We've Done Other Stuff in 2011 Besides Move...

...AKA, We Don't Have Any More Home Updates Yet, or We Are Late Updating Our Family News To The Blog.

January-February 2011

Nathan & I tried something new this New Year's Day...a friend from the ward (who has a pool) decided to hold a Polar Bear Dip and invited all comers. I don't know why we thought this would be a good idea, but I guess we were ready for a change in our normal New Year's Day routine (sleeping), so we decided to take the plunge...literally.

As expected, there was a lot of screaming, yelling, & flailing to get out of the water as soon as possible. But, we survived...and had a great time jumping into a freezing-cold pool with several other brave, daring souls (mostly guys--I was one of only 2 girls to jump!) Lunch was served afterward, and a good time was had by all. Maybe it wasn't the most HARD-CORE Polar Bear Dip known to man, but it left us quite invigorated! 


For the record: yes, the photo above looks bright & sunny. We live in AZ, not AK. It was about 11 am and about 45 degrees outside--a pretty chilly day, by our standards. The water, as you can imagine, was quite a bit colder than that. So, you cold-weather friends can feel free to mock our wussiness--but only after you do your own Polar Bear Dip! Agreed??

It was a big month for our youngest daughter, as well...Aurora turned 1 year old! She is shaping up to be a terrific toddler! First, she moved up to the front-facing car seat, to her great delight (and wouldn't you know it, just a couple of months later, the guys at the AAP are telling us that kids should sit in rear-facing seats until they're at least 2 years old. But look at that face, I tell you! Would you want to wipe the smile off that kid's face by turning her towards the back again? I didn't think so).

She had lots of fun at her birthday party (a family affair):

She LOVED her new shoes!

And she really enjoyed her cake, too.

Also in January, Nathan & I had a late anniversary date--we went to see the musical "Wicked." We had a great time, and I wrote more about it in some other blog post--look it up.

Aunt Kelli, who was visiting from Colorado, helped watch the girls while Nate & I went out, and I was so happy--finally, my girls in the care of someone who can actually DO HAIR! And Aunt Kelli didn't disappoint:

she even got Celeste's fine, wispy hair into 2 beautiful braids! The girls were happy to show off this look for as long as it lasted:

of course, they were still their goofy selves. Plus, it was fun to take the braids out & watch the explosion later:

Not too long after this, Lorelai got another haircut--a cute short 'do:

Mama was especially excited, because this is one of the first times she's given a haircut in a LONG time, and it actually turned out pretty cute!!


This winter has also seen some more unfortunate fashion choices on my girls' part--mostly makeup-related:

Here, Celeste is giving us a preview of her teenage "goth" phase. And I don't even know what to say about Lorelai's makeover...

That's my little tomboy!!

At least Aurora knows how to accesorize:

She carries the purse around with her everywhere...even in the car sometimes! She is getting very good at mimicking Mama. I wonder if we will have another "girly girl" in the house soon.

So, as you can see, our lives haven't completely been on hold from the move (just mostly on hold!). We've still had a little time to goof off and enjoy the company of our wonderful children. I hope this bare-bones outline of our last 2 1/2 months makes that a little more clear.

Time to send this post out with a bang (Lorelai's school science project, that is):