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.