havoc wherever she goes - sounds like Scott doesn't it.
- Scott. He loves his girls and we love him. What else matters? He does keep me outfitted in nice jeans and shoes. I'd still be wearing stuff from college.
- My Parents and Sisters. I couldn't have hand picked a better group of people to have fun with and get me through those tough spots in life. Those simple times on the ranch seem more appealing now that the world is more complicated.

To summarize, I'm grateful for the wonderful people in my life that make each day beautiful.

Little Mozart

Aspen loves to pound on the piano. She and Mercedes will sit together and make their own beautiful music.

Halloween

If you know Mercedes very well you know she is absolutely OBSESSED with dolphins. Even in journal time at school all she writes about it dolphins. Today she had me spell the word 'frisky' for her to put in her little book about dolphins. So luckily I found a dolphin costume on Ebay; it's a little too big so she's planning on wearing it next year. Of course Aspen could be nothing else but a little pink piggy. It just suits her.