Simones New Pictures

Simone just got her one year old pictures done, and I think they turned out so cute! She was totally scared of the lights last time, and wasn't cooperative at all. We still got some good ones, but I think these ones show her cute smile.

She wouldn't let go of the Elise's lil Webkinz Pug. So we just let her hold it so she'd be happy. She loves that little dog (his name is Noble, isn't that cute?). So she got her very own Webkinz Pug for Valentine's Day since she was monopolizing Noble. She carries it around everywhere, and if you touch it, she'll come after you.

The white dress in the third picture is a dress that Simone's Great-Great Grandma made. We were very excited to get it for Christmas from Grandma. Thank you! We knew it would be hard to see on the white background, but I love how it turned out.

Thanks Steph for doing the pictures for us! We love them.

Mater Saves the Day!

I was driving the other day when a very surprising snowstorm hit fast and hard. It was so windy, I could barely see the tail lights of the car ahead of me at times. I followed the cars ahead of me and ended up going off the opposite side of the road than I thought I was. I didn't want to try to get out because I didn't know exactly where I was and there was a ditch fairly close.

Anyway, I ended up being stuck in the blizzard for 7.5 hours! Miles kept worrying about the car tipping over. But overall the kids thought it was a bit of an adventure. Thank goodness I'd just gone shopping and bought some water and granola bars. I also have a bad habit of waiting until the last ounce of gas to refill my tank. Fortunately we had a quarter tank when we got stranded. We watched a DVD, and the kids went to sleep at around 8 pm. The boy that carpools with us was so cute. He kept reassuring Miles and telling him that Tuh Mater from the Cars movie was coming to rescue us. All the roads were closed, so it was hard for anyone else to get through to us.

It was so nice to have my little Blackberry Pearl. Jared sent me some links, and I called my sister and at least got to have something to occupy the time. Phone, internet, DVD's, heat, water, food. That's about all I need anyway!

Someone had informed me that highway patrol was coming to help tow all of us out, but that turned out to be incorrect. I called dispatch and the dispatch lady screamed that highway patrol doesn't care if you are trapped in a blizzard. They have more important things to worry about. So anyway I called AAA and they sent a tow truck out. 4 hours later, it arrived! I've never been so happy to see those flashing lights. The driver was so persistant in getting to us. We were the first ones able to make it out. I was so relieved to get home! On the drive home the roads weren't even very bad. It was just a couple of stretches with lots of wind that really had problems. But the closures stranded lots of people. And there were tons that slept in their cars.

Miles keeps talking about how "Tow" Mater saved us. He was asleep when the tow truck finally made it, but he's been playing with his little Mater truck and pulling around the doll minivan with it. It is pretty funny. Everytime we go in the car now, he gets a little nervous though. Funny kid.

Miles is Three

He was very excited for his birthday. He got a new train set from Nana and Papa, lots of cool stops for his trainset, and a Buzz Lightyear that he is a little disappointed about. He told me he wanted "Zurg." I had no idea what that was, but I understood something about Buzz Lightyear, so I got his a super cool Buzz. He was a little disappointed and keeps trying to give it away so he can get Zurg. I should have asked a kid what Zurg was, Monet knew exactly what he was talking about.

It's Jesus!

So my baby is ONE! We celebrated her birthday by going sledding with our friends Ashlee and Trevor. Their baby Renee's birthday is just the day after Simone's, so we had a little party. Simone absolutely loves snow, so sledding was just perfect. She loves to stick her face in the snow and eat it. We are not quite sure why she likes that, it looks really cold! But she's always liked the snow, regardless of how freezing everyone else is.

Jared's family has a fun tradition of giving all the kids their very own chocolate birthday cake on their first birthday and having all the family gather around and watch the babies eat it, fling it, and make a big mess. So even though we already had cake, we had to have another!

Simone loved the cake. Her chocolate frosting covered face earned her the nickname "Jesus" by her older sisters. So here she is in all her chocolate covered glory.