The Nordfelt's

We closed on a home today. We are first-time homeowners! Just thought I would share our exciting news!

My friend Anthony Meyer is the coolest guy and let Kye and I stay at he and his wife's place for Friday night. He picked us up from our hotel and basically became our personal tour guide. (He lives just four miles from the pentagon). We ate dinner in Georgetown at the delicious Pizzeria Paradiso. So good. Just so everyone knows, I didn't spare one calorie on this vacation! Back to our evening... Afterward we went and saw the Iwo Jima memorial. Then we went and took a mini tour of the National Cathedral. My picture turned out horribly, so I put borrowed one from the web. :) Saturday morning we were up bright and early! We drove past the White House for a photo and then headed to the Nations Capitol to take a tour. It was so awesome! I am loving all this history! When we were done with our tour, we took the underground tunnel to go to the Library of Congress. There was an awesome exhibit dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. Kye and I on 'M' street in Georgetown National Cathedr...

After the Library of Congress, we headed to Ford's Theatre. What a horrible way for such a great man to die. For lunch...Ben's Chili Bowl! If you go to D.C., this is the place to go and maximize your calories for a week! You wait in such a huge line, you would think you were at Disneyland. President Obama has even eaten there! Oh man, every bite was so delicious. It's the best chili cheeseburger and cheese fries I've ever eaten. We were all sick when we were done. Go big or go home, I guess. Anthony Meyer, Kye and I Here is the hotel we stayed in: The Gaylord National. Yes, it's beautiful. Yes it was glorious. Yes, it was like getting robbed if you tried to buy anything there. This was such an amazing trip! Thank you mom for graciously donating your sky miles for this trip! And to Keysha, Nicole, Heidi, Mandy and mom...thanks for babysitting. You were a lifesaver!

This morning we took an on-and-off tour of the the National Mall and the monuments. We knew there was going to be a celebration for Lincoln's birthday, but it was over by 8:30. Oops, didn't know that. That is OK, we still enjoyed it. I loved looking out toward the Washington Monument. I loved standing where Martin Luther King JR did when he gave his "I have a Dream" speech. It was emotional. I want my children to come here and see this. I want them to learn from seeing the real thing like I am. (There is a great movie PBS did on MLK. It's called Citizen King. You can check it out at the library) . Next we stopped at Arlington Cemetery. We watched the changing of the guards. We saw JFK's grave. We loved every minute of it.

We jumped off the bus by the White house. We couldn't get very close because the Obama's were coming or going. We had a lunch apt with old friends so we couldn't watch to see their vehicles pass by. It could have been an hour or more. Lunch was delicious! I am now in love with Indian cuisine! After lunch we headed to the Natural History Museum to see the Hope Diamond. Then we were off to the American History museum to spend a couple of hours. There is a lot going on in those museums! You can only handle so much. Around 4:30, it was time to go back. When we went outside, the wind was blowing so hard and it was cold! The news said there were wind gusts up to 65 MPH. It was another terrific day! Carlos, Kye, and Hani The Hope Diamond Kye looking at WWII stuff. Abraham Lincoln's suit Here we are waiting for our shuttle. We were so cold and the wind was crazy. It almost knocked the camera out of my hand.

Today I went to the Holocaust Museum by myself. I was there for 2.5 hours. It was something else. It was horrific. I've seen "Schindler's List", I've read a few books, but I wasn't expecting all of that. I was near tears from the horror, but also near tears because I felt overwhelmed and so lucky that I wasn't a prisioner in a concentration camp. I feel sorry for those millions of people whose "lot" was to be starved, tortured, worked to death, and eventually exterminated. It's hard for me to understand why that was allowed to happen. I don't pretend to understand why most things happen, but I know the Lord has a plan. I later spent an hour in the National Archives building. I saw the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, and many more historical documents. I'm telling you right now I should have paid more attention in history class. This stuff is cool! I am excited to learn more about it. Tomorrow is ...

We haven't wasted anytime so far in D.C. Kye is here for a CADCA conference (google it) and is learning new things to help with his coalition to fight prescription drug/alcohol abuse in Utah county. All the people at the conference, from around america, met with their congressmen on Capital Hill today. We met with Jim Matheson and Jason Chaffetz. We (I say "we" but I really mean the UT county group) talked to them about not cutting prevention dollars. There were a group of high school kids that were really passionate about it. Several of them were motivated from family members abusing substances and they shared their stories with Jim. I was so impressed with them. Utah is not the only place with a drug problem. It is everywhere. We need to do something about it. Afterward we went and walked through the Supreme Court Building, the Library of Congress, and a couple of the Senate Buildings. All were very impressive. We are looking forward to going to many museums tomorrow. I...

Katelin: She is healthy, happy, and got a new haircut! Can we all say "Amen"! It's taken a long time of convincing, but she decided she wanted it cut short. I think she looks so cute. She is currently in a dance class and loves it! She isn't as much coordinated (yet) as she is adorable! It makes it worth it to see her smile while she is dancing! She is every mother's dream! She insists on changing poopy diapers, making bottles, and feeding the baby. She also likes to bring me breakfast in bed. Just the other morning she brought me toast in bed with 4 TBSP of butter on it. Who wouldn't want that!! KC: Did you know that the "C" in KC stands for "Cough"? I think it's going to be permanent. He just had his 4-year well check and he has grown ONE INCH since NOVEMBER and has lost two pounds. His Body Mass Index is 0.9%! (it should at least be 50%) His Dr. put him on a healthy, high fat diet, which consists of downing Carnation Instant Break...

1/27 UPDATE: Kye, Me, AND the baby got it Sunday to Monday! Glorious! The past 24 hours I have been taking care of two sick kids. By taking care of them I mean cleaning up vomit that seemed to get on everything including Katelin and her bed, on the wall, down on the carpet and under the bed. We threw her in the bathtub, washed it out of her hair and proceeded to start the first load of laundry. She was feeling better and fell asleep on the couch. We were still cleaning up when she puked again all over the couch, herself and the rest of her blankets that she hadn't puked on her bed. After getting her out of her jammies and cleaning her up again she crawled into our bed and fell asleep. This time I got a bucket. Two seconds after I crawled into bed next to her she started throwing up in our bed and it never made it to the bucket. So, now we have more sheets and mattress covers to wash. Katelin throws up eight more times, every half hour through the night. at 4 AM Kye trades me places...

They were all I wanted for Christmas. I guess they will have to wait until next year.

Kye came home earlier today and made a snow fort with the kids. The gorgeous sunset was the their backdrop while they worked. I think it's very comparable to Arizona sunsets.

Christmas was really exciting! We started new traditions this year. On Christmas Eve at Uncle Dave's, all the kids decorated Christmas cookies for Santa. At my parents house we held a Christmas day talent program. It was neat. Everyone participated. I know everyone's favorite was a tie between Heidi and my duet and Jason's "Limerick and interpretive dance". Heidi and I have been playing "Sleigh Ride" every Christmas since I was a sophomore in HS. Some people in my family are starting to protest against it. Grandma Joyce made costumes for all and we acted out the nativity story. Afterward we headed over to be with the Nordfelt's. We had our annual Prime Rib dinner. Kirtly is the master meat maker. He should be on the Food Network for one of their BBQ cook offs. He would win, hands down! The little boys got toy shotguns from grandpa. They spent the morning pretending to shoot clay pigeons. They are grandpa's future hunting buddies. Overall, our ...

Kye and I both had opportunities to see great friends from Highschool. Friday night we met in Heber with some of Kye's old friends. Saturday afternoon we met at my mom's house with some of my old friends. It is always so good to see old friends. You know they are good friends when you can get together once a year and it feels like you saw them yesterday. Matt, Kye and Tony-need I say more? Matt and Jordan with Fischer and Sophie; Tony and Amy with Sydney and Dante; Kye and myself with our three. Tristie and her family, Glenn and his family, Justin Cherry, Sara Borg and the little girl she nannies, and my family. Just like old times, Joyce had a feast prepared for all my friends. Hopefully we can get together next year as well!

This picture is for all of our friends in Goodyear. It's right about now we really miss you.

When you got it, you got it. And I have it. People couldn't keep their eyes off of me. Even the waitress agreed...I had the worst sweater at the party last night, and I won the free slice of chocolate mousse pie. It was fun to be with friends, eat delicious food, wear ugly sweaters, and exchange white elephant Christmas presents. Thanks for putting it together Lacey! And thanks to you (you know who you are) who let me borrow your sweater :) Here I am with my pie and sweater in all of their glory. Here we are. We couldn't find a sweater for Kye so I FORCED him to pin this penguin on his shirt. He had it covered for most of the night. Kye picked the best white elephant. Nate's old cast from the 6th grade. Nate broke his arm trying to dunk the basketball. He saved it just for this moment in the future. Other gifts included: expired rogaine, an edition of the Millard County cookbook, used lotion, Kenny Rogers Christmas DVD, and an old bar of soap. Here we are! Nate and Lace...

Look at this kid! Now don't let this cute smile fool you! Behind that two-toothed grin is a little monster who likes to scream every night. It's not your usual scream either. It's a high pitched, I-can't-believe-he-still-has-a-voice kind of scream that gets under your skin after one minute of it, and his lasts at least an hour. I am not exaggerating. I've been sick for about 10 days now. Yesterday morning I was feeling a little better, but towards the evening I was feeling gross again. I couldn't fall asleep until midnight due to coughing and dry throat. At 12:30, Kanyon starts screaming. Around 1:15 I finally get up and nursed him. We have let him cry it out for the past two weeks, but last night I couldn't handle it anymore. I asked him in a stern voice why he insists on screaming every night. AH! The kid eats all day long. I feed him lean proteins and a variety of other things that I am sure will hold him over. I always top him off with ...

Every year we get to go to my mom's to make gingerbread houses and to visit with Santa. The kids are unusually off-the-wall and giddy. Their excitement fades to fear when Santa walks in, shakes his jingle bells, and hollers "HO HO HO!" It's funny to see the tears. They get over it quickly, however, when it comes time to tell Santa what's on their list. Katelin was picked to be Rudolph this year. You gotta love the blinking nose! I love this picture. Merry Christmas everyone!