Visiting in Cedar City

I had last Monday off of work, so Siena and I (and baby Cora in utero) all went down to Cedar City to visit Aunt Melissa, Uncle David and cousin Jairus. We had a marvelous time making delectable meals, going to a baby shower, frequenting the dollar store (more of a tradition, really),playing games, and seeing “The Music Man” a local small town childrens performance. Siena has this new thing where she likes to call me "Jamie", so during intermission, she went up on stage (she didn't see me following right behind her). As soon as she got on stage, she scanned the audience and started shouting for me: "Jamie! Jamie!" In public, really! Pretty funny, I have to admit (even if I don't love the idea that she calls me by my first name).
And, as it turns out, Siena and Jairus are TWINS! Real twins, I had them both! haha. You’d be surprised how often we’re out in public and people actually ask us if they’re twins. (Come ON people!) Siena saw an old Asian guy in the dollar store and started calling “Dadda, Dadda” You can imagine her disappointment when she realized her mistake. We hope to go visit again soon, since Jairus and Siena have become such good friends (When she’s not hitting him, and he’s not pulling her hair).

Power Smoothie

When my friend Mel came to visit a couple weeks ago from Illinoise, she introduced me to this incredible smoothie. Siena LOVES it, and now we don’t have to stress over her eating their veggies. We probably make it 2-3 times a day. Here’s a picture and a basic recipe:

1 big carrot

1 handful spinach

A few berries (fresh or frozen, any kind)

1 banana

2 spoonfuls Orange Juice Concentrate

1-2 cups water

Blend until smooth

I’ve also added frozen peaches, apricots, grapes, orange, and anything else I feel like. Spinach was on sale last week, so I bought a bunch and froze it in portions. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.

Siena and Mommy

Here are a few pics of Siena and Mom together over the past few months. Notice the new earrings and bracelet Siena had me make for her today. She is turning into just as much as a jewelry girl as her mommy is!

Cousin Fun

Siena had a great time with her cousins after Christmas. She says Jairus' name all the time and loves to play with him (even if they fight over toys sometimes). Jairus is only 3 months younger than Siena, so it is fun to have them close in age.
She also loved seeing Joseph (age 2) and Hyrum (age 5) for a couple of days.

A late celebration

This is our beautiful Siena, celebrating a delayed Christmas with her cousins. We are so glad Jeff and Mary came to join us on January 4th and 5th! Mary made the beautiful clip in Siena's hair.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Melissa turned 23 today. Happy birthday, Melissa!
We put a big candle (or 2) in her cake (that she sadly mad by herself), and sang to her in English, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. My mom even attempted Finnish and Pig-Latin. We are so glad that she came up to Provo to celebrate with us!
Happy day!

Lanai, the Snow-woman

This weekend we built a snow woman. Siena helped. She even got up close and personal. Can you tell we are dreaming of warmer weather?

Happy New Year!

This year for New Year's eve, my mom, John, Thad and I celebrated with a wonderful dinner at the Roof in SLC. They have such a nice buffet, we stuffed ourselves silly and enjoyed every moment! I don't know of any better way to ring in the new year! We watched the fireworks in SLC and crashed at home. New Years day, we enjoyed a very nice bottle of Navarro grape juice. Here's a picture of us that the waitress took. Enjoy!

Dada and Damie

Siena sure loves her daddy! I can be gone all day and she'll barely notice that I'm back, been when daddy leaves the room for a few minutes, she shouts "dada!" and runs in to his arms. So cute!
Her new thing is to call me by my first name, "Jamie" or the way she says it, "Damie". She knows it gets to me, and she has this sly little smile when she says it. I can't resist and always end up smiling too. Anyone else heard of a 1-year-old who calls a parent by their first name??

Happy Christmas

It was so fun to celebrate Christmas this year with our little Siena. She was a delight and had a great time too! She loved opening the presents (always saying "open!"). Her Grandma Garlick got her some new pajamas and building blocks. Her mom and dad gave her a Kai Lan doll and a mini laptop, so she can play on her computer while daddy is "playing" on the computer, she got a light-up pen from Uncle John and her favorite: a cool wooden frog from Aunt Melissa and Uncle David. She also enjoyed all the candy, and eating candy canes off the tree.
It was sad that my brothers couldn't make it for Christmas- we really missed them! But we still managed to have a great time. We had our traditional seafood dinner, complete with catfish, salmon and king crab.
Oh, my shirt says "who needs presents when you have me?" Caroline gave it to me. What an awesome gift!
What a great Christmas!

A Finnish Celebration

This year before Christmas, our Relief Society had an activity where 5 families represented different countries. Everyone made a brief stop at each house for a mini cultural lesson on Christmas celebrations in that country and a progressive dinner (we ate a bit of food from the represented country). At our house, my Aunt Raili came to share some of her Finnish culture with us. She made a wonderful crepe dessert that everyone really enjoyed. It was such a wonderful evening, celebrating Finland, Mexico, Hawaii, Japan and England. Here are a couple pictures of my adorable aunt Raili.