Naughty (and Nice)

Here are a few funny moments from Tristan... of course, we had to pretend they weren't all that funny when they occurred, but we can laugh now! Sometimes it's incredibly difficult to discipline a child when you want to burst out laughing! I am convinced though that boys are just naughtier than girls...

Apparently he wanted some hot chocolate!

He couldn't have gotten his love for chocolate from me...

But he does have a very lovable side too.

And there's always our little princess:

Notice the pink "dinner gloves" that complete the outfit

Not much has been going on in the Samuelson household the last several weeks. Just the regular day to day events. Grace to school, ballet, Mission Friends, and AWANA; Tristan to gymnastics and to church functions for childcare when Daddy isn't home. I've been busy with my Wednesday Bible Study and AWANA (and shuffling the kids to and fro of course). David has been working nights one week, days this week, and will go back to nights next week. We have made several trips to Tucson the last 2 weeks - one for fun, and 2 for David's back. He followed up with his pain management doctor last week and then was supposed to have an MRI to hopefully get an answer as to why nothing seems to be working to help his back pain. We went up for the MRI last Saturday, and the radiologist refused to do the MRI due to the shot he has in his eye (from turkey hunting almost 5 years ago), despite the fact that he has had 2 MRI's in the past... So, we are incredibly frustrated. He sees his primary doc here next week and will see if he can have that shot removed. If not, David will have to have a CT mylogram, which can be incredibly painful, and we'll see what our next step is from there.

Sledding in Arizona

We took a day trip up to Mt. Lemmon, Arizona Friday to do a little sledding. We had a great time and couldn't believe the change of scenery between 4000 and 8000 feet. The foothills of Mt. Lemmon lie on the far east side of Tucson, and are covered with saguaro cactus. Yet, just 15 miles up a windy road are beautiful pine trees. We stopped several places on the road for pictures and just to enjoy the beauty around us.

Grace hardly had time to get her coat and mittens on before she was off...

This was a little "hill" right behind where we parked.

When we had Tristan all suited up, he climbed up the hill to join his sister.

Then we all moved over to the "big hill". One thing you all have to understand is that I love sledding, but as I told my husband, I much prefer to sled at White Sands... there's no trees!! I think one of the reasons I don't have a great desire to learn to ski is because I have this fear of not being able to turn or stop and running into a tree - no matter how far away it might be (unreasonable, I know). Despite my fear, we ended up enjoying ourselves immensely...

Until David hit a big "mogul" and bounced Tristan right off of the sled...

Then a snowball fight ensued.

I had to add these two photos because they're just so darned cute!

Dentist

The kids went to the dentist today, and both are now members of the No Cavity Club! They both got rave reviews from the dentist and his staff. They said that they were both great helpers.

Grace went back without hesitation and had x-rays, cleaning, and a fluoride treatment. The dentist even told me that she told him all about her "bad tooth" that she had a root canal done on close to 2 years ago! (She had fallen and knocked her teeth, and the one was dying so they did a root canal to preserve the tooth)

Tristan was a little more timid, but went with the hygenist after I told him it was okay to go with her. He just had an exam, and will have the full treatment on his next visit since he will have turned 3 by that time.

Since they both did such a great job and had no cavities, they each got a toy from the treasure chest and stickers. Now I'm going to take them out for ice cream - then come home and brush their teeth!!

Tiny Tumbler, and other fun Tristan moments

Tristan started a class called "Tiny Tumblers" today - basically an introduction to gymnastics. I think he had his reservations when we first arrived, but once I left him in the room with the other kids, he had a great time. He wasn't the best follower of directions, but it was the first time he was involved in any type of structured activity, and (thankfully) none of the boys there were very good listeners... Here's a few pictures of what they did:

cartwheel handstand

Since Tristan rarely gets much news published, I thought I'd devote today's blog to him, so here's a few more shots of our cute little boy:

The kids loaded up Tristan's wagon full of toys, and he played Santa and pulled them around the house on his "sleigh"

Tristan was helping me smash down trash when cleaning the garage - just call him "Oscar"

Happy New Year

It's been a couple of crazy weeks since Christmas - full of Grandmas, family time, undecorating, and a total lack of ambition (which might explain my lack of blogging).

Both Grandmas were here over Christmas, so it was pretty hectic around the house, but it was wonderful to visit with both of them and let them have their fill of the grandkids. While they were here we took them to see:

the Coronado Monument (the view from there is incredible),

The far mountain is in Mexico, the dark line midway through the picture is the US/Mexico border.

Bisbee (old strip mine and town built on the side of a mountain),

and the "pictographs" here on post.

Grace and Grandma eating snow.

As you can see, it was cold while they were here (guess they brought the KY and NE weather with them), which was nice-made it feel a bit more like Christmas. They both returned home on the 30th (and took the cold with them - it was 70 that day), so we spent the day in Tucson after dropping them at the airport, and did our "big city" shopping.

We got a light dusting of snow the 27th, but the kids thought it was great.

It's been relatively uneventful since the Grandmas left, we're just trying to get the house back in order and doing a bunch of reorganizing and cleaning (which I'd better get moving on) now that the holidays are over. We started back into our routine of work, school, and activities this week, so life should be back to normal soon...

We hope you all have a wonderful, safe, happy, and healthy New Year!