Christmas

It was nice to have our first Christmas at our own home (we have always traveled to be with family--now that we are near family we didn't have to travel this year). Santa was grateful that Haela's most desired present was a "My Little Pony" ($5 value!). She was SO excited when she opened the gift she so desired! We hope as she gets older her taste will stay this inexpensive : )!





We got a kick out of Enoch's reaction to one of his gifts. We call it the "Lamb Torture"! We hope you all had a great Christmas!

Saying goodbye!

Grandma and Grandpa Checketts and uncle Ian have now moved to Laie, Hawaii! After four years of being away we finally moved back to Idaho close to both grandparents and then they move away?! : ) After they got packed up we spent some fun time with them at the hotel swimming befor they left. We will miss you!

December fun!

Enoch's first full haircut! I thought I did a pretty good job with those clippers-thank goodness for #6 guard--no scissors needed!


Haela's first snow creation! It was too powdery for a snowman so we made a volcano instead!

Yay! Haela isn't scared of Santa anymore (last year she would have nothing to do with him)!

Enoch loved Santa last year but was a little intimidated.

Friday night they gave free carousel rides at the park and the kids could ride as long as they wanted. I had to get off after about 4 rounds my head couldn't handle it as well as the kids! It was fun to see Haela finally excited about sitting on Santa's lap!

Anniversary upset and blessing!

I have to post this because to show how grateful I am for little miracles...



We just celebrated our 7th anniversary and had a wonderful anniversary get-a-way to a theme suite that we won when Kelly called into the radio to nominate me for time-out-Tuesday (you nominate someone you feel is overly stressed to take a "time-out" and recoup). We were so excited but just before we left I noticed my ring was missing from my night stand--I even hid it behind the lamp so the kids wouldn't notice it! Haela said she didn't play with it so then we knew Enoch was the culprit! We tore the house (and the dorm lounge that is connected to our house) apart but to my dismay we could not find it ANYWHERE! So we left for our anniversary celebration empty-handed. I tried to not think about it and just have fun--and we did. But when we came home we tore the house and lounge apart again and still...NO RING! The cost wasn't making me as sick as the sentimentality of it..it is my WEDDING RING! So we continued to say prayers to help us find it--and I was beginning to lose hope as I looked in the littelist nooks and cranny's and could not find any sign of it. Then today one of the dorm girls came in the lounge with her brother that was visiting. They picked out a movie to watch and then moved the couches closer to the TV. Then...the brother stopped and said, "there is a ring on the floor"! At that moment I knew it was mine--but it didn't make sense...we moved those couches and dug through the cushions MANY times! But this boy said it was caught on the torn lining and then just came lose the further he moved the couch. I could have kissed this boy--but knew it wouldn't be appropriate so I gave him candy instead and told him he just made my LIFE! I couldn't stop jumping in excitement! I am SO happy the Lord blessed me with a little miracle today and I have my wedding ring back! April--I hope yours ends up on your doorstep some day!

Enoch Jammin'

This kid LOVES to dance. We were watching a movie the other night and of course he had to break out the moves! We were cracking up so hard! I love that kid!

Halloween!

We had SO much fun on Halloween! Haela dressed up as 'Lil Bow Peep and Enoch was Blue from Blue's Clues. This was a hand-me-down and we didn't find out until later that Blue is actually a girl! Did anyone know that? I guess the world is trying to steer away from stereotyping color to gender. I just think its a great way to throw people off. Luckily, only a couple of people knew that Blue is a girl so we still got away with it. We went to the ward trunk-or-treat, then....




...We took them trick-or-treating
to Aunt Katie's work, and... ...partied the night away at Uncle
Daniel and Aunt Lauren't Halloween Party.
we got to sing karoake and act like high schoolers! Fun!

We are Head Residents in Idaho!

It has taken me two months to finally post that we are dorm parents in Idaho now. We are not in St. Louis or Chicago as some may have thought. A week before we were planning to move from Chicago to St. Louis for Kelly to start his company we had a strange feeling that we should not do it. Then that Saturday we found out Kelly got hit with budget cuts in his company. So we packed up the house and went to the family reunion in Idaho and figured we would receive inspiration there on where we should move and what we should do. So while at home we had the strange feeling that we should stay--definitely NOT part of the plan! We felt it was right for Kelly to start his company here instead of St. Louis. Then a head resident job on campus fell into our laps and we knew why it was we were supposed to be here. Now Kelly is running his company--happier then ever--and we have VERY LITTLE expense. It was kind of an adjustment to move from 2000 sq. ft. to 750--but we are managing. We have 120 babysitters living next door and a lot of attention for the kids! There are challenges but we are happy with the money we are SAVING!

Our new LITTLE home!

The kids love to run up and down the dorm stairs and play hide-and-seek in the lounge!