Christmas Tree!

So here it is, the infamous peacock tree, and my wonderful sister who has helped me decorate for the past 13 years. This is the first year, I think, that I haven't had to "fix" anything after she went home. My girls were on a fun adventure with their amazing Daddy, so Jordan and I had the day to ourselves, to watch our favorite Christmas movies, decorate, laugh, and eat. We finished by 2:00, a huge record for us. We are getting really good!

Our first Halloween Parade

If I am going to play catch up, I better include the pictures from today, who knows when I will update next.
Today was the Halloween Parade at Natasha's school. It was a really nice treat since we have always been off track on Halloween. Natasha was a vampira, and little Cassie couldn't be left out, so she came to see her sister in her witch costume.

Utah in the Fall

We have had some snow storms in the mountains so we made sure to get up the canyon to see the leaves before the first snow fell.

Good-bye Lucy

Grammie and Papa's dog Lucy has been around since before Tasha was born. She had become really sickly and we had to go for our final visit before she went to heaven. The girls were very sad to say good-bye.

Bear Lake

We spent Labor Day weekend at Bear Lake. Gramie and Papa rented a boat and we had a lot of fun!


We rented a bike/buggy thing that we could all be in together. We rode to an icecream shop where the girls got cones and the adults had raspberry shakes.

Vegas

At the start of Summer we went to Vegas, it was a great time. The Monte Carlo was very family friendly and had unbeatable pools. The 18 inch deep kid pool that was gated off, extra warm water, and had short chairs for the adults to tan in was our favorite.

The girls really enjoyed the water show on the strip.

I woke up from a nap to find that Aunt Jordan had tried to straighten Cassie's hair. She was laughing so hard when she saw it that we all were cracking up for hours.

Natasha the munchkin!

Natasha has taken dance all school year, and they had their recital the day after Memorial Day (with a practice on Memorial day, downtown - but we won't get into that!). The ballet students of all levels put on the Wizard of Oz, and she was a munchkin. Thanks to the family who came out to support her, she loved having you there.

Cassie is three

Cassie is three, and had a darling monkey party. She chose the theme back when we were at the party store for Natasha's party. It was a bit wild with 7 2 and 3 year olds, some sibling helpers, and many moms. Thank you to everyone for all of your help! We made monkey necklaces, animal hats, did bubbles, and ate a monkey rice crispy cake - don't laugh, I did my best! She had such a great time, it wore here right out. Halfway through dinner after the party, she burst into tears and asked to go to bed. Gramie helped her out with some cuddle time.

A little red in the face!

Natasha's 1st grade did a darling program, and she was asked to be one of the leads, Rossie # 3. She had a LOT to memorized, but did a great job. We went to the "dress rehearsal" on the first day, and things went really smoothly - the next day it was for real in front of the school. For some reason, that morning happened to be when she tried out the special pills from Crest. They had a lesson all about proper tooth brushing and gave them hot pink pills to chew and they would show you where you aren't brushing well enough. I guess she found out that it also made for a fun "paint", and painted her face with it after she had brushed. She was having a great time, until it wouldn't wash off. Then she remembered, "I have to sit on a stage with a spot light on me in front of the entire school!". A little 7 year old drama to say the least, but it all worked out. I wish the picture did it justice, because it was pretty bad. Her teacher asked me, "Okay, WHAT did she eat for breakfast this morning?!?".


In case you were wondering, I had NOTHING to do with the bow! I didn't even know they were doing anything with her hair till I got there. Gotta love Utah!

Yes we still exist!

Sorry, it has been a LONG time, but here they are, a few updates, fast and furious.

In April we took a fun trip down south to visit the Great Grandparents, and also went to Zion. The girls loved it, and their hair is the perfect match there!

Cowgirl mania!

We had a wild week of birthday fun. 5 parties/activities, plus one special shopping trip with Aunt Sara to Justice, and bringing 27 toy horses to her class with tags that said, "Natasha has finally turned 7 and now she is in horse heaven!", all her idea. Needless to say, we are tired, but had a great time. She said, "this was the best birthday ever!".

On her actual birthday, she requested Pizza hut and cupcakes. Easy for mom! Aunt Jordan surprised us when she was at our house after school, she came down early from Logan and got to have the birthday dinner with us!

Her favorite gift that night, hands down, was her cowgirl boots! She even hugged them in her sleep.



Daddy surprised her and gave her a "secret cowgirl mission". He had a special computer surprise that told her she gets to be trained by a specialist in horses and kids, and will get to go riding. She is very excited!

The next day was her cowgirl party. It was a great time, with her darling friends! They liked to pretend that they were mean cowgirls - just for the picture though.

They played pin the tail on the horse.

It was a fun time for all!

Daddy thought we were nuts at first, but yes, cowgirl boots can be great at church too!

Mommy knows best

After a few days of Cassie not feeling well, she finally spiked a fever and started with a really strange cough. Luckily I had kept her home from nursery the day before. We took her to the doctor, and she has croup and a sinus infection. Poor girl! Sometimes a Mommy just has that feeling when to keep their baby home. She spent much of last night crying in our bed. She felt awful. Today will be a lot of rest and extra love.

Happy Birthday Natasha!

Natasha turns 7 today! Technically not until 11:15 tonight, but we won't make her wait that long for her gifts. She looks darling today, and was excited to wear her birthday headband. Hope you have a wonderful day Tasha, can't wait for the cowgirl party tomorrow!

Had to throw this in too. Dr. Seuss's birthday celebration was Monday at school, and they asked the kids to dress up like a character from one of his books. She chose Cindy Lou Who (sp?) from the Grinch, it was a task to try to get the hair like hers, but we did our best!

Big Girl Bed!

Okay, she was getting WAY too big for the crib! Yes, she will be 3 in 2 months, and I hadn't put her in a bed yet. With Natasha, we knew it was time to put her in a bed when she climbed out at 20 months. I figured Cassie would let us know the same way, but she LOVED her crib, and it never occurred to her to try to climb out - VERY different girls. The bed arrived this week, and she is in heaven. She still doesn't try to get out of the bed by herself and will say, "I REALLY want to get out!", when she wakes up. We have bed rails up now, but they didn't match the decor, so I took the pictures before we put them up. She is also thrilled to have a "theme" of her own now. It is a garden/flower theme, and she was in heaven at Tai Pan with me shopping for accessories. Such a big girl!

Confessions of an Exhausted Mom

I went to the midnight showing of Confessions of a Shopaholic with my sister, and I am exhausted. I think I got to bed around 3:00 am. It is after noon now, and I am still not dressed! It was a fun time, and a cute movie. I am glad that I have such a great little sister who makes such fun suggestions to me to do things that I would never do on my own. Jordan, you keep me young!

I love to see the temple

The Draper temple near us is having the open house before it is dedicated, and we had a wonderful time being able to take the girls on a tour. I remember when I was about Natasha's age and went on an open house tour of the Chicago temple. That visit always stuck with me, and I was hoping that Natasha would enjoy it as much as I did. The girls really looked forward to it, and insisted on wearing white dresses, even though the tour only requests church attire. They did pretty good on the tour, weren't as quiet as I would have like, but I think they felt the spirit, and learned a lot.

After the tour they have an area for treats and we were able to take a picture. Yes, Aaron did enjoy himself, despite the strange look on his face!

MLK weekend tradition

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a wonderful holiday, and means a lot to us, even more since we have been on the steps of his famous speech. We talked a lot about the holiday with the kids and did our best to give an age appropriate explanation as to why we had a day off.

Our tradition for MLK though, has nothing to do with the holiday, it just happens to be when we go to the car show. We have gone for years, and Aaron really loves it. We have typically gone with some friends of our and their boys, but they were sick this year so it was just us. The girls loved running from car to car, being able to touch everything!

Christmas Catchup

Yes, Christmas really did exist at our house. I LOVE Christmas and prepare for it all year long, but when I am done, I am done, so it has been hard for me to want to post about it - mind you I have already bought my first Christmas gift for this year's Christmas. I am strange, what can I say.

After a nearly 2 hour wait, we finally got to talk to Santa. Next year I will never wait till the week before Christmas to see him!!!

The girls were both able to decorate the ginger tree this year, and they loved working together.

They had beautiful green Christmas dresses. Our color options are limited since most of the Christmas dresses are red and don't always work with their beautiful hair.

They were so excited on Christmas Eve, they could barely contain themselves.

Natasha got her coveted "Spy Kit", and she was in heaven. These glasses have mirrors and allow you to see behind you!

I surprised Aaron and got him what we now call the snow beast. To call it a snow blower really isn't accurate. It is a beast, and does a great job, even if it is taking up nearly all of the shed!

Cassie loved her Elmo from Santa, but Christmas day she wore her "cooker outfit" for hours. We love all of her pretend treats she makes for us.

New Family pictures

We had some new family pictures taken in November by my amazing friend Suzanne. Here are some of the highlights.