future NRA members

Well, what started as the family having some friendly block-building time soon turned to all-out war. You see, we have a boy in our family. We also have a three year old son. :) And anyone else who has little boys can probably relate when I tell you that there is constant gunfire going off in our house. I'm sure you can imagine the first thing that was built out of blocks. Evie and I couldn't help but join in, and I couldn't resist getting some pictures. Dallin made a pretty nice gun all by himself, and we found out that Evie makes the best machine gun noise that we've ever heard. Seriously. Then Jason went straight 'sniper' on us (see fourth picture) and hunted us down one by one. (Did my husband really just build an M-16 out of Duplo blocks?) After we all 'died', we had some yummy See's candy for dessert.

Brotherly/Sisterly Love

The following is a conversation that happened in the car today on the way to Grandma and Grandpa Nartker's house:

Evie: (babbling)

Dallin: Shhhhhh!

Evie: (continues to talk and babble)

Dallin: Shhhhh! Listen to the music!

Evie: No!

Dallin: Be quiet Evie.

Evie: (giggles)

Dallin: Shhhhhh!

20 seconds later....

Evie: Moo! (her new favorite sound)

Dallin: I am not a cow!

Evie: Mooooo!

Dallin: Mom! Tell Evie I'm not a cow!

After laughing hysterically to myself, this is where I finally stepped in and reassured Dallin that he was, in fact, a boy and not a cow, but that Evie was just making fun sounds and he should ignore her. I love being a mom.

Aunt Blossom & Uncle DeLorne's

Dallin had so much fun at Rose and Josh's, he was constantly running around their house, playing with NEW toys, dancing to music, and jumping off couches with his cousin Wes. I had to post a few of the boys jumping from couch to couch.




And what would a weekend away in Utah be without some funny lines from Dallin?

-At one of the rest stops in Nevada, Jason took Dallin to the bathroom. While they were in the stall, another guy came in and as he was leaving, Dallin said (very loudly) "Dad, why didn't that man wash his hands?!"

And here's one for Rose and Josh:

-Dallin had loved dancing to music at Rose and Josh's house all weekend (they usually had a playlist going all day long). I didn't realize how much he enjoyed it until we got home on Sunday and I overheard Dallin chanting "Womanizer, Womanizer, Womanizer.." over and over and over while he was dancing around the house. :)

Thanksgiving in Utah

We decided to make the trip out to Utah for Thanksgiving this year and we are so glad we did. Rose and Josh were more than kind to let us stay at their place and pretty much take over their house. We owe you guys for letting Evie sleep in Grace's crib...even when she was pulling Grace's hair all weekend! We had Thanksgiving dinner at John and Jenilyn's house, and we all thought it was the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner in Mixa history.

Some other things we did that weekend:

Went bowling with crying babies (we didn't use the babies to bowl with, they were just there, and they were crying), Cafe Rio, some Black Friday shopping, my cousin Chris's Eagle court of honor, dessert at Grandma and Grandpa Van's condo, Mabel's baby blessing, played Wacky 6, went to see Savior of the World at the conference center (awesome!), visited the biggest Dinosaur Museum in the world (I possibly loved it more than my kids), Mixa girls lunch at P.F. Changs, went up to campus at the Y, the three J's (Jason, Josh, John) went back to the bowling alley late at night and each bowled 5 games in their own lane (that's a little intense), Jason and I met up with one of his mission buddies, Matt Flanders and his wife Gina, for a late dinner in Salt Lake (which was so fun!), went to visit Brandon and Hillary and introduced Dallin to Dylan (and later when Dallin told me he wanted a baby brother next, I asked him what he wanted to name him...he of course, said Dylan), watched movies, stayed up late talking, laughing, playing games, etc.

The Mixa family after Mabel's blessing


Grace taking her first steps!


Cari and Alec getting baby hungry


Me and my sweet niece Mabel


Jason and Dallin at the blessing

Tagged

8 TV shows I love to watch
1. The Mentalist
2. The Biggest Loser
3. Survivor
4. The Office
5. Extreme Home Makeover
6. Lost
7. So You Think You Can Dance
8. The Bachelor!

8 Favorite restaurants
1. Carmelita’s
2. Fats
3. Costa Vida
4. Tahoe Joe’s
5. Olive Garden
6. El Torito
7. Outback
8. Jack’s

8 Things that happened today
1. Dallin helped me do the dishes
2. Did 3 loads of laundry
3. Started packing for our trip
4. Dallin threw a plastic cow at Evie’s face and got TV privileges revoked
5. Made sugar cookies
6. Listened to Christmas music
7. Cleaned the house
8. Read my scriptures

8 Things I'm looking forward to
1. Thanksgiving with my family!
2. Meeting my new niece Mabel
3. Getting my piano fixed (someday!)
4. Christmas!
5. Seeing temple square with all the lights on
6. Finishing the Book of Mormon by Christmas
7. Jason’s end-of-the-year bonus
8. Getting pregnant again

8 Things on my wish list
1. A new road bike
2. To find more energy
3. Trip to Disneyland
4. To not be sick this Christmas
5. More sleep
6. World peace
7. Books books books
8. More time to read books

8 People I'm tagging
1. Rose
2. Rose
3. Rose
4. Rose
5. Jenilyn
6. Jenilyn
7. Jenilyn
8. Jenilyn
(Now you guys really have to do it!)

I'm way behind..

Here's my attempt to catch up on my posting:


First of all, I am just now posting Halloween pictures (only a month late). My family came over for chili and cornbread and then we took the kids trick-or-treating down our street. Dallin loved it, even when it started pouring rain on us. :) And Cari and Alec get extra points for dressing up.





Two days later was stake conference, and Jason got a second calling: stake mission prep teacher. He teaches every other Sunday evening, along with his ward calling as the priest's quorum advisor.

Then, while we were at stake conference, we got a text (oops, what was Jason's phone doing on?) that my sister just had her baby two weeks early! Please welcome, Mabel Anne Petersen. She is absolutely adorable and we can't wait to meet her.



What else? Last week, I finally solved the dilemma of why Dallin was getting out of bed 15-20 times every night after we tucked him in and staying awake until 10:00. Dallin is officially done taking naps. And yes, I am still pouting over it. I didn't want to admit that it might be time because naptime, as we all know, is a special time for mommies. However, I had a really busy day one Tuesday and there was no time for his nap...and that night he went right to sleep, 8:00 on the dot, and stayed in bed until morning. I had to face reality and do away with the naps, although really, it is totally worth it because we don't have to spend two hours every night trying to get him to stay in bed.

Now, the biggest news of the last few weeks (and possibly the whole year for us Californians) is that Proposition 8 passed (hooray!) and all our hard work and prayers were answered. I spent so much time and hard work with this...putting our sign in the lawn each morning...bringing it in at night...it was exhausting. I mean, Jason did what he could, walking the precincts door-to-door for hours, spending an entire Saturday putting up door hangers all over Folsom....but I really took it to another level. :)

Last week was spent celebrating my Dad and Bethany's birthdays, which was really fun. We also celebrated Jason Tanner's birthday with a win for BYU and a big Tanner/Nartker barbecue, which is our favorite way to spend our Saturday nights.

At playgroup on Monday, three of my friends and myself decided to read the Book of Mormon by Christmas. So I got reading that night and was thinking, I am gonna have a hard time reading this much every night until Christmas, this took me two hours! My husband later reminded me that I was supposed to read 14 pages, not 14 chapters. That makes a big difference! He also told me not to tell anyone that I did that, but I couldn't help making fun of myself.

Now that I'm all caught up, I hope I will stay caught up so that you don't have to see the same post on my blog for a month straight. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Action and Consequence

We are constantly on our toes with this little girl who has recently been found on top of tables, under cars (little tykes, that is), and in toilets. She is learning about what happens when she decides to make such daredevil moves.

One year old

I can't believe my little Evelyn is already a year old. I'm late in posting this, her birthday was Thursday, October 2nd, but I hope she will forgive me. Evie is my little sweetheart and I am so glad she is part of our family, sent straight from Heavenly Father to us. She is a very independent, tough and determined girl, but also sweet, affectionate and easy-going. Happy Birthday to my precious girl!

Evie is now 17 pounds (4th percentile), and 2' 6" (85th percentile). So basically we need to start feeding her donuts and cookies so she can graduate to a forward facing car seat.

AHA!!

I finally caught Evie standing up! What a little stinker. I have been trying to get a picture of this for months now but she would always sit down before I could take it. Evelyn is turning one on Thursday and she has become quite an expressive little girl. Here are some of her most recent faces...

mischievous (and ready to bite)

happy

disapproving

shocked

proud

Here's what she's been up to:

-has 4 teeth (two on top and two on bottom)
-can stand up by herself and cruise along furniture
-is obsessed with her stuffed doggy and carries him everywhere (see first picture)
-can say "Dadda" "Mama" "no no!" and "doddy" (doggy)
-can mount and dismount the toy zebra (see below)
-jumped an inch off the ground a few days ago (though no one believes me)
-took her first step today, only one, and then sat down :)

Getting on

Getting off

...and biting, of course

Ward Campout

We had so much fun at our ward campout up at Camp Nauvoo. We had decided we were going to stay the night, so we borrowed a nice big tent, set up the pack n' play inside, brought our large, queen size air mattress and we were set for a nice comfortable night...or so we thought. The evening went great, Dallin had so much fun throwing rocks in the creek and getting dirty, the food was good, and Jason and I got to be social with our friends and relax. It was after that when we realized we had forgotten all of our blankets. But we decided we'd make due with the sleeping bags and went off to roast marshmallows at campfire. So we went to bed with Evie in her pack n play, Dallin in a sleeping bag and blanket next to her, and Jason and I had one sleeping bag to share with no blankets. So we unzipped the bag and used it as a blanket while laying on the bare air mattress. (Most of you would have seen the current situation and done the smart thing, which was GO HOME). What we didn't know was how cold it would get that night. Evie woke up at midnight, crying because she was too cold. So jason decided to spare our neighbors and take her into the car and turn on the heater to see if she would go back to sleep. So Dallin is out cold, and I'm laying there shivering. After an hour or two, I zipped up our sleeping bag, went and picked up Dallin and put him in my bag with me. The freezing air kept waking me up every half hour or so, but I'm thinking, "I just hope Jason wasn't up too late getting Evie to sleep". So morning rolls around (about 7am) and Jason is still not back, and I'm thinking he's just sleeping in. Until I hear a car driving in the parking lot, look out my window, and see that it's our Honda. So Dallin and I had just gotten up and were getting dressed when Jason opened the tent door saying "Good Morning!" I'm immediately suspicious because his greeting was way too cheerful for a horrible night with the baby. "Where did you just come from?" I asked. "Oh, you saw me drive in?" he said. It turns out that after driving Evie around and her still not falling asleep (even once he got to the freeway) that he just drove home and put her in her crib. Then he told me that he set his alarm for early so he could get back up to Camp Nauvoo (a 40 min. drive) before we noticed. Except he slept through his alarm and didn't get there until 7. I didn't even care that Dallin and I were alone all night, I was like "You got to sleep in our warm bed last night while I was here in the freezing cold, with no way of contacting you?" I was actually glad that I didn't know he was gone because I would have been scared to death. Instead, I thought he was in the parking lot just 200 feet from our tent. So, to get him back, I am posting this on our blog for all to read. :) You are welcome to leave comments of pity (for me).

My new sous chef

I know this title implies that I am some kind of chef, and we all know that's a joke :) I just thought it was cute. I love it how kids want to copy everything their parents do. When Dallin saw my apron, he wanted one of his own so he could help make cookies. Good thing Aunt Rose gave him one for his birthday! And yes, I am trying to be a better cook. It's quite a lofty goal, but still, I'm trying.

Uncle Alec's friend

On September 11th, Cari and Alec came over for lunch to celebrate Cari's birthday. We had La Bou, which is one of Cari's favorites. When Alec got there he had a little friend with him that he picked up on the ride over (he rides his bike everywhere). Apparently, Alec likes to stop suddenly in the street to pick up unsuspecting lizards. :) Dallin absolutely loved the little guy (who was lame and couldn't run away), and Alec taught him that we should always put little animals back after we catch them so they can go home. I'm sure Dallin will learn lots of good stuff from his Uncle. What a fun day, happy late birthday Cari!!

p.s. Dallin's face is all splotchy because he was crying right before they came over, though I don't remember why.

Dude

So we went to the park today because it was so nice outside. Dallin was on the swing when another mom and little girl came and started using the swing next to him. He looked over at her and said to me:

"Is that girl gonna swing next to me?"

I said "Yeah, she is." Then he looked right at her and said casually:

"Hey........You got pink crocs, huh?........... Nice, dude!"

Ummmm, where did he come up with this stuff?

Grandma and Grandpa's house

We went and visited Grandma and Grandpa Nartker and got to see all the progress on their house addition. It looked great, and Dallin had so much fun that he threw a fit in the car when we had to leave.


Dallin and Grandpa checking out the lizard they caught

Dawn and Evelyn Dawn

Of course Dallin isn't smiling (when does this phase end?)

Great Finds

I love garage sales. Here is my loot from this past weekend. (This is especially for Rose, who I know was dying to see this stuff).


This is only about half the clothes I got.


Here's Evie in two of her new outfits

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Sometimes I feel like my kids came straight from Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat. They sure know how to get in some serious trouble. Last week, when Jason had just gotten home from his morning bike ride, he let me go upstairs and get ready. Then he got the kids breakfast and decided to run upstairs real quick and get dressed himself. When I came down, this is what I saw. Apparently, Evie had run out of Cheerios, and being such a good big brother, Dallin decided he would get her some more...



...not too bad you say? There were just as many Cheerios on the ground.

I'm Hooked

I'm one of those "obsessive reader" types that cannot put down a good book once I've started. Especially if there is a great plot or soap-opera-like storyline. I have found the ultimate good read: The Old Testament. I can't believe I have never read it all the way through before! Of course, I haven't gotten to some of the tough symbology of Isaiah yet, but there are some awesome stories and serious doctrine...I absolutely love it. Also, Jason got out his Old Testament manual for me to follow along with and I'm learning even more from that. He jokes that I should have gotten into this last year while he was teaching it in seminary so we could have discussed it together. One of my favorite stories is of Joseph being sold into Egypt. He has to be one of the greatest men to ever live on the Earth. I think his story teaches a great lesson in faith and forgiveness. What are your favorite OT stories and why?

Big Boy

Yesterday, Dallin used the big boy potty for the first time! I was so proud of him. Yes, he did have three accidents before he actually went in the toilet, but I don't really care because I have been trying to get him to go for at least 6 months now. So I'll be spending most of my weekend at home, on potty duty. Hooray!


Poor Evie got put in her high chair a lot yesterday while I was trying to help Dallin, but she was a good sport. She kept turning her bib into a cape.

Teething

I posted this picture of Evie because she is trying to cut her two front teeth right now and is usually not this happy. So, I am posting it so that I can come and look at it when she is being a little storm cloud, and hopefully it will calm me down. If I'm being totally honest though, this look on her face is the one she makes right before she's gonna bite you.

Alec and Cari Nethercott

What a beautiful, beautiful wedding. Cari and Alec were sealed together on August 1st, Dallin's birthday, in the Sacramento temple. I wish I had remembered my camera and gotten more pictures. Thanks to Rose for these!