Giving Thanks!

We have so much to be thankful for this year! And when I look back to just one year ago, I cannot believe the changes we have had in our lives. Last year we enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving in Texas with my mom. Piper had just been born and was sleeping the day away and I was still recovering from her birth. Dad was in Florida with shingles, and couldn't be with us for the holiday. We had no idea what in just a few months we would be going through lots of family changes!! Fast forward one year and we are now living in Utah, the girls are in new schools and involved with new friends and activities. Jason has a new position at work that makes life crazy, busy for him. Piper is now one and walking and into everything! And sadly we lost Jason's dad and are facing a hard holiday season without him around to be with us.

We had our Thanksgiving at our new home with my parents and my sister's family. I have been very spoiled having my mom in Texas for last 5 years making Thanksgiving for us. And then coming to UT for holiday visits and being treated to great food with no effort on my part. This year was pay back! We hosted and it was fun to be all together again for our Thanksgiving meal. We ate tons! And Jason loved that fact that he watched 4 football games in one day. What a perfect holiday - turkey and all the fixings, desserts and football. It was a perfect day for giving thanks for all of our many family blessings!

My family - my greatest blessing!!


My dad and his girls. It is amazing now to see Jason with our little girls and to realize just how much he is like my dad!! MIa, Lily and Piper are lucky to have such a wonderful father and grandfather.


I am truly thankful to be so close to my sister and her children now. My girls adore her family, and so do I!


Gathered around the table and eating lots of good food!

ONE!!

I cannot believe my baby is ONE! Piper had a great birthday weekend, and she loved every minute of it. Her real birthday was on Friday, the 18th, but my parents were flying into UT on Saturday so we waited and did a big family party on Saturday evening. We had my parents, Kim's family and lots of Jason's family here to celebrate. After a yummy dinner we had Piper dive into her very own cake. Making a mess of it was easy for her, but she wasn't sure if she should put it into her mouth. I gave her a little to try and then she went crazy. She was eating and tossing cake everywhere. Before presents we had to take a bath break to clean her (and the floor) up. She then got to open presents with lots of help from her sisters and cousins, but she caught on very quickly to tearing the paper and seeing what was inside. Her favorite gifts - her very own chair (like her sisters) from meemaw and pop-pop. And a Pablo toy from her cousin Hayden. Piper has discovered the Backyardigans and loves to watch the show!! She was such a happy, smiley birthday girl that loved having all of the attention on her for the day.

The birthday girl with her big cousins - Sydney and Gage.


Trying to figure out what to do with this cake...


YUM! This cake is so good!


Presents!! Piper enjoying her new chair while opening more gifts.

November Birthday Madness

So, we have entered the month of BIRTHDAY LOVE in our house. Jason and Lily both had their birthdays yesterday (6th)! I cannot believe Lily is FIVE now. (I won't disclose Jason's age, but he was the big 40 last year.) And in a few weeks Piper will turn one. We have lots of parties, cake and presents in our house this month. Lily started it all off with a bowling party on Thursday. She had some of her new friends come and we had a great time. Unfortunately my camera took horrible pictures due to the lighting, so sorry these aren't the best. They all had fun enjoying the bowling, pizza and cupcakes with the birthday girl.




Then on the real day (Sunday) we had a dinner with my sister's family and Jason's mom. It was special to finally have family around to celebrate birthdays again. We had a yummy dinner and then opened lots of presents. Lily loves chocolate brownies, so instead of a birthday cake we did brownie sundaes for our Sunday birthday dinner. Lily and her dad are quite the birthday pair. And check out the candle that one of our friends brought over for the birthday girl - it is like a firework on top! It was so cool, but I think it freaked Lily out a little. :)

My newest little FIVE year old - all dressed and ready for church.





Piper is still up to her messy tricks - here is one of her in my kitchen drawers. But I cannot get mad at that cute, chubby, happy face!! :) And have I mentioned how much this girl loves to eat! One of her favorites - mac'n'cheese!!

Trick-or-Treat!!

In preparation for her first Halloween Piper was up to all kinds of new tricks...the first and most exciting - she is walking!! I cannot believe it. She waited a longer than Mia and Lily to take those first few steps (both of the other girls were walking by 10 months), but Piper took her own sweet time. She is almost one and now has the desire to be on the move. Next, she has discovered the fun of sitting in her toy basket (thanks to big sister Mia that put her in there the first time). Also, she has found access to all the cabinets and drawers in the house, and loves to pull everything out!! When not rummaging through cabinets she finds my bag and pulls everything out. Lots of cleaning up behind Piper all day. It's a good thing she is do darn cute - it makes it hard to get mad.




But with all of her new tricks she was quite at treat for Halloween. She was a little spider, and loved her costume!! She wore it a few times - the church party, trick-or-treating at dad's office - and then for Halloween night we left her at home to pass out candy with dad while the big girls and mom gathered lots of candy!!





At the end of the night, she was fascinated with playing with all the candy. She never tried to eat it, just put it in and out of the bags.


Mia and Lily loved their Halloween in Utah! They were a colorful duo - Mia was the crayon box and Lily was a pink crayon. So darling, and easy! It was so delightful to be out trick-or-treating for hours and never hear a complaint about being hot, tired or wanting to get out of their costumes. It was a beautiful night and it was fun to spend Halloween with my sister and her son, Hayden, and some other new friends. The evening was a success - and we now have more candy than we will ever eat!!