Passing of President Hinckley

It is a beautiful, snowy day in Eagle Mountain. Peaceful and quiet. I love this kind of day. Love to stay inside my warm house and look out on the new fallen snow. Last night we learned of President Hinckley's passing away. My initial reaction was one of shock, then came a tremendous joy for him that he is now with his beloved Marjorie again. This morning I have been fighting the tears however, as I realize that he is no longer with us. I've been flooded with memories as I've heard others speak about him today. I know he was a true Prophet of God and know that he is with Him now. He was the prophet for most of my life and although I never met him in person, I knew him well and loved him so much. He was an example of utmost kindness and charity. He and his wife have set a standard of marriage that Aaron and I strive to follow. He's taught us the power of forgiveness, and the joy of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've always admired his humble manner, zest for life, and love for the children of God. I loved him dearly and will miss him all the days of my life. The link below is a dedication to President Hinckley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DONH655IR1E&feature=related

Triathalon

Aaron and I decided to train for a Triathalon coming up this April. Since I'm not a good swimmer, this has me worried just a tad. However, Aaron is an excellent swimmer and is determined to help me swim well. I've never considered myself an "athlete" and so my main goal will be just to finish. Aaron on the other hand, I think, is very athletic so he'll probably do great! Neither one of us run very well, but the training is beginning to pay off and the endurance is starting to kick in. We invite all of you to come join us so we aren't the only goofy looking ones out there! :o)

Snowed Inn

Last night Aaron and I had one of the funnest dates ever! He was invited from his work to take me on a horse drawn sleigh ride up in Park City. The sleigh took us to a place called "Snowed Inn" where we had dinner and entertainment. The only way to eat at this restaurant is to either ski into it or by the sleigh. Once we arrived to the Inn, they had hot chocolate and apple cider for us with two roaring fires to warm us up. It was a country style dinner with real cowboys and buffet style eating. It was soooo much fun!!!! The views were absolutely incredible, with a full moon out that night. After dinner they have a tradition to go "plating" down the mountain, so Aaron tried it out. What you do is sit on a metal plate and slide down the hill. I have to admit that I wimped out because it was freezing outside. Once we were done, it was back on the sleigh and back down to our cars. Honestly, it was one of the funnest nights ever! My biggest regret is I didn't have a camera to take pictures of this place. So, for pictures, click on this link and you'll see where we were. So neat!!!!

http://www.snowedinnsleigh.com/

Copy Cat

So, I have this friend, Juli Beesley, and she had some great quotes and ideas on her blog, that yep, I'm copying, (hope you don't mind Jules) Anyway, she has this questionaire about her and her husband, so I'm copying it, plus the cute family quote in my header. Thanks Juli!!!!

What's his name? Aaron Daniel Lombardo
How long have you been together? 4-1/2 years Yipee!!!!
How long did you date? This is emberassing, but only like 2 months before we got married. When you know, you know, right?
Who eats more? Aaron does because he usually always goes back for 2nds.
Who said "I love you" first? Aaron, we were walking on BYU campus.
Who is taller? Aaron 6'0 Melissa 5'4
Who sings better? Ummmm......that would be me. Sorry sweetie. However, he did sing a solo in our last ward in California, so it's not bad.
Who is smarter? Aaron is by far. I am always so impressed with the things he knows and understands. I love that about him!!!!
Who does the laundry? I do.
Who does the dishes? We both do, but Aaron does them more than me.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Aaron does, he wants to be closest to the door in case an attacker broke in. Funny guy!
Who pays the bills? Aaron does, but I'm about to inherit the job!
Who mows the lawn? Aaron does or I do if I have to keep bugging him about it.
Who cooks dinner? I do, and Aaron cooks me breakfast on Saturday mornings. Yummy!
Who drives when you are together? Aaron mostly, sometimes me, but I hate to drive him around because he is the worlds best driver!
Who is more stubborn? Well..... unfortunately I would probably say myself. We are both very stubborn. Not a good combo!
Who kissed who first? Aaron kissed me, but it was deffinately mutual!
Who asked who out first? I did! Trafalgas in Orem. Miniture golf.
Who proposed? Aaron did, a few times actually. The first "unofficial" was when I was driving him back home one night and he non-chalantly asked me in the car. I didn't give him an answer. Then he proposed, with the ring, at my parents house while we were sitting on the swing in the back yard. Nice and personal. I love him!!!
Who is more sensitive? That would be me as well!!! Aaron doesn't cry very often. I think only at the births of our children and maybe one other time.
Who has more friends? We both have a lot of friends and they've always meant a lot to us.
Who has more siblings? Oh my word, I have him beat like 4 times over. He's got one brother, I've got 8 siblings.
Who wears the pants in the family? Aaron does, that way I can blame it on daddy when I have to say no.

Swimming in January

It is snowing hard in Utah today and we are repainting some rooms in our house. Nathan was sleeping and Hannah was bored while I was taping to prepare for paint. She told me she wanted to go swimming and came down with her swimsuit over her clothes and her little sun hat on. Hannah's always good for a laugh! On a day like this, when it's so cold, I too would love to be swimming! Well, in warm weather that is.

Candid Shots

I love to take pictures of the kids, so much that I have more than I really know what to do with. So, here are just some random shots that I think are cute!

Sledding!!!!!

For New Years this year we had our good friends, the Nielson's over and my sister Susan. We stayed up until 2:00 am playing Risk......I don't recommend it. The next morning we got up and took the kids sledding. I'm pretty sure the adults had more fun than the kids did. Hannah didn't care for it at all and the Nielson's little girl enjoyed the small hill a lot more than the big one. We had a ball though and truly, Aaron is the biggest kid of all. When we were ready to be done, he wanted to stay and play some more. Funny guy! It's fun to live somewhere that it snows.

Christmas in California

This year we got to spend Christmas in California with Grandma Lombardo (Aaron's mom). We were thrilled to be where it is a little warmer. It was nothing but fun, fun, fun, from the moment we got there. We had our Christmas two days early since Mike, Aaron's brother, had to work on Christmas day. He's a cop. Aaron did a ride along with him while we were there and said it was so much fun. So, we got to enjoy a very yummy dinner and then open all the presents, which you would have thought an entire army was having Christmas there. Hannah and Nathan were spoiled. It was so fun to see how excited Hannah was with the tree, the gifts, and to be with her Grandma, Great Grandma, and Uncle Mike and Kelly. We spent the rest of the time in California, relaxing, watching lots of movies, and eating lots of food. Oh, we did take Hannah to Chucky Cheese as well, which was a riot. We can hardly wait until Nathan is old enough to enjoy all these fun things as well. We had such a wonderful Christmas and are so grateful for the knowledge we have of the true meaning of Christmas. How grateful we are for our Savior, for His birth, and His wonderful life.

Grandma's Cookie Party

Grandma Eyre has a Grandma cookie party every year before Christmas. The kids always enjoy it and so do the parents, because we get to go shopping or whatever we want. This year Hannah got to actually enjoy it as you can tell from the pictures, she is loving the frosting from the beater. After the cookies are all done, Grandpa read them all a Christmas story. We love this tradition!

First Real Snow Fall

Having kids at Christmas time is the most fun Aaron & I have ever had!!!! We got into the Christmas spirit just as soon as Thanksgiving was over when finally Utah got a big snow storm. It was so fun to play in the snow and Hannah just loved to follow daddy around while he was shoveling.

Hannah's 2nd Birthday

Some people say it's dumb to throw a two year old a party, since they won't remember it. Well, we didn't care and threw her a party anyway. Hannah had her cousin Grace and friend Chadley over last Saturday for a "Circus" theme party. It started out with a real live clown, with a red nose and curly hair. This was no average clown either. He could make 4 different balloon animals out of the same balloon. He could make a ring-tailed Lemar, a giraffe, a wiener dog, and a kitty kat. Amazing!!! We played musical chairs, but of course catered it to 2 year olds by just playing the music and when the music stopped they had to fall down on their bums. The last activity was a clown pinata, that was so impossible to break open, we finally decapitated it. Very cool!!! We ended the party with "pig cookies". The kids were in "Hog Heaven."
Hannah is our joy and we've loved every minute with her these past 2 years.

Goofing Off

Recently Hannah got some play dough and it's now her favorite thing to play with. Of course, I demand that she is well supervised when she plays with it. Who better, than her favorite person, daddy. Aaron is such a hoot, as you can see, he's creative and fun. Two things that Hannah loves about her daddy. We are so glad when he is home.

Trunk- or - Treat

Last night we had our ward trunk-or-treat. We started out with a chili contest, of which I particpated. Actually, I made taco soup instead of chili. Anyway, the weather has been so nice here lately that they had the chili dinner outside and unfortunately the temperature drops in the evening considerably, so we were all freezing! I was beginning to think this was not going to be a fun night afterall. We stuck it out though and did the trunk-or-treating, and glad we did. It was fun to see all the kids get excited and Hannah LOVED all the candy she was getting. Our good friends from California, who just moved here, brought their two little ones, who were dressed up as Dorothy and the Lion. We eventually went inside for a costume contest. Hannah was a cute little clown, Nathan was a frog, and Aaron and I were Jack & Jill after they fell down the hill. Hannah & Nathan didn't win in their contest, but Aaron and I won 2nd place! We were stoked!!!!

First Snow Fall

Hannah got the cutest Halloween dress from Grandma Lombardo, and Nathan got a cute frog hat to wear for Halloween. I dressed them up and took some pictures. It just so happened the day Hannah wore her dress it snowed for the first time in Eagle Mountain. Last year she was too little to really enjoy the snow, so she had a ball today.

Nathan is the most adorable boy I've ever seen. (okay, so I'm biased, but he is dang cute!) This little hat just adds to his cuteness. Can't wait to dress them both up for Halloween.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Hannah and Nathan to a pumpkin patch in Pleasant Grove, called "Hee Haw". We unfortunately got there as the sun was setting, so we didn't get the best pictures. We did the hay ride, saw the animals, picked out a pumpkin, and played on a slide. Hannah had a great time. She was a little spooked by the noise of the haunted forest that we didn't go in, but I think she had a good time. We took Aunt Suzie with us, (her favorite aunt).

A couple of days later, Nikki and I took the kids to another pumpkin patch. Here we did a corn maze, played on the play ground and yes, bought more pumpkins. However, this place had way too many kids and I was a nervous wreck making sure Hannah didn't get lost in the crowd of kids. I was sooooo glad to leave. Again, Hannah had a great time playing, and being there with her cousin, Grace.