DISNEYLAND!!!!

you heard it right!! and is it weird that now i feel like a legitimate family because we've been? DisneyLand (and California Adventure) has done something (business-wise) right to make me feel that way because i'm sure i'm not the only one who does and that's why were weren't even close to the only family there! :)

of course it was magical! i got all teary as walked in and strolled down main street and might have even shed a tear at the end of the party parade. it was a fun filled weekend of exhaustion and fun.

many, many, many thanks to the staff of hotel Garder for being the best hosts ever! we loved experiencing it all with the "cast members" themselves, staying up way later than we meant to every night talking and watching em and russ russ fall deeper in love... hehe. we love you guys so much.

britt's favorite ride: soarin' over california
aaron's favorite: soarin' over california and space mountain
emery's favorite: she says "peter pan", though i'd argue that she loved the tea cups and dumbo just as much
van's favorite: the nap in the baby bjorn ride - 5 times in 2 days. poor kid. he was an absolute angel the whole time.

magical!

totally swept off my feet

happy moms, confused emery, russell in love

dad and van on dumbo

if a ride was too dark or too loud it was NOT em's favorite

it's a small world afterall....

van's favorite ride

em in the conga line at the end of the party parade

yar!!!

where's van?

em helping us spin on the teacups

eating her deliciously healthy lunch at california adventure - packets of ketchup. i think this is part of what made it magical for her. it was a dream come true.

one of emery's favorite california adventure features - the benches with the holes where she could sneak her fingers up through

two deliriously tired kids. they kept laying down on the ground


i can't resist his cuteness. hopefully emery won't be able to either someday.

awww....

russ is going to be such a good big brother next month. van was happy to be his practice baby!

loves from van.

and i post this video because DisneyLand taught me an important parent lesson: let your kid stop and smell the roses if they want to. at the end of our DisneyLand day we'd been hurrying to get more fun in and emery was just done being hurried. she just wanted to stroll down main street, one foot on either side of the train tracks and just enjoy the end of her day. look how happy she was! good lesson - thanks, Emery. Thanks, DisneyLand!

mommy's little turtle

aaron and i say that every kid reminds us of an animal. it can be the way they look or the way they act. Emery is a squirrel - by how she acts, not how she looks. we finally discovered what van is (at least what he looks like - not how he acts). the turtle from Robin Hood has met his twin.



here are a few reasons i love my little buddy Van:

• he's a crowd pleaser. he had multiple Albertsons employees this morning praising him for his cuteness. he will laugh and giggle and smile for anyone who will love him.
  
• he is so cuddly. Em has never cuddled. i love bribery, even when it comes from heaven. it's a deal, Heavenly Father, i'll have lots more.
  
• he's not a complainer. when i have him sitting up and he falls on his face, he doesn't even whine. when Em is squishing him he thinks it's funny. he's just a happy kid.
• his hair is growing in fuzzy and bright blonde - just like his daddy's was.
  

here he is sitting up. he can do this for pretty long periods of time, but his arms get tired and he ends up face planting... which, again, doesn't bother him. :) i love this kid.



p.s. he's getting a tooth/teeth, too. i'll cry when it pokes it's way through, just like i did with Emery. i love the toothless smile. did i mention my kids teeth early? em is done getting teeth and she just turned 2 (including 3 year molars). she just has to start loosing them now. silly kids that insist on growing up. :(

fun with Grandma and more

we were lucky enough to have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Wilkinson last week (and aunt amy and chelsey for a night!). my kids sure love their Grams and Pas. i love how Emery really knows them individually and does really different things with each of them and loves them all a little differently. i feel so blessed that all 4 are so close with my kids.

grandma definitely spoiled us. here's some of the fun we had!!

van is the most giggly kid i know!!

and don't mind the husband/wife scuffle at the end. ha. aaron married a spunky wife. glad he loves me in spite of myself. :)

In case I don't have your email...

Here's our 2010 Wilkinson Family New Years Letter... hot off the presses (and 1 month late!) With pics we included at the bottom. And everyone keeps asking who took our lovely family pictures - that would be my mom with her fancy shmancy camera and a little bit of location inspiration from her best friend Dana. We were super happy with them! Thanks mom (and Dana)!

In 2009 together, we:

• lived in 3 difference citites - Provo, Cedar City and Las Vegas.
  
• took our 1st trip without kid(s) - to Arches National Park.
• welcomed our baby boy in October.

Aaron:

• finished his Bachelors degree at BYU and his Master's degree at SUU.
• found a new passion for biking and rode his first century ride (111 miles around Utah Lake).
• accepted his dream job with Deloitte for fall 2010 and an internship with Southwest Gas in the mean time.

Britt:

• worked as a mommy, property manager and did editing work for a professor at BYU.
• gave birth to baby #2. If they're all like this delivery I'd have a dozen.
  
• kept her family well fed and blogged about it at http://skinnybovineskitchen.blogspot.com.

Emery (2 years old):

• learned to walk like a 2 year old and talk like an adult.
  
• loves bugs, nursery (her church class), Dora the Explorer, Peter Pan, Snow While, anything with sugar and her "Grandmas" and "Pas".
  
• has a lovely singing voice and has committed several songs to memory - ABCs, Twinkle twinkle little star, Away in a Manger and I Am a Child of God.

Van (2 months old):

• was born!
• learned to smile, laugh, love his family (especially his sister) and dislike his carseat.
• got lots happier when mom figured out he's dairy intolerant. :)

We have been so blessed this year and are very excited (and maybe a little bit apprehensive) to be moving out of the "school" phase and into the "adult" phase. Luckily, with as much Peter Pan roll playing as we do around our house, we'll never really grow up. We love you all and wish you a happy 2010!

Aaron, Britt, Emery & Van Wilkinson

picture catch up

in order - least recent to most recent.

cute Emery reading to her brother in her crib after a nap. they laid in there together for 1/2 an hour. there is nothing better than watching my kids love each other.

emery with a 103+ fever. tired mom. hungry van. what will i do when i have 3 kids? 4? 5?

Aaron's biggest chalk bag batch to date. all while finishing his masters and helping take care of a wild squirrel and a new baby. he's my hero.

Great Grandpa Wimmer bouncing Emery and singing the song he sings to all the grandkids. it's still a magical song for me when i see him do it and i'm 25. :)

family Thanksgiving hike

we loved the beach with Bekah and Russ-Russ. and yes, we were terribly far from the sand. it was just awful. :)

fun in the tub. russ is the funniest, most fun loving kid ever. oh, russell, you'd like to marry emery? of course! we'll take you!

Van and the beach winds didn't really get along. nice bubbles, buddy.

Van's 1's plane ride - cool sunset, eh?

em was a little wild on the plane ride home from the beach - thanks for coming with us to tame the wild squirrel, Grandpa

"uhhh, mom, help. are you trying to let her kill me?"


Em's super cute friend Aiden in Cedar - taught her how to dip her graham crackers in milk. love him. obviously she does too. look at her smile at him.

Em's cute little BFF Skye in Cedar - these girls were nothing but the cutest friends on the planet. Skye is adorable. and her parents are equally as wonderful. we miss them like crazy.

emery's lovely smile for her requested "green eggs and ham" breakfast. she gobbled it up.

Van's favorite nap spot while we were in Orem for Christmas - on Auntie Amy

Emery wouldn't hold still for a picture with us at the Eve Eve bonfire, so here are the rest of us.

with Grandpa at the Eve Eve bonfire

one of the angels in the Christmas Eve nativity - complete with yelling "Away in a Manger" and "Joy to the World", stomping and dancing all over the stage and finally, flashing the audience. is it just me or is her halo a little crooked?

Christmas morning shot!

"hey, it's Christmas, and i'm fat. what's it to ya?"

favorite Christmas present - huge princess stickers that mom didn't ration. she used them all in 5 minutes. :)

1st playing in the snow - with her snowman! she now asks to build snowmen in Las Vegas.

exercises with auntie amy

best 2 year old birthday party ever - a life-size Dora balloon, her family wearing Dora party hats, a Dora cake (see here), ice cream, soda, pizza. perfect.

"mom, why is my head so big? this is hard."

did i mention my son had a pony tail?...

not anymore - meet "the square German head" (term coined by his Great Grandpa Wimmer upon seeing the buzz)

emery's "fishy party" (think tea party with fish instead) with the 7 dwarfs

so sad when they turned off the neighborhood hot tub.... so they improvised. yes, Aaron is wearing a swim suit.

how Aaron found us upon returning home from work one day - being "fancy" (like Fancy Nancy). yes, Van is wearing a skirt. and leggings. and a bow.

grateful

just a few, simple things i'm grateful for today:

• music - i sang in the ward choir this morning and played piano in the primary. i love music and how much i felt the spirit today even though i missed most of sacrament meeting with poopy diapers and nursing and all of the rest of the meetings because i was in primary.
  
• soy - it's saving my dairy free life.
• a clean kitchen - it's my new favorite thing to wake up to
  
• big, healthy kids - had our 2 month (+ 3 weeks) and 2 year appointments this week. Van: 15lb5oz (95 percentile) and 25 inches (90 percentile). Emery: 28.15 lbs (78 percentile) 36 1/4 inches (95 percentile). we aren't very big people, but we sure do have big cute healthy kids and i'm thankful.
• toyota corollas - just bought our 4th one we've owned between the two of us. 1996, 109,000 miles - it's a beauty.
• sleep - i love Van's new sleeping habits. he only woke up once during the night most of the week. glory, glory, hallelujah.
  
• Aaron - my husband makes me seriously cute babies. i love this little man face.

where we've been

It's been a busy, crazy, wonderful 6 weeks (to say the LEAST). Here's where we've been and what we've been doing. Sorry there are no pictures - my computer doesn't want to read my memory card. Dang.

• spent Thanksgiving in LV with my whole Wimmer family, including my cousin Wyatt's baptism and my 1st jogs since having Van, and my 1st road bike ride. I'm hooked.
  
• sent Aaron back to Cedar to study while the kiddies and I spent a week at the beach with Grandma, my bf Bekah and Russ-Russ. Em and Russ-Russ were too cute. They're totally going to get married (their mommies hope...) And yes, I ran on the beach in 60 degree weather. I vote no snow in winter.
  
• Got a call from Aaron Saturday saying we should move the following Saturday. WHAT??
  
• Got home Monday, packed my house in 4 days.
• Got emergency help from mom when Em ended up with 103+ degree fever for 3 days while I was supposed to be packing my house to relocate my life to LV. Thanks, mom. I don't know what I'd do without you, as usual.
• moved to LV that planned Saturday with no flaws in the plan. Fastest move yet, lots of help. We'll really miss Cedar City and all of the friends we made there.
  
• went to our new ward Sunday (the ward I grew up in until we moved when I was 12 - still feels like home).
• Monday, Aaron got his paperwork and drug test done for his new job at Southwest Gas (his 8 month interim job until Deloitte this fall).
• drove to Orem that same Monday to live with mom and dad Wilk for 3 weeks so Aaron would help his dad with a project at his shop and make a few much needed bucks.
• Van and mom got sick. Boo. Mostly sad because we didn't get to see as many of our friends as we would have liked.
  
• Van made it to 2 months!
  
• Dinner with the Williamses and the Lunds. Love them. Can't wait for baby Millie (okay, that's just my vote, not her official name). She will be as beautiful and wonderful as her mom.
  
• Christmas week! Gingerbread men, cousins, sugar highs, sleepovers under the Christmas tree with Grandma, kids' nativity (Em was a seriously rowdy, flashing angel and Van was baby Jesus, of course) lots of presents and even more memories with our whole Wilkinson family. All 7 sibs and their fams made it for the event. It was magical.
• Made it through all of the holiday festivities with no tummy ache. Turn's out Van's anger issues (or colic, if you prefer), were simply a dairy intolerance. Did you know almost all Christmas treats have butter or cream?
  
• Celebrated my 25th birthday. In-N-Out (no cheese for my Van-Van) and shopping topped my cake. It's gotta be a good burger if it even tastes good without cheese.
  
• Hit my goal of running 3 miles again before the New Year. Did I mention I still detest running? Too bad it's so good for me.
  
• got to have Alisa play with us while her mommy had her baby brother. We love new baby Joseph Hyrum and his family. So glad we got to be the ones.
  
• Celebrated Emery's 2nd birthday. Dora cake (made by mom, thank you very much), life-sized Dora balloon, Dora party hats and lots of Emery's favorite people to celebrate with - Amy, Chelsey, Grandma and Pa.
  
• Aaron pulled an almost all-nighter at the shop the night before we left Orem.
• Cried when we left Orem for the last time.
• Drove to our new LV home on New Year's Eve and hit the Strip for the event. Oops. No, wait. We fell asleep at 7:30.
• Started the year right by going road biking with my dad. (Aaron and dad went mountain biking.)
• I rediscovered a new city full of cheap food. Cedar almost killed me. Filled both of my produce drawers and part of my counter for less than $12 at Sunflower Market.
  
• Aaron's started work. A working man. Wow - I thought we'd never make it. I overheard Aaron telling Emery what daddy does [for a living] and he told her "daddy makes money". That oughta go over well on Career Day in Kindergarten. On the other hand, I'm so thankful to have a husband who is so giddy over his opportunity to provide for our family.
• New bank accounts, car insurance, health insurance, new license plates, new licenses (eventually). We're all NV now.
  
• Celebrated Aaron's 27th birthday. I'm not sure why he loves BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes so much, but I just take orders in the kitchen on his bday.
  
• My daddy retired! So proud of him and Emery is thrilled that she moved here just in time for Pa to be a full-time Grandpa.
  

We're still trying to recover from sugar highs and sleep deprivation around here, but we're happy and glad to be settled in our new home... and we love 65 degree weather in January!

We love visitors, so come see us any time!