California update

I guess it is time for an update. Well we have been in Bakersfield for over a month and so far we like it. We love our house and the extra space that comes with it. Eric didn't start his job until the 18th so we had him around for awhile. It was nice but we did a whole lot of nothing. We are so broke from our move that we couldn't really get out and experience Bakersfield while he was home. Plus we came in the winter when it is cold and always foggy so we haven't really been able to make it out to the beach or anywhere like that.
We really like our ward. There are a lot of other young families for us to get to know. Although our ward boundaries are a lot bigger than I am used to so there are not very many members that live close by me as far as I know.
The kids love their new home as well. They are both growing up and learning so much.
Aaron has really improved his talking. He still has a long way to go but I am understanding him a lot more. He is singing songs and playing pretend with his toys all the time. His new favorite thing is the "Harry Potter Puppet Pals and the Mysterious ticking noise" you tube video. He saw it once and has asked to watch it over and over again. Now he will get whatever toys or objects to act out the video by himself. It is pretty cute. Aaron is also loves our dog sugar. We got her back from Eric's parents when we moved here and Aaron couldn't be happier. He loves having a dog to chase around the house. I think Sugar loves Aaron but gets annoyed by him sometimes. She loves having someone to play with but hates it when he comes up and grabs her when she is resting.

Kaylee is getting bigger and bigger every day. She is so close to crawling but not there yet. She can go from sitting up to her belly and then starts to kick her legs and wave her arms like she is swimming. She has mastered scooting backwards for over a month now. I have been expecting her to figure out how to go forward but she is still working on it. She has definitely hit the stage of being more squirmy when I hold her so it can be very difficult to hold her in my lap.
Aaron and Kaylee still love each other but they are still siblings so we need to work on sharing and taking turns. Aaron keeps pushing Kaylee down when he is frustrated (thank goodness we have soft carpet again) and he has discovered that results in a timeout. Overall these kids are pretty happy and are having fun.

It has been a bit of an adjustment for me to be a stay at home mom. For the last two years I have been a stay at home mom but with a job. It is absolutely wonderful being able to devote all my time and attention to my kids without having the responsibility of the dorm. However, it gets pretty lonely with no one to talk to but my kids. We only have one car right now so I am pretty much stuck at home. We try to go on walks when the weather is nice but that hasn't been very often these last couple of weeks. I am excited that there is a park in my neighborhood just a 10 minute walk away. That place will be seeing a lot of me.

Eric is enjoying his job. We are excited that this internship will definitely be a full time job once he is done with his internship. Half his office is LDS because they have done a lot of recruiting at BYU-Hawaii and BYU-Idaho. He may be working a lot of hours but we could use the money to save up for a car for me.

Eric's Graduation

This post is way overdue but I I am excited to announce that my husband has graduated. Well kinda, he won't get his degree until the end of his internship this semester but we are out of Rexburg so to me that means he has graduated.

I am so proud of Eric. He did a great job these last couple of years. He pulled off great grades and landed a great job right away.

It was so great to have both my parents and Eric's parents come up for the graduation and help us move.
Way to go Eric!

Christmas at the Bells

We enjoyed a nice quiet Christmas here in Bakersfield. After moving in on Sunday we got to work putting things away and cleaned up the house just in time for Christmas. This was our first time doing Christmas on our own and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I think it definitely helped having our kids to enjoy Christmas with but they still were not sure what was going on.
Christmas was small this year. With moving and Eric not starting his job until mid January we could not afford anything big. We did get to take a shopping spree through my parent toy room since they were looking to get rid of some toys. That store was the best because all the toys were free. I found some good stuff in there.

Christmas Eve we were invited to a dinner party by a couple in our new ward. That was really nice especially since they didn't know us. We enjoyed a great dinner with some games and great company. Then we came home and put the kids to bed. One of our traditions for Christmas eve is new pj's. We never got around to buying new pj's so I pulled out a pair that we got a couple of years ago. I think it was important that we matched to make it feel like they were new again. I think it worked. Eric and I wrapped presents while Aaron kept trying to come out of his room. We managed to keep him away from the living room. Then we had some hot chocolate.

Here we are playing with the camera

Santa made the stop to our house. We were a little worried since we just moved. He managed to find us just fine.

Santa brought Aaron a rug with streets all over it and trucks to play with.

Kaylee got her first set of dolls and a book.

Santa heard that Eric was starting a new job soon so he brought Eric a new briefcase for work that can carry his laptop too.

No Picture: Angela got the new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii and is loving it. (I am just about to beat the game)

The kids not only loved the toys but the wrapping paper too.

Kaylee got some fun toys from Grandma Coleby. She loves her stacking cups.

Aaron was about to open another present but got distracted by the cool trains he got from his cousins.

Grandma Coleby scored once again with these awsome tractors for Aaron.

These kids loved their toys. They played with them all day long.

We had a very Merry Christmas. I think one of the things that made it feel like Christmas around here was the tree. We were not planning on getting a Christmas tree but on Christmas eve we were at Lowe's and saw pre-lite artificial trees for 75% off. So we get the tree and I think that helped make our Christmas extra special this year.