Family Christmas Newsletter!! :-)

Sadly, I was ridiculous in not getting our Family Newsletter mailed...I'm still mailing them...haha but only because I don't want 75 of them sitting around my house. So mock me for sending them almost 2 months late...but whatever! :-) I am posting this so that I can finally post more stuff! Hope you enjoy! (Because odds are you'll get it in person in a couple weeks! haha)

Established February 28, 2009

The Clemens Family

Merry Christmas Ya’ll! And Happy New Year!

Can you believe two-thousand twelve is already here?

I know I can’t, it went by too fast.

I guess time flies, when you are having a blast!

Sweet little Angela Rose,

still has her cute little button nose!

She loves to sing and twirl all around.

And squeals with delight when she hangs off the ground!

She is obsessed with bananas and all types of food!

When she doesn’t get what she wants, she gets in a mood!

She is talking and soaking up all that she hears.

And come January she will be a whole TWO YEARS!!

Her smile and laugh light up our days,

She has been a blessing in so many ways.

Teaching us patience and joy as she grows.

Making us proud with the progress she shows.

Jim is amazing and working with determination

Providing for our family without a word of complaining.

He is on track to graduate in a year and a half. (April 2013)

Then we’ll be able to look back and laugh!

He plays the little piggies with Angela’s toes

And she makes him do it over again for as long as he’ll go.

Karisa is doing well, balancing two toddlers.

Don’t be deceived! (Only one is hers.)

She is babysitting again, and so far so great.

Life is full of getting up early, and staying up too late.

She has started to coupon, and is really excited!

And because she is saving money while shopping, even Jim is delighted!

She is feeling good, not real sick.

(at least wasn't when she wrote this!!)

She is way excited to feel it kick.

I’m sure you can guess what we are trying to say…

Another little Clemens is on the way!

Until next time, it is always fun

To share with you, what our family has done.

We wish you all a wonderful year,

and hope it is filled with buckets of cheer!

Merry Christmas!

Jim, Karisa, and Angela

Oh my daughter! (& Home is where your love is!)

Oh my dear daughter!! We flew back from Texas on Tuesday (SAD TO LEAVE BUT SO GOOD TO BE HOME!) We woke up about 6am Houston time and were packing and getting ready so the little girl didn't get a nap. She fell asleep on the flights to Houston, so I didn't worry much about it. On the first flight to Denver the plane had some no shows so there were seats that I moved to so Angela could have her own seat. (She was supposed to be a lap child...) The gentleman next to us was so nice and said we could sit on his row. ANGELA WAS FLIRTING WITH HIM THE ENTIRE FLIGHT!! that is until I moved her to the window...haha. She would put her hand on his arm, or put her arm through his and lay her head on his arm, while smiling up at him with these adoring stares! I kept telling him if she was bothering him to just let me know and I'd switch her but he said he had 3 kids at home that were around her age so he understood. lol. When I finally moved her anyway was when she touched his arm and he didn't look at her, she took his shirt in a fist and pulled it to her until he was looking right at her!! Oh my heck! I was like, "Oh my goodness! I am so sorry! I'll move her..." And might I say, she was none too thrilled when I moved her away from her new found crush.

On the second flight, from Denver to Provo, the plane was half empty! I WAS SO GLAD! because then I just strapped her in and put on a DVD when we got up in the air. :-) While we were on the ground, the guy behind me was playing peek-a-boo with her! (not gentleman because he looked like he was in his mid to late 20s). By this time it was almost 7pm and the girl had not had any nap at all! ( apparently she can't sleep with cute boys around ;-) lol) You could tell she was delirious because she was laughing or squealing at EVERTHING!! Especially the guy playing peek-a-boo! At one point I stopped putting my arm behind her (she was standing up to see over the seats...) and of course that was the time she jumped back and fell down between the seats and plopped onto the floor!! Then she wanted to snuggle, which of course I don't mind! ;-)

Can I just say, I LOVED FLYING WITH THE AIRLINE THAT WE WENT HOME ON!! They totally gave me the can of diet pepsi, and not just a dinky cup... :-P AND a hot chocolate chip cookie!! mmmmmm! IT WAS SOOO YUMMY! AND THEY WERE SO FRIENDLY!!

While everyone was exiting the plane I was waiting until everyone else got off so I didn't hold up the plane, but there was a break in the line so I went to go put on my bags and get ready to get off...upon which Angela got into the isle and bolted! I was like...ANGELA! WAIT BABY!...well wouldn't you know...the girl ran straight into the cockpit and climbed right up into the pilot's lap! I was kinda scared they would flip out because obviously we weren't supposed to be in there...so I was like "I'm so sorry..." and he just smiled and said, "Oh it's okay, do you want to take a picture??" ME: "........yes please! I don't think anyone would believe it if I don't...."

Of course, the hat. :-) I love that she wouldn't look at me...only at him...lol

THEN!! He put her down so I could take her and she walks herself right over the co-pilot seat and climbs right up...lol...I could not believe what I was seeing! Both flights, this girl wouldn't sit still unless I was feeding her something! (don't worry, she wasn't screaming so I was good!) But in this seat she sat there like this! for a good 2 minutes!...

And just scanned the room...probably deciding which button to push first! haha! ;-)

I mentioned that I had never really seen a cockpit before, and the pilot asked if I wanted to take a picture with her...of course I was like..."oh, no thank you..." HIM: "are you sure?" ME: "NO! IS THAT OKAY?" HIM: "Of course!" Then he took her while I sat in the co-pilot seat and then took our picture! :-D lol... (ignore that I have no neck! :-P)

So yes... that is my girl! :-) Then it was time to go, so I put her down and got up to exit the cockpit and said, "Okay baby girl, it's time to go. Say bye bye." To which she quickly replied "NOOOO!" and practically jumped back up into the pilots lap! lol and....would not let go of him!

haha! Who knows! Maybe she'll be a pilot?? lol All I know is she really did not want to leave!

Eventually we got off and entered freezing cold Provo weather!! :-) I honestly was pretty excited about winter! lol Having winter clothes definitely helps! :-)

My plane got in earlier than expected so Jim wasn't able to be waiting for me, but the sweet man had a dozen red roses and a pizza for me! :-) He walked right up and gave me a big hug and a big kiss! :-) He really did miss me!! I really enjoy going on trips back to my parents...but I think the part I enjoy the most is coming back! And I love that first hug that I get when I see him!! And I love that in that moment...his eyes say it all!! :-)

Angela was pretty excited to see her daddy too! She went up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss and then started talking away! lol

Poor thing! She was so tired, she fell asleep as soon as she was in her carseat and was totally mumbling in her sleep! haha it was cute! She didn't even wake up when we changed her into PJs, or put her down and she didn't have her binky. lol It was definitely a first!! AND SO FUNNY!

KARISA...YOU'VE GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO...PART 3

I will try as hard as I possibly can to make this short and sweet...but I think we all know it is gonna be a doozy!

Update on Angela!!

Where to begin???? haha

Christmas 2010: We thought she would be walking for sure but she had other plans so the stroller and doll that Ninny got her, didn't do much good at the time. Overall, Angela liked the paper more than anything else. :-)

January 2011: Angela turned 1!!! I can't even believe I have a 1 year old! When she turned one it was like a complete transformation! She wasn't the same baby! She knew all of her baby signs and used them to get what she wanted! She had a birthday party and would have eaten the entire cake if mommy would have let her! Man that girl can put it away! She even took her first steps on her birthday!!!

In April, on our way to TX to visit Ninny, I found out that Angela is quite a social butterfly! She went up to this random lady and put her head on her lap and just waited for her to scratch her head...haha! The lady just laughed and Angela patted her leg in response. lol. It was great! She LOVED the flight there! She would hold out her hands to the Flight Attendants for them to hold them, and several of them did! haha. On the way home however it was not so fun! She missed her nap, and wouldn't sleep. She wouldn't even eat the food for her. She was screaming, seriously the whole flight! 3 hours of joy...several times I just went to the bathroom and put her on the floor (yes I realize it was gross) and I just cried...I swore I'd never fly alone with her again! :-(

I can't really remember what she did in what months so I'll just list some of the things she does now...

-She sits in a big girl booster seat at the table with everyone else.

-Thanks to Aunt Emma (who is on her mission now) she can feed herself successfully!

-She can jump...almost getting both feet off the floor.

-She is in size 5 shoes now...I would love to just not get shoes, but her feet get dirty fast. :-P

-SHE LOVES WATCHING TANGLED!! She will actually sit through the whole movie! haha

-She sleeps without being swaddled, and now she only gets her binky when she goes to bed. Several times she has gotten her binky then come and taken me by the hand, walked me to her bed and said "night night". haha

-MAJOR MONKEY! She loves to climb!!

-Her favorite thing to do is climb on a bucket and flip over the couch, then run back around and do it again!

-She refuses to eat sometimes. In which case I go through the "this is your food so you'll eat it if you're really hungry" stuff. I usually win! ;-)

-She discovered the tree house at the mall! I still think she might be a little too little for it, but only because she almost gets run over every time! But she loves it! She won't actually go into the Tree house, but she'll try to go up and down the slide. :-)

-She has been in nursery since she was 14 months thanks to the policy in our ward they can go early! lol Mainly I'm sure because with all the kids in the ward they have 4 kids tops! Thank goodness for nursery too, because otherwise, I'm sure I would go inactive!!

-She is terrible on Sundays! All the other days she is a goober, but not bad...On Sunday, she is ridiculous. She has done everything from throwing a fit in sacrament meeting...in which case she has to sit on our lap in the hall (She absolutely hates this, because people let their kids run all over and she can't join them)...to peeing on the carpet as soon as she is out of the tub! She'll refuse to eat. I just don't understand! But in church I hold it together pretty well. :-) Honestly at church, I ignore it...I'm sure everyone without kids thinks I'm such an inconsiderate person to all those trying to feel the spirit...but tough! :-P

-She LOVES lollipops, and applesauce, and string cheese (but doesn't know how to string it.)

-She will rock her baby. Walking around and bouncing saying "shh. shh. shh."

-She usually says thank you without being prompted. :-)

-She has a rough time sharing now...we had some friends over and the little boy touched her baby and she grabbed it from him and slapped him on the head! Could not believe she did that!

-She is still too young for the crayon menus...turn our head for one second and she ate half a crayon! Next thing you know...she is pooping green and blue. haha! (sry if that is over sharing!)

-She lets us brush her teeth every night. I forgot to mention that she now has 8 front teeth and 2 molars on each side!

-She also got her daddy's gap in her teeth. Which I think is adorable! :-)

-She loves the sound a cow makes. If you ask her what any animal says, first she'll say "mooooo!" Until you tell her what sound the animal actually makes. So far we have heard cow, monkey, pig, horse, sheep, donkey, dog, bird, and cat. That I can think of at the moment...

-Sometimes she sings. Of course not when people are around...but when Jim and I go "ahhhhhhhh" she will too! it is way funny! So cute!

-She can repeat what you say to her. :-) After hearing "sexy beast" and "vodka" repeated, we decided we need to be way more careful what we say around her! lol! FYI: "sexy beast" came from Aunt Emma saying mommy's nick name from girls camp, and "vodka" came from mommy being silly at a restaurant when Ange got a hold of the alcohol menu.

So far we have heard her say:

Mama- "mama"

Dada- "dadda"

binky- "dee dee"

night night-"nigh nigh"

glow worm- "bobo"

baby- "baby"

banana-"NANA!"

apple-"APO"

water-"WAAWAA!"

book-"ook"

thank you- "tan tu"

please-"peas"

food-"foo"

pizza-"Seesaw!"

tangled-sounds like Angel

chip-"sip"

robyn-"roy" haha

gramma-"mamma"

grandpa-"bampa"

ninny-"ninny"

lucy-"suzy"

hillary-"hiwy"

alasyn-sounds like Alice...

kevin-currently sounds like "ot dog"

hope-"howey"

jacee-"Daycee"

will-"Wiw"

go-"GO!!"

bye bye- "BYE BYE!"

I love you- "I woah YOU!"

hello- "hewo"

hi-"HIEY!"

apple sauce-"saa saas"

juice-"dus"

sorry- "sah ey"

shoes- "sues!"

socks- "sahs"

And I'm sure there are much much more....I just can't think of them. But including her sign vocabulary...I can't even count how many words she can say!

Sorry this was so long, but as you can see, Angela has grown SO much! I can't believe how fast she has grown, and that she is already talking! It is insane! I can't believe she will be 2 years old in 4 months! Hope this wasn't unbearably long... :-)

KARISA...YOU'VE GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO...PART 2

Update on Karisa....

I am still a stay at home mom. :-) Loving every minute of it still!! I keep thinking I want to go back to school, but I don't think that is realistic right now because we can't afford a steady babysitter and I don't want someone else to watch her for me. I honestly don't know how working moms do it...have someone watch the kids while they go to work. I feel like Angela has grown up so fast already...I can't imagine how fast she would grow up if I worked!!

I was babysitting a little boy 2 months older than Angela from like Jan to April...I think. They played so well together that it wasn't that bad. :-) They pretty much did their own thing and I was able to still get stuff done. Of course that was before either of them got to the "It's Mine!" stage. Emotionally it was a bit tough, but I made it through, since both of them took at least a nap a day and not at the same time. :-)

We went to Texas in April 2011, where my mom was awesome enough to let me work on my wedding album. I finished it in a week too!! My awesome dad would watch Ange and let me just go work with my mom. :-) There were several 1am nights spent scrapbooking, but it was worth it! I show it to pretty much everyone who comes over! It was sad to leave again though...I long for the days that we can be either a couple hours from our family or right around the corner. BUT I try to stay positive and love where I'm at! I don't like to favor one family over the other, and I try REALLY hard not to but I refuse to do the alternating holiday thing because I feel like I'm missing my sisters grow up already! I can't imagine alternating holidays because who knows if we'll get to see them at all that year. :-(

Elyssia came up for the 4th of July and we hiked the "Y" together! :-) in about 40 minutes I think...on the way down I got a little overzealous and was gaining some speed...I hear Elyssia say, "Slow down there Speedy Gonzales!" to which I reply, "I'm fine! I'm not going that-" and then I fall and scrape my knee pretty good! Of course this time I didn't bring towels...blood is gushing down my leg and everyone who is on their way up stops to ask if I'm okay. haha. Yes I was okay, I wasn't going to pass out. It looked alot worse than it was. It took FOREVER TO HEAL TOO! Leg was pretty bruised up too so it hurt to walk. So naturally, because I found something that I thought was so fun to do...(hike the Y).....I got hurt doing it and so I couldn't do it again! :-P LAME!

I sprained my ankle at a ward slip 'n slide (explanation later...) and am still healing and because of that plus my knee incident...haven't been able to work out for 2 months and it is killing me!! Sometimes my foot feels well enough to walk to the store and such, but after about an hour of walking it hurts and swells yet again. (RIDICULOUS FACT: It cost me $178 for the Dr. to tell me I had a cold. $89 for a print of the xray of my ankle. $119 because I went to get the Xray. And $93 to have the Dr. look at my ankle. That is $479 People!! And you wondered why I never want to go to the Dr! LUCKILY insurance put out $427.96, so I only owe 51.04...BUT STILL!! I'll think twice before I think I need to go to the Dr. again!! Not much motivation to see a Dr! :-P

I found a new love for Halo, and Xbox...

I discovered that my new favorite movie is Tangled and have watched it at least once a day since we got it...(almost 2 months ago)...it gets me EVERYTIME! lol I seriously haven't found a movie that I can honestly watch it over and over and I don't want to fast forward through parts...BUT I CAN WITH THIS ONE!!

I probably shouldn't but...I confess....I have been keeping up with the Kardashians...but when they start yelling and dropping the F-bomb...I mute it. I don't care to hear that crap. :-P

I gave in and finally tried on Skinny Jeans.....and.....LOVE THEM!! They are NOT the skinny jeans that look like they are vacuum sealed to your legs though... :-P Super flattering though! And I got the shoes that I was dying to get! And even better! they were only $6!! Pictures will be added later.... :-)

I turned 23! Weird! :-) Jim and I went to the Temple while a friend watched Angela. My sister Elyssia had lunch from Pizza Hut delivered. (AWESOME IDEA!) I kind of treated myself to 4 new dresses from Target. It has been a while since I've felt pretty, and man I felt pretty and sexy and everything(but ugly) in these dresses! Again...pictures to come...maybe. :-)

I am once again, finding myself unable to balance my daily tasks and being a mom...I have so much to do during the day, but all of it is so hard to do with Ange, and when she takes a nap, I find myself doing the same because I am exhausted! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I feel like my post has gone on way too long...so I'll stop...even though, I'm sure I could come up with more! haha...As much as I feel ridiculous saying it...that was the short and sweet version! :-P

KARISA...YOU'VE GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO...PART 1

Update on Jim...

For Jim's 25th birthday (4.8.11) we went shooting, me for the first time, him for his second. :-) It was pretty cool though! (*this is pathetic, but I'll have to ask him what he wants me to put about it.)haha!

He discovered he is married to an adrenalin junkie....(explanation later)

Jim made it through his summer semester of school which took a lot out of him. Although he loved the class, he didn't get his summer break so now it is a bit harder to want to go to school now...BUT he is doing great in my opinion!! He is taking way more credits this semester than previously so it'll be hard but completely worth it. He had to go all year round so he can graduate a year earlier! (2013 feels so close I can taste it!!!!) Summer of 2012 (aka: this summer!) he will have to do an internship (any leads...feel free to let us know.) His work suggested that motorola would probably be good and because his experience in the Radio shop, he has a good chance. Then his capstone, which is a year long project...Fall then Winter semesters, then he is DONE!! We are all way excited!! Also as a plus...although he is taking alot of credits this semester, (he'll be gone from 8am to 6/8pm Monday through Thursday) he has made sure that he has Fridays off work and school so he'll have 3 day weekends ALL semester!! :-) I realize that with 13 credits of Engineering courses he won't necessarily be focused on me all Friday, but still!! It is easier to make it through only 4 days of classes for me! :-)

Jim said that to celebrate his graduation he wants to take a cruise! :-) (Considering our lack of a honeymoon...I completely think this is doable!! We will get 2 more tax returns before he graduates so pretty much all of it is going into savings for the cruise. Jim is leaning towards an Alaskan cruise so that we don't get bombarded by the poor people begging for money at the ports on Mexican and Caribbean cruises...I on the other hand don't really want to be cold on a cruise....but time away is time away! We'll drop off Ange with Ninny and Grandpa Richard and head off! Flying first class has come up a couple of times...(because I would like to fly First class at least once in my lifetime! and as more kids come...the odds of that happening will get less and less!) for now we are just toying with the idea...

(IF ANY OF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE MONEY TO THE JIM'S GRADUATION CRUISE FOUNDATION, FEEL FREE!! :-D)

*Sorry if it seems like it isn't much of an update...lol but he doesn't do much on his own...haha

HELLO BLOG...IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME!

Ok...so yet again, I am ridiculously bad at keeping up with the blog and now TONS HAS HAPPENED!! That is where I get stuck. I really want to do more blog posts but I feel like I have so much to catch up on that it would take an ENORMOUS post to do it...so what do I do? Procrastinate it of course...haha! Which only makes it worse BECAUSE MORE AND MORE HAPPENS!! Okay, so this is my attempt to make amends...posts to come...I promise! :-) just one person at a time...haha

First FAMILY Halloween

Our ward has a tradition that we got to participate in this year! And have decided that we want to make it OUR family tradition even af

ter we move out of the ward.

We met at the church to carpool and follow each other to the farm.

While we waited we enjoyed:

Hanging out...

Talking to friends...

(The Hunsakers, Melissa, David, and Baby Emily)

Angela had fun walking with mommy...

talking to Emily...

playing peek-a-boo around a light pole...

and riding on daddy's shoulders!

The tradition is going to The Big Red Barn Pumpkin Patch, in Santaquin Utah.

Taking a hayride to the pumpkin patch! :-)

We picked out our own little $2 pumpkin! :-)

(It was actually a pretty good size pumpkin!)

Right off the vine!!

Daddy being goofy

There was a cute little maze!

We made it through!! YAY!

(Sorry it's little blurry.) Emily and Anna sizing up their pumpkin

Rachel, Tommy, Shawn, Courtney-friends picking theirs.

It was so much fun picking out a pumpkin!:-) I am SOOOO excited to carve it! We got 2 pumpkin carving sets from a freecycler. Hooray for having something planned in advance for FHE!! :-)

(for those of you who don't know, the specifics are at www.freecycle.org...but it is a website where people post things they want to give away-all free. Its actually a rule of the site. The goal is to keep stuff out of the landfills )

I AM SO EXCITED FOR OUR FIRST THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS WITH ANGELA!