Snowball Fight!

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Twas the Teichert's Before Christmas!

Okay, simply- It's hard to rely on our best intentions!

The past two months have been some of the busiest, most challenging months for the Teichert's in a long time. Chasing rambunctious kids, new job assignments, graduate coursework, math assignments, church assignments and the like- we are ready for the Holiday break!

Thanks to all our friends and family for their patience as we have been far from the "family of the year" for the past few months. We promise our intentions really are good, but if we've neglected the important things we're sorry.

Groveling aside... here's a Christmas/Holiday update-

Allie got her two front teeth for Christmas (the last front tooth came in last night) making eight teeth in all! Our little Christmas angel is so much fun. She's a real mamma's girl right now but loves to have Daddy rock her to sleep. She is still pleasant and full of personality. She loves to stand and Rock Around the Christmas Tree (and around all the furniture), which only means she's the next step away from walking. We are so excited to celebrate her First Noel and can't believe how lucky we are to have her in our home.




Austin is all boy and all independent! We hear, "I can do it!" five zillion times a day, except when he's eating and then he makes mom and dad feed him if he can get away with it... Talk about the life! Finally, Caillou has been replaced by Little Einsteins as his favorite show. Our Little Drummer Boy is quite the musician- he loves music, banging things, blowing things and just making noise. Mommy and Austin enjoy going to KinderMusic each week and singing songs endlessly! Hark those Herald Angels!

This blog is getting long... maybe we should have an Up on the Housetop Reindeer (pause)...

Lisa is a phenomenal mommy and wife. On top of keeping our family centered she enjoys teaching in the Primary and has been taking a Math class at ISU in pursuit of a Math endorsement (I swear it's the only teaching endorsement she doesn't have). Lisa is so incredibly patient with our beautiful kids, loving to their birth parents and more importantly forgiving to her biggest kid- Scott... The big question is how long can she function on the little sleep she gets, but loves getting things done when the kids are asleep, it truly comes upon a midnight clear! (Hey we're trying here!)

Scott, what can we say. Will we ever see him again? Scott was asked about two months ago to not only be the Director of Admissions at Idaho State but now he's also the Director of Continuing Education. He's been trying to get through two doctoral classes too. He wonders as he wanders out under the sky! Sometimes he wonders if there are enough hours in the day but if you ask him he's loving his life, and wouldn't want it any other way than busy!

So as you can see,

We are dreaming of a White Christmas, and can't remember a Silent Night since Austin and Allie came to our house Over the River and Through the Woods. While our Holiday wish is simple (we hope Santa doesn't bring a Hippopotamus for Christmas), we hope you
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Dashing through the Snow!

You Can Eat Mexican Food!

I just didn't feel comfortable sharing this funny little episode in the last entry but...

I have a habit of telling Austin, "I'm so hungry can I eat your..."
Then he answers, "neck", and I proceed to tickle his neck.

Well on Saturday I was playing with Austin and said, "I'm so hungry, can I eat your..."
He quick responded, "No you can't eat Austin's anything, but you can have Mexican food!"

The kid is hillarious, and I think he has a thing for Mexican food!

Our Forever Family

"She just looks different today." Lisa and I commented to each other as we sat around the dinner table.
Maybe it was the creamed ham all over her face, or her big two teeth grin, but something about her just looks different...

Finalization
On Thursday Allie's adoption became final. We went to the courthouse at 9:00am and met with our attorney and the wonderful caseworks who have been conducting our home visits. We were ushered into the courtroom and Allie fell asleep in my arms.
I took the stand and am pleased to announce that this time I knew my own address! (At Austin's finalization I couldn't get it right-how embarrassing!) The Judge asked about what Allie has meant to our family and if Austin had adjusted to a new little sister. Then from across the court the judge asked how old Austin was and he said two... and a half!
Then Lisa took the stand and told the court how wonderful it had been to add Allie to our little family and what a joy it is to be her mom.
LDS family services recommended that Scott and Lisa Teichert be granted full custody of Allie and the judge agreed. Next thing we new the gavel hit and Allie became ours legally! What an incredible excitement! Lisa's parents Jerry and Shirley were there and my dad Fred came up from Utah. My mom Dalene was there in spirit.
I was able to take the rest of the day off and we just spent it with family.
According to our lawyer and the judge, they love doing adoptions because it's an opportunity for the court to put families together. We were just so excited that the adoption is finally final!

"I love to see the temple-"
My brother Jeff flew in from Portland, Oregon and Lisa's sister Stacie flew in from Palm Desert, California on Friday so we spent as much time as possible with our siblings. I took the kids to Clinton and Lisa got a much needed break in Salt Lake.
Saturday the highlight of our year was sealing Allie to our little family in the Salt Lake Temple. Austin was so excited to see the temple and wear his white shirt and tie. We can't even begin to express our emotions as we sat in the sealing room with friends and family as our children were brought in. Allie looked amazing and Austin was such a little man. As the short ceremony was taking place we were all so excited and Allie just smiled. Lisa and I could quietly hear Austin singing, "I love to see the temple"... What an incredible feeling. There is just something about being sealed to your family, knowing that you can all be together forever.

Allie's Blessing
Sunday we blessed Allie in Shirley and Jerry's ward in Salt Lake City. Again, what an incredible support we received from friends and family. Allie's blessing was a spiritual experience and she was blessed with a sense of humor. We all know she needs one to hang with the rest of us!
Family and friends came over to the Milne's after church for a brunch and it was wonderful just to spend time with everyone. Allie was a little angel. When it finally quieted down my parents, Jeff, Stacie and Lisa's parents all enjoyed a Sunday dinner and talked. Soon Jeff and Stacie had to fly out, we had to pack the car and everyone was back home from the weekend by 11:30pm.
Work has sure been hard today.

After all the activity, Lisa and I are just incredibly amazed at how gracious our Heavenly Father has been to our little family. Seven years ago Lisa and I got married, two years ago we were sealed to Austin and hours ago Allie joined us forever. We are incredibly blessed with wonderful children and wonderful family & friends.

To all that gave their love and support in so many endless ways... Thank you.

Scott, Lisa, Austin and Allie










Allie and her great-grandmother Marjorie Teichert

Everybody Loves a Fair!

We've had a riot this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Teichert came up to Idaho and we all went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. Austin loved the horses, cows and especially the pigs. Allie loved being with her Grandparents and fell asleep through most of the day, Scott loved the super nachos and we all loved being together!

We had so much fun we're thinking about going back tomorrow. Now that's the perfect way to spend Labor Day weekend!

A Whale of a Tale...

I've been dying to visit my brother Jeff in Portland, Oregon and I finally got my chance. Of course, we can't just visit and lay low, we are adventures...

So I fly into Portland on Thursday morning, Jeff picks me up at the airport and off we go to Seattle. After Pikes Market, the Space Needle and a huge clam bake we crash for the night in a hotel. The next morning we are off to Anacortes, WA. We tour the little town, climb the mountain, visit the point of deception and eat massive amounts of meat at the Eagles Annual Salmon BBQ.


Only after three pounds of ribs, chicken and salmon do we question our next adventure whale watching on the Pudget Sound.

With little digestion and a whole lot of faith we board the Explorer 3 and off we go on a seven hour adventure. Three in a half hours into our journey we find a pod of transient Orcas feeding on seals just of Sydney BC. It was amazing!

On the way back we saw the most beautiful of sunsets.

Saturday we wake up and head to Mt. Rainer on the scenic way back to Portland, and I swear we saw a Sasquatch near Mt. St. Helens. We arrive in Portland and pack in dinner and a movie. Sleep for a couple of hours and then back on a flight bound for Pocatello.

It surely was a whirl wind weekend packed full but it was so incredible to spend time with Jeff and throw caution to the wind. Now it's back to reality like a seal being ripped apart by Orcas, um... I mean like a fuzzy bunny putting on their slippers- sorry for the imagery kids!

Taco Salad Please

So I take Austin and Allie to the store to give Lisa a little R&R tonight. We end up buying a belated birthday surprise for Lisa. When we arrive home I tell Lisa there is a surprise in the back of the car. Lisa asks;

"Austin, what did you buy mommy at the store?"
"Taco Salad", is the precocious reply.
With a big stupor she walks out to the CRV and sees a big package in the truck.
"Austin what's in this big package?"
Austin matter of factly, "Taco Salad, Mommy".

The big box is actually a stroller that hooks to the back of our bikes for family bike rides.

Where he got Taco Salad we'll never know!

We're related to who?

We've had a whirl-wind couple of weeks since the last update. We're still unpacking from a big visit to Utah where we participated in the Herman and Minerva Teichert reunion, camping with Lisa's family in the Spruce's, hanging out with Lisa's sister Staci and the cousins and all out having a great time.

The Teichert family reunion was a blast. It started with the family descending on the BYU Museum of Art on the opening day of the Minerva Teichert "Pagents in Paint" Exhibit. The exhibit runs through May 26, 2008 and was phenomenal. There was a number of paintings the family just hasn't seen in quite some time so it was wonderful. We then spent time at the Heber Valley Camp which is one incredible retreat built by the LDS church up Heber Canyon.

After passing around Teichert family stories we loaded the CRV and headed up and over mountains to the Spruce's to camp with the Milne's (Lisa's family). The kids loved being outside and Austin especially liked climbing in and out of the motor home and chasing squirrels.

Well we are finally home now for at least a couple of somewhat quiet weeks. School starts at the end of August. Scott will be back in class and Lisa is thinking of a couple of classes to keep up her teaching certification. The kids are wonderful and full of life. ALLIE CUT HER FIRST TOOTH! Which explains all the "chomping" on our
hands!

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with our friends and family. Especially Sammy Cropper and his sweet family. It was great to have the Mark Day family stop in as they passed through on their way back to Utah, (the invite is open to anyone)!

Wishing you all the Teichert best!

Our Life: The 60 Second Version

If you are going to have a blog you should probably catch everybody up to date with your life, I'll just catch you up on the last year-

When we last left our heros...Scott loves his job at WSU, Lisa and Austin love Clinton, Utah. Austin loves the park. Scott's mom and dad build a house next door and move in, everybody is one happy family, Scott gets job offer in Idaho, can't pass up opportunity, family puts up house for sale, buys house in Idaho, don't dare talk to parents, Scott starts job at ISU, Lisa packs house in Utah, Austin plays in boxes, ***Allie joins family*** (bet you didn't see that coming!) Family moves to Idaho, everybody unpacks. Scott likes new job, Lisa likes new neighborhood, Austin likes new sister, Allie likes everything.

Now that we've caught you up... Let the blogging continue!

The Teichert's are now part of Cyberspace!

Maybe it was the whole selling our house, starting a new job, welcoming a new baby, buying a new house, moving to a new state, starting back to school that had us stalling in the blog department but...we are pleased to announce, drum roll...

The Teichert's found their way onto the world wide web!

So friends and family, we'll try to keep you updated on our hectic lives, and try not to embarrass ourselves too badly with our technological naivety.

To cyber infinity... and beyond!