WE HAVE SNOW!!

It finally snowed!! The girls were thrilled! A new highlight is now taking turns on the snowplow with daddy and helping to shovel the walks! What great little helpers we have! (I will take it for now because I am sure this new found willingness to help will not last long.) And after the work was done - the girls could not grab their new sleds from Santa fast enough!! They went outside and we didn't see them for hours. They raced down the hills around our house all afternoon. This is what we have been waiting for this winter. And with the new snowfall we also went skiing (and finally put our passes to use). Jason took the girls back in November, but I had not been yet this season. We spent the day at Solitude yesterday and it was great! The weather was warm and beautiful and Mia and Lily skied hard. They are getting to be quite good skiers so it is fun to watch them go down the hills. Mia is brave and wants to keep going to harder runs. Lily is confident on the lower runs and prefers to stay there. :)




We love the snow!! Look at those bright smiles!!



Skiing at Solitude -
Lily

Mia


My sweet hubby that has so nicely put away his snowboard and put back on skis so he can hang with his family and help teach the girls on the slopes. The true test will be to see what he does when it is a great powder day....

Better Late Than Never

So, this filled stocking has been hanging around the fireplace since Christmas morning, and Piper could have cared less about digging into it. I have all the other Christmas decorations put away and was ready to put this away too, so I finally persuaded her to see what was inside. It only took her 3 weeks to see what goodies Santa had put in her stocking! Mia and Lily were dying to open it, but were good about waiting for Piper. Better late than never - the stocking is now empty and I can put it away for another year!

White Christmas?!?

Ok, we are feeling really upset about the fact that we moved to Utah and there is no snow!! We were all dreaming of a white Christmas, but it didn't happen. The girls are dying to go skiing and use their new sleds that Santa brought them, but there is no white stuff outside. Weather aside, we did have a nice family Christmas this year!

My parents came into town from Florida and we we to dinner and to see the lights at Temple Square after they got here. What a beautiful night. Piper was not a fan of her hat we made her wear to stay warm, but Mia and Lily loved it. It had been a long time since we had been down there, and it was fun to do that as a family - us, grandparents and cousins.

We spent Christmas eve with Jason's family at his mom's house. The highlight was seeing Jason dressed up as Santa and bringing toys to the kids. It was Jason's dad's job each year, but with him gone this year the honor of dressing up as Santa was passed to Jason. It took a minute, but Mia and Lily soon realized it was "dad" and got a kick out of seeing him in the costume. Piper had no idea who it was, but she didn't like the man in the red suit at all!

We had Christmas morning here at the house, and my parents came up to open presents with us. Lily was the most excited, and couldn't open her presents fast enough. Piper got with the program and it was fun to see her face each time she opened a new gift. Then we quickly got ready and went to church. I was amazed at how easily the kids put down all of their toys and got dressed for church without any complaining. It was nice to be there on Christmas Sunday, and really remember the whole reason for the season. We then had lunch and opened more presents at my sister's house. The girls then spent hours dancing to Just Dance 3 - we had two dancing addicts. It was a nice day and the girls fully enjoyed Christmas in Utah, even if there was no snow.

Our Christmas break has gone by so fast!! Once the holiday was over, we jumped into my nephew, Hayden's, birthday and baptism. More family meals with Jason's family and then we got struck with the dreaded family stomach flu! It hit Mia and Lily within hours of each other, then Jason and we unknowingly passed it on to Jason's extended family. I felt awful that we started the chain reaction. Somehow Piper and I escaped this time around. But it was not a great way to end the holiday season and start a new year. We spent New Year's Eve in bed recuperating from 3 days of sleepless nights and piles of laundry. The happiest part of the new year so far - a new nephew that was born New Year's Day morning! We now have a baby Terry in the family (named after Jason's dad). We can't wait to see him. But we will wait and make sure we don't spread any more germs. :)

Well, 2012 is here and we are ready for a happy and healthy new year, with no major life changes as we continue to adjust to life in Utah. Just praying for SNOW!!

The Santa at the restaurant - Hayden, Mia and Lily.


Piper - not happy with her hat. But so cute!!


Mia and Lily at Temple Square.


Christmas Morning!! And matching PJs (one of my favorite parts of Christmas)!!

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!!