Christmas is in the air!

It was a beautiful Saturday so Rob ended up putting up the Christmas lights inside and outside the house. In the meantime I spent the afternoon disinfecting the whole house after both girls spent the night throwing up. We discovered that it was food poisoning, so nothing to major, but enough to make it a very long night and day. Anyway, the girls were really excited to decorate the tree.
Afterward, they wrote their letters to Santa.
"Dear Santa. I would like a suitcase for Christmas and some stuff in my stocking. I have been a good girl. I would leave some treats for you. From Anna."

This is Sara's. I wrote down word for word what she said.

"Dear Santa. I want a birthday present for the Christmas Tree. I would like a bike. I have been a good girl. I would like lots of Disney princesses. I love them. Thank you. Love Sara"

Silly girls!

Anna's Package

Anna got another package today...This one from Aunt Merfy for her birthday. This is the birthday that just keeps on going!She got some really cute hair things.
And a Tangled doll. I love her expression in this picture! She was so excited!
I even got a surprise in Anna's package. A can of Stephen's hot chocolate. Sara insisted on having some immediately. Thanks Merf! You're the best!

Silly Sara!

Guess she really likes the cheese in a can!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year with lots of friends. The girls were blessed to have some of their favorite friends to play with. All of the kids were well behaved and the adults all pitched in and helped make an incredible meal. We had twenty-one people in all, fourteen were kids. It was crazy, but fun!
Here's a picture of the kids table. They ranged in age from 13 to 2 months old.My sweet Anna.
Sara was a little shocked that I took her picture. She kept asking for more blueberries all afternoon. It took me awhile to figure out that she was wanting more olives.
The girls got to break the wishbone before bed that night. Anna told us that her wish was that we had enough money to go to Utah and be with our family. We missed everyone very much but hopefully we will be seeing you soon!
I had to put a photo of my gravy in. I kept adding corn starch and it just wouldn't thicken. At one point I asked Rob if he thought it was thick enough and he said no, so I added more corn starch. Lesson learned...let it sit for a minute before doing anything. This is what it looked like by the time we served it...Yikes!

6 year old + Dialated Eyes = Hilarious!

Anna had to make a visit to the eye doctor as a requirement for Kindergarten. She was doing great until they dilated her eyes. That's when things became funny. She was laughing at herself because she couldn't read anything correctly. Then when she was walking she started taking giant steps. All in all, it was quite the entertaining afternoon and we discovered that she has 20/20 vision.

Saying Goodbye

The time came for us to say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma. It was very sad, even though the girls were excited to go to the airport and ride on the escalator and the moving sidewalk. Of course, both girls had to help carry the suitcases.

I love this pictures. Sara is Grandpa's buddy. She sure loves him!
In front of the Churchill Downs store .
Thanks for coming Grandpa and Grandma. We love and miss you and can't wait to see you again!

Happy 8th Birthday!

It's still hard to believe that my sweet angels would be eight today. I hate that we are so far away from their grave. Thank goodness I have the knowledge that they are not in that grave and that I will get to see and be with them again. I love the gospel!
Kassi was nice enough to put balloons on the grave for us. Thanks Kassi! That meant a lot!

Here in Kentucky we celebrated by sending off balloons. We first wrote messages on them.
The blue ones are for Jason. Pink for Ellie and purple for Grace.
I had to take a picture of what Anna wrote to them. She is such a tender hearted little girl.
"Happy Birthday Grace. Have a very happy birthday. How old are you going to be. Love Anna.


"Happy Birthday. I miss you. If you don't know me I am your little sister Anna and Sara.
"Happy Birthday. We made cupcakes for you."


Then we headed outside to launch them. It was a really windy day and we were worried that they would end up stuck in one of the nearby trees.
But we got lucky and the balloons went straight up. Hope they enjoyed their messages and their balloons.
We then went in and sang happy birthday, blew out candles and ate cupcakes.
Happy Birthday Jason, Ellie and Grace! We love and miss you everyday!

Jumper Picture

As I mentioned in a previous post, my parents gave Anna an exact replica of my favorite outfit from the first grade. They also gave her a double frame so we could have matching pictures. Before we got a lone shot of Anna, Sara had to be in one as well.

Here is the shot of Anna that we will put in the frame next to my picture. I personally don't see the resemblance, but I'll have to scan the picture to see if perhaps others can.

Off to the Races

The races at Churchill Downs started up again for the month of November. We decided to head on down. It was a lot of fun, but a lot colder than it was in July!

Sara was being uncooperative for pictures.
Grandma and Anna being silly!

Aren't they cute!
Anna loving her daddy.
The only reason Sara goes to the races...Popcorn!
It is always neat to see the horses race. They really are fast!

Lexington

We wanted to show my parents more of the state of Kentucky while they were here, so we took them on a drive into Lexington. Lexington is one of my favorite places here. It is beautiful! It is where all of the big horse farms are that you see on shows like Secretariat and such. Anyway, after a long drive we let the kids get out and stretch their legs.
As we were driving around we spotted this castle. We still are not quite sure of the story, but it appears to be a bed and breakfast now.

Lunch with Anna

While Grandpa and Grandma were here we decided to have lunch with Anna. I love that it is still "cool" for the parents to come and have lunch. Wonder how long that will last.
Sara was really excited. She even got to pack her own lunch bag and eat with the big kids. She was in heaven!
Anna and her friend McKenna.

Hanging with Grandpa

One of the things that the girls love to do when Grandpa and Grandma are in town is just spend time with them. Both girls love their Grandpa so much and just want to be around him. Sara was excited to mow the lawn. We had stopped and got them both Slurpee's and, surprisingly, the lawn mower has a cup holder for two. They would mow a strip and then stop and take a drink.They then wanted to take their lunch out on the patio. Oh, and my dad tried one of the jars of pickles that I bottled this summer. Yikes! It was super salty and not ready to eat at all. I think I got the recipe wrong. Oops!
When Anna got home she wanted to spend time with Grandpa as well. So, they grabbed a snack and went out onto the deck to enjoy some sun.

Making CupcakesT

The girls got to make cupcakes with Grandma while she was here. They had a blast. Probably because Grandma is a lot more patient than mom and allows a bigger mess.


I snapped this picture right after Sara shoved a whole cupcake in her mouth. That kid cracks me up!