Cute kids, Nana! Can we keep them?
Just the girls
Four generations of Sarager women
My mom is famous for making headshots out of group photos. What do you think? Can you believe I turn 31 this month? yikes...
So, I was sorting through a box my mom gave me that a bunch of my old stuff and I found this: proof that of all the Most Amazing Amandas that ever were, I am #1! Jen Ruggles made this for me my freshman year at BYU when we were procrastinating finals or something... Those were the days!
We had our ward Christmas party and Katherine met Santa for the first time. It went as well as expected.
I was more optimistic with Mrs. Claus, but it was even worse. I had gone early to the church to help out, but Katherine is in a stage where she will only be in my arms and/or having me chase her. I was completely handicapped and of no help at all. But it was a nice party.
So, I've told you that Katherine's current favorite hobby is playing in the gravel. She finds secret places to stash the rocks. I found one of them in these folds.
The weather has turned cold, um, low 60s and high 50s, so I bundled Katherine up in her cold weather gear. The gloves were actually a good idea but she got a little hot.
This is her oompa-loompa outfit in wonkavision! If you look closely, you will see what's left of her scrapes when her face dove into the gravel on Saturday. She has yet to master the transistion between uneven ground.
This morning I was determined not to be lazy and to go walking . I have had a number of excuses - namely, it might be too cold for Katherine, our jogging stroller has a flat tire, I don't want to wear out the rubber tires on our other stroller, blah blah blah. Katherine had a great time. We even took the nature path around the neighborhood. Don't you wish you were here??
This is a video of Katherine listening to a Christmas card that Grandma Debbie sent, once again. She rocks out to it ALL the time! But really, must the card start at the beginning EVERY TIME it's opened??
Yesterday, I went back to Osborn ward to sing in the sacrament meeting. We sang the The First Noel arranged to Pachabel's Canon in D. Their church is in the afternoon and it completely through off Katherine's schedule. She was cranky fussy and just ready to fall asleep when it was time to sing. She wouldn't go to anyone so I brought her up with me and she was her own show. Not only did she try to puch me out of the way so she could see the instrumentalists, but she tried to sing, too! It was so funny. I love this girl... Going back to Osborn ward was like going home. It was SO GOOD to see everyone and get caught up. Afterwards we went over to the Hatches for dinner like we do every week. They are wonderful! We love them and are so grateful for their friendship.
Geoff was off work today and we had GORGEOUS weather so we went to the park to feed the ducks.
Katherine threw the oyster crackers onto the sidewalk really well...
This is why we moved so far north, we practically had the whole park to ourselves!
Sitting at the top of the waterfall...
It was just a nice day.
She and Geoff are the greatest joys in my life.
Getting taller... Changing so fast...
It was a great way to spend the morning before I had to run off to a presidency meeting and then enrichment tonight. I sang a duet in my old ward's Christmas program. It was so fun to see people again. It felt going home. I'm so glad I get to go back on Sunday when I can bring Katherine. I'm singing a duet again to The First Noel set to Pachabel's Canon in D. My old YW will be playing and most likely, Katherine will be at my hip... But I don't mind. I love that girl.
She picks up on things quickly. She is currently trying to figure out how to put on my socks and flips flops. And I'm figuring things out too, like not to feed her until we arrive at church and load her up with milk during our 8am sacrament meeting to make her chill out... AND the key to getting ready in the morning is to keep giving her things to throw in the tub so she forgets about asking me to pick her up so she see what I'm doing...Faith Hill's Christmas single A Baby Changes Everything makes me cry every time. Geoff thinks I'm nuts but I am totally touched when she starts singing "Halleluia" and I get so grateful that there are people out there who truly believe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8illRJRmN8
Secondly:
Just watched 27 Dresses with Katherine Heigel... Totally darling and cute. Loved it. Geoff laughed and stayed awake the entire time. Great date movie.
Genet and Sarah are in town this weekend. It was SO FUN to have them spend the night at our house and then drive up to Prescott to drop them off. My mom bought the girls these cute Christmas dresses and we had a photo shoot this afternoon...
I hope my mother's pictures turned out better than mine because mine make my darling Katherine look like Chucky... (I refused to let Geoff post a picture of comparison, you'll see the resemblance without need...!)
Her natural smile is gorgeous, but as soon as the camera flashes, she contorts and manipulates her face to no end!!! 
Both girls were squirrel-y and I don't know if a shot containing both them exists, so I attached a short video to demonstrate how chaotic it was... AND no matter how much I brushed her hair, it would stand straight out... Grrrr....
All the while, Katherine was jabbering away. We had no idea what she said, but we know she was EMPHATIC. I love that she is passionate and wants her opinions known. It makes reading her very easy... I just wish passion was easy to parent...
Sarah can't walk or stand on her own yet, but she moves like no other! What a sweetheart! We're looking forward to Sunday when we can see them again.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4956387
For all you NON-Suns fans out there, I'm comparing Katherine's newfound speed to Leandro Barbosa (he is called the Brazilian Blur)... She is so fast, most of my pictures of Thanksgiving turned out lame. This is BEST one of the whole weekend.
She gave my grandmother the sweetest love and hug in this moment. It would have been a very cool sappy generational shot, but instead we got the little love pat.
My uncle Bennett's family got lost on the way up, adding an extra 2 1/2 hours to their drive, and it put my cousin, Spencer, into a starvation coma. Katherine walked over and nudged and patted him to see if he was okay. It was darling, but alas, the picture is random...
Here we have documented that she is velcro-ed to me. You can almost see my bulging muscles from carrying her all the time! My father managed to take a family picture of us and, at some point, I'm sure he will email it... I hope.
As everyone has told me, life has changed drastically since she started walking. I need to be on her constantly. Kate fell down a flight of uncarpeted stairs when everyone thought she was near the fireplace (Ten steps! I'm so grateful that their little bodies are made of cartilige. She only had marks on her face and neck...) Since we have gotten home, she hit her chin on the filing cabinet, her forehead on the tub, had a faceplant into the gravel... She wants to see what everything is, from what's in the garbage to every file in the office. I am going nuts. Every time I tell her to stop, she goes for it again. I am ready to child-proof this house with outlet covers, a child-gate, cabiet locks... I was SOO confident before that I could train her to listen me, but now I'm doubtful... She just looks at me and laughs. She fights me when I try to change her diaper. She arches her back and goes completely-stiff-dead-weight when doesn't want to be picked up... She has figured out how fun it is to run away from me during sacrament meeting and I caught going up the stairs on the stand... How do all babies know how to do these things??
I need help. I get so worn out by the end of the day. I'm try to keep a sense of humor. I try to respond with gentle firmness when I feel like yelling. Today, I held her firmly my lap to pin her down until I calmed down when I felt like giving her a spanking and I could see her sweetness again. She is so eager to laugh and have fun and play. All these frustrations are just moments that I need to get through. I'm sure you can relate.
In the same token, she has learned to give hugs & kisses. She loves to play hide-and-seek (behind you back, of course). She loves to dance. She rocks out to the radio song on her Lightning McQueen car. We dance to the Christmas carols on the radio - she especially loves Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas. We have so much fun.
So I guess you say that I'm your typical new mom going through typical transitions. I am a whiner, I know. I wouldn't trade being with her everyday for the world. Thank you, Geoff, for working so hard that I can be home!
Love you!
I normally try to post positive family stuff, but today I am appalled.
Headlines on the Drudge Report list the terrorist attack in Mumbai, the security officer who got stampeded to death by 2000 shoppers who wanted to get in at Walmart at 5am, a dozen onlookers cheered while two out-their-mind drunk people had sex in the bathroom at the Minnesota-Iowa game, and a woman is getting to sue the city of Detroit because she claims she was disabled because she could not breathe when she was near her coworker because of the perfume she wore... Her lawyer said, "Our primary objective is not to get money, but to make the condition known..." Ridiculous. Meanwhile, the Baby Boomers Cafe in Des Moines is having a hay day because Obama's kids liked a chocolate chunk cookie and now, the owner said, it's like "everybody just ... thought, 'Oh, great cookie, great president—the world is a happy place. Barack's going to fix all the problems and if I have a bite of this cookie it's going to make me feel good.'"
Voyeurism. Violence. Greed. Lack of feeling . Lack of reality.
I am sick. And irritated....
We just took some time to enjoy the good weather. Who would have thought that rocks are enough to entertain girls, too?? She just hands them to me and then takes them back. It entertained her at least 30 minutes...
Kate had some good spills today and needed to chill out. The way her head bounced off the coffee table and the base of our office chair could have been put in a slap-stick comedy routine... She's tough and didn't cry nearly as long as I would have...
Think she needs a haircut? I know, shaggy is cute but the scissors tempt me every day...
I went with some girlfriends to see Twilight last Friday and my little-girl-heart is sold! It was so fun to hear all the teenage girls ooing and awing over Edward. (Who, I realized was Cedric in the Goblet of Fire... I am a little slow.) The books are now on my Christmas list!
We are really looking forward to the holidays. I have started to put up Christmas decorations because I can't wait any longer! We will spend Thanksgiving in Prescott and I get to make the cranberry jello salad this year. I asked my mom to record 24's: Redemption that aired on Fox last night, so we can watch it on the big screen & surround sound. Talk about cool!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! We want to hear all about it, so contact us when you can.
Love you!
The Bergerons
The past couple of days we have spent in Prescott helping my mom move into "The House"!!!
We almost managed to get her kitchen completely unpacked... I am convinced that my mom is outfitted to entertain the entire Sarager/Jackson/Bergeron/Friess/Williams families, their friends, wards, and pets at a moment's notice... And my mom's still working on her kitchen! I'm in awe!! We had help from the missionaries, two men from their ward and their son, and we all still passed out from exhaustion.
Cleaning the floor fir the first time...
Initiating her clean floor to the wrath of Spud's habit to throw everything on the floor....
Can you say "static cling"??
Who can say "no" to a beggar with a face like this?
Exploring the palm trees in our backyard
First time riding the horse
Not making it through the afternoon
Notice how ORGANIZED Nana's house looks...
