The blessing of Andrea Briell Patomo

On May 3rd, 2009 we presented our baby girl to Heavenly Father. She was very calm and slept most of sacrament meeting. We are grateful to those who came to support us on such a special day.

Happy 30th birthday Antti! We love you

We had a fun get together with all of our close friends and family for Antti's 30th birthday. My good friend made this cake because Antti is from Finland where berries are very common. We wanted to give him a little bit of his homeland at his party.

I am so happy that I have been able to spend these past 6 years with such an amazing man. He is truly the heart of our family. We love you Isi.

Park time!

We love going to the park to play! What a great day to be with friends.

Thank heaven for little girls!!

Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas. Girls slept in until 7 am and Nana and Papa came to watch them open gifts. We have done this for 2 years in a row. We have enjoyed having them be a part of our Christmas morning. When Eila opened her new blanket she was SO EXCITED. She cuddled right up. It was nice to have Hannu with us also because we don't get to see him much.

Santa came for Christmas Eve!

This was so fun! Santa walked all the way from the North Pole to visit us. Eila happened to be sitting in the window when he walked up... She said and I quote: "Santa's walking down the sidewalk... Santa's coming up our driveway.... HEY SANTA'S COMING TO OUR HOUSE!!" It was very fun. She really enjoyed it. Liana not so much but she did watch.

Visiting Joulupukki

Of course Liana hated sitting on Santa's lap but Eila was starstruck. She was so excited to tell what she wanted. Eila had forgot to mention she wanted a new blanket because we had lost her original so since the line was so long to go back around we just decided to have her whisper it to him across the mall and he would hear it... Worked well :)

Craft day!

I saw these very inexpensive wooden toys that I thought the girls would love. They both picked out thier own. Liana picked a train and Eila picked a boat. It was a lot of fun to see them so happy.

I know, I know.... Halloween is over

I just wanted to show you how cute our girls were!! Liana was a unicorn and Eila was a horse.

It will grow back..... I hope!

In October of last year we took the girls to get a shorter haircut because it was just becoming to much to deal with the screaming and crying over tangles. We took off at least 6 inches on Eila and 3 on Liana. It was a lot of hair and I was sad!!! It has been 4 months and I am not seeing to much regrowth yet but I hope for the future :)

Witchapalooza!!!

We took the girls to witchapalooza at Gardner Village after we went to the doctor and it was so fun. The little stores there are filled with cute baby items. We started looking at girly stuff and found a pink and brown peanut shell harness that would be great for shopping and walking. I will be getting that soon!!

OH BABY... Girl!

So my Mom came with us to the ultrasound and also to my doctor's appointment. It was a fun day. We got a DVD made of the baby and she is so cute already. Looks a lot like Eila and Antti. Here are some pictures of our day:

The first snow!

We are fortunate to live in a city where it snows more than in the valley. We got our first snow storm on October 11th. We immediately sent the kids out to play and they loved it! Liana tried to eat as much as she could before it was gone...

Oh what joy children can bring!!!

So I had some friends over for a baking day and my 2 year old and my friends 2 year old were playing outside. We got to talking and must have been oblivious to our children because we noticed some dirt on Liana's hands. Then we followed this trail of dirt that led downstairs to our loveseat! All I can say is I wasn't mad... I was in SHOCK. We couldn't believe we were only 6 feet from them and didn't hear or see a thing! They managed to bring in Eila's dump truck full of dirt more than 1 or 2 times to fill our carpet and loveseat with dirt! We had to use a shop vac and will have to get the carpets steam cleaned soon.

The reward of planting a garden!

In late spring I planted my tomatoes and pumpkins. I wasn't sure if the pumpkins would be ready before halloween but they surprised me!!! Here in this picture it shows about half of the pumpkins we got. The plant overtook my entire garden and in fact killed my green beans. So next time I will have to remember to space out my pumpkins from the rest. My mother in law used to make pumpkin jam in Finland and it was so good. I thought, "why don't we do that in America?" I mean we eat a lot of pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies. Why don't we eat pumpkin jam.

I found a recipe for pumpkin butter that was written by a woman in England. I guess they don't eat pumpkin pie much so when they do get pumpkins they are creative with what to do with them. I copied the recipe and made about 20 jars. It is so good!!!! I have given it away to many neighbors and friends and have heard nothing but compliments. 2 have made a batch themselves and one friend created a recipe from it. Pancakes with pumpkin butter and whipped cream... Easy pumpkin pie... Also my butter is very healthy and has a ton of fiber. You can even substitue sugar for a synthetic sweetener.

Arches National Park

The Arches are just beautiful. I could spend all day here.

Mesa Verde and Moab

Our family decided it was time for a family vacation. We decided to visit Colorado for Labor Day. Antti had work off and also took a day to spend time with us. My parents came along as well and it turned out great! The kids had a DVD player to distract them on the ride and we just talked and talked. We arrived late to our hotel so we just went to sleep and prepared for the next day. First we visited Mesa Verde and the Indian ruins. They are so cool! I can't believe they are still in such great shape. We want to go back sometime without kids so we can see more. They let you climb and go through the houses but we couldn't do that with kids.

An updated picture of our home

We recently listed our house to be sold but unfortunately not even one potential buyer came to see it. Our price range was not to far from the market comparisons but it still didn't appeal to anyone right now. I am not surprised but it was sad to take it off the market. We are one of those who got an ARM loan and it is going to adjust in December. We have a few options to get out so we are hoping it all turns out well.

Liana's Birthday

Liana turned 2 on August 4th of this year. Since most of you know I haven't had access to downloading pictures now you can see what you have missed. Liana was sick with a cold on her special day. Seems like our kids are often sick or cranky on holidays... Anyway, Liana got an elmo singing happy birthday that she loved. She didn't even pick up any of her other toys! We had pizza and cake with family. It turned out well because I saved time on not cooking.

We're having a girl!

Well it's #3 for our family and the boy is outnumbered! We are very excited and are looking forward to her arrival. Now it's onto names and clothes and preparing the room. We will get the CD made today and post pictures.. I PROMISE.

Nickelback - Gotta be somebody

I recently heard this new song by Nickelback that just hit me. I hear a lot from friends that it's so hard to find the right one for them. I think love is so complicated but beautiful at the same time. I am grateful for my husband and how I know I am loved. I don't have to worry about finding someone anymore or wondering where my life will end up. This song is for all of you out there who feel discouraged in finding your companion. Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaved-rGoq8

I know, I know.... I've been slacking!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures at the moment. I keep forgetting to take our disk over to Wal Mart to make a Photo CD. My computer won't allow me to download pictures from my camera anymore for some reason so Wal Mart is my only option. It is my goal to head over there tonight without any children and then upload some photos.

Just a little recap on what has been going on... I am now 5 months pregnant and will soon find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I am very scared because I am not looking forward to hearing "it's a girl!". I know I will get over it but this will probably be our last baby and that will mean 3 girls and no boys. Antti will have a harder time in the long run because he wants a boy to do manly stuff with him.

For labor day our family went to Cortez Colorado and Moab. We visited the arches national monument and Mesa Verde indian ruins. It was a long 6 hour drive to Cortez but I have to say it was worth the trip. We had a great time looking at such neat creations. To think that indians climbed hundreds of feet to make a home in an opening of a mountain. It was unreal. The arches national monument in breathtaking. Most often you were an ant compared to the size of the arches and figures. Our kids enjoyed the scenery and climbing the rocks.

Hannu our brother in law is coming for Christmas this year. We are so excited to see him. He has never seen our home here. He will stay for 2 weeks and also into new years. Our plans are to take him snowboarding and to the temple. What else should we do?

Eila and Liana are growing like weeds. Liana is starting to potty train right now which is great!!! I hope it turns out a positive experience. Eila is doing at home pre-school this year. I would like to watch her progress before kindergarten and so far she is doing well.

I am studying knitting and advanced crocheting to develop my skill. So far I can do a single, double and triple stitch and a couple fancy designs. Knitting is a little harder for me. I am hoping to get some help from others. A lady in my ward started me on knitting and I felt so silly because for some reason my hands couldn't hold the needles right. Hopefully soon!

Antti is still studying Krav Maga. He is loving it. I think he has an advancement day in a couple weeks. He is hoping to move up a level. He is starting to come home with less cuts and bruises! Which is nice for me! One time he got a black eye!

Our family will be spending christmas without the extended family this year due to some family differences. Many of them are great people but often turn Christmas into a drinking party. I would rather my kids be away from that this year. It was a hard choice to do that but we are all about changes right now.

I have been waiting to send a package to a friend and some family in Finland but everytime I think it will get out to the mailman it never does. So some have expected a gift... Sorry to you guys! It's coming I promise.

That's about it... Pictures soon will follow.