Welcome Home Elder Messick

It was an EXCITING day to finally see Don after 2 years! He was such a good missionary. I'm so proud of him. I'm sure he was sad to say goodbye to Paris France but we sure were ready for him to be home :)




Don was taken back by the pretty teenage girl running at him when he got off the escalator. Camla changed a TON while he was gone!

Don grew a couple inches while he was out! I thought he was done growing at 19. Apparently not.




Eric was at home taking an online timed final. Luckily he finished right as my parents were dropping me off so that he could visit with Don for a second.


The kids have already warmed up to uncle Don! Didn't take long.

Barthelona

Dan got his call! Dan always planned on hiking up Mt. Tzouhalem to open his call, but since he isn't living on the island right now, Eric took us all to Ensign peak. We got up to the top as the sun was starting to set and it was beautiful. I am purely out of shape so it took us longer to get up to the top but I think it increased Dan's excitement having to wait for my slow butt;)

Dan was super giddy. I don't blame him one bit, we were all pretty dang giddy.

He slowly opened it. He showed us that he could see the "you are hereby called..." part of the letter.

Barcelona Spain, reporting to the MTC April 27th, and SO excited!

Reese and Daddy celebrating!

And Dan calling all the anxious family members and friends.

Our household

Ivan:
receding hairline - darling curly hair is falling out. crying periods are becoming less and less frequent. amazingly good at staring you in the eyes for long periods of time. chunking out. starting to coo. likes when he finds his thumb. strongest baby I've ever seen - has held his head up well since birth. birthmark that looks like a scar next to his right eye.

Reese:
growing up. loving on her brother. all of a sudden talking a lot. wearing duct tape around her diaper at naptime and bedtime so she doesn't strip out of it. big helper. singer and dancer. now a night owl. no binky for a week and hasn't had any troubles WHATSOEVER. loving nutrigrain bars and grasshopper cookies. avid brusher of teeth. chocolate milk addict. finally back on the charts - 2% for weight, 14% for height. tempted to open the christmas presents under the tree. FINALLY doesn't refuse to say I love you - I heard her say it twice to Eric tonight...DARLING!

Nakita:
loving her sleepywrap (seen in pic). absolutely adores her husband and kids. SO excited for Christmas. behind on sleep. happy with life. eats way too many treats. finally painted nails red for the holidays. enjoying husband's time off. trying harder to think of dinners ahead of time and grocery shop accordingly, find a way for her house to stay magically clean, and keep Reese's t.v./computer time to under an hour a day.

Eric:
finished with another semester of school. family man. learning more about wood working. helps his wife out more than ever. his daughter's hero (and wife's for that matter). best kitchen sink cleaner. master fix-it man, you name it and he'll figure it out. wonderful. has the magic touch when it comes to calming a crying baby. enjoys his tools and creating projects to use them.

Over the first 1 1/2 weeks or so Eric had to remind me not to leave Ivan lying on the floor or anywhere that isn't his bed/chair/swing, etc because he always almost mistakes him for Reese's doll and is afraid he'll kick him out of the way or something one day. It is true, he does look shockingly similar to a little doll. He is my living doll - oh he is adorable!

Having 2 kids can be somewhat overwhelming, especially when I'm running on little sleep, but MANY times a day I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude. It is surreal to think that I am responsible for 2 little angels. I love them like crazy - my love for Ivan, Reese, and Eric has grown a crazy amount. I feel so much more like a family with 2 kids. I'm not sure how to explain it. Maybe it is because now it isn't so easy to do most things by myself, like I would previously insist on doing most of the time. I've had to rely on Eric a ton to fill in where I can't or help one of the kids while I'm helping the other. It's been a cool transition. And it seems like all of us have grown closer, I should've been letting Eric help out more all along ;) Because he is eager to help, but I'm stubborn.

Here is perfection staring me in the face tonight while I was tucking Reese into bed. My little loves.

And as always, Reese insisted she smile big for a picture so she could then look at it on the camera's screen.

She has become SUCH a good sister. Whenever I'm feeding Ivan she grabs all the diaper supplies and brings them to me. She knows the routine. Ivan's crying doesn't seem to be scaring Reese anymore. Instead of running the other direction she goes to him and tries to fix the problem.

*sNoW*

Reese was going stir crazy when she was sick. Luckily she has an uncle who loves her and took her out to play in the freshly fallen snow.



She got a little upset that she couldn't walk in the deep snow.

I think....

- That Reese may finally be kicking this week long flu bug! No throwing up since Tuesday night and her energy and spunk seems to be coming back. Hallelujah! She'll be so excited to be able to have some chocolate milk in another day or so (gotta make sure her tummy is ready for it).

- That Micah and Rachel were reading our thoughts when they chopped us down a Christmas Tree the other day. My family usually goes and gets Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving, but due to my having had a baby and my dad having had hip surgery things didn't happen like normal. I LOVE the smell of the freshly cut and festively decorated Christmas Tree sitting in our living room!

- Reese is starting to get used to Ivan. She likes to touch his belly and head, give him his blanket, help change him, she gets concerned when he is sad, and she likes to help put his binky in his mouth, but I think she isn't quite sure about not being the only child. Yesterday I caught her looking sternly at him and stomping her foot a little too close to his head. I'll tack it up with the fact that at that point she was also still feeling really crappy. I'm thinking that with better health, her love for Ivan will also become better.

- That today isn't going to be too happy for Ivan. He's getting the manly snippity snip done. Do they numb him? I hope so.

- I need to make a list of to-do's through December so we don't miss out on all the festivities and spirit of this season.

Oh and guess what?? My brother gets home from his mission in exactly 2 weeks from today. I CANNOT WAIT! He hasn't even met Reese and he is a total favorite of all kids. She is going to love her uncle Don!