Go Probiotics!

After 2 weeks gluten free, Mike was feeling better, but not great. So his sister suggested probiotics to help his small intestines heal. He's been taking them for three days, and he says he feels great! So we're really excited that he's feeling well.

Here's Natalie reading in a corner.
Carson asked me if he could take a snowball inside and watch it melt. So we did a little science experiment. This is an 8oz snowball, which took about 4.25 hours to completely melt at 68 degrees F.

Of course, here it is melted. Carson was pretty excited about that.

This is our family snowman. Mike was the one rolling the snowballs, so of course they were huge. We had to knock off a lot of snow before we could stack them, and even then we had to use a board for a ramp and roll the snowballs up the ramp to get them on the snowman!

Natalie in the snow!

Mike, Natalie, and Carson with our very tall snowman.

Michelle, Natalie, and Carson with the snowman. Notice the ramp leaning against the house in the background.

And lastly, here are my adorable kids, sitting in the washing machine!

Learning To Ride

Carson Is 3!

First of all, the gluten-free diet is going well. Mike feels moderately better now, though he's still not 100%. From what I hear, it takes a couple of months for the small intestines to heal, if he really does have celiac, so we're still waiting to see. The diet is easier to live with than I feared, and we even got to have pizza last week! Carson's cake was gluten free, and it was so good! You'd never know it was gluten-free, and it was so moist. Anyway, I want to thank everyone for the huge amount of support as we started this diet. I honestly don't know what outcome we'll decide, but it means a lot to me to know that you all care. A special thanks to my mom, who I know will have to make the most changes if we stick with the diet. She has been our biggest supporter, and she's already planning on totally changing her cooking for us when we visit. So thanks, Mom.

And now, about Carson's birthday. Mike and I decided he was old enough for a bike, and I guess it was the right choice, because he's been riding that thing every minute he can. I have let him keep it in the kitchen for now, so he can practice (it's too cold outside), and he's always on it. He can already pedal, brake, and steer like a pro. I'm amazed at how quickly he's learned. He loves to get Grandma and Grandpa on the web cam and ride back and forth for them to watch. I made him a Lightning McQueen cake (gluten-free) for his birthday, and then he had his friends come over this morning for a party, and they had an orange sherbet ice cream cake. Needless to say, it went over better than cake usually does with kids. Caron's been waiting for his birthday since Natalie's in November, so he was thrilled to finally have his turn. He came into my room first thing in the morning and said, "Mom, it's my birthday!" We love having Carson in our home!

Update on Mike

Life is busy for us once again with the new year, though it's not quite as carefree as last January was. We are doing a series of dietary experiments to help Mike's health. His sister recently learned she has Celiac, and the more we learned the more Mike's own health seems very similar to Celiac symptoms. He saw a doctor about it, and the doc suggested we try a few different diets and see if something helps. We could get him tested, but man is that expensive! So we're conducting our own experiment instead. Last week we were lactose free, which produced a slight improvement, but definitely not the whole problem. So this week we are going gluten free. What a pain, let me tell you. You'd never realize how much wheat you really eat until you try to TOTALLY cut it from your diet. It is going to be an interesting week. If it turns out Mike feels much better, then I'll be completely redoing our meals to fit his needs. Since it's genetic, there's a chance that my kids have it too. Hopefully nobody does, but time will tell. So wish me luck with this whole gluten-free thing. I'm going to need all the help I can get!

Here are a few pictures of the kids and their activities lately. We made a gingerbread house together. Mike insisted that it would be a simple one, since he didn't want to get too involved. So here is an engineer's idea of simple! If it had been me, it would be 4 square walls with a flat roof!

This is the kids in an attempt at playing twister. They had a great time, but I finally concluded they are still a little young for actually playing the game.

Bear Lake

We had a good time at Bear Lake with Mike's family after Christmas. They rented a large house there, and we filled it with 13 adults and 9 children. We went snowmobiling, skiing, sledding, and we even threw an early surprise birthday party for Mike's grandpa who turned 92 (or was it 93?). Several of Mike's cousins came from close by to party with us, so the house was really full on Sunday afternoon. Thanks again for doing this for us, Loyce! We had so much fun!

Carson sledding

Carson, Andrea, and Abbey sledding

Carson and Mike snowmobiling Mike and a beautiful view of the lake

Michelle and that same gorgeous view

This is the Paris Tabernacle, that we passed on our way to and from the Lake. It was a neat structure, and since my husband is into that kind of thing (go figure), we stopped for a picture.

Christmas Day

Okay, these are from Christmas Morning. Carson got a Monster Truck Jeep with a remote control from Santa, and Mack Truck from mom and dad, and he was so excited! Natalie got a little people doll house (somehow we didn't get a picture of that one) from Santa, and a new xylophone from mom and dad. She was pretty happy about her new toys, too.

All in all, it was a great Christmas. The kids got more toys and candy than they need, as did Mike and I. We really enjoyed our first Christmas in our own home, and we're looking forward to doing it that way many more times. What a joy!

Christmas Eve

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Eve. Mike got home from work a couple of hours early, so we all went sledding in the backyard. Then we got dressed in "authentic" clothing worn when Jesus was born. We had our "Back to Bethlehem" dinner, followed by our very own skit of the Christmas story and sang Christmas songs. We had a great time! Of course when I uploaded my pictures, I did them backwards, so here they are in reverse order. More pictures of Christmas Day and our trip to Bear Lake coming soon!

Cute!

I just had to post these, because they're so cute!

Busy

Well, life is extra crazy right now, but we're hanging in there. My children's choir has their Christmas Concert tonight. Then I have group lessons for my students tomorrow and a recital next Wednesday night. Our ward choir is singing at a stake thing on Sunday night, and then we're doing a bunch of songs in church on the 21st. Mike's company party was two nights ago, and it was lots of fun. To top off our busy schedule, we all have colds! The kind that lasts for weeks. I am hoping that we are almost done with our turn being sick, but at least we all get to do it at the same time and be done! Anyway, my mom and dad took all the Thanksgiving pictures, so I don't have any to post right now. But here are some other pictures from the last couple of weeks.
We went out and cut down our very first real Christmas Tree last weekend. It was lots of fun. There was no snow, but I think that actually made it easier. We found our perfect tree, and after Mike cut it down he had to take a couple of feet off before we took it home. Then we took it inside, and it was still huge! Too big to fit where we wanted it, because of course the ceiling is lower there. So Mike had to take a lot more off. So here is Mike before the tree fit in the house.

Here are some pictures of us with the tree.

We took Roscoe, so here he is in the back of the truck with the tree.

Here's Mike carrying the tree back to the truck. What a buff guy!

Mike cutting down the tree.

This is the branch where Carson put all of the ornaments. At one point he had so many on this branch that it just about touched the ground.

Our first real Christmas tree.

Here is a random picture of Natalie, trying to carry a ball in her mouth.

Mike on his birthday.

He asked for a German Chocolate Cake, but Carson really thought it should be decorated, so we added the words, and Carson said it needed a "sink" and so here is my pitiful attempt at drawing a kitchen sink on a cake with frosting.

Happy Holidays! Everyone have a great Christmas.