Time to Privatize

I have been thinking about making our blog private--pretty much since I started it-- and have finally decided it is time. I have a lot of reasons for my decision, but I started this blog primarily to keep in contact with family members whom I don't see as much as I'd like :) and to keep a family journal. But for me, my journals have never been public so of course there are limitations to what I put on here about family. So I have decided to change gears. I'm going to make this blog private and start a family photo journal just for our family--when I think about that option, I feel much better. So if you would like to keep up with us, I will update this blog about once a month and keep family and close friends updated on some of the things that are happening with our little family. I know it adds an extra step and isn't quite as convenient, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do! If you would like to keep reading, let me know!

Our Crazy Fun Lovin Girl

Our little girl Hannah just seems to change SO much on a constant basis. I decided I needed to dedicate a post to her so I can remember all of the quirkiness that comes specifically with her and with her age. I love this little girl--she cracks me up--and keeps me constantly busy and on the verge of a heart attack most days.

I'll start with this little gem...

When you get a phone call in the day, it isn't like every time you tell the person on the other end, "hang on, I need to make sure all of my children are appropriately entertained, so as not turn my house upside down while I talk with you." Sometimes I will do that if I know the phone call will be long, but as for other quickies? I let the kids fend for themselves for a moment. And this is what was the result from such a quickie:

Hannah + marker= sheer joy

Check out this blue lipped beauty! The pictures of course don't do it justice.

Unfortunately, the sheer joy quickly escaped when mom took the marker away. I just loved the chain of event pictures.

Now why, you wonder, would this cute semi-mischievious girl leave me on the brink of a heart attack at all times? I will show you.

Hannah on the counter, she can get up on the counter ALL by herself.

And this:

On the table. I used to be able to talk on the phone, shower, get ready, and do some other random things without having to worry too much about my kids. Not the case anymore. I will be showering and hear a holler in the background "MOM! HANNAH'S ON THE TABLE!!!" She has been into this climbing thing for nearly a month now, and has not learned any lessons from it at all. Just last night she fell out of her high chair when a babysitter was here with the kids. I thought, "Maybe there is hope that she learned something about gravity." No. She's already been up on the table numerous times so far today. Endure to the end, right?

But she is not trouble 100% of the time. No, she brings us countless smiles and laughs in the day too. If anyone is laying on the floor, she will come sit on their head and start bouncing up and down. She has learned to say her own prayers, which I must say is adorable. She started out by putting her head in the couch and mumbling baby jabber and ending by pulling her head out of the couch and saying "Ameh!" After the extremely positive response, she did it again!! And again! Sometimes while we are eating lunch, we do it to the serenade of Hannah's prayers. She also has an obsession with stinky diapers. I don't know why. She loves to play with Drew and Madelyn and likes to copy-as best she can-what they say. She really is starting to say quite a few things and it is very cute. We were shopping the other day and were buying produce and she just kept shouting out the names of everything she knew: Nana! Appo! Oen(Orange)! She also loves to read and whenever she sees a baby, a teddy bear, or anything else she thinks is cute she will lay her head against the book and give it a "hug." She really is so much fun and very much a pleasure to have around. She brings us so much joy!

The Verdict is in--

We went to the doctor today with our whole family to see whether our new little one is a boy or girl. For the last four weeks Drew and Madelyn have been calling our baby "Scout." Drew really likes the name Scout and has been looking forward to a new baby brother. Madelyn has too. One day Drew shot me with a nerf gun right on my belly, it didn't hurt a bit, but he ran up to me and gave me a big hug and said, "I'm SO sorry. Are you okay Scout?" Madelyn is always very careful and makes sure I don't get involved in any wrestling or any rough play with the family.

So today was the big day and we went to go see if the baby was a boy afterall. When we got there Drew told the nurse that if it was a boy we were going to name it Scout. (This hasn't really passed by me or anything, Drew just LOVES that name for some reason) The nurse asked what we were going to name it if it were a girl. Drew said, "I don't know." She said maybe we'd have to name her "Scoot." Well the doctor got on the machine and found that he feels 95% sure we are having a "ScOOt." Another GIRL!!!! We were all kind of surprised. I wasn't really hoping for one or the other, but in the back of my head I just kind of thought it would be a boy. I'm glad I'm off the hook of trying to sway Drew away from the name "Scout" though. We don't even have any girl names at all! Most of all we are SO grateful that the baby looks wonderful and healthy and has a heart that is beating!! We can't wait for you to join our family little "Scoot!"

A Taste of our Holiday Fun!

December was a great month! We had so much fun celebrating Christmas and the Christmas season. We got to have about three ward Christmas parties, we crashed our old ward, but only on invitation I promise. The other two were in our new ward. One of our new ward parties was held by the primary children and they told the nativity. We had fun making costumes, only I didn't get that great of pictures of the kids. Madelyn was a perfect angel and loved dressing up, big surprise. Drew looked great in his shepherd costume and now loves bath robes. You can kind of see Drew, he is the boy looking at the camera...Madelyn was hiding pretty good, I never even saw her the whole time. Jed's sister Katie and her husband Josh were Joseph and Mary and did great! :)

We were able to spend time with our families and friends with more parties, FHE's, dinners, etc. It was a great time and appreciate all the work that goes into those gatherings!! I think I gained several pounds as a result of everyone's delicious cooking.... Our family also got the chance to go to Salt Lake and spend a few days down there after Drew got out of school and Jed was off work. It was fun to just take time away from our normal routine and spend time together. The lights on temple square were beautiful and we enjoyed our time down there.

It was cold, but it was fun! We also popped in on several of the free concerts that were going on in nearly every building on temple square. We were able to listen to about 5 minutes of each of them, that is all Hannah could handle.

We were also able to attend the Salt Lake temple, and visit my good friend MarjAnn while we were there, which were highlights of the trip. Jed spoiled all of us by taking us out to eat more than we usually do on trips. I didn't mind. :) Our favorite place by far was Tucanos. We went there for lunch--the only way to go since it is a pricy place. If you have never been it is pretty much an all you can eat meat place. They bring you meat on big skewers straight off the grill and cut you off a peice. They are coming around constantly, so you definitely get your fill. It also came with a salad bar which was delicious too. When we first got there, I had to visit the bathroom with a child so I hadn't gotten to eat anything quite yet. When I returned, Jed had the waiters shave off some meat for me. I had heard so much about this restaurant that I dug in pretty much as soon as I sat down. I jabbed a little peice of meat and, in haste, ate it while Jed was trying to mention something to me. The meat was goood......at first, then I had to grab a napkin and--with bad manners and all--spat the meat into my napkin. It was SICK! What Jed was trying to tell me was that it was chicken heart....... Anyway, we had plenty of other meat to taste and it was delicious. Needless to say that when they came around with the chicken heart skewer, I kindly refused.

Before we had gotten to the restaurant Jed and I were debating whether or not to take in the diaper bag. I decided that I must take it, you just never know when you need it. During the course of our meal...we were there for a long time....making the most of our pennies....Madelyn exclaims something to me with much animation. Turns out, Hannah had a Code 3 blowout. Yes, an EXTREMELY dirty diaper. In fact it was not limited to only dirtying her diaper, it was dirtying the high chair as well. She was turned so that her back was turned and quite close to a neighboring table. I tried to be as discreet as possible to shift the high chair away from the neighboring table so as not to offend. It was one of those laugh/cry moments as a mother. And I was grateful I had brought the diaper bag!!!! I'm sorry if that was too graphic, I just had to document it because it was funny.....after a little while.

We got home Christmas Eve night. (Pam we were going to come see you, but it was getting late before the big day. We send you our love though!!) We held a nativity with our kids and I played some Christmas songs on my violin, then we ate and ate treats, then went to bed!! Here is a picture of our expectant Mary: I loved the profile.

Hannah was the baby Jesus who would only cooperate with a dorito in her hand, even then it was pushing it. I just love the sweet look on our little Mary's face. :)

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve followed by a wonderful Christmas day. Lots of love and family which is one of the best parts of the Christmas season!!

Our Christmas Greetings!!

Well, in lieu of a Christmas letter, and to help make my holiday season more peacable, I am just going to post a Christmas letter on our blog!! I know it will not reach as many as I would like, but like everyone knows... this time of year is busy and it will just have to do!! I just cannot believe I am here to sum up another year for our little family. It has been a wonderful year for us!! We are so very VERY blessed.

First off--We are IN our new home!!! We feel so blessed to be here and love our home. Thank you to all who have helped in ANY way--offering support, asking about our progress, watching our children, or the lending of your hands in good ol' hard work!! We cannot express how grateful we truly are to all those who have helped us. It really is a dream come true!! There are more projects ahead of us, but we are grateful to be able to tackle them all under one warm roof. It has been a wonderful project for our family and we have learned SO much. It's been a great adventure!!

This year Drew started Kindergarten which was a huge milestone--for him and myself.... The very first day of school I went to pick him up and he saw me and came dashing toward me to end up in a big hug. I about started to cry thinking, "My Drew missed me SO much!!" But instead he said,"I forgot all about you guys!!" And it has continued in that way. He loves school and is doing well. He has had to change schools this last couple of weeks since the move, and of course I was way nervous as was he. But, he has adjusted very well and has made new friends. We've been very blessed. Drew has his first loose tooth that he is excited to have fall out naturally, he doesn't want to lose it by force!! Hopefully it will come out soon! Drew is a great big brother and a very patient person and is a blessing to our family in many ways.

Madelyn is doing very well. She is still as girly as can be and is constantly pretending something. All in about ten minutes I can be her sister, her daughter, and her grandma--sometimes it is hard to keep up with her wild imagination! She and Drew are still best friends and play together so well -of course that is most of the time. Drew and Madelyn took their first round of swimming lessons this summer. Going from no experience in the water whatsoever, to dog-paddling half-way across the pool with little assistance was quite impressive!! Madelyn just soaks up everything and has started to read. She just loves to do the things that Drew is doing. Madelyn is growing up so much. I can hardly believe she is 4. Just the other week she impressed me so much at how well she took care of Hannah when I was at Drew's new school filling out a bunch of papers. She was right there saving Hannah from terrorizing the school's library, etc. She is a joy to have in our family.

Hannah has changed so much of course in the last year. She started out brown haired and is now a blondie for one. She has beautiful blue eyes and a charming personality. She is quite fun to have around. She loves her brother and sister and being a big girl. Some of Hannah's favorite things: her blanky, babies, pomegranates--seriously, the male gender--she will randomly walk up to male strangers and act like she has known them forever, and undecorating our Christmas tree to name a few. She has started to say some words, but of course she says "blanky" very well. We love that little girl and are so happy to have her with us!!

As for Jed, this last little while has been like crunch time for us and he has put in so much time and effort into the house so we could be in by the holidays. He is such a great husband and provider. He really is my better three quarters!!

We do have a little announcement, if you will: We are expecting another little Denning to come into our home come early June! We are excited about our little growing family and hope all continues to go well with the baby. We have so much to be grateful for, but we are most grateful for this special time of year that we have to focus on the birth of the Savior and His great gift to us. We are so grateful for a knowledge of His love for us. That is what brings us so much joy!

"Let all within us praise His Holy name!"

Merry Christmas!!

Love,

The Denning Family

S.L. Part II--if you're still interested

Here is another activity section for children. This one was in the Church History Museum. It was perfect. They had an area where they could build temples with fancy blocks, dress up in manger scene clothes, they had CTR stencils in a million languages, a pretend hospital nursery with dolls etc., and here and Drew and Madelyn drawing stained glass window pictures that you can hang up on the lighted board. Madelyn colored about 15 window pictures! We stayed here for quite awhile!

We were able to go on tours of the Humanitarian Center as well as Welfare Square. They were absolutely amazing. I had never been to either of them. First of all, did you know that 85% of all we donate to Deseret Industries is given to those in need? That's only 15% that stays in the stores! They had these HUGE blocks of compressed clothing that they just ship overseas or wherever the need is. Before we went into either facility, they start the tour with a video. The video and the tour are just very inspiring. All of us are so rich. Even when we don't have much according to the worlds standards. We have more than we deserve. In one of the videos it showed that a mother had a new baby and they didn't have anything. In fact, the baby was wrapped up in newspapers to keep warm. It also showed a family that lived in a car. Those things made an impact on my children. We teach them about gratitude and about how we are so blessed and have so much that others aren't able enjoy, but this brought it to life for them. It just made me want to go on a Humanitarian Mission and bring my whole family along!

Here is a huge pallet of Beef Stew ready to be shipped out from Welfare Square. Welfare Square was also quite impressive. I couldn't believe how much bread they were baking!! They have a whole store where people who go through a sort of qualifying process are able to go and pick out what they need. All of the things they do there are funded by Fast Offerings. Amazing. And pretty much everything in the store is made by the church. Even those that were working at these centers were in a training program so that they could move forward and search for a job to provide for their families. It was amazing to see and I know that our religion is a religion of action. After our tour we were able to sample church cheese, church chocolate milk, and church bread. Pretty good!

We went to a park in downtown Salt Lake that we had been to a few years earlier. It had a spray park and the kids were able to let loose and cool down! Of course I wasn't allowed to stay dry there either!

Here is our family posing in front of an Ellis Island backdrop. Some other fun things we did were: visited This is the Place, we got to go to the top of the Church Office building, went to a bluegrass concert at a park not far from our condo, visited the Church History Library--way cool too. At the library I was able to call down a microfilm from one of my great-grandpas that was converted to the gospel shortly after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. He knew Brigham Young and was part of the Mormon Batallion. He was an amazing man and I was able to see his journal writings in HIS handwriting. I have it typed up and bound in a book, but it was especially neat to see it firsthand.

We all had a good trip! Thank you Grandma for letting us stay with you!! It was a memorable and meaningful experience.

Our Mini Vacation!

Our family went on a little excursion....over a month ago.....to Salt Lake. We had a really fun time and were able to do lots of interesting and fun things!! We were able to have Jed's Grandma come with us and that made the trip extra special. We stayed in a Condo down there and Grandma insisted on sleeping on the couch. We tried to get her to take the room, but she was immovable. Drew and Madelyn wanted to "camp out" with Grandma in the living room, so they were able to have some good late night chats!! :)

We didn't waste any time when we were there, we were constantly going. Grandma was amazing and always said she was doing just fine! We took tours of several of the buildings there, this picture is of little exhausted Hannah and I on top of the Conference Center. That building is SO impressive. The gardens on top of the building have grown so much since the last time I saw them. I've taken a tour of the building before, but you learn new things every time and just get re-amazed.

In a couple of the buildings we toured they had children's play areas. This is the one at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Hannah loved this little red car, it's not the best picture, but it shows her enthusiasm! While we were at this building we watched the amazing film "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration." We also learned about and got to play around with the new family search program. Amazing!! It shows your family line with all the information INCLUDING whether they have had all their temple work done. Everything is in ONE place! It hasn't quite made it to our area yet, but we are anxiously awaiting!

As for this picture, just call me Robert Boyd! Ha!

We got to ride the Tram downtown to go to the Gateway Mall. The ride over there was a blast. The kids loved it, they were so excited to ride the "train." Grandma had always wanted to ride the Tram too. At the Gateway Mall they have a lot of outdoor water fountains that you can play in. The kids had a lot of fun, and of course Jed wouldn't let me stay dry!! It felt great to cool off!

Drew's favorite part of the whole trip was getting to touch the temple, seriously!! If you ask that is what he will tell you. It was fun to see the temple because we had been reading about church history for months and had been teaching the kids some of the things we learned. It was neat because the temple meant something to them. Did you know at one of the S.L. Temple dedication a woman delivered a baby in the temple? That was one of the crazy facts we learned in one of our FHE lessons. The baby was blessed in the temple later and named "Joseph Temple Bennett." :)

It was such an amazing trip. We're so glad we were able to go. It is just so nice to get away and do fun things with the family, even if it is just a few hours away!!