Happy New Year

Welcome to 2012!

Yesterday, Asher wanted to ring in the New Year by camping. So, after church, we set up a blanket fort in the the family room and roasted hot dogs on the barbecue. It's nice having church in the morning. I feel like it leaves more time in the day for fun family activities like this.

This holiday season was really great. We loved spending time with our family and friends. Our trip to see the lights at the Temple didn't go as planned. Asher was standing on a ledge with his cousins and fell into one of the fountains. He's now afraid of the temple and says he never wants to go there again!

Aaron and I are looking forward to the next year and the possibilities that await our family. I try not to set unrealistic resolutions for myself so I don't feel disappointed by February. One thing I do want to do is create more balance in my life. So I'll be spending the next few weeks really thinking about where my time goes and what is truly most important to me.

Do you have any resolutions you'll be working on this year?

Updated Video

Aaron has been working on this video for weeks. He was looking for "just the right song." Apparently, he wanted something fun and not like our other videos we have on our adoption blog. I think it looks fantastic! Great job husband!

Our Humble Abode

Last weekend I finally got around to taking a few pictures of our house. I didn't take a photo of every room, but it'll help you get a general idea of the house. Asher was following me around during our photo shoot so I feel like this will also double as a Where's Waldo.

Living Room

Kitchen ( This is my favorite room in the house)

Asher's Room

The sitting room attached to the master bedroom (I'm using it as a craft/storage area)

Let's hear it for a girl!

Anyone who I've been close with over the years knows that I'm not much of an animal person. Owning a pet hasn't been high on my list of things to do. Aaron, on the other hand, has been campaigning for a dog for six years. Last week we had the opportunity to dog sit for some friends while they were on vacation. It was such a good experience that yesterday we made a family trip to the Arizona Humane Society and came home with a new family member. I'm pleased to introduce you to Toff.

She's seven months old and a very mellow puppy. Toff loves to chase balls with Asher and he's happy to have a, "new sister". I've never owned a pet so training her is a whole new world. She's pretty timid and prefers to stay inside so trying to condition her to go to the bathroom outside might prove challenging. Any surefire training advice?

Moving Update

Sharing walls is officially a thing of the past! Our move went very smoothly thanks to wonderful friends and family. The only rooms we have left to tackle are the master bedroom and the spare/baby room. The latter, I'm going to pretend doesn't exist for a few more weeks. Our yard is a more pressing issue. We are excited to get to know our neighbors and our new ward.

Asher has really struggled with the move. He's only known our apartment and is very concerned about when he can go back to his home. Yesterday he told me that, "That big truck is going to come and get my bed to my home." How do you explain permanency to a three year old? He likes the new house, especially since his Aunt Norma is staying with us, but is very anxious about the situation. I'm sure he'll be fine as time passes but, for now he's extremely clingy and worried that we are going to move again and leave him.

October is a busy month for us, so I'm going to set a challenge for myself to blog about some of the cool things we are doing. This weekend is Oktoberfest! I also need to start getting things together for our Halloween costumes. Asher picked our theme this year. Last year, Asher was a crayon and Aaron and I were pieces of paper he'd colored.

We're Alive

It's been a disturbingly long time since our last blog post. We've spent the last part of the summer house hunting and are excited to announce that we closed today on our new home! I'll have more pictures later as we get settled.

I'm beyond thrilled that we won't be sharing walls anymore! Asher can make as much noise as he wants and play in a backyard. My sister, Norma, is relocating to the area and we're excited to have her stay with us as she gets to know the area.

Happy Independence Day!

Our friends, Marc and Jill, invited us to go camping over the holiday weekend. This was our first experience camping since Trine and I have been married. We spent weeks preparing; mentally and temporally (we had to buy all the equipment). Finally, the day came and off we went to Pine, AZ. I think Asher had the best time.

Asher spent the days going in and out of our tent with all the kids in camp. I don't know what it was about our tent but the kids loved it; and by the end of the trip there was an inch of dirt lining the bottom of the tent and the air mattress. Asher, being the adventurous one in the bunch, had to walk over every rock he saw, often resulting in him falling into the dirt. He looked like a miner by the end of the trip.

Asher also got to experience his first donut. He didn't care for anything other than the chocolate frosting. After eating the chocolate frosting he reverted back to his regular breakfast food; cereal bar, milk, and fruit. I, on the other hand, got to drink fresh mint tea (thanks Marc for finding that plant and brewing the tea). All in all, a good experience. We probably will do it again when we have another long weekend.