Family Home Evening

I am so glad that the theme in Primary is Eternal Families this year. I know this is inspired of the Lord and that we should all make it our #1 proirity to teach this important principle in our homes. I love to follow up on the lessons that are taught at church during Family Home Evening, hence our lesson tonight was about our "Happy Family!" It was Daddy's first Monday teaching his night class at CSN (he put in a 16-hour day!) so we really missed him tonight, but Demarie made sure we video taped our "lesson, song, and activity" so that Daddy could participate later when he got home. We thought you might enjoy our Family Home Evening tonight as well! I hope in all the trials and difficult circumstances that are going on in the world (and in our own lives) that we never forget that the family truly is a blessing from the Lord...right????

Preschool Field Trip-- Anderson Dairy

We had a great time at Anderson Dairy on Friday. They have a really cute presentation complete with a talking cow, rooster, and ice cream! It was fun to see how creamer, sour cream, milk, and icecream are packaged. Demarie had a great time with her friends. Thanks to everyone who came!

HIP HELPERS

Like I said in my last posting, all children are unique and reach the various developmental milestones at their own pace. Our little Preslyn knows this is true and is in no hurry to crawl, walk, or run. AT 15-months she is content to sit in place or lounge around on the floor looking at a book or fiddling with a toy. I can see in her expression at times, "What? You want me to crawl across the room to get that cookie that you put on the floor? Hmmm. Too much energy required. No thanks!" The physical therapist at my work suggested these cute little shorts called "Hip Helpers." As you can see, they are made out of spandex and sewn up the middle. The idea is to help her keep her legs together in order to get in the 4-point position. That's the idea anyways. Preslyn is able to lounge around in them just as easily as her other pants! Actually, they have helped and we have been doing some movement exercises on the therapy ball and I have noticed that she is getting stronger and stronger. Maybe she will be crawling by the time she is 2! Go Preslyn! We love you! (Hey, at least she can point to her eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, belly, hands, fingers, thumb, toes, feet, hair, and ears. Now there's brilliance!)

CELEBRATING A MAJOR MILESTONE!!!!!

In my profession, I have learned that all children are unique and reach various developmental milestones at their own pace. Of course, there is a range in which a certain milestone occurs (i.e., sitting up, crawling, walking, saying first word), but as a child reaches each milestone, there is cause for celebration. Well, we are finally celebrating in our house! Demarie experienced (and survived) one of life's major milestones... her first skinned up knee! Yes, most children experience the pain of scraping a knee around 18-20 months as they take off running faster than their little legs can go, but at 4 1/2, we are so proud of our little princess! She was in the backyard riding her bike and peddling quite fast. She was so excited when Daddy came to witness such a dare-devil act that she took a turn too fast and tipped the bike over on her side. After wiping the dirt off her palms and drying her tears, Demarie got back on her bike to ride some more. She was a little more cautious, but we were so proud that she tried again after such a tragic accident. It wasn't until 10 minutes later after we went inside that I heard a blood-curdling pain-stricken scream, "Daddy! Daddy! I have an owie! I'm bleeding!" She had pulled her pant leg up to reveal the injuries of her accident. Luckily, Daddy came through with a Dora band-aid and Mommy and Preslyn were able to kiss the tears away. She did limp around the house the rest of the evening (after Mommy showed her how), but as the days went by, the red scab magically disappeared! Way to go Demarie!!!!

WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!

It's been awhile since I blogged because so much happened in the past month. We had such a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, caroling, and Nativity reinactment at Grandma and Grandpa Moon's house on Christmas Eve. Santa came through with the Barbie and the Diamond Castle Set so we have a very happy 4-year old and Preslyn got some very beautiful dresses thanks to the last-going-out-of-business-day-everything-80%-off-sale-at-Mervyns! Santa does find amazing deals!

We headed up to Utah Christmas Day and hit snow in SLC. We made it to our destination on the wings of many prayers (we came so close to getting smashed in the back and the front, but luckily our new van remains dent-free!). Heavenly Father continued to watch out for us when Aaron decided to go off a twenty foot drop off and land face first in a tree on our first run down the mountain! We had a great time visiting with the Harris family and enjoying the holiday spirit at the Moon Family Christmas party. It was exciting to see both my sisters round with babies in their bellies and we enjoyed the beautiful lights at Temple Square. Since we returned, it's been a challenge to get unpacked from our trip and cleaned up from the Christmas morning festivities that were left behind, but hopefully we will be back to our organized selves by February! We may be the only house on the block with a large nativity set glowing in the front yard in May, but hey, at least we enjoyed the holidays!