MLK Day!

We are so happy to have holidays that gives Gabe and extra day off. This was one of those such days. As a family, we have not been getting out and about because it has been cold. Today we decided we had no excuses. Gabe was off for MLK day. We got up early as usual. Then we took the kids up to the Denver Museum. It was a lot of fun. There were not near as many people as we expected.

"Space Odyessey" is always a great hit. Everyone had fun taking turns driving a space shuttle. The kids really enjoy pretending that they are going into space.

Charles put on a puppet show about an astronaut on the moon.

Another great hit is the dinosaur exhibit. The kids never get tired of seeing the bones and how big the skeletons are.

I don't know why or even how it got started, but Michelle's very favorite exhibit is the mummies. I don't think she even understands what a mummy is, but every time we go she insists on seeing this mummy.

In the "Discovery Center", the kids blew bubbles, colored, pretended to be dinosaurs, built puzzles, put a body together, and had fun looking in the crazy mirrors.

Charles built this archway with a little help from dad.

After we wondered through the museum, we went to the park. It was a beautiful day. Having the temperatures be 65 and no snow in January is weird. We need the snow, but we will take the nice weather in the middle of winter any time. It gives us an excuse to get out and enjoy the day.

Superheros and Bad Guys!!

As most of you know, one of the best things about life is being home with children. There is just something about being home playing, coloring, writing, reading, laughing, and listening. The other day I was studying for a big test. Charles and Michelle were so good to be content entertaining one another. All of a sudden, there were two superheros in my office.

I really don't know what sparked this super hero thing. Narnia is there favorite movie right now. I wonder if that had something to do with it. They were so dang cute that I had to capture the photo. They ran around the house for an hour fighting bad guys and rescuing animals and the "children from Narnia".

Each of them had to have a sword. At least nothing got broken. (Excuse the messy office). I wouldn't trade witnessing my kids save the world for anything!!

Primary!

The first Sunday of the new year is one of apprehension, anticipation, and worry, especially for a mother in our church. This marks the time when all of the children move up in the primary (sunday school) to their new class. You never know how your child is going to react to a new teacher. You hope they are prepared at home to learn the new things in class. I always hope that my child is not the one who causes trouble.

This year, the first Sunday of the new year was more difficult. Michelle was finally old enough to go into primary. Here is a picture of Michelle before we left for church.

She has been in mine and Gabe's nursery class. Let's just say she is pretty attached to us. I worried that she would throw herself down on the floor and refuse to go to class. Her new teacher, Sister Higgins, is wonderful. I worked hard all week to get Michelle prepared to go into primary. For once, I dreaded the end of sacrament meeting. Gabe took Michelle to primary. An amazing thing happened. She went without a fuss and no tears. Part of me was releived and part of me was hurt. She didn't need me constantly. It was a good feeling and I also felt a part of me was missing. I was so proud of her.

Here is Michelle after primary.

She had so much fun. She loved her teacher. She talked and talked about all they had done in class. It is funny to think that we no longer have a child in nursery.

Our New Year's Bang!!

A new year has begun!! It is a time for setting goals that you hope you will reach better than the ones you set at the beginning of last year. It is a time to clean out the drawers and toy boxes to make room for the new stuff received for Christmas. It is a time to dust off the Thank You cards and hope you get them out before next Christmas.

Seriously, it is a time of renewel to do better, to try harder, to give more, to love more, and to be less offended. I love this time of year. It reminds me that there is a whole year untainted that I can make the best things happen in for others. It is a time to reflect on the growth that has occurred over the last year. It is a time to look at the kids pictures and see how much they've grown. It is a time to renew your love for your spouse, kids, family, and friends.

Spending the first day of the new year in the emergency was not what I expected to be doing. On the evening of January 1st, Charles was playing with his friends Ethan and Ciara. He started to step over his race track and slipped. He hit the corner of the Lego table with his head and immediately started screaming. I grabbed him and he was already starting to bleed. I took him in the bathroom to check him out. He cut his left eyelid just below the brow. The cut bled and bled (as head injuries do). We finally were able to look at the damage and saw that Charles needed stitches. We were watching Ethan and Ciara while their parents were on a date. We debated what to do. I finally loaded up Charles and took him to the emergency room while Gabe waited at home with Michelle and the other children.

We got to the ER and were taken back to the triage room before my insurance card had time to come off the copy maching. The nurse checked Charles out and took all of his vital signs. He was a big boy to answer her questions and let her do her job. She took us back to a room to wait. A nurse came in and talked to us. Then the doctor came in and checked Charles out. He still was answering all the questions, letting them do what they needed to, and not crying. The doctor said they would have to fix his cut. A nurse came in and put some jelly stuff on the cut. It set for about 30 minutes. Then another nurse came in and told Charles to lay down with his head at the foot of the bed. Charles thought this was so funny. The nurse cleaned the cut and the doctor stitched it before Charles could think. Charles was a trooper. He laid still and didn't flinch. Another nurse had been called to help hold Charles down. No one had to hold him down. He laid perfectly still and just held my hand. Both the doctor and nurses said Charles was a wonderful patient. When we got to the car I told Charles he had been the biggest boy ever, especially since he had gotten 2 stitches. He didn't believe me that he had gotten stitches. It took arguing with him for a few minutes before he would believe me. The way they handled the issue in the ER was wonderful. Charles didn't know he had stitches because the word or topic had never been brought to light. They "fixed" his cut and that's all that was said. We are greatful to live close to the hospital and have help on hand any time day or night. It was great to be in and out of the hospital and home two hours after it happened. Our only hope now is that this is not a glance of what is to come over this next year!!

The Hicks Brunch!

The Sunday after Christmas, all of Gabe's family (except for one nephew) gathered at his mom and dad's house in the mountains for a family brunch. It was wonderful to have the whole family together. Everyone together hasn't happened in quite some time. What a great time we all had eating wonerful food (thanks Charlene), opening gifts, and just being together. Our kids were especially excited to see all of the uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Story time with aunt Sherri!

Gabe's sister Sherri made the neatest calendars of all the family birthdays and anniversaries. Each month featured a picture of the person or people who celebrated a date that month. The rest of the calendar was filled with family pictures from past and most recent.

Gabe, Kyle, Carol, and Charlene

Sherri and Dinah

Besides being together, the neat part about this brunch was Jack and Charlene has snow up at their house. It was a white Christmas after all!!

Christmas!!

The big day finally came!! Our kids were so excited!!

On Christmas Eve, Gabe worked. We let Charles and Michelle open one present to play with throughout the day. That idea worked really well. The kids played with their presents all day. I spent the day getting dinner fixed and ready. When Gabe came home we had a big dinner. Then we opened the last door on our advent calendar. We talked about Jesus and read the Christmas story from the scriptures. We sang some carols. All of us started on a journey to Bethlehem that went all over the house with only a candle lighting the way. It was our first year trying this and it worked really well. We had the kids unwrap their new jammies. I was excited to find them jammies that matched!

Aren't they adorable!!

The kids were hyper and we had trouble getting them to bed. Go figure. It didn't make it any easier that Gabe had shown them the Santa tracker online and the kids were anxious to know how close he was to our house. Christmas morning, the kids were up at 6:00am!! We all got up and went downstairs. This is what we found:

Charles with his Star Wars tent!!

Michelle's stroller for "TWO" babies!!

We spent the rest of the morning opening presents, playing with the kids' toys, eating coffee cake, and wishing our families "Merry Christmas" by phone. The rest of the day was mellow. It was nice to have time together and relax!!