Happy Holidays!

Well, the month of December has absolutely flown by for us. It seems we were so busy that we barely had any time to breathe! Now that the month is coming to a close, I look back on things and wish we could have done things much differently. December was also a difficult month - we had several things going on within our family that actually kept our spirits down most of the time. I feel like I need to apologize to so many of our family and friends because I just didn't get things done like I would have liked to and we basically laid low when we could. Having said that, we were able to sneak in a few things to help us celebrate the holidays.

School Christmas Programs!

Samantha had a wonderful Joy School program that her and her little classmates participated in. They reenacted the Nativity, sang songs, gathered donations of necessities for a local shelter, and made gifts. All of the families came together for a potluck and an evening of entertainment. Sam did a wonderful job as Mary in her play.

Emma also had a Christmas program at the Elementary School. Unfortunately the pictures we took just didn't come out well. The second grade classes and the fifth grade classes put on a play and sang lots of songs. Emma was so cute in her new birthday dress and she knew all of her lines and the motions to the songs. We were very proud of her.

Snow!

We had a little bit of snow this month. It snowed a few days before Christmas and fortunately it stayed cold enough that it never melted and we were still able to have a White Christmas. We are hoping that we get some more soon. Sam wanted to pose in the fresh snow for a picture.

Baking Day with Gramma!

Gramma and Grampa were able to come visit from Hermiston for an afternoon. We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving so we were really looking forward to their visit. Gramma brought all the makings for some treats so all the girls worked hard in the kitchen melting chocolate, dipping pretzels and candy canes, and doing a little baking. Everything was so yummy and we had a good time together.

Christmas Day!

Before we knew it, it was Christmas morning. It was the first time that we were really able to relax and enjoy being with each other and celebrate the birth of our Savior. My favorite part of Christmas is watching my sweet daughters come out of their room to see the bounty under the tree. It is so special to see their delight! I always try to take a video of it:

The girls bought each other a little something and they were very happy and thankful for their new play-doh and colored pencils. Aunt Joan and cousins Rebecca and Mariah sent books for the girls which they absolutely LOVE! And Santa brought them a little something that they could open up together.

It really was a nice day and we enjoyed our gifts and being in our pajamas all day!!!

Sledding!

The day after Christmas we decided to get out of the house and drive up the mountain to Tolgate for some serious sledding. It was just gorgeous there and there was so much snow. The trees were all covered and the undisturbed snow looked like little fairy wings. It was the perfect day for sledding and we topped it off with hot cocoa and popcorn afterwards to warm us up.

We are looking forward to the new year and all that it offers for us. We hope that you all have a wonderful new year as well!

Welcome Lillie!

My sweet niece, Lillian, arrived this week to Hollie and Bryce. We had the opportunity on Thanksgiving day to visit them in the hospital and meet her for the first time. She is so precious and we are grateful for the beautiful blessing of having her join our family.

The girls have been looking forward to their new cousin for so long now so they were thrilled to finally meet her! Emma said to us, "I felt like crying when I got to hold Lillie!"

We love you Lillie!

Into The Woods

Last night the girls and I went with a group of friends to go see a play called "Into The Woods" at the Elgin Opera House. Our good friends were performing in the play and they did such a good job. The music was fun, the acting was hilarious, and the three of us really had a nice time together.
The lovely Jeannette played Cinderella and she was amazing! Emma and Samantha were so thrilled to see her on stage!

Although it was a late night for us, it was well worth it!

New Moon!

Last night was a very fun night for me and my girlfriends. When it comes to the Twilight Saga, you either love it or hate it. I am not ashamed to admit that I love it. I consider it one of my "guilty pleasures." So it's no surprise that November 20th has been circled on my calendar for about a year now. My friends and I bought our tickets in advance, went out to dinner, and stood in line (in the rain and freezing temperatures for nearly an hour) in order to see one of the first showings of New Moon. Although I enjoyed myself immensely, I must admit that the movie didn't necessarily meet my expectations as I thought that it would. I suppose that I'm just going to have to see it again to make sure.........

Thanksgiving Program

In a world where the Thanksgiving holiday is quickly forgotten or shoved in the background, it was so nice that Emma's classmates put on an adorable Thanksgiving program for all of their family members to attend. They did a reinactment of the first Thanksgiving. Emma was one of the narrators and also an Indian who was at the feast. The kids all made their own costumes and memorized their lines. What a great job!

Let it Snow!

Boy do we love the snow in our family! Snow is soft and peaceful and looks so pretty. We haven't had a lot of snow yet but we take advantage of it when we do have it.
The girls were outside playing by 8am. They couldn't wait to get their snow clothes on and make snow angels.

Snowed In

Last week we celebrated Veteran's Day. Here in La Grande there was no school and the weather was very cold. It was snowing and the wind was blowing hard so we were inside for most of the day. The girls needed a little bit of entertaining so we got out all the fixings to make sock puppets. They had a great time with their dad and their puppets turned out very cute. Sometimes having a fun and simple craft project to do does the trick for cooped up children.

Happy Halloween!!

As always we had quite a few Halloween festivities to participate in this year. Samantha was able to dress up for her preschool class and then they went to the pumpkin patch which was loads of fun.....except for the fact that is was snowing the entire time and freezing cold. The hats and gloves covered up her costume but she went this year as a Musketeer from the recent Barbie movie.

Emma dressed up for school as a gypsy! She had a parade with all of the children in the school and Mom was able to help plan her class party, which hopefully was a success. What a very pretty gypsy she is.

On Saturday night we had the Ward Chili Cook-off and then a trunk-or-treat afterwards. The girls were loaded up with candy and were utterly exhausted by the time we arrived home. They were asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. I am certain that they had very "sweet" dreams that night....

All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!

This was a very big day for Emma! She went to the dentist and had two of her bottom teeth pulled because her permanent teeth had started coming in and the baby teeth weren't inclined to come out on their own. Emma hadn't lost any teeth before so we took a before and after picture of her experience. The dentist was wonderful and the teeth came out very easily. The laughing gas had quite an effect on her as well. :) But the best part was that the tooth fairy left a gift for her under her pillow which she was able to put in her piggy bank!
What a brave little girl!!!!

Pumpking Carving

We were a little late this year getting our pumpkins carved and put on display - we waited until just a few days before Halloween. But we had a fun evening together. At first the girls were a little leary of putting their hands inside the pumpkin but after a little while they loosened up a bit and were good helpers.

First Day of School!!!!

It's the day that parents look forward to and dream about for three months and it has finally arrived for us in La Grande. Monday was Emma's first day of first grade! She has been looking forward to school starting for a couple of weeks now and she didn't sleep much on Sunday night because she was so anxious about going. She had a new lunch bag from her Aunt Hollie and all of her school supplies all packed and ready to go days in advance.
The school was, of course, very busy with all of the parents bringing their children. Here is Emma out in front of the school. She was starting to feel a bit nervous about being away from home all day. Daddy gave her a nice father's blessing and we assured her that all would be well.

This is outside her classroom. She is in a combined first and second grade class this year so we're looking forward to seeing how that goes. We told her that as soon as she saw some kids that she knew, she would forget about Mom and Dad and jump right in to class which is exactly what she did. I kept hanging around hoping that she would miss me a little bit but she didn't even glance our way. Mark finally told me that she didn't need me to stay and that we needed to leave and let her be a big girl. All summer I told myself that it was going to be great having her in school all day but when the day came, it was Mom who wasn't quite ready for it to happen. :)

Sam started her second year of Joy School and since I was teaching this week, she got to stay at home with me and help me to not think about Emma being gone. Sam had a great time and all of the little girls who are in her class were very happy to be there. She's a 'pro' at preschool now and she definitely won't be missing me when she attends school at the other homes.

They grow up way too fast....

Utah Trip

We had an end of summer vacation last week and visited some of my family who live in Salt Lake City. We spent four days with my brother and sister-in-law and my sister and we had a really wonderful visit. It's a seven hour drive from La Grande to Salt Lake and while the girls were very well behaved along the way, they did get tuckered out pretty quickly. If only they could have slept like this the entire way.....

Aunt Tracie made a yummy chocolate cake for our visit and so the next morning for breakfast Aunt Sue let all the kiddos have cake. Who doesn't eat chocolate cake for breakfast when you're on vacation???? My niece, Katie, had most of the cake on her face but she didn't mind one bit having her picture taken.

You can't visit Salt Lake City without visiting Temple Square. Even amidst all of the ongoing construction of downtown, you can still have a really nice experience seeing all of the landmarks there. The visitors' centers are always beautiful as well as all of the gorgeous flowers and fountains.

We really only lasted a couple of hours because it was 100 degrees in Salt Lake that weekend. Too hot! If the weather had been more bearable we would have spent much more time there looking around.

One night Uncle Todd barbequed for us for dinner. And everyone knows that you can't have a BBQ without having s'mores! Here is Aunt Tracie with Emma and her cousin, Luke. Aunt Tracie is so silly when she is around all of the nieces and nephews. That's why they all love her soooo much!

Luke had chocolate on his hands, his face, his ears, his neck....everywhere!

Of course, Katie, found it more enjoyable to actually play with the marshmallow instead of eating it. No matter how messy the little ones get, they are still so adorable.

Unfortunately, the batteries in the camera stopped working after two days on our trip so I didn't get near as many pictures as I wanted to. For some reason the camera started working again for a little while on our way home. We stopped in Perry and Brigham City to pay our respects to our deceased family members. This is a family tradition for us and it's a good way to teach the girls about their ancestors and the importance of family history work.

Our plan was to be able to visit with all of our friends who live in the area while we were there. But Emma unexpectantly came down with a flu bug so two of our days were spent nursing her and making sure that she was feeling better. We thought it best that we not spread germs to our friends so we stayed home. We do miss all of you and will be in touch the next time we are there.

Precious Children

I'm sure there are MANY of you out there who would agree that parenting is the toughest job there is. Most of the time we go through our days dealing with temper tantrums, fighting siblings, time outs, and feeling a lack of patience. But then there are those stolen moments when you peek in on your children while they are sleeping and you realize how much you love them and how special they are. You feel so grateful to be a parent and to have been entrusted with this most precious gift. I just couldn't resist taking these pictures of Samantha.

Isn't she beautiful?

Camping Trip

This past weekend we took a family camping trip with my parents. We went to Red Bridge State Park and had a wonderful time together! Although it was cold, the girls did well and enjoyed spending time with their grandparents and exploring outside.
Typical Sam....hamming it up for the camera.

My parents came back to our home and stayed the weekend with us and accompanied us to church.

It was a great end-of-summer activity for us to do. Now we can concentrate on back-to-school preparations. Where did the summer go?