A bit of sun (and a bit of wind) - Mexico Pt. 2

Day 4 - After church we went down to the beach and took some pictures. The lighting was almost surreal with the ocean and the clouds.

Day 5 - On Monday we went on a "submarine" ride through a coral reef (more of a glass sided/bottomed boat). It was beautiful but we all got a bit woozy on the ride. Later in the afternoon we went shopping at the market (no pictures).

1 - on the boat out to the submarine; 2 - the crew on the submarine; 3 - our dentist in training; 4 - Mike and Briton on the boat; 5 - Abby, Isaac, Briton, Brooklyn and Jack

Day 6 - On our last day, we played in the beach with grandma, grandpa and Kaley (along with the obligatory shell collecting). It was a bit windy and chilly, but still "exquisite" (we're watching Sesame Street right now and "exquisite" is the word of the day). I told myself that this was going to be a relaxing, sit at the beach kind of a vacation. Hmmm...I have a hard time traveling like that. Someday I'll go on vacation a sit on the beach for days on end, but there was just too much to do and see.

1st Birthday!

Happy birthday to our favorite 1-year-old! What a year it has been! Here are a few great things about Briton:

He will smile at anyone.
He is very ticklish.
He gives great slobbery, open-mouth kisses (that often turn into a bite off the nose).
He loves playing the piano.
He enjoys playing with his sister.
He says "Hi" very, very well.
He's a great traveler.
He loves to eat.
He will eat anything.
He's a great sleeper.
He is adorable.
He has a very happy personality.

Here are some pictures of Brit each month:

Some catch up

I don't have a lot of pictures to post, but I should post something...

1. My days are centered around my kids and Relief Society (and Mike, too, but he's usually at work). I got a new calling (RS Pres.) in late November. Things started kind of slow because of the holidays and so many people from our branch traveling for Christmas so I feel that January is really when we got started. It has been a great opportunity and I feel that I've already grown a lot (sounds a bit trite, eh? but true). There have been plenty of growing pains, but it is good. There are some amazing people around here. We are so lucky to know many of them.

2. Abby is doing well. Here are some of her smarts. The other day we watched a Living Scriptures video about Alma the Younger. I tried to talk with her about it as we watched it. Afterwards, I asked her what happened to Alma. This is what she said:

Alma was being naughty. Then he took off his naughty clothes and put on his pajamas and went to sleep.

Translation: In the video, Alma was dressed in the "fine twined linen" during his rebellious days. The "regular" clothes must have looked more like PJs and the angel "put him to sleep". I think that for a 3-year-old she did pretty well.

3. Monday was a strange day. I woke up with the stomach flu. Mike made Abby breakfast and she threw the plate (and food) on the floor. I called Mike mid-day and asked him if he could come home. He did (bless him). Shortly after he got home, he asked when the disposal broke. Umm, not sure. Later that night, we found that the hot water heater was overflowing in the basement. We were glad when Monday was over. (PS The stomach flu is gone, hot water is good, Abby isn't throwing food and Mike is working normal hours. Unfortunately, the disposal is not working.)

4. Briton eats a lot. He'll eat anything. He can also go down the stairs as well as up. We still keep our eyes on him, but that is nice.

5. Abby loves to play games. We have fishing games, Candy Land, Chutes & Ladders and the sort. She likes to make up new rules and sometimes a completely new game. I feel guilty oftentimes, because she'll make up a silly new game or say something especially cute and I can't help but laugh. Unfortunately, when I start to laugh, I laugh a lot. I am not trying to make fun of her, I just think she is adorable. I hope my laughing isn't scarring her. Let me know if you have any great suggestions on how to keep from laughing at your kids when they do something fabulous (or just plain funny and they don't realize how funny it is).

Very cute

(except for my hair)

This milestone was reached yesterday.

Us

Here are some ramblings:

• My birthday was last week and everyone was very nice to me. Abby was very attentive and Briton posed especially well for the picture of us opening the nice new casserole dishes he picked out for me.
• I had a tender moment watching Abby and Mike dancing together last night. They looked so sweet and she was smiling such a "real" smile. Sometimes when I take her picture and ask her to smile I get a fake squinty smile, but it is so cute to see her genuine smile. (Not that we don't see it regularly. We do.)
• For a couple weeks, Abby was choosing an animal for us to be each day. It started on Christmas Eve when we were sting rays. We have been camels, lions, kitties, spiders, cows, crabs, etc. Yesterday Mike was a daddy elephant, I was a mommy spider, Abby was a baby lion and I think that Briton was something like a baby cow. We aren't animals everyday anymore, but she sure has a fun imagination.
• My baby has become especially irreverent during the Sacrament. (I know he is only 11 months.) The problem is that he has come to realize what the Sacrament is (not necessarily what it means) and he loves it! (That is such an understatement.) He lunges for the brethren passing the Sacrament and makes a lot of noise in the process. Having said that, our stake has made a very concerted effort to help members of the stake realize and remember the importance and sacredness of the Sacrament. I find that I am getting more meaning out of it lately than perhaps at any other time in my life (even with a very excited baby).
• We (the kids and I) went ice skating with some friends last week. I had a crazy idea that even though I haven't been ice skating in years, I could just put Briton in the hiking backpack, strap on the skates and support Abby and I around the rink. Hmmm...didn't work quite that well. Even without trying to help Abby, I was quite wobbly. Luckily we had a friend sitting on the bleachers with some of the littler kids who was willing to watch Briton. The rink had some little walkers that kids could push around. Between the walker and me, Abby made it around the rink at least once. I made it around (without the walker) a few times. Next time we'll bring dad!
• Abby has gotten very proficient at getting on her full winter gear all by herself. She loves to go sledding across the street and I am trying to do better at allowing her to. (Sometimes it is just too cold outside and seems so not fun to get myself and the baby all dressed up, but it pays off.) They both have a lot of fun on the sleds and the hill in the empty lot on our street is the perfect size for them. (She can even drag her sled up all by herself!)
• And...guess who took his first step yesterday??? We can stand Briton up in the middle of the room and he'll stand there for several seconds. He took one step yesterday as Mike and I were trying to get him to walk back and forth between us. He also kept saying, "Hi" whenever we'd say "Hi" to him. He is very cute.
  

Construction Zone

This picture is taken (obviously) in our unfinished basement 2ish weeks ago. If you were to follow the wall in the bottom right of the picture to the right you'd run into the landing at the bottom of the stairs. The chalk marks on the concrete floor show our plans for finishing off a food storage room. Yeah!

Abby never misses a chance to pound a hammer.

Here is the room framed in (taken from the landing at the bottom of the stairs). And the blue box shows that our room has its own light switch!

Here is Abby posing with the "ant house" she designed, constructed and painted while dad worked on the food storage room.

This shows the first set of shelves installed. There will be a few more sets of shelves and sheetrock on the outside of the walls and a door. Contrary to the smile on her face, Abby was not terribly happy to be the first item stocked on the shelves.

Mike is doing a great job and I am really grateful for his handi-ness! Thank you, dear husband.

Happy Birthday Marinda!

This is Mike, making my second blog post. Some may remember the first one was last year - Marinda and I were apart for her birthday as I began my new job, so I surprised her with a post. This year, I'm posting again. Marinda does a terrific job of recording some of the adventures of Team Wessman, so I want to post on a little of the good she is constantly doing.

Marinda is a fantastic wife, mother, woman, and daughter of God as shown in this pictures from the past year.

She moved cross country with a 2 year old just in time to welcome a new baby into the world in a new state.

Marinda teaches her family important things such as following the Savior. She teaches her kids to stay on the correct side of barricades though they sometimes may decide its more important to be close to Christ than to follow the crowd control measures.

Her spiritual nature inspires me to be better and she does a terrific job teaching her family the gospel and teaching others through example as well as lifting and building others through her service in the Lord's kingdom.

She loves nature, camping, and is brave enough to take the kids out into the wild outdoors.












Marinda cares for and teaches her family. She makes sure her kids learn critical life skills such as how to eat, get dressed (Abby selected that outfit herself - still working on matching), drive, sing, swim, and laugh.























She has strong family ties, building on the good taught by her mother, grandmothers (and other relatives too).










She has a great smile and loves cheering for the Utes (at least in gymnastics).











Her creative juices flow with excellent outcomes such as Halloween costumes, Christmas decorations, and exuberant birthday parties for 3 year olds. She builds traditions for our family.

Her noble efforts every day help our eternal family.














Another year has come and gone for Marinda and another year in the life of our family has been wonderful. Thanks to Marinda for all she does. What a wonderful wife!









With all my love!
~ Mike

Sunbeams

Abby is now a Sunbeam. (Well, she always has been for us, but now it is official.)Today was her first day and I'm told she did great. She was even given the assignment last week to say the scripture in Primary today. We practiced it all week. (OK, so her over-zealous parents helped her memorize it. It was short.)

"Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us?" Malachi 2:10

Isn't it a lovely scripture? It is a beautiful message to teach my little 3-year-old!

PS For those of you not familiar with our vernacular, Sunbeams is the Primary (children's) class for 3 and 4 year olds in our church. It is a milestone!

Welcome 2010...

2010 is cold in Michigan.

But, at least we have a sledding hill across the street! (These pictures were taken yesterday when it wasn't quite so frigid.)

We celebrated New Year's Eve with some friends at our home. We played some killer Uno and ate killer chips and dip. Mmmm. It was a fun (and not too late) evening!

2009 has been good to us. We've moved, started a new job, bought a house, had a baby, met new friends, camped a few times, traveled to Utah a couple times, had a few church callings, learned how to get around a new city, potty trained a toddler, started preschool, remembered what it is like to chase a baby around the house (and to accidentally "lose" him once or twice) and grown to love each other and enjoy each other all the more! We've had a few trips and stumbles along the way, but we are happy.

We look forward to (a little bit warmer than today) 2010!