Finally Family PIctures Thanks SHEA!

Playing Catch up. WOW THIS IS LONG!

Well hopefully this post makes up for the last few months of nothing being posted. I should give a prize to whoever reads this post to the end. GOOD LUCK and I hope you don't mind the babble.....If there are words omitted and stuff it is because it is getting too late and this post is too long to do a good read through.

Let's see if I can remember how to do a post. It has been that long and apparently I have a bad short term memory. So I really like to read other people's blogs and I like that you can use it like a journal but I can't seem to get into the habit of it. What to do.

As for what has been going on in the Faux family we have survived the Fall and we are headed into Winter. The Fall was full of starting school, school work, piano practicing with Annika, new ward boundaries, new calling, funerals, and all that other stuff like cooking for the family (yucky!), cleaning, laundry, watching the neighbor hood children etc. My goal these days has been to wake up say my prayers, read an ensign article and try hard throughout the day to have the Spirit so I can have patience with my children and enjoy just being in the moment. I truly want to be a good mom that creates good memories and helps the children feel loved, accepted and cherished. But I hear myself at times say things like "You are driving me crazy." I need to work on that.

Ethan started Kindergarten and I am happy to report that he is doing rather well. I was worried but so far so good. He is average. That is good for me. Emily also started preschool and I am not sure about that yet. Most days she doesn't want to go and I have a hard time justifying paying the money each month when she doesn't like going. But I will feel bad if I have her quit because I go each Monday and do a little music class and apparently the kids really like it. What to do. Any suggestions.

Annika turned 8 on the 29th and had a party at Jumpin Jacks which made for a super easy party. The girls all had fun and I even took Clorox wipes and had the girls clean up the equipment and whoever brought back the dirtiest whip got a prize. The employees loved that game and even gave each girl a treat.

Halloween was fun Annika was a fairy, Ethan was a reaper (although he couldn't say it very well, he said it "weaper" it always made me laugh when he said it. Am I mean?) and Emily was a lady bug. Halloween was even more fun because Annika got baptized on Halloween morning. It was great to spend the day with family. I have to say it was a wonderful baptism. It is nice to know what you want and how you want it done and when it works out well it is a miracle. It was a little crazy making hundreds of crepes for the lunch in though. But as always, I have my amazing mom who always helps me through my crazy ideas even though she probably thinks I over do it sometimes. What will I ever do without her. Love you MOM!!!

Thanksgiving was also great. I decided to go to Logan with my mom to visit my Sister Tonia and my Brother Joseph and their families for the holiday. We had a great time, the kids played well, and believe it or not I enjoyed helping to making the food. Which by the way was great. A few days before Thanksgiving I even made an apple pie and I made my very first pie crust all by myself and it was good. Who knew! I am trying hard these days to be more domesticated. This Fall I also canned pears, froze corn and canned salsa and spaghetti sauce. Now I just have to do it more often. I especially liked having Thanksgiving with a real table cloth nice dishes and real silverware. Sometimes it is just fun to spruce things up a bit and use the good stuff. We are so used to using paper plates in this house. Some day when I get a dishwasher I am hoping I will use less of them and save a forest or two:)

So the day after Thanksgiving, well I finally took part in BLACK FRIDAY. I have never done it before because waking up that early to drive all the way to Orem never sounded worth the great deals. But in Logan my siblings who live right next door to each other live only a mile or so from all the big department stores in Logan. So I set my alarm for 4 a.m. and since my husband was still in Springville because he had to work and because I wasn't in my own comfy bed I woke up and went shopping at Kholes then Best Buy then later WalMart. My receipts said I saved like $300 dollars but I don't believe it. I think I will do Black Friday only when I am in Logan or maybe I will try Walmart in Springville. I don't know. By the end of it I was glad to have most of my Christmas shopping over but I did feel rather materialistic and bogged down with all that stuff that I am going to have to find room for in my small bursting house. It is rather funny that we spend Thanksgiving thinking about all we are grateful for and then the very next day we feel the need to get more more more. CRAZY mixed up world! Is that a name of a song? If not is should be.

Another first for me was that we got our Christmas tree and inside decorations up the 1st week of December. Maybe I am not as much of a procrastinator as I used to be. I even got our Christmas card mailed before Christmas this year. Well most of them. I still have a few to mail because it has taken sometime to track down their addresses. We will see if that ever happens.

December8th brought Emily's 4th Birthday. That is hard to believe. She still seems to young to be 4. Maybe it is because she likes to be little and have everyone help her with everything. She says she just can't do it by herself. Really she is one of those people that hates to be alone. If she is in a room by herself she has to be watching a movie or she freaks out and comes running to me "Mom mom I am scared I was the only one in the room." What to do? I did have a party for her and truthfully she wanted a repeat of her party last year so that was easy. It was a dress up party so the girls came in one of their favorite dress ups. Amazingly, only a few came as a princess. We had the same Princess tent, and played similar games, the girls got to decorate their own personal small cake and I made a cake that looked like a crown. It was rather easy. The biggest difference was that she only invited girls her age instead of all of her sisters friends like last year. Annika and Kailee did help entertain the bunch which was helpful. If I can figure out how to post the pictures I will do that .

December also brought the Christmas parties. We had the Relief Society Christmas dinner which was nice because I didn't have to cook:) We had our annual Great Grandma Geo party at Rob and Sherston's home. I look forward to this party each year to see all the extended family, eat great food and enjoy the crazy gifts Grandma Geo wraps up. This year we got old curtains from the 70's. I believe they came from Bob's old room. I also got a half dead plant. Too funny!!! You never know what you are going to end up with. My kids seemed bratty and spoiled at the party because they didn't unwrap gifts that they wanted. "YOU GET WHAT YOU GET AND YOU DON'T THROW A FIT." That saying didn't seem to go over too well with them. After some trading and tears they got what they wanted. (Thank you to Kelsie for letting Ethan be an Indian giver) sorry that saying is not very politically correct.

Steve's work party was a success. He wooed them over with his amazing Karaoke talent. I was a little embarrassed at first, then gave in and joined the singing fun but I didn't seem to get as good of a reaction as him. He is just a goof ball and I am slightly more reserved.

Can I tell you I love spell check! Wow do I get it wrong sometimes. Spelling is not one of my strong points but with spell check it makes everything better. It's like the right smelling hand soap that takes care of the grime and makes my hands feel clean, soft and delicious. Thank you Bath and Body Works.

The annual Faux party at Gene and Carolyn's home was also memorable. I was brave and took a new untested salad to the party. The recipe came from the Worldwide Ward Cookbook. I believe the recipe is called The Everything Pasta Salad. After making it I called it the 10 ton salad because it literally weighed 10 lbs. my sister in-law weighed it. I used a whole bag of bow-tie pasta with about 1/3 of a bag of Penne pasta. I added, capers, green olives, black olives, artichoke hearts, zucchini, cucumbers, avocado, Mandarin oranges, feta cheese, lemon juice and balsamic vinaigrette. I think it was probably the most expensive salad I have ever made. The feta cheese alone was $6. Sadly not much got eaten at the party and I still have some in the refrigerator but people said they liked it. Who knows. Sorry about the salad soap box. Now onto the party after the food Grandma Carolyn Faux explained to the kids about the sub for Santa we participated in and shared some stories from others who have had wonderful experiences helping out needy families. She recounted about when they lived in California and when Gene lost his job how some neighbors who were needy themselves gave them gifts for Christmas.

Then Santa came. Santa pulled gifts out of his bag called the child's name and they came and sat on his lap. It was very cute and fun. Thanks to Shea for making this happen. Silly Carolyn keep calling Santa Grandpa. (I wonder why:) After Santa left we played Faux Family Christmas Bingo. Then Grandma and Grandpa gave out their traditional gifts to the grandchildren. Every year Carolyn takes such care to choose books for the kids. I love it. Books and especially reading books with your kids lasts so much longer than a toy that will break and wear out.

The past two years I have done the 12 days of Christmas for my kids. I put a Christmas stocking on their door and put a little gift in it for the 12 days preceding Christmas. They know it is me and yet they are still so excited to get even a ring pop. I know at some point that won't be the case so I am enjoying their excitement now. Christmas Eve they got their annual Christmas PJ's gotta love them. They were nice fuzzy and comfy and it was fun to cuddle with them and read books.

After the Faux family party we got home about 8:30 p.m. maybe later. The kids finally got to bed around 9:30 or 10 then came the wrapping of presents until 3:30 p.m. At first is seems so overwhelming but slowly somehow it does all get wrapped up and under the tree. At the end I always take a picture like a pat on the back for job well done. This year Steve and I watched two movies during the paper frenzy; the one with Chevy Chase called "Christmas Vacation" it is too funny and then we watched "Evan Almighty," good flick with a decent message. I think the wrapping would have gone much faster if we hadn't watched the movies. Oh well, it was fun until about 3 a.m. when we could hardly move and not so much fun when we had to wake up at 7:30 a.m. Steve was lucky and got to take a three hour nap after the Christmas festivities. I was not so fortunate. The kids as usual loved opening presents. Emily liked her coloring books and Ariel barbie, Annika was thrilled with her Littlest pet shop house (now she has two) and Ethan loves his Leapster and his remote control car and his Hot Wheels track. He scored big time. I got a NEW DYSON VACUUM Hooray. It is nice to get something for once that is hopefully good quality and not a knock off. I am excited to get it out of the box and vacuum my floors. Steve got a new suit, a gift card to his favorite fly shop and gift cards for movies and restaurants. The most sentimental gifts came from my mom who made each child a smock/apron for painting, cooking, dishes, etc. very cute and she also gave each of her kids a frame with pictures of our Grandpa and Grandma Day. I got misty eyed when I opened it. They were wonderful grandparents and I have very fond memories of them. THANK YOU MOM!

Usually on Christmas we don't do much of anything for food but this year we invited our neighbors the Jackson's for lunch at 2:00 p.m. because her husband wasn't going to be there and we thought it would be fun. So she planned to make the turkey and pies and I told her I would do the rest. Well, sometime Christmas morning she called to say her husband was going to arrive around 1 p.m. after driving 14 hours through the night. I assured her that I knew her husband wouldn't want to come hang out at our house for lunch so I told her I would simply bring what I made over to their house. So I made a bunch of mashed potatoes and a big green salad and dressing and took some of the 10 ton salad over as well. It was nice to give a Christmas gift that wasn't wrapped up under the tree and I knew it would help them have a memorable Christmas dinner.

It was also fun for our little family. We grabbed some steaks from the freezer and had steak, potatoes and salad and non alcoholic wine in real crystal glasses. I decided for once to use a real fabric table cloth, use real dishes and real crystal. Steve was worried sick one of the kids was going to break one of the crystal glasses but this time they all made it back safe and sound into the box. It was fun to hear the crystal sing when we washed them the kids loved it too.

That evening Grandma and Grandpa Faux came over and we ate nuts, and played games, darts and Ticket to Ride and congratulations to Carolyn for winning her first game of Ticket to Ride! For once Steve actually lost. CRAZY! All in all it was a good Christmas. The only thing I regret was that I never got any lights put up on the outside our house. Maybe I should go buy some good outside lights tomorrow and make it a goal for next year.

Okay I am signing off. I hope to do this again sooner rather than later.

Here is Emily

So our little Emily has given us reason to worry.
Lately she has been asking people if they want to go to heaven. Most people answer, "yes" to which Emily responds, "I don't want to go to heaven." On Sunday morning I asked her why she did not want to go to heaven and she said "I don't want to go to heaven because I want to be able to drink chocolate milk." Should be we worried about her reasoning abilities?

I am also hoping she doesn't have any psychic powers. Several times either Steve or I will come home and Emily will say "I'm glad you are home I thought you died."

Also if anyone knows of a product we could purchase that would allow us to control Emily's vocal volume that would be wonderful. Her voice and her hair seem to match. Both are rather loud and crazy. There are days I think a muzzle might come in handy. This girl has got some lungs. Maybe some day she will be an opera singer.

Really for the most part she can be a delight to have around and we love her. It has been fun to see her grow and develop thus far and I am looking forward to her future.

My Funny Ethan

A few cute stories about Ethan.

In August we went to visit my brother and sister and their families in Logan and I told my kids that we were going to be leaving Logan the next morning. Annika asked where we were going to eat breakfast. I told her we would probably eat breakfast on the road. Ethan who was in the back of the van said with a worried tone to his voice "But mom won't we get hit by cars."

Just a few days later Emily went into the kitchen wearing one of my bras. The rest of the family was getting ready to play a game and they all laughed and I called from the other room for her to return and bring me back my bra. Soon thereafter Ethan looked at his Grandma Day and said "Grandma you don't have big breasts do you?" She answered him by saying "no Ethan I don't." He then look down at his own breasts and said proudly "I have big breasts."

A few days after that we drove past a house that had a for sale sign out front and I told the children "look that house is for sale someone could come and buy it." Again from the back of the van I hear Ethan say "How will they carry it home."

About the family picture.....

It's late and I should be in bed; but no. It's 2:00 a.m. and for some reason I am creating a blog. It has been on my to do list for many months but so has getting to bed by 11:00 p.m. What to do? Here goes the blog.

Yes we desperately need an updated family picture. This one is almost 2 years old and has a Christmas tree behind it. Anyone want to take our family picture for FREE?:) So about the family.

This is the family Catryna, Steve, (in back) Ethan, Annika and Emily (in front). Much has changed since then.... read on for what has happened since this picture was taken two years ago.

Two years ago Steve was just starting the Nursing Program at UVU. Now he has graduated, (May, 2009) he passed his nursing boards with lots of studying and help from above (horray!!), and he even got his first nursing job at UVRMC (Utah Valley Regional Medical Center). We are so proud of him for all his hard work and for sticking with it through the hard times. Miracles to happen. We will get his 1st pay check this week. Oh the joy!

As for me, I have been holding down the home front. The only new thing I am sporting is a shorter hair-do and some color to hide the frazzled gray hair I have inherited. Funny story... I just recently colored my hair with my friend Caprice and the color had more red/purple to it than I was expecting. A young boy I take care looked at my hair and asked if I had colored it. The lighting in the room made my hair look deep purple. I told him that I had just colored it a week or so ago. He had a perplexed look on his face and then asked, "Can you still go to church?" I laughed and thought does it look that bad? Were all those complements I received from people about my hair really sarcastic comments made while they laughed behind my back? Who knows but it is staying purple for awhile. Maybe I am just trying to get more attention from my hair than Emily does from her super curly locks. Ha, Ha..

Annika (7), Ethan (5), and Emily (3) are doing well. They keep growing, learning, playing, laughing, dancing, fighting, bugging, whining and complaining. We love them regardless and try our darnedest to be patient, loving, consistent and happy. I will try to upload more updated pictures soon.