Holiday Season

I admit... having kids during the holiday season makes the season more fun. This is not the case for everything though, so I'll count the holidays as a win.

The littlest things excite my energetic son. Watching "The Grinch" was the best in his eyes. Seeing "The Santa Clause" was just as good and James asked if we could watch more Charlie frequently. (He didn't know the name of the movie.) Each time we got a new Christmas card in the mail was thrilling for James and he "helped" add it to the wall. Going to see a live nativity was exhilarating and the fact that James knew Mary and Joseph (our friends) about pushed him over the edge. He had so many questions during the program. Delivering wrapping paper to our friends and neighbors was equally stimulating for James and he kept tabs on all of his friends by ensuring we delivered some to them. Teaching James Christmas songs was extra neat too. His favorite was "Shepherd's Carol" and he constantly asked me to sing him "Mary, Mary." 

Snow makes for more fun than anything in James' eyes. We went to Eden with Andrew's family for Christmas this year. James had the time of his life with dozens of cousins to play with and tons of snow. He was fearless while sledding and even went off some jumps. Izzy loved being carried around by all of her cousins and got her hair done in a ponytail for the first time. The "favorite things" gift exchange, white elephant, ABH video, and talent show made for a terrific week. I was able to read 2 books while there (completing my reading goal for the year) and we played so many games! Splendor was a hit. Some things we don't want to dwell on too long are Andrew's injured shoulder. He fell while snowboarding. My forgotten boots and gloves. (Thankfully Malia grabbed my boots for me.) Our car getting stuck in the driveway. It made me rethink our decision to buy a van. Snow tires are definitely in our plans for the future.

After returning from Eden, we went tubing with my family. James wasn't scared at all and was giddy gliding down the mountain. We also had a snow storm and James and Daddy made a snowman. They named it and everything. James talked to the snowman as if he were a human. It was adorable. 

Jill and Rob flew in for the break. We will be seeing them less now that they live in Massachusetts. We didn't waste a minute of the time we had with them. We continued the Denning Salsa tradition and made and delivered salsas around the neighborhood. We got cozy matching pajamas. The boys got "Dunder Mifflin" pajamas. My dad loudly asked, "What's Dunder Muffin?" which gave us all a good laugh. We played many games... Hand and Foot, Secret Hitler (Chris gave this to Andrew for Christmas), Scheming and Skulking, a new meme game, and more. The ladies went to see "Little Women" which was a hit! I LOVED it and am dying to reread the book. We went out to eat a couple of times and had many family dinners. We tried the restaurant at the jail called "Serving Time Cafe" which I've been wanting to do for over a year. It has rave reviews and I was disappointed by my tasteless burger. Oh well.

Delivering salsa in style

For Christmas, Andrew booked me a massage and I can hardly wait for that! He also got me some other things-- a yoga mat for the PIYO class I attend at the gym, a workout shirt, and a reading light clip that I can attach to my book. This was so thoughtful! I usually require less sleep than Andrew, so now I can happily read in bed instead of escaping to the closest in hopes of not waking him. Andrew's main gift from me was tickets to Tuacahn this summer to see the play "Count of Monte Cristo." July can't come soon enough! Some other noteworthy gifts are: an instant pot which I broke in last night, thanks mom! An 8 man tent for Andrew which we will use this summer at the Ditto reunion. A new flagpole/flag that says Ditto for the front of our house and an adorable pink jacket. For James, we tried to stick with basic things: a need (3 pairs of pants), a want (paint book), something to read (Tikki Tikki Tembo), something to wear (Snowpants and gloves). Santa brought him blocks. We are so blessed!

We had an amazing break and we are all sad to see it end. Andrew had lots of time off of work and we made some unforgettable memories. Today is his first day back at work and boy do we miss him. I've heard "when will Daddy be home" a few too many times already. We are so grateful for this time of year. Teaching our kids about the Savior's birth was a unique experience. I'm eager for next Christmas already and so is James for that matter.

If You Wait Long Enough, Blessings Will Come

It has been a hard year. Maybe I shouldn't say the term "year" because that sounds super long. It has been a rough 6 months. Here's why:

• Our washer and dryer broke. It was expensive to replace 2 new machines.
• The broken washer and dryer caused a flood. We still need to replace some flooring. 
• I had a baby which is a big blessing. Getting mastitis 4x within a 2 month period was extremely challenging. Giving up breastfeeding was something else I dealt with which was an emotional, hard decision.
• I struggled with postpartum depression after having Isabelle and still struggle with it. Being a mom has been very difficult for me.
• Our couches became so worn out that we needed to replace them as soon as possible which cost several hundred dollars.
• Andrew lost his job.

The list seemed so much longer in my head. I feel like I'm missing some items. After hearing some sad news earlier this week, my list suddenly seemed small and I was glad for the trials we've been facing instead of the ones a relative of mine has.

A couple months ago, Andrew in all seriousness asked me: "Did we stop paying our tithing?" It seemed like so much was going wrong all at once.

We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I won't claim that all of our problems are now solved. Wouldn't that be wonderful? No, we still haven't replaced our flooring after the flood. My postpartum depression hasn't disappeared, but has improved. Andrew was able to find an excellent job within 2 weeks of being laid off. What an enormous blessing! He also had a few different options to choose from. On top of that, he started his new job this week meaning he will be paid severance and get a paycheck from his new company as well. Now, it's all starting to make sense and come together. Heavenly Father has been aware of us through these difficult times. I want my problems fixed immediately and he knows what's coming.Andrew getting laid off has actually been a huge blessing for us financially. It also saved me mentally to have him home to help with the kids for 3 weeks.

I wanted to bear my testimony on Sunday and share lots of the thoughts I've written. Everyone else had the same idea and I'm ok with the fact that I didn't have the chance to get up. (To be honest, I could have gone up and waited.) Something that I've learned through all of this is that I find peace in the temple. Over the summer, I was struggling with someone a lot. I decided to attend the temple every week and suddenly this person wasn't as hard for me to be around. While Andrew was out of a job, we both decided to go to the temple each week because we had extra time/ hands to babysit. We knew that everything would workout because of the peace we felt there.

The point of this post is to remind myself that God is aware of each of our needs great or small. His timeline isn't the same as mine though and I'm trying to learn to be more patient. Here's to the next 6 months. I'm confident they'll be different than the last 6.

Proper Front Door

Since moving in, I have always disliked our front door. It has been something I've wanted to replace, but hasn't been high on our priority list until recently. I understand wanting more light, but I don't think having an almost entire glass front door is ideal when you have young children. 

Our neighborhood has close, compacted homes which makes it a prime spot for salesman to knock continuously. We get our fair share of people walking door to door throughout our area, especially in the summer. Because of this, I choose to ignore the door quite frequently. James, being a young, curious toddler, always sprints right to the door the instant he hears the doorbell. He moves the blinds to peek out and see who is there. This has made the situation even more uncomfortable when I refuse to answer the door for the salesmen because they see James and wait expecting me to open the door. Yeah, right!

I cherish my quiet time and have made it a priority since becoming a mom. With that being said, I was once in bed reading or possibly napping while letting James watch a show downstairs. I heard the doorbell ring and consciously chose not to answer it. Well, it continued on. I knew James heard it as well because his footsteps loudly stomped across the floor. I stuck with my choice not to answer the door. Meanwhile, I got a text from my friend who asked me if everything was ok. "Jenna, is everything ok? I'm at your house to drop something off and James is staring at me through the door by himself." I don't want neighbors, friends, and strangers being able to tell if I'm home! I also can't have any interruptions when relishing in my few moments of peace!

Recently, someone posted on our ward relief society Facebook page. What they said was alarming to me. "Just a heads up to make sure you keep your doors locked especially when you leave your house. A young man was seen going around our neighborhood yesterday afternoon knocking on peoples doors and if no one answered he tried to open the doors. Police came and questioned him and let him go." This post made purchasing a new door a huge priority. What if that creep had come to our house and James had hustled to meet him at the door? 

The new door has turned out to be quite a hassle, but it's finally up! Here are some things we've learned throughout the process:

• Before you start painting a door, make sure you're painting the correct side. I didn't even think about this and started eagerly painting the inside of the door BLACK. Well, it took 4 coats to cover that back up with white.
• Make sure the hinges are on the same spot. We assumed they would be but we learned the hard way they weren't.
• Don't decide to install a front door at 10:00pm on a Friday night when it's pitch black and you don't know what you're doing.
• Make sure the hardware on your door will still fit. (Ours doesn't and needs to be replaced.)
• Be prepared to replace the weatherstrip on the door. Andrew gets to do this possibly today! (The new door doesn't seem quite as wide and there is a fairly big gap that needs to be filled in.)

As you may have gathered, this has turned into quite the project/ordeal. I will say it was worth it though. See for yourself.

Before (Notice that the blinds aren't long enough!)

After! 

I emphasized our front door, but Andrew had his eye on something else. Our couches have been old and flaky for several months now. It has been annoying. I find little black specks all over the house because the couches are falling apart/peeling. We didn't want to replace our couches quite yet, (I'm sick of spending money and so is our bank account.) but suddenly it seemed like an urgent problem. 

We decided to start our search for a sectional. After looking at brand new ones, we thought it would be best to buy a used couch because we didn't want to spend thousands of dollars. My sister in law is actually the one who found our couch for us. I sent Andrew to look at the sectional one night, and he approved. He has extremely strong opinions about couches. "I'm going to be spending 80 percent of my time on this couch, so it better be comfortable." The couch was sitting in a storage unit 40 minutes away. We ended up having to rent a uhaul to get the massive sectional to our house which was kind of a hassle.

Don't miss this!

Andrew was right! The sectional is extremely cozy and comfortable. It fits the space nicely and the neutral color ties in our decor well. It was a little more worn-out than I expected and has some stains on it, but we do have kids who will just add to that anyway. Our house is almost unrecognizable with these two changes--the new front door and the new couch. Basically, if you ever come by and think we're not home, you might be wrong and I'm okay with that. 

Out with the Old and in with the New

We've made some big purchases recently. We bought a new washer and dryer and a new (to us) car! 

Our washer and dryer have been on the outs for several months. We discovered that the timing belt on BOTH machines needed to be replaced and the repairman quoted over $600 for that. It didn't seem worth it to fix the washer and dryer because our machines were 10+ years old. We were holding off a bit to purchase new ones. (To be honest, I was hoping to find a deal over Labor Day weekend...) Well, that was a dumb move. Our washer decided to flood our laundry room, basement, and kitchen during the night (when the city turned off the water for a quick fix). We are blessed that more damage wasn't done. Our basement had A LOT of water in it. I'm so glad we didn't decide to finish the basement this summer like we considered. The bad news is that we will need to replace the flooring in our laundry room. 

The flood made purchasing a new washer and dryer my number one priority (forget waiting for a sale!). We purchased a new washer and dryer that week. $1500ish later and here they are...

They both play chipper songs when the cycle is complete! It has been extremely nice to have the washer finish an entire cycle on its own (before, I would have to re-start the washer at least 4 times in one load). Also, the handle to turn the dryer on had broken off. Andrew had rigged up a way to use pliers to turn the dryer on. That was always an experience and I was not always successful. Now, I can simply push a button and poof, it starts. What a relief.

We have been fortunate not to have a car payment for most of our marriage. When Andrew's car died last year, we got our first car loan to purchase the Hyundai Sante Fe. After over a year of paying for that, we decided it wasn't worth it. Yes, we loved the car, but no, we did not like paying $293 every month.

We knew that we eventually wanted to get a mini-van and we probably should have just bought one last year. We figured by the time we paid off the Sante Fe, it would be about time for a new car anyway. Our van hunt began and we tried to sell our Sante Fe private party. After weeks of dealing with annoying people making low-ball offers, we finally decided to just trade in the Sante Fe and get a van. 

We LOVE having a van! James might enjoy it more than of any of us. Opening up the sliding doors is one of his favorite things to do. We can't believe how much more space we have! Also, our car payment is significantly lower. We did buy an older model, but it drives nice. It's a 2014 Kia Sedona with about 75,000 miles on it. It still has some really nice features though. (blue tooth, back-up cam, dual heating/air control, etc.) Hopefully it lasts us a long time!

Here she is! And in case you're wondering, neither of us would have picked this color. It was a good deal though. We'll see if it's true that red cars get pulled over more often. I have yet to be pulled over since getting my license and hope I don't attract the police now. 

We have plans in the future for a new sectional (our current couches are ripping), a new front door (it's painted and ready to be put on), and who knows what else. I recently told Andrew everything I wanted to update in our house and he estimated it would cost at least $25,000. Here's to dreaming and being married to someone who goes with my crazy ideas and works to pay for them. :) 

Isabelle's Baby Blessing

Finding a date to bless Isabelle was tricky. We had to plan around family members being on vacation and church callings. We settled on Sunday, September 8 which still wasn't ideal for the Ditto side. (The brothers went on their all brothers hike that weekend, but none of them were planning on making the 12 hour drive anyway. I don't blame them.) It also wasn't a fast Sunday, but our ward has so many baby blessings that the bishopric didn't care. I was thrilled because there was absolutely ZERO pressure for me to bear my testimony. I can only imagine how hormonal that would have been.

Jill and Rob flew in for the blessing which I really appreciated. I always love to see them and wish they lived here. We packed in the fun while they were in town. We hiked Stewart Falls and Andrew and I brought BOTH kids with us. (We hiked about 4 miles.) Andrew was the lucky one who got to carry 30+ pounds of James. I got to carry Isabelle. After the hike, we ate at a scrumptious breakfast restaurant. That evening, my sisters and their spouses came over for a game night which kind of ended up turning into a BYU Football viewing party--much to my dismay. Why did BYU have to go into overtime??

9:00am church means we were up plenty early to ensure everything was just right. We decided to have a brunch following the blessing, so the house was spic and span.

All of my siblings came to the blessing which meant a lot to me. We snapped a family photo, so the pressure was definitely on to be looking good. Who knew that the apple tree in our backyard would be the perfect backdrop?

I love how it turned out!

Grandma Langlois was thrilled she was able to make it. (She has been dealing with a foot injury the last couple of months.)

The Dittos!

Ben and Cousin Becca, (plus their 2 kids) Uncle Dan, Cousin Alex, Cousin Tyler, Cousin Malia

I didn't get pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Denning (Giggi and Go-Daddy), my Aunt Lisa, my cousin Allie, or my cousin Kimberly. We had so much support which made it such a special day. Andrew gave Isabelle a neat blessing and one of the speakers even mentioned a specific part of it. Something that stood out to me was that Isabelle was blessed to be service-oriented. Another part focused on love and how many people love Isabelle.

Brunch afterwords was a success! My house felt small hosting so many people. I was hoping to use some outdoor space for one of the tables, but rain ruined that plan. We had Costco muffins, 2 breakfast casseroles, juice, and parfaits with fruit/yogurt,granola, whipped cream, etc. I had so much help which I greatly appreciated because it would have been hard to pull off on my own.

Let me just say that I was exhausted after all of this! We all took naps (for about 2 hours) and then headed to one final dinner at my parent's house before Jill and Rob had to fly out. Even after the nap, I was asleep by 9:00pm. (That seems to be the new norm around here though these days.)

I'm dying over these pictures. Thanks to Lindsey Denning (as always)! I can't believe how big my baby is getting. Isabelle is such a sweet, good baby. It helps that she sleeps through the night.

This picture of the 4 of us is now hanging on our wall. I'll cherish it forever!

I'm truly blessed with the best!