Little Letters

January has been... well... a whirlwind. Today I thought of all the things I could/should post about and the list got a little long. So instead I am going to adopt the style of a favorite fellow blogger and write some little letters.

Dear Anthropologie,

Thanks for being such a fabulous store. You're sort of addicting, wonderfully refreshing, and very expensive. I love you anyway despite that last part. Anyway, thanks for the little things on sale that make my day and now sit gloriously in my windowsill for me to look and and smile while I do dishes:

Dear Idaho Falls,

It's blasted cold and I had to walk through a blizzard in my heels today to get to church. Not my favorite. However, thanks for the river and the ducks. We had a lot of fun until we all started to scream from the cold. It was 14 degrees:

Dear CM,

I do not appreciate you dumping all the baking soda on the floor about 10 minutes before we are scheduled to head out the door. Stay out of that cupboard.

Dear NERF company,

While I love that we have a relatively safe alternative to other guns, I don't really love being shot in the face, head, neck, eyes, or any other part of my body with those little freakin foam darts. They litter my house. Good idea but gee....... it's a love/hate relationship.

Dear Valentines Day,

I love you too. And all the adorable decor that comes with you.

Dear Boise, Eric, Nicky, and Eva,

We had a great time. We love you all. Boise, when I leave, I feel like Idaho Falls is your red-headed step-child.

Mug Shot

Personally, I think a person's choice of mug says a lot about that person. Is it because I really love mugs a lot and secretly wish I drank coffee so I could buy hundreds of them to line my cupboards?

Maybe.

Nevertheless, this is our family's mug shot:

On the far left is Trav's mug. Ok he didn't really choose this one, I bought it at the D.I. for him for Christmas, and I think it's cute and hysterical at the same time. It was fifty cents and I couldn't resist. Anyway it's completely Travis, because it says "Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a Dad" As you may have read in the previous post, his Dad skills are the bomb-diggity.

Next is B's mug. This is what we put his hot chocolate in about 60% of the time. The other 40% we pretend that he doesn't make messes and he gets a real mug with a plastic IKEA spoon to stir it with (too much clinking with a metal one makes me crazy) However, the Nalgene bottle suits him perfectly. It is virtually indestructible, brightly colored, and most importantly, he can't get the lid off.

Perfect you see?

Next is CM's mug (That's CM- short for Clarky Malarky because everyone was giving me crap about "Drama" saying it would give him a complex) CM's mug is an adorable insulated cup with cars on it. He is quickly approaching the destructive "Nalgene stage" but for now he merrily drinks his fiber enriched whole milk in a blue car cup- no hot chocolate for him but he doesn't care one bit.

Now I have saved the best for last. I have no idea where I got this mug but it's one of my favorites. Hand-thrown pottery mugs are a weakness of mine, and this one is little enough to make the hot chocolate a little more concentrated but big enough to be the perfect serving size. This does not imply that I am a hippie, but I do immensely enjoy some earthen products.

There you have it.

What do you drink your hot chocolate out of?

Travis the Dad

My husband is a fantastic father.

Just this morning I rolled over and said:

"Sweet darling, will you please go feed breakfast to our adorable, sweetheart baby boy?"

It might have been a little different than that, but I can't really be sure.

Anyway, as you can imagine, he jumped out of bed and exclaimed:

"Yes my beautiful wife! I know you had a long night with Brenner, I would be glad to fix a healthy, wonderful breakfast for our youngest child. You look amazing this morning, and your breath smells of flowers, Skittles, chocolate and all things good."

It might have been a little different than that, I can't be sure.

The point of this post is to note something he said to B last night.

B had grabbed something off the dresser and was playing with it and Travis turned around and said:

"Brenner! Put that down."

Although Brenner listens to the first request every single time and never does anything wrong, this time he didn't put the object down. (I'm not sure what the object was because I was just listening to the whole exchange from the bathroom)

So then Travis says:

"Put that down or it'll burn your hands off."

You might notice that there is no exclamation point on the end of the sentence. This is because Travis said it so matter-of-factly that I almost gagged on my toothbrush.

I peeked around the corner to see B's face. At first he looked surprised and then suspicious, and then he put it down.

Mission accomplished I suppose.

Inside

It's snowing here.

Again.

And this is what we've been doing a lot of.

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a reason to go somewhere; alas there are none. It's not really fun for B to play outside by himself. He gets all dressed up, goes outside and realizes there is no one but the ginormous snowman his Dad made with him.

Bless you dear husband for being home and making that snowman with him this weekend less we go completely insane from staying inside.

So here we will stay, painting, building forts, and playing endless hours of cars and animals. We will continue to watch

snowflakes

f

a

l

l

d

o

w

n

In Retrospect

Today we took down our Christmas tree.

And put away the cute Christmas dishes.

And took down all the other Christmas decor in the house.

Sigh.

Now the house seems empty, as it always does when we put those things away.

I thought about 2009. It has been a good year for our family. I thought about how last year at this time, I was blissfully living in Logan, unaware of what was to come. I was also blissfully nursing my little tiny baby, who has suddenly grown into a little boy right before my eyes. Funny how that happens.

Now our small family is in a different state- literally and figuratively speaking, and although I still miss Logan terribly, I know in my heart of hearts I will come to enjoy living in this place.

In light of the new year, here is a recap of 2009- Fonnesbeck style.

In January we went to Island Park to the new cabin- loved it. Hooray for Mom and Craig for a job well done. We did some light snow-shoeing and watched wonderful sunsets in the toasty cabin.

In February we blessed the little man. Brenner... well... he was just dapper. We also celebrated Trav's fabulous birthday. (Along with his sisters, who were both born on the 8th)

In March we went to the cabin again but with the Ballou fam this time. We snowmobiled, ate, and had a grand time together. I also started making hats like a mad woman and took this picture of B, still one of my favorites.

So charming.

In April we revisited our old friend, The Hogle Zoo, and found a new love for it. We also rode the carousel once and watched others ride every time after that.

We were able to visit Boise in April and spend Easter at Eric and Nicky's.

In May we revisited The river, Brenner learned how to ride AND steer his bike, and we celebrated B's 3rd birthday (a few times).

June brought bathtime shenanigans, and the "Puss in Boots" episode. (A slightly uneventful month for us)

July... July was a blur. We decided to pick up and move from our perfectly wonderful home and neighborhood in Logan to Idaho Falls. (I was totally happy, can't you tell?) We spent even more time at The River, where were participated in our first Fourth of July Ashton Parade- which was epic. We also attended "That Famous Preston Night Rodeo" Which is quite possibly one of my favorite weekends of the year.

In August I made apricot jam until I thought I was going to freak. We also said goodbye to my cousin Henry who is now serving his mission in Missouri. (We took the family photo op. that day)

In September I celebrated my birthday in Hawaii. It was truly a wonderful vacation and I am so glad I was able to share it with two of my favorites: Nan and Meg. We ate well, slept well, and got absolutely rocked by the ocean. Hawaii is magical, especially with toads, "pinkaladas", haupia pies, sushi, shopping, kayaking, tubing adventures... the list goes on and on

In October we went to Boise where Nicky and I took the kids to the farmer's market (SOOO fun, I'm way jealous) We soaked up the last warmth of the year, and ended with the savage children for Halloween.

In November my baby turned one. Yikes. We also trekked out and cut down our very own Christmas tree. We had Thanksgiving with family in Salt Lake and then went to the cabin in Eden. (No pictures of that)

December brought the annual "Lobster-Fest" and a great Christmas. We spent the night in Weston, and B got sick a couple days before so he looked like the living dead on Christmas Eve. In the morning he was in good spirits and opened presents with vigor. Santa brought him his only requested gift: a "whiting-a-queen truck!" Both boys also scored big with the grandparents with books, puzzles, and all sorts of good present booty. They also got matching camo from Grandpa and Nana.

Whewf. That was intense.

2009 you were good to us.

2010, bring it on, I am so ready.