Book Club

Before Christmas, a friend of mine put together a book club with a few of the mom's from our church. I picked a book for everyone to read and hosted book club at my place this past Wednesday. We read "Heaven is here" by Stephanie Nielson. Thanks for the suggestion Lisa! It's a true story about a young mom who is in a helicopter crash with her husband and gets severely burned on 80% of her body. Her story is one of hope and inspiration. She takes you through her romantic courtship with her husband and her almost sickly fairytale life as a mother and wife, to her crash and her painful healing process to her new life as a burn victim. I loved the book for the inspirational message and her strength and testimony in Heavenly Father. I could have done without so much detail in the first part of the book about her married life as I thought it was a little 'too perfect.' That being said, she has inspired me to become a better wife and mother. I would give this book a 4 out of 5.

Here is a video of Stephanie Nielson and her story:

Hosting book club was a ton of fun! We talked a lot about the book and snacked on some treats. When we were finished discussing the book I had a little activity for everyone to do. Every year on the anniversary of Stephanie's helicopter crash, she hikes up to the Y in Provo (a 'mountain' in Utah) with her family and friends and they let off helium balloons. In honor of this, I had everyone write a little inspirational message on a note card and we tied them to some balloons. Well, Wednesday night was cold and windy and the note cards were a little on the heavy side. Haha Needless to say, it didn't work as well as I planned. One balloon popped on a tree, one got stuck on the neighbors fence and some more got stuck in the trees. It was pretty funny and Ben caught it all on video. (Video posted below) I hope the inspirational messages make up for the trash my neighbors might find on their lawns.

Us girlies with our balloons. I know it's pretty bad quality but I love these ladies!!

Our Balloon toss

Can't wait for next month!

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

I hate this virus and I'm not even the one who has it. Yes, this hand, foot and mouth disease has hit us (Ava) again. She had it last year and it was so bad! She ended up passing it on to her cousins last year so we are keeping her away from anyone this time around. It can be contagious for up to a week so she is house bound 'til Saturday or until her blisters go away. She has a huge one on her tongue and she won't even eat her favorite pizza (or pizsta as she calls it) Poor thing. Thankfully it's not as bad as it was last time and Ammon hasn't got it (phew!) And she doesn't have any on her face!!! Yeah! Here's hoping it goes away quickly.

Last year's blisters:

This year:

Happy 2013!

I know I'm a little late on this post but whatever. This year we were home for New Years Eve this year. A family in the ward invited us over for Pizza and snacks with some other families and it was so much fun! We played catchphrase and progressive charades. The plan was for the kids to play in the basement while the adults played games upstairs. Ava was pretty good at staying downstairs at first but wandered back up a little while later. I just bribed her with some cinnamon bun popcorn to be quiet. (It was a party after all) It was a fun night but I regret not taking any pictures.We came home and put our tired kids to bed and I headed off early too. Gone are the days where I look forward to the stroke of midnight. Maybe one day when I get to sleep in again. We didn't do too much for New Years day. I made chocolate chip waffles for breakfast and we stayed in our PJ's most of the day. I tried to take Ava out to make a snowman but she was fighting me tooth and nail to put on her snow suit so I gave up and ended up just watching a movie with her. Ben and I talked about what we wanted to accomplish this year. My resolutions consist of making my house more of a home (painting rooms/pictures/decorating), budgeting, and some other spiritual goals. 2012 was such a fantastic year for our family. 

Ben: Became a qualified life insurance agent and has been busy with work and his church calling as ward mission leader. 

Me: I enjoyed a trip to California in Feb with my Mom and Emily to visit Adam. I gave birth to a handsome little guy. Am happy that I finally have some friends in Burlington! haha (Not that I was a huge loser or anything) Have been having fun playing piano for the primary at church and love seeing the little kids try to learn the songs.

Ava: Turned 2 in Sept. She is a typical 2 year old and likes to see what she can get away with. She has been learning like crazy! She knows her ABC's, can count to ten and can even quote some Sandra Boynton. She's had fun getting together with her cousins and just loves her baby brother. 

Ammon: Joined our family in June. He has been such a joy and is growing too fast as every baby does. He loves to give kisses and cuddles and we love him to pieces.

We hope everyone had a wonderful 2012 and hope 2013 is even better!!

A Jenner/Fuller Family Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year! We left home Sunday afternoon to head up to the cottage for the night. The boys cut down a tree and we played some games. It was pretty funny watching my MIL describe dooey-ya-ya. (Shawn's word for diarrhea.)  The next morning we had a yummy breakfast and I hung around with the girls and napped while Ben had fun with the boys snowmobiling. We had Shawn's name for the Fuller gift exchange this year and it was so fun to watch him open his presents. I'm looking forward to next year because we will be spending Christmas at the cottage and we'll get to see Shawn's excitement on Christmas morning. We left just before dinner on Christmas Eve to head to my parents so we would have time to get the kids in bed and relax. Well just getting off the cottage road was an adventure. We have the crappiest tires and we could not get anywhere in the snow. Ben's dad and bro-in-law ended up having to attach a rope from the truck to our car and tow us out. Ben was almost ready to call it quits and suggest staying at the cottage for Christmas. We did eventually get to my parents but needed some help up their driveway.  Ava is starting to understand what Christmas is all about so she was pretty cute on Christmas morning. We got spoiled with our stockings this year because our family is going on a trip to Florida next fall so there were no gifts other than for the kids and what couples got each other. My Mom always makes Christmas a special time for everyone. I meant to take a picture of all our loot but I didn't want to make anyone jealous. It was a fun morning spent with my parents, Daniel, Olivia and Waverlea, and Nathan and Emily. Ammon just loved his little cousin and was trying to kiss her and hold her hand. Emily, Olivia and I went shopping the next day and it was a blast!!! I saved a ton of money! (I won't tell you how much I spent though) It was nice to get away from the kids and have some girl time. The next day Matthew, Kere and the kids came and spent a few days. Ava had a blast with the kids and Lilah kept kissing Ammon and trying to hold him. Too cute! We all had a blast playing games and sledding with the kids. Later on in the week my Mom, Emily and I went to see Les Miserable. It was great!! Yes, we were the ones that started to clap at the end. Haha! We went to Dollarama and snuck in some treats. We had a good laugh at my Mom shoving some chips under her coat and trying to make it look normal. There was a heart-wrenching scene where Anne Hathaway sings 'I dreamed a dream.' Just after the song, there was silence in the theater except for this sound of rustling every few seconds. I looked over at my mom and said, "Did you take those chips out of your coat?" We both started laughing as we realized every time she breathed, you could hear the rustle of chip bags. Ben and I headed back home on Sunday to get ready for the new year. Plus we weren't sleeping well because Mr. Ammon decided he didn't want to sleep the whole time we were up north. Gah!! We had an awesome fun time up north and are already missing our extended family. I was able to take a step back and look at how blessed I am to have such an amazing family with parents, brothers and sisters-in-law who love my kids as much as I do. I am so excited for 2013 and what it has in store. More on the New Year in the next post.
For your viewing pleasure:

Catching up on a year's worth of sleep!

The tree, before the decorations

Nate and Ava. Too cute!

The cottage was a happening place!

My little sock monkey

Monsieur Ammon

William giving Ammon a hug.

"Hey! He scratched me!"

Some adult time.

My sweetheart. This picture makes my heart melt.

Story time with Auntie Emily!

Story time with Grandpa!! 

Mr. Ammon Head

Athen's turn!

The whole gang. (Minus Adam)

We take after our Mother

All the grand kids

Lilah and Ammon

Maia and Ammon. Soo sweet!

Silly faces with Lilah!!

The girls having fun with Nonna!

Beautiful sunset.

Ammon being a good boy and sharing his toys with Waverlea.

Handsome boys.

William showing Athen how to ride his new bike.

Christmas dinner!!

Too Hot to Handle

Well today was an eventful one. It started with Ammon waking up screaming multiple times last night. I forgot how much I hate teething. Hopefully those little teeth poke through soon and we can all be put out of our misery. Thankfully I have an awesome husband who got up with him at 3:30 this morning and entertained him while I slept. Thanks Hunny!! After a long night, we got up and had a pretty lazy morning until we got ready to go to Ben's work Christmas party. Ava thought the dessert table was pretty great. I put the kids down for a nap when we got home and we all fell asleep for 2 hours!! Bliss!!! After our nap I was face-timing my brother and sis-in-law and Ava was pretending to straighten and brush her hair. (I had straightened my hair in the playroom this morning so I could keep an eye on the kids and get ready at the same time.) Well, silly me hadn't unplugged it and Ava had turned it on. She got a pretty good burn on her hand. Poor thing. The tele-health nurse advised us to take her to the hospital so after a 2 hour wait and a "She's fine." from the Dr., we headed home and got the kids ready for bed. Ava was up in our bedroom with Ben as I got Ammon changed and ready for bed. I guess Ben was changing into his jammies when I heard a little voice from the bedroom say, "Daddy, you wear big girl undies?" Hahaha We were all doubled over in laughter. I'm glad that at the end of the day, we were all able to have a good laugh and that Ava is OK.

Ava's post

Yesterday was a learning day for me. I learned that if I rip up my book at nap time instead of going to sleep means my Mommy gets pretty mad. Now I'm not allowed any more books in my bed. It was pretty fun tearing the paper though. I also learned that dumping my bottle full of water makes my fluffy soaking wet and that Mommy is not going to get me another one. I also learned that hitting Ammon isn't very nice and climbing up to get a package of noodles and breaking them to tiny pieces means I get put on time out. I learned getting off of time out before Mommy lets me, means getting put back on time out. I learned spilling my juice on the floor after Mommy tells me to drink it at the table, means having to wipe it up. Today I am learning that if I take my shirt off in my bed and open the window at nap time, it means I'm going to be very cold. In other news, my baby brother is 6 months old today!!! Mommy has been taking us to the park to play because the weather has been so nice. She was so excited and said it was 14 degrees here yesterday. I can't even count that high so it must have been pretty warm! I'll try to be better tomorrow but I'm not making any promises. Life as a two year old can be hard sometimes.

Playing at the park in December!

See Mom, he's OK.

I don't want to go to bed!

I tried to hide the paper from my book but Mommy found it.

I wonder how this book ends.

Being naughty is tiring. Tiring for Mommy too. She didn't even make my bed.

Back to the blogging world!

Well, it's only been a year and a half since I last blogged. Oops! I slack in my personal journal entries and find it faster to type than put pen to paper (a lost art according to Manny Delgato) so here we go! Haha Anyway, since I last blogged, we have had a new addition to our family. Our son Ammon Benjamin was born June 5th and weighed a whopping 9 lbs 13 oz!! Yup, you read that right. He is a sweet little boy and is finally learning to sleep through the night. Yeah!! Ben is now a licenced life insurance agent. I'm proud of him for working so hard as it was a bit of a struggle for him to get it. Ava has been growing so fast and comes up with some pretty funny stuff. She loves to cuddle and play with her toys. She is pretty cute with Ammon as well and gives him his 'soo soo' whenever he starts crying. I sure love them to pieces. As for myself, I was able to go to California to visit Adam with my Mom and Emily. We had a blast and made a lot of memories. Ladifindah!! LOL! I have been busy with the kids, and now have a social life thanks to some great people in my ward. Here are some pics from throughout the year: