P.S.

Asher is supposed to nap. Asher is supposed to go potty on the toilet.

Asher neither naps NOR goes potty on the toilet. He spends his nap time creating rainbows with the underwear he SHOULD be wearing by now.

My Boy the Artist

Our house is usually a mess, but it is a fun mess.

Asher enjoys both playing with his toys and placing his toys.

Sometimes he even drags furniture around to complete his vision.

He is always thinking of new uses for toys and found objects.

For instance, he raided the pantry to create this "piano."

Sometimes he leaves surprises like this. He likes to match things up.
And a few months back, he learned how to draw some pretty awesome monsters.
He even gets into it with his food.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Pablo Picasso

Polar Opposites (ok not literally)

Before I forget, I want to write about our December travels. Dan and I were privileged to visit sunny Hawaii and snowy Utah. Both locations were beautiful in their own ways. In one place we were with Dan's family and in the other we were with mine. What a lucky way to spend the most wonderful time of the year.

A few weeks ago I mentioned how much I loved the Hawaiian atmosphere, but we didn't just sit on the beach all day and night. (I should mention that the 7 Hixons who came shared a "villa" which was basically a small 3 bedroom house with a kitchen and one bathroom. The back yard was the beach. The only hard part was the people-to-bathroom ratio.) We went to BYU Hawaii and saw a choir and orchestra concert which was just phenomenal. I love good music. We went to church and I saw my first skateboard rack where a bike rack would normally be. We went grocery shopping (and acted like children in the aisles) and visited Heather's family's hotel at Turtle Bay. My sister-in-law Amy and I worked out on the beach and I got a pedicure with Heather, compliments of her sweet mother. Then of course, there was the wedding day...

Dan took some amazing pictures of the beautiful bride and groom after the ceremony. We ate at a restaurant on the beach. I kinda wish I had ordered the butterfish, because I tried some off of someone's plate... and it was good! I normally don't like fish at all. I ordered the Mahi Mahi because people always say that is the least "fishy" fish. Note to future self: That is hogwash. Butterfish is the way to go.

We visited the Polynesian Cultural Center at some point. Our "villa" was across the street from the PCC, but we had a bunch of non-walkers in our party so we drove there. I thought it was a little silly, but I'm not the one with MS or bad knees. We were almost going to have to pay $8 for parking, but because my in-laws were wearing their missionary badges, they got to park for free. In fact, we got all kinds of discounts and free things because of them. And because of Amy. You know, with her magical discount powers.

When we were headed out we took the long way to the airport so we could see more of the Island. We drove by Pipeline, and we got some shaved ice from Matsumotos. Surprisingly, I think I was the only one that absolutely loved mine. We drove by the dole plantation, I had forgotten how huge it was. We dropped our rental car off, and then we went home. Amy figured out how to not pay for her humongous bag. Leave it to her.

Interestingly, all of the things I did in Hawaii I had done before. Of course it was about 10 years ago, but it was the same time of year and everything. I think I loved it all more the second time around. I would love to live there for a year.

Next up, my parent's new home in Mapleton Utah!

We drove through the night and got there the morning after Christmas. We had a few scares on the road (Our headlights started turning off randomly at the darkest part of Hoover Dam and Dan drove off a rocky hill while trying to switch freeways), but we somehow emerged unscathed. We went to church and visited with the family. The cousins played and had a ball. Asher was never bored and was often tired. Some of us went to Ikea together, but that was about the only "venturing out" we did. It was snowy and cold. I loved it! Dan and Asher made a snowman that is apparently still standing.

We got to have some sister time, and the boys went off and had some man time. It was really awesome to be together.

One last picture: this is from New Years. It was legal to light fireworks in Arizona this year.

New Year and Anniversary

Just for the record, we went to the Hixon family New Year bash. It was epic, as usual. There were a lot of people there. Our kids both took long afternoon naps and stayed up til about 1:00am.

Stephen and Rachel are still my heroes for hosting this crazy shindig. If you want to hear more about the party, you can read all about it at Rachel's blog.

Also, Dan and I just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. NINTH!!! Seriously, that is a lot of years. We are almost to a major milestone here.

On our actual anniversary I tossed Dan a blu ray of Sherlock Holmes that I bought at Costco and said "Happy Anniversary!" I bought myself some chocolates. We sat in bed after putting our kids to sleep and took turns sharing memories of the last nine years. The next night we tried to go to the Olive Garden because we had a gift certificate there, but there was a wait. On Tuesday. Yeah, the employees didn't know why either. So we went next door to a Mexican place that wasn't bad, but we probably won't visit again.

In other news, we didn't get around to sending Christmas cards this year. Maybe because this shot is the best we could do.

She's crafty...

Happy New Year.

I know I should be talking about resolutions or goals or something, but I don't feel like it. Plus, I made a lot of stuff last month. I was so busy making things for others, that I didn't have time to blog. Now that we are back from vacation in snowy Utah, I have time... so get ready for a lot of pictures.

I made t-shirts for my nephews. I asked their Dad what they liked right now, and he told me they were into the movie Megamind, which I haven't seen. But I looked it up, printed images from the internet, bought cheap Hanes shirts, dyed them, and freezer paper stenciled. This is shirt #1:

Shirt #2 (which was actually an H&M shirt):

Shirt #3 (which required a bit of fabric paint layering. I'm tricky.)

I wish I had a bit of red paint... it would make the Obama reference more noticeable.

Here is a shirt I made for my brother. I didn't make the money tissue.

A headband for my niece.

I finally got around to painting these letters. All the other girls in my family did this like two Christmases ago.

My parents just moved to Mapleton, Utah after living in Santa Barbara for 25 years. I painted the LA temple for them. I used oil paint, and it still hasn't completely dried. I'm doing the same thing for my in-laws but I don't want to send it by mail... so it will have to be a late holiday gift.

I am also painting the Mesa Temple for Mike and Marilee. It is... not done. Oops. This is a picture of the process.

I also gave my brother and his wife a pretty rad cross-stitch. And yes, I think rad is the appropriate word.

I got the pattern for both my brother's shirt and this cross-stitch from a blog called The Domestic Scientist. So awesome!

Whew! That's all folks.

Mele Kalikimaka

I have not been blogging very frequently. Oops.

About a week ago Dan and I returned from Hawaii. Dan's little brother Jeff married Heather (YAY!) in the Laie Hawaii temple, so that was a great excuse to go on vacation. We left the kids here with my mom for a few days. She was really really nice to come and watch them in the middle of her move from Santa Barbara California to Mapleton Utah. That is a big move, especially for someone who has spent the last 25 years in Santa Barbara. My mom is the best, hands down.

Apparently my children were little angels and Gwen took to Grandma like a fish takes to swimming. This made our vacation more enjoyable because we really didn't have to worry about a thing. Except that Dan was sick the whole time, poor guy. And he was the wedding photographer. But he wasn't as sick the day of the wedding, and it looked like he was having a good time taking pictures. I had a fabulous time being his assistant. Really, I wish I could go on all of his shoots with him. But usually I have kids to look after. Which I also enjoy.

Dan took this pic with his iphone.

Anyway, I had an awakening in Hawaii. I will explain. Usually here in Arizona I loathe going outside. It is either too hot, too cold, too dusty, too dry, too bright or I am afraid of getting attacked by a scorpion or getting skin cancer or something. I stay indoors A LOT. I guess I just figured it was part of my personality now, but when we got to our little "villa" in Hawaii and walked out to the backyard, a.k.a. the beach, I did NOT want to leave. I couldn't stop rubbing the sand in my hands and my body was drinking in the air and I just didn't want to blink. I kept telling Dan "we should move here." I think I was suffering from nature deficit disorder and I didn't even know it. Every time I stepped in the sand or the soft grass I just wanted to scream "This is the best!!" I guess I got out a lot more in Santa Barbara, but still Hawaii is like Santa Barbara on steroids.

Thank you Jeff and Heather for getting married in Hawaii. Really.

Hey Man, Nice Shot

If you live in Arizona and you want a REALLY good photographer, head on over to http://shotbydan.com.

I am super proud of my husband's artistry and talent. He is really good at the whole picture taking thing. And how many photographers can build their own website?

Spread the word, we are finally officially sharing Dan's amazing picture-taking capabilities. And right now, he has some awesome deals going...