It's About Time!!

I know, I know, I keep saying I'm going to be better about this and write more frequently. I will, I've just been lazy. It's certainly not from a lack of time. Things are busy here, but not that busy! We're finally back into our normal routine with school back in session. After some yucky colds right around Christmas, we got everyone all better for about 2 weeks! Tess and Owen are now down with colds again. We need cold season to be over! At least through all of this I haven't gotten sick.

Porter is loving that school is back in session. He continues to do well and just got a report card last Friday with all high marks. He's our brain child. We're still trying to figure out where he gets it from - it's certainly not from either one of us! We keep telling eachother that we need to save every penny we have for the tuition at Harvard for him!

Tess, despite her little sniffles, is still in charge and running her kingdom here at home. She is the princess and the president all rolled into one. Girly and tomboy all at the same time. She loves playing with her dress-ups, but thoroughly enjoys putting on all of the construction stuff and playing at her "jobsite" (which is porter's tool bench.) She does have a kitchen in her bedroom, but she seems to be taking on her mommy's traits of minimal cooking! She's looking forward to her birthday on February 6th. She'll be 3!

Owen, aka "Chocolate Thunda", is doing well even though he's gotten quite a bad cough. He loves playing with the kids and gets especially excited when Porter gets home from school. His new favorite thing to do is taking a bath. He loves to sit and play with the bathtub toys and he screams when you take him out of the tub. We've recently wised up and took anything remotely in resemblance to a cup or a bucket out of the tub. I was having a hard time getting him to take his evening bottle, when it dawned on me one day that he has his bath right before bedtime. He was drinking the bath water! Not only is that totally nasty, it was filling up his belly.

Brandon is doing well and has been super busy at work. They finally had a big pow wow with the owner's of the Mayo clinic to get him the info he needed to get this building done. So, he's now on track to finish it the end of March. Stay tuned for our next location! We've been told it may be Denver, but you never know till the last minute, so we'll see!

I'm doing fine, although I'm deeply disappointed that I have to wait ALL THE WAY UNTIL Jan 31st for the season opener of Lost. I just assumed it would start at the beginning of January and then found out the tragic news........At least the Biggest Loser is on - my favorite show ever! One of my new year's resolutions was to do a triathlon this year, so I've been trying to get ready for that. My body is killing me and I'm trying to remember that this is a cool goal and that I need to stick with it!

We took the kids to Mesa last Sunday to see Barb's parents. We hadn't seen them since last March, so it was fun to hang out and catch up. They have a home in Renton, WA, but spend their winters here in Arizona. We love visiting with them. They are such an inspiration to us about beign physically active and healthy. They are in their 80's and still running track, playing golf and Gill plays in a softball league!

That's about it here in Mitchell land. I'll be sure to write more soon!

Happy New Year!

Well, we hope everyone has started the new year with a bang! I'm sure a plethora of resolutions are in the works and the motivation level is high! It is here - we'll see how long it lasts! We had a wonderful Christmas with my grandparents and our little family here. The kids loved all of their presents. We took everyone to the Mesa Temple Christmas night to see all of the Nativity scenes they had on display and the lights outside. It was really pretty and the kids throughouly enjoyed it.

Porter has been off from school and it's been fun to have him home. I've enjoyed not lugging everyone around to the school twice a day! He got a guitar from Santa and has started his lessons with Brandon. He's so excited to learn. He is getting antsy to return to school. He loves all the fun learning and projects he does there. We've done some fun things here, but it's not the same! He goes back on Monday.

Tess received a big dress-up chest from Santa and has been engrossed in her princess dresses and shoes (she got the shoes from Papa and Grandma) since Christmas day. We have to convince her every time we want to leave the house that she can't wear them in public! She also has to take her bath and get ready for the day in the morning before she can put one on! It's fun to see her all dressed up and walking around in her little outfits. The really funny part is when the shoes she's picked out don't match her dress and Porter informs her of it by bringing her the proper pair!

Baby Owen got a rocking Bull from Santa and has fun riding on it when he has some help. I think Santa saw it and simply couldn't resist it! He'll grow into it shortly. He loves having some new toys too. Aunty Melanie made him a new tie and he was decked to the nines for church on Sunday. He's finally over his ear infections and is feeling like his little self again. He so much fun and is growing like crazy. I can't believe he'll be one in just two months. Crazy how time flies.

Brandon and I are doing well. We REALLY enjoyed the holidays with the kids. It's so much fun watching them sqirm with anticipation and then see them squeel with pleasure when the moment finally occurs. Brandon tossed and turned all night long on Christmas eve. He finally leaned over at like 6 am and told me he was waking up the kids if they weren't up by 7! He did end up waking them up! We're loving this time in life with the kids.

We hope everyone is doing well and good luck setting your goals for the year!