Jensen has learned to stand up and boy is it trouble. He pulls himself up on everything, passers-by, chairs, pant legs boxes and THE RADIATOR! It is only hot half the time so it is hard for him to remember this is not the best object to stand up on. He will learn- eventually. Dave LOVES it when Jensen gets a nice firm grip on Dave's leg/ arm hair and twists as he pulls himself up. Jensen loves his dad:)

Our whole family lucked out when our next door neighbors moved in. I get to hang out with Mandy and have adult conversations during the day. Dave gets to play video games with Ty, and Jensen gets to play with Ivan. Ivan is two months younger so Jensen ends up unintentionally being the bully. He just likes touching his friends face so much he doesnt realize he is gouging Ivan's eyes. Ivan seems to still like Jensen despite the eye mutilation.

Jensen stuck under the laundry basket.

Final Barrand Family Photo

So for the last Barrand Family group picture we had two missionaries so we did cannibals roasting the missionaries. With the help of photo shop and moms sewing skills it turned out pretty fun. Next year mom and dad will be all alone as birds in a large empty nest. Everybody breath a sigh- for it is the end of an era. Thanks mom and dad it was fun. I don't think anybody will soon be forgetting the Barrand's Christmas pictures.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break. I feel feel so blessed. I got to spend a fantastic Christmas with our little family. Dave got me a bookcase. I was so excited I made Dave rearrange our whole apartment. And the poor man was just recovering from a whole week of being sick. I am so grateful for a patient husband who loves me enough to do that.

The day after Christmas we jumped in the car for a marathon trip to Colorado for the Barrand Christmas. We just barely squeezed in the middle of two storms that dumped over six feet of snow on Colorado.

Everybody was there except Don, who graduated from Marines training camp this week, and
Tiana, who is serving her mission in Virgina. The week was filled with gift giving and TONS of food and the "Train Game" ( Excellent game the real name is Empire Builder). We played it so much last year dad got the European version this year. A couple of times we had both games going at once. Its a fun game and the Barrands highly recommend it!

Dave and I both asked for nothing but clothes, because neither of us had actually purchased clothes since we got home from our missions almost three years ago. We got a pretty good haul, and probably won't buy clothes for another three years.

The best part of the week was going to the temple with Austin. He will be leaving on his mission at the end of January to Toronto. He got to get his endowments while we were all there. It was so special and wonderful to sit in the temple with all of the family and be reminded of the eternities.

Some of our New Years goals are-
1. Get rid of Dave's ulcer - we have to eat low fat, low spice, low taste food for it to heal:)
2. Improve Scripture Study
3. I'm going to write a Church magazine article about my sickness experience.
4. Prepare our Sunday School lesson earlier in the week
5. Pay off debt and save more
6. Make some good sales for IXG.

I just wanted to let everyone know how much I love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We are so blessed. I know the atonement is real and we can all be healed from any hurt or pain. I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is truly God's church. He is at the head and is always aware of us. I know I will be with my family forever. I am so thankful for those blessings.

Love you all
Danica