Roman & Jeff building a snowman in the front yard - yes, we have plenty of snow to build a snowman army!

Busy, busy, busy...

January is quickly coming to a close and Jeff and I are VERY ready for our cruise in February! No cell phone, no Internet - how will we manage? (rhetorical question, of course) I am looking forward to some serious beach, snorkel and book time - not to mention I may be able to correct my vitamin D deficiency (sunshine, baby!).

Work is super busy with the rates on the low end of the spectrum but the market is funky and it makes my job very tough - lots of business but not as many loan programs.

So - a funny story about Roman: Last Wednesday I was juggling my mommy duties with my career duties...trying to work from home for a bit because Roman wasn't feeling well. I set up the portable DVD player in my office and put on his favorite Mickey Mouse show. He had his blankets, pillows, juice - heaven, right? Well Roman likes to "play" with the DVD player - pause, skip, stop, open...you get my drift. All is silent for a few minutes, the silence that foreshadows trouble, when I hear a crunching noise in the shredder. Yes, the Mickey Mouse DVD was laid to rest in many small pieces in our shredder with Roman's help. Roman was unscathed and yes, the shredder still works, but as he said "bye-bye" to Mickey Mouse by waving at the shredder, I could do nothing but laugh!

As for my sweet husband, I think that he is in a "golf depression" - he is starting to feel like the snow is never going to stop falling let alone melt! We talked about the possibility of a winter hobby so that he could come to grips with the fact that Utah has four very distinct seasons...we'll see! Hopefully the cruise will shake him out of it and he'll see the light at the end of the tunnel!

One more "Romanism": We took Roman to his Pediatrician last week. Dr. Nielsen asked us if we were still raising Roman to be a linebacker...a common question that we get. Anyhow, he told us that Roman is the BIGGEST child that he has ever had through his practice! Already setting records - way to go Roman!

Rex and Roman having a "discussion" about the "strawberries and blueberries" inside the tree. The tree they are sitting on had a knot hole in it and they kept poking sticks inside. When Marjie asked Rex what he was doing, he said that "there are strawberries and blueberries in here"...of course we just though he had a wild imagination - that is, until I looked inside and there WERE some sort of berries in there! Go figure...

Roman checking out the hippo at the Washington D.C. Zoo. We went for a week to visit Marjie, Tyler, and Rex - what a blast! We had 65 degree weather for two days...I would have never guessed that could be true in January. Roman and Rex had a great time together but it doesn't compare to the wonderful time that I had with Marjie! Love you, Sis!