Party like it's 2-0-0-9!

Take a deep breath. Awww...do you smell it? The eve of a clean, fresh, brand, spankin' new year???

This post may be a little premature, considering its not quite the new year, but since my husband has tomorrow off, I won't be blogging. One of my new resolutions- less blogging during family time. Sad, yet true, that I need rules and resolutions about blogging. Say it with me...ADDICT. And I'm actually breaking the rule right now, as Montana is playing in her toy room, but hey...it's still 2008, right? haha!

I think the above statement is the exact reason why "resolution-haters" hate resolutions, because the idea is somewhat stupid. Like, why wait for tomorrow? To quote Heba from my favorite show The Biggest Loser, "TODAY IS TOMORROW!"

So, while I tend to agree somewhat with said "resolution haters", I still think there is something refreshing about a new year, and if its a time where we can recommit and focus ourselves to become better people, where is the harm in that?

With that said, another one of my resolutions is to seek out and emulate positivity. This is something I have been really trying to work on for the past few months and it has changed my life. Never underestimate the power of seeing the bright side of things. It really does "lighten" the load...pun intended.

Obviously there are a lot of resolutions that are personal...a lot of them have to do with spirituality and recommitting myself to habits that enhance that spirituality. Scriptures, prayer, temple attendance...all the above. I want to be better at it all! And that's all I will say about that.

There is a reason gyms revenues sky rocket January 2009 and the wait for a treadmill on Jan 1st is approximately 1 hour 36 min (totally made that up) . We all want to look better and feel better. Exercise is the best way for that. This year I have turned over a new leaf for myself with exercise. I have a little more faith in myself sticking to a regimen and I am proud of how far I've come. I haven't felt this good in a long time and I owe that to my progress in 2008 (and my running shoes). So, my 2009 goal isn't so much to get in better shape, because, I know it can't happen. Not because I'm in the best shape ever, ('cuz I'm not), but because this year I am pretty sure, if all goes as planned, I'll be pregnant soon. My mind reels at the thought of all my hard work going down the drain, so I'm not going to let it. My 2009 goal is to stay focused on first and foremost, the baby's health and then my health and fitness while pregnant. But, if after I announce a pregnancy, you see less and less pictures of me on this blog, you'll know I'm failing at this attempt. Haha.

Next goal...(not really a resolution)...get pregnant this year. 'Nuff said.

Now a few words from our lil' sweet cheeks...

Some parenting goals:
*Potty train
*Be a little more strict (just a little. She's too cute to tell her "no" ALL the time!)
*Be more dilligent about a bed time routine to get her wound down. Right now, she thinks that bedtime routine is, do whatever I want and freak out when its time for bed. Not really workin' for us.
*More and more hugs and kisses. You can never get or give enough of those.

Now, many, many other things come to mind that I could be better at...but, I don't want to overwhelm myself with my weaknesses, so I will leave it at that...just a few things that I hope to become better at that will help me draw closer to my family and my Heavenly Father. 2008 was an AMAZINGLY BLESSED year and I owe it all to the joy the Gospel brings to my life. Come what may, 2009...because I know the Lord is on our side.

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR!!!

Enter oldest new years phrase in the book.... "SEE YA NEXT YEAR!!!"

A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time for family...so its a good thing we have so much! As is every holiday, Christmas was spent bustling about, to and fro to families homes to enjoy the festivities!



Christmas Eve we started out at Marc's parents house for a wonderful Prime Rib dinner. The meals and place settings at a Rogers Family Dinner are always like a five star restaurant...so delicious.



Montana enjoying some time with her Pompy.





Boys bein' boys...



Noah is a sweetheart...



Mitchell...such a bundle of joy and ENERGY! :)



Cousins!





As is tradition, great Grandma Searson always buys the grandchildren matching pj's for Christmas Eve.

Maryn, Megan and Montana in their princess nightgowns with their princess wands...

The grandkids (minus Tyler, Molly and Ellee whom were celebrating at home in Tulare and we missed dearly!)



Marlo and Marc dancin' a jig...



Some of the girls...



Me and my Santa Baby (and Shane peek-a-booing in the background!:)



After dinner we went over to Monique's house for yummy treats where the siblings and cousins all exchanged gifts and we gave Marc's parents our yearly gifts of "service in their name". Always the highlight of the night.

After some music, games and more fun, we made the trek home happy and full and ready for some sleep! The next morning, Marc and I woke up before Montana and exchanged gifts. My sweetheart always "hooks me up" as he would say...and this year was no different. A few of the highlights- a new coach bag and an i touch. I tried to keep up with him by getting him a new ESQ Swiss watch and Banan Republic pea coat. Needless to say, we both got "hooked up". No pictures...we tried, and they were not pretty at 6am.



Then came the FUN part...Montana's turn. Lots of video...of course I think its fun to watch, but I'm the mom. This was by far the best Christmas ever to see it through my 2 year olds eyes.



Not quite ready for pictures yet...



Opening her stocking...

Unwrapping gifts. Every time she was given a new one she would ask, "For me?" It was too cute.

Then came the much talked about puppy that she'd been telling everyone Santa was bringing her for weeks!

Well, now we couldn't quite do the REAL puppy thing this year, but we hoped the Fur Real puppy Santa brought would suffice, and it seems to have done the trick.

A little disappointed to find out she'd unwrapped all her presents...

Then we went over to my parents for a yummy breakfast by Grandpa, which is becoming a tradition. David, Logan and Whitney (my siblings) had woken up super early and driven up about a half an hour past our house to get some snow for Montana and Andalyn to play in on Christmas morning.

Here are a few videos of the snow ball fight that ensued after breakfast...

Too much fun...always a party at the Petersen's. Luckily what was not caught on camera was Marc stuffing snow down my pants and up the back of my shirt.

Logan came out of the snow ball fun with a bloody nose...

Andalyn was queen of the snow pile and stayed perched there almost the entire time.



Snow bunnies...


Ryan had fun watching the excitement...see the amusement on his face? :)

Montana with her wet snowy hair...


I declare Whit the snowball fight champion...she can hang with the boys! I kept my place behind the camera, which is probably how I ended up with snow down my pants.

I could resist taking and posting this picture. Check out those cute buns...

Me and the owner of those cute buns...

We all enjoyed exchanging gifts and hanging out.
Nicole loves her new DS...


Tiffany still has snow on her glasses...she was a double agent in the snow ball fight making snow balls for you and then turning around and smacking you with 'em. Such a funny girl! :)

We later met at our house that evening for another Prime Rib dinner, this time cooked by my hubby. Delicious!

Dad then gave us all a nativity lesson and we sang some Christmas carols.



Ryan winding down for the night...


David's jealous of my i-touch. :)

Montana looked super cute that night with knee high boots and a new dress. But this is the only picture I got...

We hope everyone had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! We surely did and we look forward to a wonderful 2009!

Good Friends, Good Food and a Lie Detector...

We got together with some of our close friends The Barker's and The Lindsey's last night for dessert and games. Montana had fun too as the Lindsey's brought their little girl Kami with her. Look at this sweet little face:

The girls played with toys and watched "Tinkerbell".

We all enjoyed yummy desserts and then pulled out a new game. KB toys was going out of business and so I bought the game "Moment of Truth" for like 80% off. It's based off of that game show on Fox that basically ruined everyones life who played it. Sounds like a GREAT game to play with a bunch of close friends! haha

The husbands were all complaining about the game...unsure if they wanted to open up any can of worms with this game. It even came equipped with a hand sensor lie detector that senses your stress and blood pressure levels. In Marc's words, "This is all bad."

It was all in good fun and obviously we kept it PG and didn't take it too seriously. The Lie Detector was inconsistent. Marc said his name was Stacy and it said he was telling the truth. We just had fun laughing and making fun of each other.

It's always a fun time with these friends, and if we all didn't live on opposite ends of Sacramento, we'd get to do it more often! Maybe one day soon, huh?

Love these girls....too bad I couldn't find one picture that I liked of myself with them, but then again, how can you compare with these gorgeous women?

Thanks guys for hanging out! It was lots of fun. Rach and Sam...shopping...soon...seriously, lets make it happen this time! :)

Long Lost Twin

Okay, so I'm not really a twin, but when I was about five, I thought I was. There was this little girl on Star Search back in the late 80's named Alison Porter. This little girl was a phenomenal singer, and she was only FIVE YEARS OLD. Funny thing is, we looked like we were twins seperated at birth. My parents would tape every Star Search she was on, and I used to be convinced that somehow she and I were related, or even that I was her! Because I sing too, it was like I was vicariously living my dream through Alison Porter. She went on to be the llittle girl in Curly Sue, which I'm sure you're all familiar with. Anyway, I was looking through some old pictures and found a few to use in which to prove my point.

Between the LONG hair, thick bangs, big brown eyes and chubby cheeks...Alison and I were twins. Check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o8nsO_d--s

Elder Logan Petersen, ey?

On Saturday my little brother Logan got his mission call in the mail. Such a thing in the Petersen household warrants a house full of people and lots of anticipation. So, Saturday night at 9:30, we all gathered round, while he opened his letter. This is a very dark video, so its basically just the audio, but exciting none the less...

CANADA CALGARY MISSION! REPORTING TO PROVO MTC, APRIL 1, 2009!

The proud Elder. We had all made guesses before as to where he would be called, and Logan was the only one who guessed Canada. Definitely inspired.

We are all so proud of him! He's going to be an amazing missionary!

Santa Claus

A few weeks ago, our ward had our Christmas party. The kids got to wear their jammies, and Montana looked super cute in her little silk pj's and fluffy slippers. We had a nice ham dinner and then Santa Claus came to town...with his wifey.

Montana was not interested...this is how excited she wasn't:

Then I told her that Santa would give her a candy cane and she decided she'd check him out. The only way she would sit with him is if Mommy didn't leave and she could have the candy cane.

Mrs. Claus was little bit better of an experience.

It all seemed worth it to Montana would thoroughly enjoyed her candy cane after her Claus Encounters.

Maybe next year, meeting Santa in person will be a better experience for her. Right now, she just enjoys him in theory...and the fact that she thinks he's bringing her a puppy. Yeah...I think I may have to have a little chat with Santa on that one.

All in all, we had lots of fun at our ward party...Montana especially loved the North Pole in the foyer.

Bless Her Heart

At Montana's 2 year well baby check, my pediatrician listened extra long to her heart.

At first I didn't think about it, then as she got quieter and kept moving the stethascope around, I got a little worried.

She said to me, "Has anyone ever told you she has a heart murmur?" I said, "No. Never." I have heard heart murmur a million times. My sister had one, I had one, so and so had one, so and so's kid had one. At this point, I'm not freaking out.

The doctor says, "Hmmm. Really? Because it's really loud."

"No. This is the first I've EVER heard of it." Starting to get a little more worried. No freak out-no tears, just concerned. No one wants to hear that their baby has something wrong, especially with a vital organ. But, murmurs are common, I kept telling myself.

Then, she said, "Well don't worry. Murmurs are very common. 95% of kids get them from ages 0-18 at some point, and they correct themselves." Phew. We're good then....

"But..."


BUT?

"...hers is REALLY loud!"

K, I'd held my composure long enough. I'm trying REALLY hard in my life to be less emotional, less dramatic...less waterworks at the drop of a hat. But, when she said, "LOUD" again, with that concern on her face, tears welled in my eyes.

"Okay. So, what does that mean?" I asked.

"Well, I'm sure its just a normal murmur, but I want her to see a cardiologist right away. She may need an EKG...just to make sure everythings okay," she explained.

"I'll take the soonest appointment possible," I said, as I wiped my eyes and decided that there was no reason to freak out until I had REAL, factual news.

Today was Montana's appointment with the Pediatric Cardiologist. The nurse decided to wait on the EKG until the doctor listened to her heart. No sense trying to undress her, stick 13 stickers with wires on her and make her sit still for 5 seconds, when she wasn't even willing to get her weight and height measured easily.

The doctor listened to her heart, and after asking Montana if she had a frog for breakfast (very nice man), told me that Montana has an innocent heart murmur. Very common, as my pediatrician said. He said, instead of her heart sounding like a "Lub-Dub", it's like "Lubswish-Dub", which is just meaning he can hear her blood moving through like water through a pipe. He said on the contrary to this being a concern, its actually an indication that she has a very strong heart, and should be an excellent athlete.

"Definitely put her in sports," he said.

"Daddy will be so glad to heart that!" I said to Montana.

I said a quiet prayer in the car on my drive to the Med Center... and the best possible outcome happened. Not only that, I'm proud of myself for not prematurely freaking out and causing a lot of undue stress for something that was not even an issue.

BLESS HER HEART...it's what keeps mine beating!

Christmas Letter 2008

Our Wonderful Family and Friends,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Can you believe we're at this point again? Writing Christmas letters? It's insane, yet true, and so here we go...

If I had to sum up 2008 in one word, I think I would described it as blessedchange. Oh, that's not a word? Okay, two words. "Blessed" and "Change". Those are my words for 2008. I can't think of our lives and not feel overwhelmed by a gratitude for the blessings that we receive on a constant basis. I can only attribute it all to a loving Heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ and our faith in His restored Gospel, without which our lives would be incomplete.

We entered 2008 as new parents of a toddler. As we exit 2008, we are a little more tired and have a lot more laughter and love in our lives. We are now the proud parents of a "Miss Sassafras" two year old. And we love it. It's one of the hardest things and one of the most rewarding things to be a parent. This little girl is the center of our universe and we adore her with every fiber of our beings. And now...I get to brag. Our little Montana Belle is SO smart. For those of you who follow our blog regularly, you see my daily bragging. For those of you who are visiting for the first time, I invite you to read our blog and see why our life is so fun. We owe it to our bundle of joy. A few things Montana has learned recently: lots of colors. Her favorites are Green and Orange. Lots of songs! Right now she loves Jingle Bells, but one of her favorites is it sit at the piano and sing the WHOLE "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" song. As well, she hears mommy teach voice lessons, and she loves to do "Warm-ups". She's still napping like a champ, thank heavens, and sleeps through the night. We've had a few climbing out of the crib incidents as of late, yet it has yet to become a daily occurrence, and I am pushing out the toddler bed as long as possible. She is now in nursery and even though it takes her about ten minutes to stop crying, its a heaven sent thing for us! We are so grateful for the nursery leaders! They are true angels. This girl remembers everything you say and loves to repeat things. It's kind of scary but teaching us a lot about watching what we say around her. Montana loves to watch her shows, and her favorites are "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and "Max and Ruby". She is also a major fan of Disney movies. Her new favorites are "Wall-E", "Tinkerbell" and "Polar Express", to add to a LONG list of old favorites. Her full-on sentences never cease to amaze us and her personality and charm makes us so proud! Like I said above, she is the joy of our lives! And who knows, maybe next year she will be adding "big sister" or "future big sister" to her resume. No, I am not pregnant. But the time is coming upon us...so we shall see.

The change I referred to above has a lot to do with our move about six months ago. We decided that we wanted to move to a different place in the Greater Sacramento Area to get some experience about where we want to end up. An area we've always loved is the El Dorado Hills area and so in July, we moved to a beautiful home in a Serrano neighborhood. We absoutely LOVE it up here, and it feels like home. It reminds me a lot of Elk Grove before the great housing boom. It's a very family oriented community, with very little traffic! Not to mention my sister and her family live up here and so its nice that we had some built in friends. We also trade babysitting, which works out perfectly! Part of our decision to move affected my working status. After tax season this year, I had gone to a part time position working for Marc's mom's CPA firm and started teaching a few voice lessons. We decided to move at a good transition time for us and for the CPA firm, as his mom moved her office out of her home and brought on a partner. After attending the Open House to their beautiful new office, I feel reaffirmed that the Lord's hand was in this decision and I am so happy for the way that this transition worked out for everyone. I love my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws so much, and am so grateful for the time that I had to work with them for almost three years. It provided Marc and I with a great opportunity to get our family started out on the right foot, great work experience and lots of time to build our family relationships.

Since moving up to El Dorado Hills, I've continued to teach voice lessons and took on some piano students. I teach my Elk Grove students on Friday at my parents home and am so grateful they are willing to let me do that! It's a good excuse for Montana to come down and see Grandma and play, too! I truly enjoy the opportunity that I have to teach music on an almost daily basis. It's helps me to reaffirm why I love music so much and I love to see their talents grow each week! In addition to my music lessons, I watch my friends little boy Ryder four days a week. Montana loves to have him come over and play and its been some nice added income for our home.

Marc never ceases to amaze me with his career. I am so grateful that I have a hardworking husband that does everything in his power to provide for us. This year he accomplished a major feat and passed his insurance exam. ***PLUG: If you have any life insurance or annuity needs, give him a call!*** It's nice to see him finally be able to have his own license and start doing what he's been teaching agents to do for the last few years. With the business of his job and family there was little time for coaching football this year, and so for the first time in our marriage and for probably 20 years, Marc did not really have a "football season". I think if not for how much he loves his work, it would have been a really depressing time for him. It definitely was hard for him, but he looks forward to coaching his children's sports in the future, and maybe starting up with football again when there is more time.

Marc and I really got into running this summer and fall. It was something we enjoyed as a family, pushing Montana in the jogger, when he got home from work and helped us to get into shape! We have since switched to the indoor elliptical, but love to add regular exercise back into our daily regimen. My running began moreso back in March when I began running with my friend Rachel and this year we ran in the "Race for the Cure". We are hoping to run a half marathon in May. Wish us luck!

We love our new ward, the Silva Valley Ward and have felt very welcomed by the members. We've made lots of wonderful friends, but miss our old ward and friends very much as well. Marc's new calling is Teacher's Quorum Advisor in the Young Mens, and I was called to serve as an Activity Day's leader for the 8-11 year old girls. I miss being in the Young Women's program, but love working with the girls to prepare them for Young Women.

We feel so blessed with amazing family and friends in our lives! We don't know how we got so lucky to have you to love and to love us in return, but you mean the world to us and we thank Heavenly Father every day for your presence in our lives.

We are so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our lives are what they are because of this most precious and sacred gift and we are greatly indebted to the Lord for the blessings He bestows upon our lives. We are so especially grateful for Him at this wonderful time of year and pray that we can all keep a focus on the reason for this season.

May the Lord bless you this Christmas and bring you happiness and joy in the New Year!

We love you all,

Marc, Stacy and Montana Rogers