The magic word is not always magic.

On Valentine's, I was quite the domestique.  I dipped strawberries in chocolate, made about a thousand heart-shaped sugar cookies, and cooked a salmon dinner for my family.

I picked Jon up from school and even though he'd probably would have preferred to relax at home after an exhausting day at school, he humored our little guy and took Jonah for a walk around the neighborhood while I cooked dinner.

Sophie saw the chocolate covered strawberries lying on the counter to dry and immediately started begging for one.  I told her they weren't ready yet and she would have to wait until after dinner.  With them gone and me left with Sophie, I turned on some cartoons for her and ran out to the superfluous fridge in the garage for some supplies.  Upon my return, I turned to say something to Sophie and there she stood, strawberry in hand, chocolate covering her face.  I'm pretty sure I was only gone for about 20 seconds.  I said, "Sophie, I said no strawberries!  What are you doing? (I'm not mad, I'm more surprised at her ability to reach up and cleanly swipe a strawberry off a counter that's a good foot taller than she)" and her reply was, "Mom, I said please!"  I couldn't help but laugh.  There was no evidence of a chair being moved or a struggle involved in reaching the biggest strawberry of the batch.

Some of our other Valentine's activities included making cards for Grandpa & Mimi Green and eating pink, heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast!

Christmas Eve Traditions

This year we had Christmas with Jon's family which meant we didn't have to go anywhere!  This allowed for a much more relaxed holiday.

The family came over for Christmas Eve dinner followed by the kids' Nativity reenactment and opening gifts from other families.

I feel ya, buddy.  It's almost child abuse to make them do this thing every year.  It's always good for a laugh, though.

Since most of our Christmas decor is in storage along with the majority of our other belongings, we had to wing it with stockings this year and decided to get the cheap stockings and make an activity of decorating them together.  It was a lot of fun and provided much laughter!  I'm pretty sure my Christmas tree drawing hasn't improved since first grade.

Funny story behind the kids stockings:  Jonah wanted to add "Christmas lights" to his stocking so he asked Jon for some M&Ms to glue on.  Well, we had a huge bag of Costco trail mix and when we looked back over, they had added nuts, raisins, etc.  We just laughed and had to remind ourselves that we'd only be using these stockings this year.  We had to let them dry overnight before we could attempt picking them up without all the nuts falling off! LOL.

 

We had the kids hang their stockings just before going to bed on Christmas Eve which got them all riled up for the morning to come.

and then Santa came.

Bastille Day

This year in celebration of Bastille Day, or La Fête Nationale, we gathered with family and friends at the park and had a picnic.  The weather cooled off just enough to be able to sit comfortably and mingle.  I made homemade baguettes and we bought salami (the closest thing to saussison) and a little brie and made sandwiches.  It was delicious!  The company wasn't too bad either. ;)

3 priceless facial expressions

Mamou oogling the newest baby to the Bush fam.

My niece, Norah.

 

Mid-conversation---NICE!

fireworks and stuff

It was pretty much your typical 4th of July weekend here at the Bush res.  We barbecued, bought fireworks, took a walk around the hood, etc.

Nice smile

 I LOVE this picture!

 Always plugging the ears.  I'm pretty sure he was warning Sophie to plug hers, too!

Jonah has also been practicing riding his big bike with no training wheels.  He's getting it and building his courage each time!

 

We are grateful to live in such a beautiful country and to have the freedoms that we do.  I took a few minutes to read the Gettysburg address a few days ago and remembered and love this part:

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Sarah's Resolutions

Every year I make resolutions and every year there's something that gets thrown under the rug not too long after January.  I considered not making resolutions this year and instead making goals periodically as I do throughout the year anyway but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a fresh start on some things.

52 Weeks of Scripture Study
I've read 1 Nephi 1 more times than I can count.  I know I need something different to keep me motivated and and, to put it frankly, to keep me from getting BORED.  I decided to study my scriptures this year in a weekly theme format.  I have written down 52 different topics that I have questions about, need a stronger testimony of, or just enjoy reading about.  I will study one of these topics each week, allowing me to dig deeper into each subject and something that will keep me from getting lost in the same stories I've been reading for years.

1000 Miles to Nowhere
I did a lot of running last year and I loved it.  I put more races under my belt last year than any other year.  But races are expensive $$$ and add up awfully quickly when you focus on longer distances like I do.  So this year (I stole this idea from my brother Jeff) I'm committing myself to running 1000 miles.  If I decide to throw a few races in there, I will only reach my goal faster.  I'll be adding a countdown to the blog so you can watch along with me as the miles diminish.  Now all I need is a new pair of shoes.

These are just a couple of the goals I'm working for this year among the other annual repeats.  I've decided to log my progress, thoughts, feelings, and happenings during my journey.  Feel free to follow along!  Here is my new running blog: 1000 Miles to Nowhere.

What goals have you made this year?

'Tis the season

We've been celebrating Christmas all month and our activities are far from over.  Last weekend, we went up to Heber to attend the baptism of our nephew, Quentin.  It was a neat experience and the first baptism Jonah has been able to watch and be old enough to remember and talk about.  We talked about baptism with him before we went and made sure he knew it was a special occasion.  For the remainder of that day, Jonah kept asking if he could be baptized like Quentin.  I believe his exact words were, "Can I be bathtized in blue?" or "I can be bathtized when I'm eight, Mommy.  I'm two, Mommy."  We have since been hearing several variations of these.

On the same day, we ventured to Midway to see the Creche and gingerbread house exhibits.  It was bitter cold but we enjoyed and felt the Christmas Spirit.  At the Creche exhibit, there were Nativity scenes from all over the world.  People sang Christmas music and the kids dressed up in their own Nativity scene.  I believe we had more angels than anything else.  Sophie was a sheep and made games of taking off her sheep hat while the pictures were being taken.  Jonah was a little angel.

A beautiful gingerbread house, decorated both inside and out.

 

The cousins in the Nativity.  Don't worry, Baby Jesus is a doll.

Jonah loves the piano.  He loves all musical instruments, for that matter.  He asked me a few weeks ago, "Can I play the violin?  No, I want to play the blue guitar.  No, I can play the big cello."  Jonah loves to sit at the piano while Grandpa Bush pounds out his repertoire of oldies such as "Love Potion #9", Jonah's favorite.

Happy Halloween, Mamma.

We've been talking about Halloween for weeks, mostly because I love it.  Jonah has been giving orders on how I need to finish painting his costume and he can't stop talking about the pumpkin patch and "carring" pumpkins (I'm not sure what he thinks this is, exactly).  So when Halloween morning arrived, I went to get Jonah out of bed and said, "Happy Halloween!"  I was greeted throughout the day (and following days) with Jonah saying, "Happy Halloween, Mamma!"  What a blessed boy.

Sophie tolerated the trick or treating just fine and even enjoyed her first Dum Dum sucker after her brother was so kind and asked for 2 treats--one for him and one for his Sophie Sue.

Jonah was too grossed out to put his hand in the pumpkin--you can see he's obviously troubled.

Bob the Builder

Our little leaf fairy

Jonah trick or treats like a pro

Happy Halloween!

move it!

Boy, I sure love long weekends. This weekend we wanted to do something extra special instead of wasting our holiday camping or having a BBQ or swimming or hanging out with family. That's why we decided to spend the weekend breaking our backs, carrying boxes and furniture, over-exposing ourselves to the sun while we sell our belongings to the local Hispanic community, and figuring out how to stay afloat in an endless see of stuff. Sounds fun, huh?

We have lived in our apartment for almost 2.5 years. It's been the home where many memories were made. We've brought both Jonah and Sophie home from the hospital to this apartment. I'm fairly certain Jonah will be asking to go home after a couple of days in our new home. As good as the time has been, there are a couple of things I won't miss:

1. No Dishwasher --my poor hands have suffered the effects of constantly washing dishes.
2. Hearing our neighbors upstairs go pee -- how is it that they always go to the bathroom at the same time as us?
3. The ever-present, cave-like darkness -- I'm going to have skylights and huge windows in my house someday.
4. A driveway/parking lot for our front yard -- asphalt is most unforgiving (black clothes and scraped skin)
5. No air-conditioning -- there couldn't be a better time to move. It's getting hot and I can't sleep.
6. Jon and I not having our own room -- It has been 6 months since our adorable roommate joined us--6 months of piled up laundry because I can't put laundry away while she's napping and 6 months of having to plan outfits before I even shower and not getting to change my mind because I can't go back into my room during nap time.

That's all I can think of for now.

Joyeuses Pâques!

The Bush family had a wonderful Easter weekend. We try to remember the gift of the Atonement of our Savior daily but Easter is always a special time to reflect and ponder the magnitude of His sacrifice for us. How blessed we are to have the Gospel in our lives and to know that our family can be together forever because Jesus Christ was willing to lay down His life for each one of us.

We tried to throw a few of the traditional celebrations into the weekend with Easter baskets and dying eggs but we didn't get a chance to have an Easter egg hunt...maybe next year. Mamou (Jon's mom) hands out Easter baskets to the kids each year and always includes a Kinder Surprise egg. This is a chocolate egg she gets from France that contains a little prize, usually requiring a little bit of assembly. Jonah thought it was pretty cool.

Jonah also got an Easter basket from Mom and Dad...mostly filled with Mom's and Dad's favorite candy!

Jon and I colored our eggs during nap time (I know...weird that we didn't include Jonah) because we figured he probably couldn't care less about participating in such a patience-trying activity where you weren't allowed to throw or bounce anything. Plus, we're pretty much perfectionists when it comes to technique--something we'll have to get over. Jon insisted that he'll be attending a class on "How to dye Easter eggs" before next year so he can get some new ideas. I think they turned out pretty well...and they taste even better!

Top o' the muffin to ya!

Saint Patty's Day Traditions

1. Wear Green (sorry I didn't get pictures...sheesh)


2. Eat a Reuben at The Smoke House

On another note-

Jonah has an obsession with bikes, as I have mentioned previously. Since the weather has warmed up, we've been spending lots of time outside. Jonah loves to ride his bike. A couple of weeks ago I used duct tape to tape his feet to the pedals so he'd learn how to use them. It must have helped a little bit because he rides like a pro now! I'll try to get some video soon...our video camera battery has to be charged on-demand so I don't often catch the "first time" moments.




Here are more random pictures of the kiddies.