"Why is your forehead leaking?"

Today after exercising and working up quite a sweat, I sat down to put in my food information. Alex came up to me and rubbed my forehead, which was wet with sweat. He said "That feels weird." To which I replied "It's because I am sweating." He continued to watch my forehead as sweat continued to drip down for a few more minutes and then asked "Why is your forehead leaking?" Ha!

A Gentleman in the making

One of the things I am trying to teach my boys is the importance of being a gentleman and treating girls with respect. For example, I make Adam hold the door open for me and Abbi at church. We will then walk through and wait for him to get the next door. He does a great job at this and has even, on occasion, helped me out of the car by getting my car door. Since Alex is a bit younger, I haven't really emphasized these points with him but yesterday while driving home from St. George, his loving actions towards his sister told me he is learning.

While in the car, Abbi kept complaining that she was cold. She had her own coat on but said her legs were freezing. I picked up Alex's coat that was sitting on the floor and handed it to her and told her to put this around her legs. She put the coat back on the floor saying the coat was too cold to use. Alex, the little gentleman he is, took off the jacket he was wearing and said, "Here Abbi, my jacket is warm and you can use it." Oh, my heart melted. What a sweet little gentleman.

December in a Nutshell

As always, December has come and gone. With all the activities we had going on it flew by so fast and now we are left with the memories of Christmas 2009. The kids were off track for the entire month and we were able to do some fun things. We....

Decorated our annual gingerbread house

Notice Abbi's face? This is due to the fact that after we were done decorating, Abbi thought it would be a great idea if she took her cinnamon-apple flavored hand lotion and decorate some more. After "spicing" up the back of the gingerbread house we caught on to what she was doing and told her that was not edible. She was a little embarrassed but it all turned out okay. When it came time to eat the house, we just threw that part away.

Attended Abbi's Dance Recital and Harmony Concert

She did a great job on both accounts and it was fun to attend her events as a family. Plus, it always gives us an excuse to visit Leatherby's for some yummy ice cream sundaes.

Held our annual office party

I have been bribed to not release any further pictures or video that may or may not have been taken. All I can say is, we had a great time with a great group of people!

Aaron and I went to San Francisco

Celebrated Christmas with family

Christmas morning, the kids (Adam and Abbi) woke up at 3:30. I could hear them rummaging through their stockings so I went down to find every light on and their excited faces as they saw what Santa had brought them. I told them to turn off the lights and go back to bed. They did, but I'm not sure they slept. At 7:00 the tearing of paper and merriment could be heard from the Marshall house. It was a great holiday; complete with visiting all our family and sharing in the joy of the season!

And a quick trip to West Yellowstone for a little rest and relaxation

(Abbi took this picture with her new camera)

We packed and headed up to West Yellowstone where we spent 4 days relaxing, eating, watching movies, playing games with the kids, and of course, swimming in the indoor pool. It was fabulous. One day, we actually ventured out of the condo to take the kids sledding. After walking 1.8 kilometers to the snow hill, every one was tired, cold, and cranky. We sled down the hill 2-3 times, called it good, and hiked out another 1.8 kilometers to the car. Good in theory, not so much in reality. Memories! We also took some family pictures while we were there.

So, I think that about sums up our December. We had a great season and hope you and your family had a great one as well. Now it's time to gear up for the new year and the many experiences and opportunities it will bring.

Happy New Year!