A Look Back at 2010

As the year draws to a close, we reflect back on 2010.

We welcomed a new family member:

Abigail Aloha Buhler, born May 9, 2010

We celebrated Sandy's 2nd birthday:

We lost a member of our family:


We cleaned up lots of messes, started several home improvement projects (and finished some of them), and didn't get nearly enough sleep. But we have two healthy, happy little girls and we feel very blessed. Bill still owns his own business and Megan is still able to be home with the girls.

2010 has been a good year and we look forward to 2011.

Happy New Year!

Potty Trained!

Sandy is potty trained. She did it mostly herself.

For a long time, she has been willing to pee in the toilet occasionally. I didn't pushed it, but did reward her with jelly beans if she went.

In November, Bill came home with a toilet seat. Without any prompting, she climbed up on her new seat and pooped. She never went back.

We did occasionally use pull-ups to get us through Nursery, etc. But she has now been in panties exclusively for 2+ weeks (naps, nighttime included) without an accident.

Wow, that was easy when we waited for her to be ready. I'm glad we didn't push it a year ago (and several times since) when our pediatrician recommended we do so.

Curly Hair!

Jaydene gave Sandy a cute haircut and we discovered that she has some natural curl! More wavy once it dries, but at my cousin Heather's suggestion, I put some gel in her wet hair and scrunched it. I think it's adorable!

Merry Christmas!

Here is a video of Sandy from Christmas Eve talking about what Santa is going to bring her.


Every time I've asked her what she wants Santa Claus to bring her, the answer has been the same: a candy cane. So, I put some candy canes in her stocking -- a couple of miniature ones, a regular size one, and a candy cane tube filled with candy. Christmas morning she was excited by everything, especially the candy canes. Every time she'd get to one in her stocking, she'd hold it up and shout: "A candy cane!" The next day I took her to nursery and her teacher asked her what Santa brought her. Her response? "A candy cane!"

Here is a picture of Abby from Christmas eve that my sister-in-law Heather took.



Here are some photos from Christmas morning.



Here is a video of Abby smiling and Sandy talking in the background.

December Part 1 (in reverse chronological order)

On December 23, we went to the annual Shupe family Christmas party. It has been a green, rainy Christmas in Salt Lake, but there was plenty of snow at the party. So much snow, in fact, that we got stuck. Thanks to my grandpa and uncles for pushing us out, chauffeuring us up to the lodge, and then stopping later on the highway to help us pull off the plastic thing that got torn loose and was flapping around.

The first person we saw after getting stuck was my mom's uncle, Norm. He took me and the girls up to the lodge while Bill stayed to deal with the car. Sandy didn't remember him, so when he picked up Abby's carrier to take her to the car, she ran after him yelling, "Hey! That's our baby!"

Santa Claus was at the party.




On December 12, we got a family picture taken for the ward bulletin board:

On December 3 at our ward Christmas party:

November (in reverse chronological order)

November was a busy month. I was busy with church: getting ready for our Primary Program November 14 and then our ward Christmas Party December 3. We are all exhausted. Abby still wants to eat every 3 hours at night. If I don't nurse her, she screams at the top of her lungs and wakes Sandy up and then we have two kids to deal with in the middle of the night.

Here are photos of the girls in their Christmas dresses on November 28.



My sister stopped by with her husband and son. They live in Canada but were down in Utah for the Thanksgiving weekend.


Corbin liked Abby's binkie.
We went to the Children's Treehouse Museum in Ogden for Black Friday. My kids loved it! They loved it a lot more than Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake.



Abby eating a graham cracker on November 22. She loves to feed herself!


Sandy ready to go on November 18. This girl wants to wear a dress every day. She loves purses, sparkly shoes, and anything pink!


On November 15, our Family Home Evening lesson was on being grateful. We each told something we were grateful for. I said I was grateful that we had a house to live in. Sandy looked deep in thought and finally said, "If we didn't have a house, we could live with Grandpa!"

Bill reading Sandy a bedtime story on November 14.
Abby and Sandy on November 11.


On November 9, we had to put our dog, Sage, to sleep. She had lymphoma and her lymph nodes were swelling and had nearly blocked her airways. It was a hard thing to do. I was really worried about how Sandy would handle losing her friend, but she has done really well. She went with her dad to give Sage a bath. Then a friend stayed home with the girls while Bill and I took Sage to the vet. We explained to Sandy that Sage was old and sick and that she had to go to heaven where she wouldn't hurt any more and that in a really long time when we get old and sick we will die and go to heaven, too. We explained before we took Sage and let Sandy say goodbye. Then we talked about families are forever for Family Home Evening and talked about Sage again. Other than that, we've pretty much left it alone unless Sandy brings it up.

Sandy still prays for Sage in her prayers every night. She knows that Sage is in heaven, though, and has seemed okay with that. She did comment once that "Sage went to heaven in daddy's car," (we took Sage to the vet in Bill's car) but she hasn't had any issues with riding in his car or with us leaving in it, so I guess that was just something she noticed.