S Novim Godom!

S Novim Godom, dorogie druz'ya i rodnie! Happy New Year to everyone. Let the new year be the new beginning- the beginning of new hopes and dreams. We wish those of you who want something very badly to finally get it in the new year. We wish you all happiness, great health, healthy relationships, success in all areas of your lives, and wisdom. May all your dreams come true (for real!).
Пусть будет просторной уютная норка, чтоб сало в ней было, шампунь и икорка, росли горы сыра и больше и выше! Спокойствия, мира, добра! С Годом мыши!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas has finally come and gone. It was a fun couple of days spent with family. We have been pretty much relaxing since my school ended and Dave took time off work just to be home. It is nice because now I can ask him to fix things around the house on more days than just Saturdays :)) We have also been spending a lot more time outside as is obvious by our numerous outside pictures. Sandy of course is the main reason but we also like to play in the snow and take long walks to the nearby home building site. It is quiet and very peaceful (at least now) to walk there.




On Christmas Eve we were treated to a play put up by the cousins (and some unsuspecting adults). Kids had lots of fun. We opened presents which always turns out to be a chaotic but fun activity at the Gudgell's house. We even got to take a picture of Nana and Pa with all of their grandkids- something to take with them on their mission. The boys then had too much fun playing with the boxes taking turns hiding in them.







Ever since the childhood I've been fascinated with the Christmas lights. There is something about the twinkling lights on the tree that makes me stop and look at them. Christmas season is so magical in so many ways. This is probably why I love decorating my house for Christmas and I take time to admire the beauty of it every day because I know that soon it will all be taken down until the next year...


Christmas morning at our house started with a very excited Alex posing for a picture under the tree with all the presents underneath it. He got very lucky this year. Santa Claus (or Ded Moroz) brought him everything he asked for and more. This year is the first one that Alex really understood what Christmas is about (well, at least he understood the commercialized part of it- that Santa Claus comes this time of year and brings presents). It's a beginning though!

Don't you love what kids say?

So here is one for the laughs... The day after we got Sandy Cheeks, in the early morning we were in the kitchen training her to go potty on the newspapers carefully arranged by the back door (the idea is to eventually put the papers outside so she can go there). Being a very smart puppy she immediately caught on and did her business. After she did it I gave her a treat and praised her. Alex was standing there in his PJs mesmerized by what just happened. The next thing I know Alex comes up to me and says: "Mama, I need to go pee". So I started to take him to the bathroom, as usual, but he resisted me and dragged me the other way. Puzzled, I went with him. He took me to the newspapers where Sandy just did her business and started to take his PJs off. When I asked what he was doing, Alex said: "Alex wants to pee on paper. Alex wants a treat!"
I can't describe to you how hard we were laughing. I had to sit down with Alex and explain to him why puppies go on the newspapers and boys go in the toilet. I think he got it because it never happened again. But did we ever get a good laugh!

Winter Wonderland... and another surprise!

Recently we had our biggest snowstorm of the year so far. We didn't waste time, we played outside all day long. Alex loved it and so did the parents. We cleaned the snow off the walkways all day (ok, I should admit that Dave did most of it, I just threw snowballs at him), built a snowman, even tried him in a Mexican outfit, which worked the best.








This is the morning after our biggest snow storm. I had to take Dave to the airport in the early morning and on the way back I noticed how crisp and clear the air was. The pictures speak for themselves!


Our house inside and out after we decorated it. This year we decided to deviate from our normal red and gold ornaments. We went for a combination of blue, green, silver and gold. I think it turned out great. Judge for yourselves.



And here comes the surprise! We have an addition to our family. She is a beagle puppy, 7 weeks old. Alex named her Sandy Cheeks :) She's so adorable! Everyone is welcome to come and visit Sandy. Alex will tell you all about her. He's very proud to have his very own dog!

First snow!!! Finally..

SLC had its very first snow this season. The Gudgell family is all excited due to our deep love of skiing. We're hoping to introduce Alex to skiing this year if all goes well.
P.S: Happy Birthday, Dave! We all love you very much!

Porter's boots

If any of you guys are in the bad mood or feeling sad, just watch this video and it surely will make you at least smile if not laugh :)

What a great vacation!

I have to say we had a great Thanksgiving, thanks to the Sullenger family. Even my mother enjoyed the whole thing, despite the inability to understand everything 100%. This was probably the best Thanksgiving in my 10 (really?) years in the USA. This trip started with a blue tongue, literally. Just look at the picture.

The trip down was anything but long and hard. We actually enjoyed the car ride and Alex did so well! When we got to St. George it was refreshing to see green plants and even some flowers.

That evening all the grown-ups went out to eat at a nice steak house. Since Dave's birthday is not far away his family decided to embarrass him by telling the waiter about it. So Dave had to sit on the fake bull while they sang to him. Priceless if you know Dave at all :))

The next day- Thanksgiving- we had a huge feast. I can't thank The Sullengers enough for providing us all with great food, even better entertainment and a relaxed atmosphere.

Everybody enjoyed the food very much. And I, of course, got my favorite turkey leg. It just wouldn't be a Thanksgiving without a turkey leg for me. Those who know the garbage story will understand. But I'm not ashamed, this is who I am :)

This was my mother's first Thanksgiving in the USA and she received the best of the best. I'm pretty sure she was very impressed but I'll let her speak for herself. One thing I know for sure is that she loved hanging around Dave's family and found them all very warm-hearted and kind to her.













On Friday after a lot of the shopping was out of the way (don't get me wrong, I didn't go shopping, I slept in until I couldn't any more) a lot of us went to the local Dinosaur museum. It was very interesting. I remember visiting it the very first year they discovered all the bones. Has it changed sine then! They've done a great job!

Then- great surprise! Another turkey (and subsequently another turkey leg for me) were in store for us at Liz and Brian's house. Wow! I didn't think we could repeat the Thanksgiving feast but some of us sure did (I'm not really blushing, no!)

Then we celebrated Savannah's 4th B-day. Surprising but we managed to get cake and ice cream in most of us. After which we played games and hung out for a while. Oh and I forgot to write that some of the lucky ones got to play on the 2 gorgeous golf courses over Thursday and Friday. But it's ok because the rest of us had just as much fun doing other stuff.

In the evening we went to see the Lights ceremony at the local temple. We had fun but it wasn't exactly the "southern" evening, it was chilly. Nevertheless, the kids had so much fun, Alex is particular, that they didn't want to come back home.
















That evening ended with the tired little kids watching TV and the big kids and adults playing fun games.

On Saturday we all dressed warm (as much as we could considering we weren't exactly sure of the weather) and headed out to the forest in the mountains. Most of Dave's family were looking to cut Christmas trees. We decided against it since it's too early in the season for us but went along anyway for some fun. It was a beautiful sunny day with deep blue skies. It was perfect. I only wished we brought more warm clothes for Alex. He enjoyed being outdoors no matter what kind of shoes he had on.

After everybody got the tree of their dreams, we had some hot chocolate and other yummy snacks. Then we had a competition "Who got the biggest tree?" Clearly, Bubba was the winner.