Thank You, Punxsutawney Phil!

An early spring sounds mighty good to me! This winter, January in particular, has been draggggingg on and on and on. Our little family has had it's fair share of struggles in the past few weeks. I'm going to take it as a personal sign from the heavens that Mr. Groundhog didn't spot his shadow, and by extension, the shadows of our winter are also long gone!

And here in the dadgum arctic tundra where we reside, we need these kinds of superstitions to ease the pain of 7 foot snow piles on the porch and the weather forecasts that never even reach 5 degrees.

To keep sane during these long winter months, I have been...

1. Looking forward to weekly emails from my baby sis. If I start feeling sorry for myself, I can just read her email and be thankful that I'm not warding off begging gypsies in a foreign country. Plus, she's just dang funny and I always can use the laugh on a Monday morn.
2. Playing the odd round of Skip-Bo and always winning. (little does Riley know that I was trained by my sweet Grammy on how to be a Skip-Bo champ. Shhh...don't tell. This is the one thing I can beat him at)
3. Watching old classic movies on Netflix. Nothing can bring a smile like Celia Johnson in A Brief Encounter or Doris Day's puffy hair.
4. Hearty winter soup recipes. Lorie's famous taco soup, my mother's chicken noodle that is impossible to dulpicate to perfection, and cheesy potato chowder. Mmmmm.
5. And eventually, we always end the day by cuddling in bed at an embarrassingly early hour, drinking Tang from our crystal stemware.

As you can see, we're a little short on ideas for how to pass the time while trying not to freeze. Any ideas would be very appreciated. Hinder is begging you.

Today's Inspiration

"Come home to your children- born and unborn. Wrap the motherly cloak about you and, unembarrassed, help in a major role to create the bodies for the immortal souls who anxiously wait. When you have fully complemented your husband in home life and borne the children, growing up full of faith, integrity, responsibility, and goodness, then you have achieved your accomplishment supreme, without peer, and you will be the envy of all through time and eternity."

-Spencer W. Kimball

Family Letter

I'm getting our annual family letters together to send. You know what I mean? The ones that usually get done BEFORE Christmas. I know I could just mass post it on the blog, but I'm old fashioned and like the idea of supporting the ole USPS on occasion.

So if you would like to get a card in the mail from us, just leave your address as a comment and I'll be flattered to send it!

P.S.- If you don't feel comfortable posting your address on the world wide web, you can email it to me at destryhurst@gmail.com.

Resolution Realization

Like many people, I made a few resolutions with the start of the new year. I really thought it out, and being an overly-goal-oriented individual I felt like I didn't need to make a TON of resolutions...since I'd just be back to may pattern of goal setting on a regular basis. So this year, I made it simple. My resolution was simply to be better. And the 3 little ways I was going to accomplish this:

1. Cook dinner every night.

2. Do something with Hinder everyday- an outing, a playgroup, an interactive activity...something.

3. Stick to my daily cleaning schedule.



Simple, right?!



Wrong.



We're only 12 days into this new year and already I have failed.

1. Succombed to take-out and fast food twice.

2. Only successfully planned an executed three outings for the boy.

3. Procrastinated my cleaning all but three days.

Sheesh.

So, I was feeling a little down about my pathetic-ness. That is, until I found this little gem tucked away in a forgotten box.

A nice, little (not so little...it goes on until #20) list, written in my 14-year old penmenship with all my aspirations for a future family.

As pathetic as I might be now, at least I'm a bit more realistic. In the words of my dear daddy, "Just be happy with a little progress."

So, I'm thinking I won't feel so bad.

And thinking that I should just be proud that I showered before 4 p.m. today.

And I'm thinking maybe Little Caesars sounds just right for dinner.

Two Years

A week ago, my baby turned two!

I can't believe it's been two years. Part of me feels like it's been 10... like that feeling that I don't remember not having a kid. But then the other part of me can't believe I have a toddler.

Here he is exactly two years old. He's utterly obsessed with balloons.

(photo by Dalyn)

Hinder's lucky to have a cousin almost exactly the same age as him. My brother's son turned 2 just the day after. This little nephew is the sweetest hugger. The boys got along so well during our Christmas visit.

(dalyn photo)
We threw a combined party for the boys. Construction themed.

Hinder was being silly and REFUSED to look at the camera for this picture. After several tries, this was the best one.

Lara decorated perfectly for the event. So creative.

Thank to everyone for participating in the party! And wearing those hats.

Happy birthday, boys!

(Dalyn photo)
A few notables about 2-year old Hinder:

1. He talks constantly. Full sentences streaming from his sweet little lips all the live long day.
He keeps us laughing, but boy do I miss peace and quiet.

2. Shooting hoops is a favorite past time. The boy has a killer shot too. He makes it more often than I do, but rarely rubs it in my face.

3. He misses his daddy everyday somethin' fierce. At least one tearful outburst per day can be attributed to the fact that Riley's at work and not at home with Hinder.
4. His daily prayer goes like this: "Heavenly Father, thank you for basketballs, Amen!"

5. "No", "Nah", "No Thanks", and "Don't think so" are his new favorite phrases to just about everything I say. Not very endearing. I'm praying for patience until this phase passes.

I'm so grateful this strong-willed kid will be the first of our children and help lead his siblings along in this life.

We love our little butter bean to pieces!

Christmas Getaway

For Christmas this year, rather than give a wrapped gift, my parents did something particularly special for us married kiddos. It just shows that they really are in tune with what young parents need.

Time. Alone. Without the wee babes.

It was a blissful surprise. The Monday after Christmas, the 3 married couples and Mom and Dad Killian traveled to Spokane for an ultimate date night.

We stayed at the exquisite Davenport Tower...

Toured the historic Davenport Hotel...

And then dined at the hotel's restaurant, Palm Court Grill...

So fancy.

I'm not used to fancy.

In fact, here is a picture of my older brother, embarrassed of me because I said something uncouth during dinner. Something like "poo' or "barf".

Then our dinner came. And I died from happiness. And I had to be resuscitated.

It was so beautiful! Almost a crime to eat these masterpieces.

This pan-seared duck with fig sauce was mine, all mine.

Definitely the most rich and decadent thing I've ever eaten.

The next morning we had a dose of 3 of my favorite things;

1. IHOP! Biscuits and gravy galore.

2. Temple session. I'd actually never done a session in the Spokane Temple. Very cool!

3. Surprise! My sweet Grammy and Papa came to see us at the temple and joined for lunch afterward.

Isn't she beautiful?!

A terrific way to descend from the high of Christmas and rekindle the flame with my sweetie.

Big thanks to my sisters for watching Hinder! Nothing like the peice of mind that comes from knowing your kid is in completely capable hands.

And HUGE thanks, mom and dad! You're always so generous and thoughtful!

Christmas: Part 2

I hate playing blog-catch-up, BUT during our Christmas vacation I totally checked out from everything. Including staying current on posting....so, so sorry for the bombardment of photos in the next few days.

We had such a lovely time though. As always, the decorations and company were divine.

Christmas Eve gift exchange!

"It's a pillow! It's a pet!"

A great, BIG, exciting highlight was getting to talk to our missionary sister! She sounded so good and totally European. Our short conversation made me miss her like mad.

Christmas Morning!

Playing Scribblish as we all waited for our turn on the phone with Sis. Killian.

(photo by Dalyn with her new Rebel camera)

Sweet little grandsons.

They all look so much like their dads.

(another Dalyn photo)

Sweet memories of Christmas 2010!