President Gordon B. Hinckley

Our beloved prophet from 1995-2008

How grateful I am for his service to the church and outside the church, and his great love for all people. How deeply we'll miss him, his humor, his spirit. How joyful we are he is at rest and reunited with his sweet wife, Marjorie.

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Here is Nicole showing off her waving skills!

Vanessa's version of the Winnie the Pooh song

Here's a bedtime song.

Sisters, snow, and that's about as creative as this title is going to get right now.

Just before Christmas, we started our "bin system" with the girls toys. We basically got a bunch of those see-through storage containers and organized all their toys in hopes that they would play with one bin at a time. So far, the only bin that has received any attention has been the dress-up bin. Here are some shots of the girls showing off their style.

It's been so fun to see them start to really play together. We thought that Nicole was going to be our little quiet child, but Vanessa's spunk has more than rubbed off on her. It's so hilarious to see them play off each other and get crazy.

Here they are dressed in their Ipils (Mayan dresses) that Rocio gave them, playing catch. It looks like a game of Pokatok (Mayan ball game).

I love this shot! This is how happy they are together, when Nicole isn't pulling Vanessa's hair and Vanessa isn't plotting to steal Nicole's toys.

This video is a lot quieter and more calm than they usually are.

Nicole has some big news! She got her first tooth and is now working on her second. You have to look really close, but this is the best picture we could get.

And finally, we got about 6 inches of snow today! Lisa took the girls out and made some snow angels in the morning, and then I built a snow slide for Vanessa later.

Nicole didn't last very long, but she was happier than she looks in the picture.

This is how she felt after going down the slide a few times, but then I think I wore her out. You'll see what I mean in this video.

Changes

Well, we said goodbye to our car on Saturday. It sold a lot faster than I thought it would (two days after I put it up for sale). The whole experience was a welcomed relief to my anxieties I still carried from our four month ordeal selling our Volvo. Basically all I had to say this time was "Dude, it's a Honda."

Needless to say, after I watched our car drive away Friday night, I realized we had no car. It's sounds kinda dumb, but it didn't really hit me until just then. The crappy part was that I had already realized (thanks to multiple syllabi, invitations to work on research projects, and a growing client load) that I would have little time to find us a new car. So I got on the horn and tried to figure out what our best option would be. After many phone calls and a trip back to the dealer where we bought the Accord, this is what we got.

Lisa's smiling face behind the wheel says it all! We are very happy with the van. After we were all done with the paperwork, we stopped by our friend's house to return the car they let us borrow. It was fun to see Lisa and Christine (my friend Ryan's wife) come back after they went for a spin. I know it will give Lisa a lot more opportunities to get out and do stuff with friends (much needed activities right now).

Nicole hasn't said much about the new van, but Vanessa calls it her "coach" (she's Cinderella...just ask her, she'll tell you). She asked where the horsies were, and I told her it had 244 horsies under the hood.

I have to admit, when I was driving it home all by myself, I felt a little less than manly. But once I picked up the girls and we went cruising as a family, I felt like a real man!

Vanessa's Art Work

Vanessa is growing up too fast! Here are some pictures she drew today. She just started to draw faces.

Here is her drawing of Nemo, a shark, some waves, and Vanessa frowning. She doesn't like sharks apparently.

Christmas pictures...just a few

We don't have tons of Christmas pictures this year on our own camera, but I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites of the girls. Some of their expressions are weird, and it's hard to explain, but it's part of why I like these particular ones. I have a few of them with their cousins I will share soon.


Our Christmas fairy...I think I caught her mid-spell

"Why would you say I'm up to something?"

"Peek-a-boo!" This shot was a hard one to get, but the mischievous smile is very Vanessa!

Surprise! Gotta love the bath visor on her head!

Happy Birthday to my He-Man

Yup, that's right! Matt's now a ripe-"old" 27! He sure was a cute baby! Here's some other fun pictures of my handsome birthday boy over the years:








He just keeps looking better with each year! Happy 27th, Mateo!

*Don't worry we'll still post about Christmas!