It's Wednesday already!?

Well, it's Wednesday already. These weeks are flying by. And my to do list is getting longer.

The guys are in Denver. Wish I were too. Not that I don't have a ton to do here, but I have always loved the Stock Show. I'm not much on winter weather, but somehow I don't mind being cold there. Great people, great cattle (and horses-I always sneak over to watch them show and see old friends), great food, lots of walking (but who doesn't need the exercise?). Ahh, sigh. Maybe one of these days I'll get back there. Plus, my parents always come up to meet us when we are there. The winter before Josh and I were married, we took the cattle to Denver. Wow, that was a lot of work, but I loved it. I don't get to help as much these days unless one of the guys is away, but I have always loved working with the cattle.

I photographed our friend Baby S again this morning. He's two weeks today. He and his family are leaving on vacation, so I wanted to go back and get some more of just him (I did a family session last Saturday) because I'm sure he'll change so much by the time they get back. It was funny seeing J next to him-he's so big! And looking more like a toddler than a baby.

Speaking of J, I think it's safe to say he's walking now. It's not totally official. But he's taking lots of steps at a time and is trying to walk more and more all the time. I have a little surprise to put up here soon.

Carla, Mich and Matt came up for dinner last night. Mich watched the kids yesterday for me. I love sharing meals with people. No big deal, just getting together for an evening. I hope to do it more in 2010.

The weather is gloomy today. It's rained all morning. Yuck! I'm ready for spring, but that would mean yard work. Not ready for that. :0) I guess I should be thankful for the moisture though.

My three-year-old is asserting her independence, so I better go.

A little more Christmas

After opening presents at our house, watching movies and playing together on Christmas Day, we went to Mark and Carla's for dinner and to hang out with family.




Jayten had figured out how to rip the paper



Mackenzie got a new holiday dress-up doll.



Emma loves her new scarf and monkey blanket from Aunt Michelle



The girls boxing on the Wii. It was so fun watching them. They really get into it.



Carla has a neat collection of nesting dolls and J was all over them.

We went to Josh's Mom's for a few hours on Christmas Eve.



Jayten with his Great Grandma Ellen



One of our many attempts at a cousins Christmas photo



Jayten standing all by himself



Opening pjs from Nana





Jayten and his first stocking from Nana



Me and my girls



Me and my little man

Happy, Happy New Year!

As I sit here, I can see more beautiful snow fall outside my window. We'll be staying close to home tonight and kickin' it with our family. The girls played out in the snow this morning and MJ is looking forward to sledding tomorrow. Here some more pics from Christmas-enjoy the outtakes!

Wishing you many wonderful blessings in the new year!

Our little ballerinas

Last night the girls performed their ballet routine at halftime of two basketball games. They looked so cute and did a great job. They both thought it was lots of fun.

It's been a Merry Christmas!

We had a a nice Christmas this year, celebrating with Josh's family Christmas Eve and Christmas afternoon. We also attended the Christmas Eve service at church, which was beautiful. I love being in the church at night with all the lights and candles singing Christmas hymns. Reminds me of home. Mackenzie picked to sit in the second row and all the kids were a little more "entertaining" than normal. I thought the closer to the front the better they behaved. :) That must not work for my kiddos. The family behind us assured us they were adorable and all was well.

Here are a few pics. Our little camera, which I took with us to the various celebrations has somehow been misplaced. Probably by me. I think I remember taking it away from a certain 3-year-old who loves to take pictures, but I can't remember the safe place I put it in. Hopefully, it will be found soon.



Mackenzie had received a robe from G'ma Jo when she was around 2 and the girl was still trying to wear it. It barely covered her little buns. Lately the girls had been using it as a doctor's lab coat and fortunately wearing something underneath. So, G'ma Jo came to the rescue again and made this absolutely fabulous new purple fleece robe. MJ was so excited! She loves it and purple is her favorite color, so even better. Every night she puts in on over her pjs. It's so cute.








The kids opening presents Christmas morning. J did pretty well. Of course, he liked to try to eat the paper and bows, but he was also good at ripping things open. They are all wearing their new jammies from Nana they received Christmas Eve.



Our yummy homemade cinnamon rolls we had for breakfast. I made them the night before then put them in the fridge overnight then baked them that morning. I got a last minute idea to add some green colored buttercream frosting I had leftover from cookie decorating and a few red hots. The tree shape was MJ's request. I'm so glad I went to the extra effort to make these. We had enough for two more days of breakfasts. I think I might make them more often!



The girls and their cookies for Santa. And Jesus.



Emma is a red hot girl. She loves them. Hope everyone else does too because she uses them a lot when decorating her cookies. :)



While I was snapping photos of the girls from the other side of the counter, I saw this little head pop up, so I came back here and look what Little Man did! He climbed up there all by himself!! He wanted in on the cookie action. He also was holding onto the oven handle and when the girls moved, down came the door and down came Jayten. Oops! Poor little guy. Uh, bad mom, standing there taking pictures of this whole business. He is getting more mobile and more daring all the time.





When we got home from church, the girls got to decorate a few cookies before heading to bed.

Hopefully I'll have more photos to share soon!

Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas, spending time with family and friends, and reflecting on the joy of Christ's birth. God bless!

More weekend fun

The girls were showing off their new dance costumes. Isn't that look on Emma's face full of mischief? I had told her to stop so I could take a picture. She turned around and bent over and said, "Take a picture of my bum!" I couldn't believe it. Where did that come from? It was so unexpected, yet I had to stifle my laugh because it was shocking and funny at the same time. We're going to have to watch her; I'm afraid she knows she's funny too.



Here she's doing one of her poses. I could barely get her to stand still. She was mostly trying to sasché across the floor, which is supposed to be a graceful move from side to side. Her version is a little bit more like shuffles from sports practice. But, you can't help but smile at a little girl in a pink tutu!





Mackenzie was an angel in our church Christmas program.



We went to church Sunday morning then to M&C's for lunch to celebrate Matt's birthday.

It was a fun, full weekend of family activities and lots of memories!

Fun busy weekend

Last Friday, I went into Mackenzie's class for her Christmas party while Mich watched E and J. I could tell she was really excited to have me there as she kept walking me around the class to look at things and didn't really want me leaving her side. I was so glad I could be part of the day with her. She's been talking for a week now about all the fun surprises they had been making at school. She's not much of one for keeping a surprise a surprise. :)

Afterward the girls, Mich and I headed to Horseshoe Bend to catch the ThunderMountainLine's Northpole Express. It was a train ride up to the "North Pole" to meet Santa. There were carolers on board, food and drinks. We met Mark, Carla and Carla's family up there. The kids had a great time. It was a pretty ride (at least when it was still light out). I'd love to go sometime in the summer too. MJ kept running and jumping in the snow. Emma was collecting snow to bring home. We distracted her with a candy cane so she didn't get upset about leaving it. They both talked to Santa, and told him what they would like for Christmas, then each received a candy cane. We've never done anything like this, but I've always wanted to. I'm glad we decided to try it this year. The girls are at the perfect age to really enjoy it.

On Saturday we went to Jared and Stephanie's. Us girls went shopping for a family we adopted through the Boys and Girls Club, then we all went to the Botanical Gardens. Each year they decorate the gardens in thousands of Christmas lights. It was quite an exhibit. My photos don't do it justice. Then, we headed back to the house for pizza and present wrapping.



MJ thought Jayten needed a bow on his head.



Boise Botanical Garden aGlow



The girls thought the lights were super cool. They even got to meet and pet a real reindeer.



Emma and her snowballs. She kept picking them up and wanted to bring them home from the Northpole.



Meeting Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Northpole.





We toured the train and were checking out all the cars.



It was fun being a part of MJ's Christmas party at school.



Her teacher had lots of fun activities planned for the kids.



She was very proud of her Gingerbread house made out of Graham crackers.