Favorite Jane Austen male lead...

I know I don't usually blog about this kind of thing, but I just thought it'd throw it out there. I love Jane Austen movies, books, etc... and since I do paper work for my dad from home, I usually turn one of these movies on and listen to it while I work. The other night I did this since Jeremy was out watching 24 at a friend's house and I chose Emma, one of my favorites. I think I can relate to Emma in some ways, not the wealthy rich girl part, but I do like her character. I also have decided that Mr. Knightly is my favorite man out of all the stories I've read so far. I am a hopeless romantic. I love that he and Emma are such good friends and they grow to love each other. I'm not into love at first sight much. He treats her so well, dances with her even though it's not his favorite thing to do, and helps her to be a better person without belittling her or doubting her abilities. What a good guy! I think I have married somebody close to Mr. Knightly as well! Maybe that's why he is my favorite!

Garden Experiment

Since it is supposed to be raining all week, and it has, I decided I wanted to try starting some seeds indoors this year. I don't have very good luck sometimes with seeds outside, either because I don't water enough and they get dried out, the birds eat the seeds or there is now a cat that thinks my garden boxes are it's litter boxes. I'll go out there and find poo for one and then the cat has proceeded to try and cover it up while mixing up all the dirt and seeds that just planted! Erghh...

So here are our trays of seeds that the kids have planted as well as me. I really hope that my sugar snap peas come up! We also are trying shelling peas, carrots, beets, basil and Atalie planted some flowers in her little pot.

We are trying an ice cube tray, cupcake tin and an egg carton... We'll see what happens!

Official Home Owners!

So we have owned our home for 6 1/2 years now, but we feel even more official since we had to replace our water heater yesterday! We came home Monday night from Disneyland to find a slow forming puddle in our garage. Fortunately it didn't cause damage anywhere, but we realized that our old water heater was shot! When you have such a looming purchase, it's hard not to feel pressured and emotional about what you want, or need to buy! Jeremy and I are sort of suckers for salesman, but I'm happy to say, thanks to my dad, that we bought a water heater ourself and we are so grateful to my dad, Jeremy and Bro. Jenkins who put it in for us last night! What a blessing it is to have hot water! As I sat in my tub filled with four inches of luke warm water on Tuesday, that I had boiled on the stove, I realized why people hardly ever bathed in the olden days!

A Wonderful Year!

This is our Christmas letter for the year. Sorry I'm not sending each one of you Christmas cards, but we decided not to spend money on one extra thing. Jeremy and I have had a wonderful year. A year of growing together, learning new things and trying to be better parents and spouses!

It seems like my brain doesn't remember too many details any more, but we did go to Disneyland a lot this year which really has been a highlight! I'm planning on doing a post dedicated only to that! I think we went at least once a month, maybe even twice in some months. We did our usual desert trips with Jeremy's family during Easter Break and Thanksgiving. We are always fortunate to be able to go and spend time with his parents and see the kids getting better and better at riding their dirt bikes! Cozette is loving riding the XR50 by herself and Wyatt asks anybody for a ride on his bike or theirs! I love their enthusiasm! This Thanksgiving, we even got to go on our very first "family ride" including Scotty (he was strapped to my chest with a Snuggly).

At the beginning of the summer, we had a great Beecroft Family Reunion where all of my mom's family came in to town. We dominated the Beecroft Run that is held every Memorial Day and had a great time at the beach and at Disneyland with everyone. We also were able to spend a week in Carpenteria where we camp every year with the Lassens'! We are truly blessed to have so much family close by.

Another fun trip we had was going along the coast to visit friends and family in Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach and San Francisco. Everyone was so good to us and made room for our growing family!

Jeremy and I were able to have a getaway of our own to Avila Beach and we really enjoyed our time together, just the two of us! What a necessary way to grow and put each other first! I love him more and more! He works hard everyday for us at Verizon to take care of our needs and wants. I'm so grateful to have married such a hard worker and devoted father and husband.

I have enjoyed my time playing the piano in Primary at church, but starting next week, I will be teaching the 7-8 year kids. The kids who are getting baptized this year, including Atalie! They are terrific kids and I hope I can be a good teacher for them.

Cozette is 9 an really loves 4th grade. She is doing well with Spanish and loves her school friends and activity days at church. She also loves to practice the piano and making arts and crafts. She didn't get that from me!

Atalie is 7 and is so smart and enjoys reading and school. Her and I have read Little Women together and have no started reading Anne of Green Gables. She is very excited to have me with her for all three hours of church!

Wyatt is a big bundle of energy at 4 years old. He wakes up everyday and gets himself dressed then asks if he gets to go to "pweschool". He wasn't so sure about it at first and cried the first two days, but now he loves it. He also asks me almost everyday if I can wrestle with him. He sure has brought so much joy and love to our family. He is a good sharer and loves to help me cook in the kitchen.

Scotty is 15 months and is the cutest thing ever! He loves to play with anything electronic: phones, remotes, etc... He just learned to walk around this last month and is really enjoying his new found freedom. He still loves his pacifier and loves to flirt with people. He is really a happy and cheerful guy and we are so happy to have him in our family, too.

We are so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year. Thank you for your friendship and love!

Love,

Jeremy, Ditte, Cozette, Atalie, Wyatt, and Scotty

Blood For Life!

For anyone who is able to, our school is having a blood drive for our principal, Linda Ngarupe on Wednesday, December 16 between 1-6PM. You can make appointments online at blood4life.org and type in Ngarupe for the sponsor code. This is such a loving and selfless gift that most of us can do with little sacrifice! Please consider this probably one of the best Christmas gifts you can give. Thanks for your support!

Trouble!

Scotty is now officially walking! It's so funny to see him standing there with his sippy cup and trying to walk around. He still manages to get his pants really dirty, crawling is faster sometimes. He's so proud of himself!

Sunday morning Cinnamon Rolls!

I wanted to post this last week, but didn't get the chance. Here is the family making cinnamon rolls together last Sunday. It was very fun! Jeremy is a great chef and it's fun to see him in there with the kids. What a good dad!