Spring has sprung!

January was filled with a dark, smoggy inversion. February was extraordinarily cold and wet. And March has been, so far, well.... GORGEOUS! So much so, that we've even been able to go to the park as a family.

Kids say the darndest...

Our little Haley Beth is getting so darn smart. This afternoon I was able to come home from work a little early, and we ended up getting pizza for dinner, so we were all done eating dinner by 5:30. I looked out our sliding glass door out of the kitchen to the west and noted that the sun was still up, we had all evening to do whatever we wanted, and Robyn remarked "Gees, it's going to be a long night." To which Haley thought for a second then replied, "No, when the days get longer, the nights get shorter! Mom, you're wrong!"

How cool is this

A little homage from Disney to the employer...

Look who's getting big!

Just today Luke has decided that sitting up is a fun thing. He usually only makes it 30 seconds to a minute, but tonight he went quite a couple minutes without falling over at all. He even poses for pictures. What a cute kid!

MIlestone for Haley!

This is so weird... Neither Robyn nor I lost any teeth until we were at least 6 1/2, maybe 7. But Haley surprised us all right after Christmas when she showed us her first loose tooth. And this week, it fell out. Haley was excited because she got $1 from the tooth fairy, and she could finally bite into an apple again. :)

"Solid" food for Luke

We've decided it's time to start Luke on something other than breastmilk/formula. He started eating rice cereal this week, and to everyone's amazement, he seems to love it, although you can't necessarily tell from these pictures...

Our Saturday At The Car Show

We had a good time at the Utah Auto Expo on Saturday. The kids enjoyed climbing in and out of the cars, sitting in the driver's and passenger seats, and climbing in the back of pick up trucks. We ate really gross nachos for lunch and made a list of cars to covet. We also picked up tons of brochures, which the kids like to look at. Enjoy the pictures of the event.

The kids in front of the car that has become tops on our "to covet" list: the Honda Pilot

Emmy had to sit in all of the yellow cars... fortunately there weren't too many.

Kids say the darndest...

Our adorable Emmalee... She's trained with a great answer to the question "Emmy, why are you so pretty?", to which she replies "Because I have a cute mom!", which, of course, is absolutely 100% true.

So the other day we asked her why Luke is such a cute boy. I figured she'd say something related to his parentage, as that's what she's been taught about herself and Haley, but she surprised us. Her answer to the question "How come Luke is so cute?" was "Hmmm.... Cause he has a cute sister!"

Christmas celebrations

Like many birthdays and other events these days, Christmas -- although technically only on December 25th -- lasts for several days and/or weeks in our family.

December 17th -- the third Sunday in December -- we gathered at the Jaffa household to eat Christmas dinner and exchange sibling presents. Here's a picture of Caleb, who apparently is convinced that the only one who can take a decent picture of him is, well, him.
On Christmas Eve morning, we usually have my siblings and their accompanying families over for breakfast and gift exchange, however this year we had church bright and early on Christmas Eve morning, so instead we held the event on Christmas Eve Eve (that's Saturday, the 23rd, for those of you in Palm Beach County, FL).

Will got a nice noisy fire truck for Christmas, and he was one of very few kids that would hold still long enough for me to take a picture.

Here's a cute lady who's even smiling

Then on Christmas Eve, we went to my mom's for dinner, then to Ingrid's house for the annual celebration of the real meaning of Christmas. A staged event they call Bethlehem



The Spirit was very strong there. It's a great tradition to have on Christmas Eve, because while the world thinks of Santa and presents, those attending the Bethlehem event feel the true meaning of Christmas. It's about Him, He who gave his life for us.

Christmas morning was, well, typical Christmas morning. There was chaos as presents were opened, wrapping paper balled up and thrown in big trash bags, then boxes and plastic being opened and discarded as their wares are finally laid bare for all to see and play with and enjoy. We've already had our first irreparable broken toy (a pair of sunglasses that were Haley's), and we're just starting to get the mess organized.

Here's what the living room floor looked like Christmas afternoon. Who's that really cute toy lying in the middle of it all?

Done!

I'm finally done Christmas shopping. I think Robyn pretty much wrapped hers up a week or two ago (punny, I know), but as a family and as me personally, I'm finally finished. I have to admit, I did let Robyn do a lot of her own shopping this year. When she knows the shirts she wants, and we're at the store, and she points them out to me... what's the point of making a second trip, ya know? Or even a third if the second trip turns out to be a cop out and ends in me just buying a gift card?

But I am happy to say that I bought her at least one present which I wrapped without her knowing what's inside. So that'll be fun. We're also done with shopping for the kids. I don't think we'll need to go to another store until December 26th... with the possible exception of groceries. Thank heavens.

Just an additional reflection:

It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season this time of year, and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Last Saturday we went to University Mall to visit Natascha at Zales and get Robyn's wedding ring cleaned... the only trouble is that we got there about 2 hours before Natascha's shift started, so we had to kill time in a crowded mall a week before Christmas... with three kids in tow. THAT was kinda crazy. In years past, I've enjoyed shopping with the crowds. There's something about the generosity where just about everyone is there to buy something for someone else that lends a spirit to the air that's just not there the rest of the year. However, that atmosphere is a lot easier to enjoy when you're not worried about kids running off in all directions in a crowded mall. That one factor made it easier to feel overwhelmed by it all.

At times like that it's helpful to pause and remember why the celebration is happening to begin with. As politically incorrect as it may be, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Regardless of the incorrect timing of it all (how much nicer would it be to do your Christmas shopping in the relative warmth of April?), it is the birth of the King of Kings that is celebrated. One would do well this time of year to lend a little extra time to study His life whose birth is celebrated. It might just make a couple hours at the mall on Saturday a little easier to bear. A little cliche' maybe, but that's the way I see it.

Oh, and there's only 5 shopping days left for those of you that haven't finished up yet.