Christmas in Idaho

We spent a fun week with the Yost side for Christmas this year. It has been two years since we were last in Idaho and only Todd's parents had met Kaitlyn. Todd comes from a family of 7 kids, all but one are married- he's engaged- sorry ladies. Everyone was there this year - 32 Yosts total, of those 32, 17 were kids - two of them new babies. Busy house but a lot of fun!

We flew into SLC on Friday and spent so time visiting great grandparents, old friends, and taking the kids to see the lights on Temple Square, something I hadn't done in years. I loved it! Abby was more fascinated by the snow and all she wanted to do was play in it. While at temple square our camera battery died and I didn't bring the charger. There was no way I was not going to have a camera for Christmas and I made Todd by a new charger. He's so great.

On Sat. we visited some more family and friends and drove the 4 hours to Rigby. If you went to Ricks, you know where Rigby is :).

The rest of the week was spent visiting with family, eating, playing games, eating, and watching the kids play in the snow, oh, and more eating. It snowed every day we were there and it was very cold! I loved watching Abby play with her cousins. There were a couple of the older ones who she'd play school with and run around with. She loved the 24/7 friends.

Because there are so many of us, we reserved the church one day. One gift for one of the guys was "Dodge Ball" the movie and a bunch of dodge balls. Needless to say, games of dodge ball were going on in the gym. Todd even got some nice war wounds. We also had a nice experience of seeing the two new babies blessed with all the family there.

Lots of fun this Christmas and we're glad we were able to go out to Idaho and spend some time with the Yosts. I even got two families blogging! yeah! Hope everyone else had a great Christmas too!

Sweet Caroline

Found this video off of Eric Snider's blog and thought it was fun to share.

Snowball Fight!

The Yosts and an Australian kangaroo!

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"Boots Por Me!"

We had an early gift exchange with my parents this past Monday since we won't be doing Christmas together. Abby was a riot and was so into it. Kaitlyn liked sitting on the boxes and was happy with that.

Kaitlyn with a scarf made by Grandma.

Everything Abby opened, she would exclaim, "I cannot believe it!" One of her favorite gifts was a pair of red boots that we gave her. I was lucky enough to tape her expression. They were immediately put on her feet and didn't come off until bedtime.

Today, Tuesday, Abby didn't wear her boots, so at bedtime she said, "I haven't worn my boots in a really, really, really long time."

Wooo Boots! from sassy momma on Vimeo.

Gingerbread Train

We've been counting down the days to Christmas with doing a fun activity every day. Things that we'd normally do like watch Rudolph or drive to see the lights. Well last year in the Family Fun magazine they had a cool picture of a gingerbread train and the instructions on making it. This year I thought we'd try it out for one of our daily activities since Abby loves trains. I had no idea what I was getting into.

Making the dough, refrigerating it, rolling it out, baking it took a day in itself. And the mess to clean up when you have a 3 year "helping" you. Then today, I made their icing and started to "glue" the pieces together. It wasn't working! After an hour and an icing mess - our table was covered in white, I threw their icing away and made an icing I know. Things looked better from there. Abby liked eating all the candy before she got it on the train. She also loved to decorate it but she loved eating it more. It was a fun activity for that 30 minutes of it. As we finished taking pictures and all the decorating, I lifted the cardboard it was sitting on to move it to it's higher spot. While sitting on the counter, the weight of the "broiler" knocked half the engine to the floor, breaking it to pieces. Ugh! Two days of work on the train and nothing to show (okay, I did get a few pics). The things we do for our kids to make memories. Next year I'm buying a kit!

Abby did a great job decorating and being careful when putting the candy on.

Holiday Parade

Every year McKinsey gets bleacher seats for the Children's Parade in Downtown Dallas. It's a great tradition that we have done over the past 3 years. It's really one of our favorite December activities. There were great floats, the weather wasn't too bad and, as always, Santa was a big hit. After the parade, all of Todd's co-workers and their families have a brunch and the kids get to sit on Santa's lap and get a little gift. Another great perk with Todd's job.

Reindeer Ears

Kaitlyn is not happy about Santa

Houston

This past week we spent in Houston. My younger sister Laurie and her little family live there. Todd was doing some work in Houston and thought it would be great if we all drive down so I could spend some time with Laurie.

The only bad part was the drive down and back. It's normally a 4 and half hour drive. It took us 6 hours both ways. We got stuck in Thanksgiving weekend travelers on the way down and Cowboy/Packer football traffic on the way back. Love the portable DVD players that saved our sanity!

We had a wonderful time spending the week with the Stephens and getting to know little Benson better. We visited the zoo, the Children's Museum, Chuck E. Cheese, and even tried to do a little Christmas shopping. The best was just hanging out with the Stephens and watching the cousins play. Thanks Laurie, Cade, and Benson for a fun week!

Laurie and Benson at the Zoo

Abby and Kaitlyn playing at the Tot Spot in the Museum

Kaitlyn and Benson playing with the big buttons

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam!

Haha, thought this picture was funny....

After being in the Primary Presidency for the past two years, I thought my next calling was going to be in Relief Society or a Sunday School teacher. Not so. When we got back from Australia, I was quickly called to be in the nursery. I was a little sad about this at first but, I quickly got over it. I have to say that I LOVE being in nursery! Never thought I'd say that. I am really enjoying it and having fun with the kids.

One of my favorite parts is doing music time with them. Such a fun and simple way to teach the gospel. I also love hearing their prayers in their sweet, little voices. And yes, you can even feel the spirit when you are teaching a bunch of 3 year olds.

I Miss...

I'm getting ready to print off 400 pictures we took in Australia and I started missing that life. I was getting sad that we weren't running about every weekend to some cool, foreign location. I miss that I didn't have to rush about so much. I miss those days that were so laid back and we could do whatever we wanted. I want back my "no real life responsibilities" for a little while longer :) Where are the maids that came to our apartment twice a week? Ah, the memories we have... I also miss the HUGE kiwi fruit you could buy at the Market. They were soooo yummy.

And yes, I've realized that our posts are not that exciting anymore now that we're back. Our adventures are not that exotic right now.

Sunny Days

We had a busy morning but while Kaitlyn took her afternoon nap Abby and I spent the time outside. It was a nice 83 degrees today- so much for Fall weather. It was so nice to forget about my to-do list and do sidewalk chalk for awhile. How many times are we in such a hurry that we forget to slow for a little while and enjoy the time with our kids? We spent a good two hours outside enjoying the sunny weather and time together. Cleaning my house can always wait until tomorrow....

Pre-School

My little girl is getting so big! Abby on her first day of school.

Abby has officially started pre-school! YEAH!! Her first day was last Thursday and she LOVED it! It's been fun picking her up and listing to her tell me about what they did that day. She loves Miss Melissa and all her friends at school.

New Look

I learned how to change my blog around thanks to this wonderful person. She gave me some wonderful step by step instructions that were so easy to follow. I'm still playing around and will probably continue to change the look here and there. I wanted to know what ya'll thought of the new look?

"Oh my goodness! It's Halloween!"

Cute little ladybug

Abby the Care Bear

Mmmm...candy

The night before Halloween we carved our screaming pumpkin.

The title comes right from Abby - so excited to go Trick-or-Treating....

Abby really understood Halloween this year - "Mom, I want to go to more houses to get more candy." It was a lot of fun taking her and Kaitlyn around. Kaitlyn lasted about 15 minutes before we took her home. Abby and I continued on the quest for more candy. By 7:30 Abby says she's all done and wants to go home. No complaints from me.

Todd was holding down the fort with Kaitlyn passing out all the candy to the trick-or-treaters. While he was busy with a large group of kids, Kaitlyn got into her candy bucket and managed to open and eat a sucker. Smart girl.

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we make several trips to the pumpkin patch. And it's still stinkin' hot! The girls love going though. Abby loves the bounce houses and slides they have set up and throwing hay. Kaitlyn loves to knock over pumpkins.

How do you get a 3 and 1 year old to look at you and smile at the same time for a picture? This is as good as it got.
HAY!

Pumpkin rolling! Kaitlyn kept trying to roll this pumpkin off the hay hill. She thought it was pretty funny watching mom try to catch it.

Weeeee!!!!

Girl's Weekend

The shopping damage

Leaving while the weather starts to get worse - driving through it wasn't fun.

Beautiful snow! I miss it!
Katie making teaching us how to make caramel and chocolate apples! Sugar overload!

This past weekend was a Girl's Weekend in Utah with some friends I meet while Todd was at Kellogg. It was so fun to get together! I am so blessed to know these amazing women who teach me so much and are such a joy to be around.

The weekend was spent with lots of late night talking, game playing, eating lots of yummy food (caramel apples that were so big we should have shared but didn't!) shopping (13 pairs of shoes between 5 of us), and lots of laughter. Thanks for such a great time ladies! Can't wait for the next get together. And thanks Todd for making it so I could go and holding down the fort while I was gone. The girls really enjoyed their time with Daddy.

Here's Your Sign

While in Australia we saw some unusual signs. Here are a few of my favorites.

This was across the street from where we stayed. It's a For Sale sign for an apartment that apparently needed a little work. This sign is about 8 feet tall - average size for a for sale sign. And it seems as if all homes sell during an auction.

This is called a "hook turn". You have to go over to the side of the road, next to traffic that is perpendicular from you, and wait until their light turns green. It's a little creepy sitting waiting for the light.

Todd said after 2 months they named a road after him. That's Melbourne in the background.
What if I wanted to buy a square or circle? OK, dumb joke. Ovals are used for cricket and just about every park has one for rent or as they say "hire".

Beachin' It

Abby and Kaitlyn loved playing in the ocean. Running into the waves and laughing every time they were hit. They also loved running along the sand. Too much fun!

A Week in Paradise

We left Melbourne early Monday morning to fly to Ayers Rock/Uluru. The big, red rock in the middle of Australia. We were only able to see it from the plane and the airport (too short of a lay-over and too hot to go outside to climb a sand dune). From what I can tell you, it was big and it was red. Just out in the middle of no where and then, bam! Big rock. The area reminded me a lot of St. George, Utah with the red sand and the heat. Maybe another trip we will be able to get a closer look at it.

The airport there is the smallest one I've ever been to. One gate, one baggage claim area and the runway is very short. No room for error. We had to have stairs brought to the plane to deplane. While we were there, we even saw a popular Australian TV star. Everyone started clapping and we just looked around until someone clued us in.

From Ayers Rock we flew into Cairns and then caught a bus to Port Douglas - towards the North Eastern tip of Australia. It was so beautiful. I didn't expect it. Mountains, tropical rainforest, blue, blue ocean, and warm weather. Paradise. We stayed at a resort that was right off the beach. The hotel was surrounded by acres of salt water lagoons that we played in all week.

View from our balcony into one of the lagoons. The ocean was right behind the trees.

Our first adventure there was a boat ride along the Daintree River and saw crocodiles. To get there we drove through the oldest rain forest, older than the Amazon according to our driver. Who knows how they tell these things. We drove past sugar cane and pineapple farms. I think I now need to go to Hawaii to compare. The girls enjoyed the boat ride and Abby got a kick seeing all the crocodiles.

Todd and I also were able to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef. I went one day, he went another. We both were able to do 3 dives each. Amazing! Time to get certified now.

Me with one of the reefs in the background.

The rest of our time was well spent between swimming at the hotel lagoons or down at the beach. It was seriously a fabulous vacation. Here are a few of our favorite pics.

We're Back!

One awful bus ride (two of us threw up on), 3 flights, one lost bag, and 30 hours later we are finally home! It was so nice to walk into our home yesterday. We are back! Our kids were amazing! I really can't begin to say how good they did. We didn't have good Internet access last week, so once I download my pictures I'll post about our awesome trip in Port Douglas -aka Paradise. Now we are just catching up on some much needed sleep.

Getting Ready to Say Good-Bye

We are getting ready to leave Melbourne tomorrow morning for the Great Barrier Reef. By the time we get home we will have been gone about 2 and a half months. Of course we were unable to see all the things we wanted. It's like trying to see everything in the US in 2 months, mostly on weekends, with 2 kids. However, we've seen and done so many amazing things. I have absolutely loved this trip and if I had the chance to do it over again, I would.

So I've made a couple of small lists on the things I missed and things I loved while being here. Here you go.

Things I missed: (Of course there's the obvious of family, friends, and comforts of my own home)
Target - We stopped at a Target once and it was just awesome. I think I saved money being here because I was only able to go there once.
Cheddar Cheese - They have what they call "Tasty Cheese". Used all the time like Cheddar. However, this has a little bite to it and it took us awhile to get used to the taste.
Blue Bell Ice Cream - I lost weight by not having the temptation around.
Chicken - I don't know what it is, but there is something different about the chicken. It just tastes different. Maybe it's just a mental thing.
My vacuum cleaner - The floor just gets gross. They clean only twice a week and Kaitlyn likes to throw her food on the floor.
Driving - I miss the independence
Our Large Grocery Stores - The stores are small and the layout is horrible. Takes me forever to find anything. Maybe it's because we're in the city.

Things I've loved here:
Sightseeing- Everything we saw and did. We did a lot and it was fabulous.
Not driving - I did enjoy walking every day with the girls. Reminds me of my Chicago days. It was my form of exercise.
Maid service - Had it twice a week and they cleaned everything. So nice.
Todd home more - It was nice having him around more instead of flying everywhere.
Todd shopping - Todd did do more shopping in these 2 months than he has in our 5 years of marriage. That's what he gets for having the car.
Reading - I read 4 pretty thick books because there was no house cleaning to do during naps.
No pressures- When we went out, we could take our time and relax. I didn't need to say hurry up we're going to be late, answer any phone calls, go through any mail, do anything with a church calling, no rushing place to place. Everything was on our time. That was really nice.
Friends- Made some new friends that I hope to keep in touch with.
Family - It was great spending some really good, quality family time together.

Truth Be Told

A little while ago Abby rubbed the top of Todd's head and said, "Daddy, you don't have any hair."

Friday, coming home from work, Todd stopped off at a barbers and shaved his head. Now he really doesn't have any hair.

Vegemite Sandwich

A friend brought over lunch yesterday and I finally tried Vegemite. It's not bad, just a little salty. I guess the joke here is to spread it really thick on bread for Americans, like peanut butter, and then have them eat it. You'd gag and the Aussies get a good laugh. You're supposed to only have a little bit spread on your bread and eat it with cheese. We ate it in a roll with some cheese and the girls gobbled it up too. I thought about bringing jars home for anyone who wanted some. Any takers? A small jar can last you a good 5-6 years. MMMmmm

We also ate what they call "Party Pies". They're popular at office parties or luncheons. They're little pastries filled with minced meat and gravy. Again, not bad. And for dessert, jam filled Lamingtons. Angel food cake, sliced in half and filled with jam. Then it is dripped in chocolate and covered in coconut.

My favorite thing about eating out here is that I'm eating "energy" and not calories. I don't feel so bad when my candy bar says 504kj of energy. I'm eating energy!

Where I Be

This past weekend we headed down to Queen Victoria's Market once again. It's a large (several blocks) open market dealing everything from housewares, souvenirs, clothing, and food. We wanted to pick up some Australian souvenirs made in China before we leave. This time we knew what to expect and we moved through the stalls quickly - maybe not quick enough for Todd though.

Afterwards, we headed out to Werribee to have an African Safari in Australia. It's kind of weird that we did that, but when you have kids, you do things that catered towards them. It was a nice zoo with safari animals and they even take you on a bus ride around the grounds to get a closer look at the animals. There was one area of tall grass where they hid speakers that made lion roars. Abby was really cute hiding in the grass trying to find all the "lions" she was hearing.

Abby looking for lions

Kaitlyn steering the boat

Kaitlyn on safari

Abby looking fierce

It's Official

We're coming home October 9th. Todd is wrapping up his study and there are no new studies in the works. We have one more week in Melbourne, then we're heading up to the Great Barrier Reef for a vacation on the beach. Spoiled - nah!

I Love to See the Temple

Since we weren't in the car enough this weekend, we drove out to the temple Sunday afternoon. It was quite windy so we didn't stay too long. I just think it's so wonderful that we are around the world and able to see a temple. When I was younger, I had a goal to at least see all the temples in person. Now with more than 124 temples, 9 being built and more announced, I don't think it will happen - I've only been to 19. One can still try though.