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!!

Snow Day!

This is a delayed post, but a few weeks ago we had our first SNOW day. We woke up to white rooftops, grass and deck. The girls were so excited. And I have to admit, I got pretty excited, too!! Mia had to rush off to school, but Lily grapped a coat and was out the door - in shorts! It didn't take long for her to come in a change into pants (and brush her hair for some pictures).




Lily anxiously waited ALL day for Mia to get home from school and play in the snow with her! They had a great time, and it got us really excited for more snow. This storm was just a tease - it all melted the next day and warmed up again. But we are ready for the next dumping of snow - and Lily is really ready to break out the skis and sleds.

Halloween Girls Day

The girls didn't have school Thursday or Friday this week, so we decided to have some of their neighborhood friends over for a Halloween Girls Day - crafts, food and fun! It was a busy few hours with 10 girls running from craft to craft. I had pizza, glue, chocolate and bits of paper all over the yard, house and on my shirt by the end of the day. But we had so much fun! The girls have really made some good friends here, and I loved having them all here to play. It hasn't even been 24 hours and Mia and Lily want to know when we can do it again! I need to start now preparing for our Christmas girls day. :)

We started with making witches and having pizza. Then moved on to decorating pumpkins with stickers and making spiders.




Then we dipped giant marshmallows in chocolate and topped with sprinkles. The girls were quickly covered in chocolate and thought it was great! We went through LOTS of paper towels wiping faces and hands. To end the day we made lollipop ghosts.




After consuming lots of sugar, the girls ran and played in the backyard. The weather was perfect, and they all had a ball. It was such a fun way to really get in the Halloween mood. Even Piper got in on the girl fun after her nap (yes - we know she has super chunky legs - I hate to put pants on and cover up those sweet thighs!).




It was a yummy, fun day!

Back to School

In the middle of closing on the house and repacking what we brought to the condo and moving to our new home, Mia started second grade! Crazy times, but the girls have held up well!! Mia rides the bus with several of the kids from our neighborhood and loves it!! Lily is in her last year of preschool, and we found a school that combines school with ballet and tumbling classes so she is in heaven! Her favorite part - she gets to wear her leotar and tights (and sometimes a tutu) to school. It has given me and Piper a few quiet hours together - well, it gives Piper a quiet nap while I unpack boxes! Soon we will have time together to play.

Mia on her first day of school!!




Lily on her first day of preschool!!

NEW HOME!

We have finally moved into our new home, and most of the boxes are empty! We are so happy here and know that this is where our family belongs. Mia and Lily are doing great in school, and have made lots of new friends. Piper has adjusted well and I can tell she finally feels like she is home and has learned her way around the house. Her first word has been "mom" and she crawls around calling and looking for me. So cute!! We have LOTS of stairs in this house, and she mastered those in no time.

Here are a few photos we have taken while getting settled:


Waking up the first morning in our new house.


Mia and Piper playing on the front porch.


Piper - loving the beautiful UT weather and playing in the front yard.


Piper isn't walking yet...but she loves to play around the kitchen floor under my feet.


Mia and Lily climbing the rocks in the backyard. And we love the fall colors that are taking over the mountain behind us.

Leaving Texas

So, to limit the amount of tears I will shed while typing about the hard time we had leaving our friends, home, neighborhood, etc. in Texas...I am going to post a few photos! I have to say a special thanks to my friend, Krysta, that came and took photos of the girls around the house and captured some of my favorite things about our home in Texas and the memories we have there!!







We had a wonderful goodbye dinner with our friends on our street and saying "goodbye" was so hard. Those friends of have been in our lives, and the lives of our children, for 6 years. They became family and we miss them dearly. But the good news - we have plenty of room in our new house for them to come and visit!!





We spent lots of time in our pool before the movers came. We were in the pool and playing with friends up until the truck was loaded and ready to pull out of Texas. Here are a few of our last pool memories:


Mia and Lily's and their buddies - the Pearce's (Elsa and John). Thankfully they come to UT to visit family so we can see them lots!!


Piper and Ella


Lily and Grace - again, another family that has ties to UT so we still get to see the cute Cannon girls!

We Are Back!

So, it has been a long time since my last post, and sooo much has happened. Here is a quick list of some of the exciting, and sad, events that has been going on in our lives:
- March: Jason got a wonderful promotion at work!! ( great news)
- With the promotion we found out we have to move back to Utah (sad news - so not ready to leave TX).
- April: Jason's dad got sick and we soon find out it's lung cancer. Six weeks later he passed away after a short, but painful battle with cancer (super sad news)
- Because of Jason now working in UT he was able to visit with his dad in the hospital and spend quality time with him through the 6 weeks of illness (good news)
- May-June: Girls enjoyed their last swim team season here in TX! Great season and both swam great!! (wonderful news)
- June: Sold our home in TX after just 3 weeks on the market (happy news, but sad that we really have to leave)
- Our little Piper is growing so fast and is now crawling and pulling up on everything in sight. Can't believe how fast the time is going.
- July: Made the move to UT, but with no new home yet we are living in my parent's condo in Bountiful. It just feels like we are on vacation. But enjoy being with family and friends.
- August: Finally found a new home and we move in next month (September). The girls can't wait to get settled into our new house!! (great news)

So there is a quick recap of the highlights. It has been a crazy, stressful and emotional few months, but we have so much to be thankful for!! I will post pictures soon! And my next job - changing the name of our blog....we no longer will we have tales from Texas. We are now UT residents, and I am still adjusting to that fact. :)