The new family pet

Nate wanted to lay down by the snake - and here he is waving to him.

So happy to have a snake in our house!

Dave is posting here: It happened. The long awaited family pet arrived today. We all went on a drive to Jefferson City for a piano "festival". Afterwards we picked up our new ball python. Meliss wasn't crazy about the idea at first but she came around. On our drive home we tried to figure out the best name for it. Elizabeth, Sarah, Sherman...were all proposed but didn't seem quite right. Meliss had the idea of Raliegh because it sounds like Rolla, MO. We had a tortoise when we lived in San Francisco and named it Frisco...it fit. Everybody took turns holding it, even Meliss. We had to video Nate holding and kissing it. Raliegh is about 4 months old and can live 30-50 years! He/she can grow to 4-6 feet in length and will eat rats by then. Thanks Meliss for putting up with another snake in the home. Before you know it you'll be working in the kitchen with it around your neck!

Ashlyn's Big Day!

It was a perfect day for a baptism - with white snow everywhere, clear roads, and a beautiful blue sky!

Thank you Karla for the gorgeous white roses! Ashlyn loved them and felt so special getting the delivery just for her!

Nate probably would have preferred the 4:00 baptism time yesterday AFTER his nap, opposed to the 12:30 baptism right at nap time. He wasn't too bad. He even let the Bishop hold him during the actual baptism.

Ashlyn fasted for the first time today and it was soooooooooooooooo hard! I told her she could put anything that she wanted to eat on her plate to have ready to eat right after the prayer. She chose a leftover piece of her birthday cake. So that's what she started with. Then we had potato-veggie-cheese soup in sourdough breadbowls. She was SO happy to get to eat.

One more day to wait

We've had a big snow storm all day...and the baptism was rescheduled for tomorrow after church. Lots of fun was had in the snow earlier today, but Ash came in and got showered and all ready in her white dress when the phone call came that the baptism would be tomorrow. She buried her head in her dad's arms and cried. Poor thing. It was SO long to wait for this day to finally be here, and now she'll have to wait one more day.

Happy 8th Birthday Ash!

The girls and I had too much fun putting Ashlyn's cake together. My good friend here loaned me all of her fancy cake decorating supplies and we went to town making a total disaster in the kitchen.

Ash wanted two flavors - and yes, it is a 5 layer cake. Ash wanted to try both, so here is how her piece looked. Quite the tall piece of cake. We had to get out a dinner plate. Ashlyn picked the chocolate layer for Grandpa when he comes tomorrow because he loves chocolate cake!

Ashlyn's girl is on the left, Sadie's is on the right. They could have spent all day making creations with the fondant.

They were so proud of their finished product!

Saturday we took Ash and a few friends to a reptile ranch and although it was a sort of rundown place, the animals were so cool! Notice Jafar, the tiger, behind us.

We all took turns holding the alligator. Even I held it by MYSELF! It was scary, but I did it.

Dave is trying to brainwash Nate into thinking that we need an alligator for a pet. NO, we do not, Nate.

Ashlyn is getting baptized this Saturday and can hardly wait!

Nate's Chore

Mom, I am soooooooooooo happy that you put my coat on and my boots so I could go out and collect the eggs. That's one of my favorite things in the world to do. Anything outside. Anything with animals. Anything with shoes on. I don't care that it is FREEZING outside.

(To all of my SF friends with boys Ashlyn's age...I remember you saying things like "He's just dying to get outside" and I just didn't know what you were talking about. Ash could have stayed inside for a month and been fine. Now I know what little boys are like.)


Do I dare enter the chicken-poop zone? I've got my basket, I better just go for it. Oh, one chicken is sitting there laying. I'll wait for her to finish (this was a real part of our experience).

I don't think eggs ever crack. I'll just toss each one in the basket. Lesson learned. Next time I better hand them to mom, then she can gently place them in the basket.

Hi Mom! I'm all done with my chore!

See all the eggs I got? Now I'll bring them inside and show "Ah" and "Boo". Their egg business is doing so well. I am sure it is because of the egg collector.

Dave and I started an intermediate swing class. 3 other couples from the ward joined us and so it makes it extra fun! We like to show off what we learned at class to the kids and then they want to learn everything! We have some wild dance parties at our house!

I just love how Sadie is looking at her Daddy - like he is the greatest thing ever...which he is.

Nate was having more fun than it appears in the picture.

Both Sad and Glad

Great Grandpa Walton used to tell a story about being both sad and glad. When I was out in CA, I heard Uncle Chuck speak in church, and for the first time I heard the WHOLE sad and glad story.

The other day - I was sad and glad. Sad that my little baby is 18 months old and doesn't need me to feed him his oatmeal every morning. Glad that my little baby is 18 months old, folds his arms to pray before he eats anything, and can feed himself while I can get dishes done. I have spent every day for the past 18 months feeding him his breakfast in one form or another and now he is Mr. Independent and wants to feed himself EVERYTHING, and walk by himself (no hand holding) EVERYWHERE. I love that little boy.

Which one of these is not like the other? We laughed so hard when we saw the mini egg.

Nate knows what Sadie's sewing machine is really for.

Nate's preferred choice of seating for family night. Silly boy.

Our Winter Wonderland

This is what we woke up to.




It was a day I dream about...
-Dave got a call at 5:30 a.m. that he didn't have to go in to work all day! (2nd in a row!!!)
-Dave got to sleep in (he let me sleep in yesterday) while the kids and I made oatmeal-wheat-blueberry pancakes.
-We took an hour to get all of our snow gear gathered and ON. Wow - I can't believe how much work our parents went through to take us skiing so often!
-We delivered warm cinnamon rolls to a couple families (one of my FAVORITE things to do).
-We hit a few stores looking for sleds - but to no avail. All were sold out. We grabbed some diapers for Nate - and that diaper box turned out to be the best sled of all. We also used a big tupperware lid that worked pretty well. And a nice lady saw us lugging boxes around, so she let us borrow her sled.
-We went to the junior high school where everyone was having fun sledding down the hill. They even set up a little jump and some kids were snowboarding.
-We sledded and played for 3 hours.
-Brought everyone home for a bath, lunch, Nate down for a nap and the girls went to a friend's house for the afternoon. I got a nice, long, hot bath in the afternoon - unheard of in my life!
-We played all day and it was the best.

Nate loved every ride. And the second we stopped, he would say "Again".

I guess Dave and Nate were too scared to open their eyes. And I do notice Dave putting on the brakes with his hand. Can you see Sadie tucked in there?

Just a quick, cute story about Ash. Yesterday at dinner she was telling us how the girl that sits next to her at school is mean to her every day. She said that she isn't mean back, and just pretty much doesn't talk to her. We suggested that maybe she could go the extra mile and be super nice to her and see what happens. She was quiet for a few minutes, then got so excited as she said that she was going to make a purse for this girl. She worked so hard on it, put a pen and post-it note pad in it, and put a "T" on the front of the purse for her friend's first name. She can't wait to go to school and give it to her tomorrow.

This is now Dave: This is my coyote skull I just finished. Back in November I found a coyote on the side of the road (dead). Luckily I had my hand saw and trash bags in the trunk as I'm sure everyone does. I brought the head home and skinned it. Ash and Sadie really wanted to watch that part for some reason (despite my warnings of bad dreams from it). After I skinned it I put it in a bucket of water to rot off all the soft tissue. This step is called "maceration" and can take weeks to months depending on the temperature outside. Putrid is the best description of the smell when openning the bucket. After rinsing off the soft tissue and washing out the brain, the skull is put in a bucket of ammonia for a couple of weeks to dissolve the fat out of the marrow. Then it is bleached with hydrogen peroxide and rinsed multiple times with fresh water for a few days to get the smell out. After drying everything the teeth are glued back into the jaw (they fall out during maceration). I know it sounds crazy and gross....it is gross. It is fun to handle the perfectly cleaned skull and think of all the steps that got it there. I think skulls are almost a work of art. Please send all your dead animal heads my way.