Snowflake Lane

(click on image if you can't read text)

* Some of you may know I’m sort of a paper freak so only using the 6 or so papers the class provided was much to limiting so I found some cuter paper and revamped my earlier pages.

December

I am loving this month! Our calendar is full of fun festive activities and the class I’m doing is helping me stay focused on what is really important to me and my family. I’m taking more pictures and enjoying the opportunity to reflect on past memories and the memories we are making now.

Friday night Justin and I went to Seattle with two other couples to see the Christmas Carol. The play was wonderfully done and we had a great dinner at Benihana’s before the show. I asked Justin to take a picture of our dining experience with our old camera and I swear the guy can not for the life of him get a picture in focus, but it’s all I have.

Santa Clause

Yesterday morning we visited Santa at our neighborhood community center.

Abigail asked for a Nintendo DS (the same thing she requested last year and our family received from Grandma and Grandpa Fletcher, but now she wants another DS so she can play against Carly).

Carly also asked for the same thing as last year… that’s right, Icebreakers - $1.97, I think Santa may be able to handle this one

Jason’s reaction to Santa was much improved this year

He didn’t ask for a single thing, but was happy to accept a candy cane from Santa

Trip to the zoo

Although it’s been really cold this week, we’ve had very little rain and we’ve had sunshine everyday so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to the zoo yesterday after we ran a few errands. We only had about an hour, but we were able to see a lot. Jason is at the perfect age for the zoo. Just watching his reaction to seeing real live animals was awesome.

Friday at speech therapy, Jason impressed his therapist by saying “rilla” for gorilla so that was the first thing he wanted see at the zoo.

As soon as we were done with the gorillas, Jason was ready to move onto the elephants. This is his sign for “elephant”.


We saw several other animals on our way to the elephants including a tiger that kept growling – I know you’re thinking “so what, big deal, a growling tiger”, but seriously it was cool. The hippos were our last stop.

Not very often that you see a hippo up and walking around – do you see his two buddies in the water?

Last night Justin and I had yet another date – this time a Christmas party with the Stake Presidency and the Stake Relief Society Presidency (one of Justin’s high council assignments is over the RS thus explaining our being asked to rub shoulders with the big wigs.) It was actually a fun group of people and we had a great time.

The First

Recently I came across a free online photoshop/scrapbooking class centered around the holidays. When the class started, I quickly realized it wasn’t just a one day thing. It would actually be an everyday thing. The first assignment was to come up with a way to display prompt pages for each day of December.

Here’s mine:

Project 1 complete!

On each day this month there is a prompt for writing, photographing, doing, and making and then another prompt about a specific memory. Sounds overwhelming, right? Just wait, there’s more. After you get all that writing, doing, making, and photographing done you’re supposed to put those components together on a digital scrapbook page. I’ve decided to take on the challenge. I may not do every prompt every day, but this month is jam packed with events and moments I want to remember and this will help me accomplish that.

While I don’t plan on posting all the journaling, etc… for every day, I thought I’d share my very first-ever digital scrapbooking page. Being the complete novice that I am, I used the suggested layout and only the paper and accents provided – simple and easy. Only 30 more to go!

Good Laugh

So my Mom is getting married during Christmas break and we are very excited to be flying down to Utah to celebrate with her. My entire family will be there so of course we must take advantage of the opportunity and get a family picture taken. The girls are to wear pink dresses and the boys white shirts or dark suits. It’s been quite tricky finding pink dresses for the girls in the winter (especially difficult with sleeves), but I’ve ordered 6 online (actually only 2 styles in a variety of sizes) hopefully there will be one that works. Yes, I am the Queen of returns.

Anyhow, my sister sent me an email yesterday. She ordered a few dresses under the idea that either myself or our other sister would be able to wear one of them. It’s a cute dress…

But do you see where there might be a little problem?

I know there are many women who can still wear normal clothes at this point (I’m just shy of 20 weeks, not even halfway yet). I am not one of them. My body surrendered without a fight.

If anyone has a pink dress or cute shirt that would fit around my belly please let me know.

Surprise, surprise

Predictions?

(If you’re looking for pictures from our vacation, keep scrolling down – they are there, I promise)


Thursday is the BIG day – we have our ultrasound to find out if we will welcome another little boy or girl into our family. We are all very excited.

Have you ever asked someone about to have a baby if they want a boy or girl and they respond along the lines of “as long as the baby is healthy we don’t have any preference.” I have, many times, and I think that response is kind of annoying. I mean, really, you don’t have ANY preference, more than likely I think they just don’t want to say “we REALLY want a boy” only to find out it’s a girl and then they have to deal with people knowing to some degree they were disappointed in the gender. So, go ahead and ask me… do I want a boy or girl?

I most definitely wanted this baby to be a boy (did you notice I said ‘wanted’). I’m afraid I’ve become one of those lame people. As long as the baby is healthy, the gender doesn’t matter to me. But let me explain. It’s not because I’m trying to cover up any disappointment if the gender is not what I would choose (as if we have any choice in the matter). Instead my answer goes back to my inability to make a decision. This is my logic. Naturally you would assume I would like to have another boy. That gives Jason a playmate and evens out the numbers in our family. Two boys, Two girls… just makes sense, right? But, the thought of never having another baby girl makes me sad. I almost feel that while I’ll be happy if the ultrasoundist tells us we’re having a boy, I’d be more excited if she tells us it’s a girl. That’s not to say I prefer girls over boys – I adore my little man, but I suppose it has more to do with the fact that it’s been six years since I’ve had a baby girl. So there you have it, I’m on the fence. Either way I’ll be thrilled, but either way I’ll be a little disappointed too.

Here’s what the rest of the family thinks:

Justin: “I will be happy with either one, but I would probably prefer a boy.”

Girls: “What do you think it is?”

Justin: “I think it’s a girl”

Abigail: Boy

Carly: Wants it to be girl, but she thinks it will be a boy

Jason:

Me: “Jason do you want the baby to be a boy or a girl?”
Jason: “earl”

Honestly, I don’t think he has a clue what I was asking and just repeated the last word I said. To test my theory, we had the following conversation.

Me: “Jason, do you want the baby to be a girl or boy?”
Jason: “Bee”

I think it’s safe to say Jason would like a little brother

Any one else want to make any predictions?

Fall Fun

My brother called from Utah yesterday and mentioned that they woke up to snow. We’re just now adjusting to the fact that it’s already fall; it’s hard to believe winter is just around the corner. The girls were excited to go outside yesterday and rake up the leaves around the yard.

Carly kept getting frustrated that Jason was running through the leaves and messing up her pile.

Jason enjoyed having the leaves thrown up in the air and on top of his head.

Justin mentioned that 80% of the pictures I take are of Jason. I guess that might be true, but he’s just so darn cute.

The Fletchers go to the Caribbean

Almost every year the entire Fletcher family leaves the cold and rain of the northwest and goes on vacation. This year we were off to cruise the Caribbean.

Our family in Grand Cayman (with our ship in the distance)

After a leisurely breakfast in the dining room we spent most of our day at sea in the pools. The girls loved the waterslide and the kiddie pool was perfect for Jason. A major advantage of traveling on Carnival is that they include two year olds in their childcare programs (on most other cruise lines kids have to be at least three and potty-trained). It was nice to have the option of eating dinner or going to a show kid free. And since there was always fun activities for the kids to enjoy so I didn’t feel too guilty.

Here are the four youngest proudly wearing the crowns they had made in Camp Carnival.

Costa Maya, Mexico

Since none of us had ever heard of Costa Maya we weren’t sure what to expect. I think it’s a port created by the cruise lines. Shortly after we arrived we located a swimming pool by the beach and settled in for several hours of swimming.

Because the ship was so close we headed back onboard for lunch. I stayed back to give the two youngest kids naps while the rest of the family ventured of to a nearby beach where Justin took the girls on their first wave running experience. Carly was seated in the very front which ended up not being the best idea because she hit her face against the front of the wave runner, but I don’t think it was traumatic enough to keep her from trying again sometime.

Belize

We've been really excited about going cave tubing in Belize. Our tour guide was awesome and the experience was amazing - we would totally recommend it to anyone traveling there. Apparently this was the last week that kids under 48" were allowed in the caves so Jason was lucky to have been able to go with us. I was a little worried about how well Jason would hold up throughout the 8 hour excursion, but he loved every minute of it. We had an hour drive to the caves which gave us the opportunity to see areas of Belize far from the touristy parts. It definitely made us realize how blessed we are.

It seemed to take hours to hike with our tubes to the place we would get in the water, but our guide kept us entertained by showing us a plant that curled up when we touched it and luring a tarantula out of its tunnel. We also saw several bats in the caves. We all floated down the river together by linking our feet under the arms of the person in front of us, the kids tubes were attached to our tubes with extra lifejackets.

We each had a headlamp to use to look around the caves. It was fun for the girls to use their imaginations to create images out of all the rock formations. I wish we would have been able to take our camera with us because it really was beautiful. Near the end Carly fell off her tube, but she seemed completely unfazed by it and waited for the guide to scoop her up and take her back to her tube.

After cave tubing we ate a traditional meal of chicken, beans, and rice before heading back to the cruise ship… yum, yum.

Jason was beat on the tender back to the ship and just wanted to sit with his Grandpa.

Cozumel, Mexico

While Grandma and Grandpa took a day trip to explore Tulum, the rest of us took a taxi to Paradise beach.

We were only there about 30 minutes when the thunder and dark clouds rolled in.

Everyone took cover in the bar/restaurant area waiting for clear skies.

Carly and Jason kept entertained playing in the sand and rain

When we realized the rain was not going to let up Justin and the kids headed back out for more fun. They didn’t seem to mind the rain at all, for me however it was a bit disappointing to not get to lay out and enjoy some sunshine.

Notice Justin and Jason taking cover under the waterslide

Grand Cayman

We woke the kids up early on Friday only to find out that due to rough seas our arrival into Grand Cayman would be delayed over an hour and a half. We were disappointed we missed out on the extra sleep, but it gave us a chance to relax and catch up on a little homework. When we finally got ashore we headed out to stingray city on a fun catamaran.

The sunshine availed us again and the water was really choppy, but the stingrays were aplenty.

Justin and I were the only ones in our group that had been to stingray city before. There is a sandbar smack dab in the middle of the ocean so we were standing in water only 3-4 feet deep. The clouds didn’t keep the crowds away - look at how many people other excursions cram onto their boats.

The only thing that made me nervous was that the waves would lift you up off the ground and I always worried I would end up stepping on top of a stingray as I came back down.

After swimming with the stingrays we stopped near a reef for snorkeling. Our guide recommended that due to the rough water only experienced snorklers get in. Abigail had really been looking forward to snorkeling so Justin braved the waves and took her out. She thought it was awesome and I’m glad she got the opportunity to go out.

Jason however was CRUSHED that he couldn’t get back in the water and threw what may be the worst tantrum in my nearly eight years of parenting, but goes to show this kid LOVES the water.

Back to Miami, Florida

Our last day at sea was rough, rough, rough. The waves were so high in the swimming pool that they had to close it down for safety reasons. Thank goodness I was feeling better or it would have been a miserable trip for me. Luckily none of us got sea sick although we felt like we were still on the ship for several days after the cruise was over.

After the cruise we stayed in Miami for a few days with Justin’s parents. Months ago I told Justin that he was in charge of planning what we were going to do post-cruise. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised or disappointed when we were driving around Miami wondering what to do and where to stay. In the end everything working out fine and we always had a place to sleep and eat (in the three days we were there we ate at Chick-fil-a twice, I’m certain it would have been daily had it not been closed on Sunday).

We explored the Everglade National Park. We saw lots of alligators, birds, snakes, turtles, and a gigantic grasshopper. We also took a fun air boat ride through the marshes and watched a brave ranger feed a bunch of alligators.

The concierge at the hotel advised us against taking the family to South Beach or Miami Beach (too much nudity) so we spent a day at a beach in Biscayne Bay (we did go to South Beach for dinner one evening just to check it out). The kids could have played in the water all day.

Abigail spent most of the day bodysurfing.

Jason would not get out of the water and it was impossible to get him to stop moving long enough to get a decent picture.

There was also a really neat lighthouse along the beach.

Wow, so I think that about covers our trip - Thank you Grandma & Grandpa Fletcher for another awesome vacation!

Soccer wrap-up

I can’t neglect to include a few pictures from soccer this year. With both girls playing it kept our family busy this fall. With Justin busy at work there were many times I wondered how in the world I will manage the activities of four kids. Abigail had practices twice a week, Carly practiced once a week (on a different day of course) and both girls had games on Saturdays. For the most part we had good weather although there were a few soggy games. Abigail played in a different league this year so she could be with some friends. Her coach was fantastic and we enjoyed having a smaller team (only 7 girls, compared with 11 on Carly’s team). Abigail has gotten very good (this was her third season playing) and scored at least one goal in every game. It was very different this year since the girls are older and are learning more about passing and working as a team. Even though Abigail is a great soccer player she still got nervous enough before each game that said she didn’t feel well. However, once the game got started she was always ready to go.

Going all the way!

Tonight was Abigail’s end of the season soccer party. Her coach gave each of the girls an award and highlighted some of their accomplishments. Abigail’s medal was engraved with “Fletch” on the back (there were two Abigail’s on her team so that was the nickname he used for her). Her coach recognized Abigail for her ability to play all positions and that she has great instincts on being in the right place at the right time.

Abigail’s team (less one)


This was Carly’s first year playing and she loved it. She ran around the field with a huge smile on her face throughout the whole game.

Scoring against 3 opponents

Carly also got to play with one of her closest friends (whose Dad we were lucky to have as the team coach). Carly also had a great season and scored in every game.

Carly and her friend Lydia

Catching up

Well, we’re back. It’s great to be home but there’s always so much to do when we return. I’ve cleaned out my email, unpacked all the suitcases, washed several loads of laundry, sorted through stacks of snail mail, and I’m in the process of updating our finances/bills in QuickBooks. Busy, busy. We had a great vacation and I will try to post some pictures over the weekend.

The kids are adjusting well to the time change. They were all in bed by 6:30 Wednesday night. Jason didn’t wake up til nearly 11am yesterday morning, and then proceeded to go down for a nap at a friends house an hour and a half later. When I came to pick him up he was still asleep… needless to say, I think our vacation wore him out.

Yesterday afternoon was my day to volunteer in the girl’s classrooms. As I was walking down the main hallway I noticed a bulletin board for the school reading program. Students in grades 2-5 read books and then take a test on them. Based on the difficulty of the book and the number of questions they get right they earn points. Each student has a goal they need to accomplish by year end. Abigail was listed as the #1 student in her grade for earning the most points and is tied for second for passing the most tests. I am so proud of Abigail’s accomplishments especially since this has been something she has done completely on her own. I know how lucky I am that she doesn’t need any outside motivation to always give everything her best effort. Way to go Abigail!

Happy Halloween

We're outta here!

NO Parking

It's been a long, exhausting day

all I want to do is relax on the couch

this is what I find

I tell you, the boy is obsessed