Gracie Turns 3!!!!

On January 6th Gracie turned 3!! I can hardly believe it I find myself looking at her so often lately and thinking how grown up she is. And she refuses to be my baby any more although both of our girls are still big cuddlers which I love. Often when you ask her what her favorite colors are she says yellow, green, and blue so I thought it was very fitting to decorate her door in those colors and it just so happens she had a shirt the exact colors that she loves so she was set for the day. She was slightly confused when she woke up and found the streamers on the door but quickly became excited. Although she said she couldn't be 3 until she had eaten cake and ice cream for some reason.

We started the day by taking Hallie to school as usual but Grace had requested a Anna cake and since Matt and I had decided to celebrate her birthday with just our little family I decided it wasn't worth making an entire cake so she and I set out to see if we could find one at the grocery store. This is a complete 1st for me but she and I had a great time looking for something just what she wanted. After a few stores I was concerned we may not find something she really liked so we headed to get Hallie from school and then made a stop at Macys to check since it was lunch time we grabbed some lunch at the deli and just really had a good time being with my girls. They are seriously the sweetest most grateful and loving pair. Luckily Maceys had just what Gracie wanted so after we ate we picked it up and headed home for rests.

Matt was able to come home from work early so we could grab dinner before heading to see Big Hero 6. When we ask Gracie what she wanted to eat she quickly replied Arby's and the rest of us were happy to oblige. Gracie requested a brown arby and a root beer which was no surprise since that exactly what she and Hallie always ask for. So after a stop thru the drive thru so we could make the movie on time we headed for the theater with dinner in tow very happy with her dinner choice.

We all loved the movie, it was a good one. They ate all of their dinner and were mesmerized for the entire movie. They are at a really fun age where they are usually great no matter where we take them. After the movie Gracie returned some phone calls she had missed during the movie and thoroughly enjoyed being sung to and visiting with various family members. Her new favorite thing is to ask if she can "hang up" on them when she is done talking. Then we headed home to do cake and presents. 

She got some really fun things: puzzles(which she is completely in love with right now), money, some creative sand, some little einstein books, and a little tike horse play set that she plays with all the time.

The anticipation of having to wait to have the play set put together almost killed her and Hallie both but they were very pleased once it was put together

Then we asked if they wanted to do cake and of coarse their response was no so after about 30 minutes Matt and I just lit the candle and started singing the girls quickly joined us and were pretty excited to eat cake. Here is Gracie's cake which we were all pretty thrilled about since it took no effort and tasted delicious. It was just a 5 inch round cake so it was perfect for our little family celebration.

This year she needed no help or prompting to blow the candle out it was done before we could even tell her to do it

Oh how I love this little birthday girl of mine. She is so fun. She is very independent. Is fully potty trained, dresses herself, and insists on trying to complete any task on on her own. She loves "shows" that include Little Einsteins, Team Umizoomi, and really anything on Disney channel. She is a great eater and not picky for most things. She is very friendly and social. She loves to read and does pretty much anything Hallie does. She recently has found a love for puzzles and coloring. She is in size 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. She is very observant and smart. She has a very large vocabulary and a huge imagination. She is very loving and thoughtful. She is an excuse maker when it comes to bed time and finds several reasons to come talk to us or give another hug and kiss. She still naps most days for a couple hours and sleeps 12 hours at night. 

This is the 1st birthday ever where we have just done it with our little family but it will not be the last. For the 1st time I got to eat cake with everyone else. I didn't have to clean up after a bunch of people and really got to be a part and enjoy the whole experience. When Gracie opened her presents there weren't a bunch of kids to hold back or take her new toys.  We sat and played together as a family. We ran the entire day on our own schedule and had a great time. This may have been our 1st party with just us but it definitely wont be the last! I don't know where the last 3 years have gone but being a mom is the most rewarding and hardest thing I have ever done and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Happy birthday to this special one of a kind girl!

Chris & Krissy's Wedding-Dec 30th

On Wed Dec 30th the day had finally arrived that we had been looking for. The day that Chris & Krissy got married!! Although the weather was anything but pleasant it was seriously the coldest day of the year but we layered up and made the best of it. We had to be at the temple at 9:10 for their sealing in the Salt Lake Temple at 9:40. Lucky for us Ris's older boys and Krissy's younger sister watched all the kids so we didn't have to worry about them. Their sealer was long winded and the wedding was longer than any wedding I can remember but nice. After the wedding we headed outside to take a few pictures. I'm sure they were thrilled they had taken most of their pictures ahead of time since it was only 9 degrees. The kids cried on and off during pictures since the wind was blowing and made it even colder but you only get married once and pictures are one of the only ways to remember everything about the day so we made it work. Then we quickly headed to our cars. I was relieved that we had time to head for home to have a rest before the luncheon. We warmed up and had some lunch at home. The girls were thrilled to have a couple hours to just play with their Christmas toys they hadn't gotten to play with yet. Then about 1:30 we headed to Brigham to Maddox for the wedding luncheon. It was a simple nice lunch Matt and I sat at the end of the kid table so we enjoyed just visiting with each other it was kinda like a little date at the end of the table by ourselves. The wedding has been a lot of fun to look back and think about Matt and I's relationship and how fun it was then but how far we have come and how much more we are in love.

 This guy really make me a better person

 Our girls with the happy couple. They really like Krissy and we are excited to have her as part of the family

 That evening we headed to Elwood where the reception was held. Gracie and I fell asleep on the way to Tremonton and had a short much needed nap before we started the festivities again. We met early to do more pictures since it was so cold at the temple and to help set up. They served Pie Dump doughnuts/cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate which was perfect for the freezing weather. It was fun to see some friends both from high school and Deweyville during the night.

 We put together a basket for Chris and Krissy full of snacks and drinks for their honeymoon. Brit and Tiff added a few things to make it complete and we put it in their car.

It was an exhausting, fun, but freezing day. Welcome to the family Krissy. There will be more pictures to come Im sure

Pre-Wedding Fun

Monday after a few hours of recoup we loaded our bags again this time to head to Salt Lake to a hotel with most of Matt's family in preparation for the wedding. We were running a little late so we grabbed our own dinner before checking in. While Matt and I unloaded the car the girls ate so they could go swimming as soon as possible. When we got them ready for the pool we realized we hadn't packed shoes to wear to the pool so they wore their boots...they thought it was pretty silly.

 The pool was really busy so we spent most of our time in the hot tub...me with just my feet in. It was loud so it was hard to have a group conversation but it was fun all the same. In this pic I'm 20 weeks prego definitely starting to look it

After a couple hours we called it a night and went back to our room for baths and a movie. We went to bed about 9 in anticipation of our early morning. About 3am I woke up and it felt really cold only to find our heater was out. It was freezing outside and the wind was blowing like crazy! I woke Matt up but he couldn't fix it either. By 5am it was 58 degrees in our room. We had put extra blankets on the girls in hopes of keeping them asleep. We called the front desk with no response by 6 Matt went to see if someone could fix it and all they did was offer to move us rooms, I was frustrated because I didnt want to wake the kids up and hope they would go back to sleep so we just froze. About 7 Matt and I got up and going. We got ourselves ready and let the girls sleep as long as possible. Hallie woke up about 8 and we got her dressed in the bathroom with 2 blow dryers running to try and heat the bathroom. Matt went downstairs to get breakfast for everyone. We had to wake Gracie up about 8:15 in order to get ready. She was very unhappy saying it was way to early and she was still tired and I couldn't have agreed more! Then off to the wedding we went and most of us ate our breakfast in the car...it was freezing!! So the hotel wasnt as fun as we had anticipated.

Heading Home--SLC Bound

By the time Sunday came around everyone was exhausted and ready to head for home. I was feeling at the point I wanted structure and stability back in my life since the last couple weeks have been anything but. We bailed on church and stayed home to pack as well as make lunch so we could eat with everyone before catching our flight. After everyone got home from church we took a few pictures and got on the road so we had time to get there and get everything situated. We got our stuff checked and grabbed some more food realizing we wouldn't be in Salt Lake until after dinner time. Unfortunately this flight was full so the girls both sat with me and Matt just across the isle from us. Gracie was already asking as we went through security if she could sleep on the plane and it didn't take long for her to settle in for the ride home we were all pretty tired. And once again she slept the entire ride home. 

The flight was pretty bumping getting back into salt lake with the storm front still in place in Salt Lake which made Hallie a little nervous but amazingly enough didn't even phase me! Other than that Matt and I visited while Hallie played with her toys.

When we landed in Salt Lake it was just about dark. It was cold and it smelled like Christmas I am always so grateful to be home once my feet are back on Utah ground. I really don't know that I would be as happy living somewhere else maybe someday we will find out. We got to our car and enjoyed heated seats and a movie for the remainder of the ride home. Matt got everything unpacked while I bathed the girls and got them ready for bed. But we didn't put our suitcases away because the next day held another adventure for us but for now we just enjoyed being home in our space sleeping in our own beds.

Dec 27th-Vegas Day 3

Saturday was our last full day in Vegas before heading back to Utah. The girls and most of the kids stayed home and took it easy. I was so tired and didn't feel good and spent most of my day on the couch working on our blog, balancing the checkbook and other boring stuff like that but it was really just what I needed. The boys headed to shoot guns for a couple hours and had a good time. Hallie decided to stay home since it was so cold but it didn't stop Rigs from layering up and heading out.

 That evening we had an early dinner and headed to the Christmas Village. It is kinda like a fair type of thing only Christmas themed. The girls had a ball meeting characters and riding rides. Gracie was a little nervous and unsure about the characters but it didn't take long for her to warm up to them.

 Our attempt at getting a picture with all the kids

 When Gracie is in a mood to have her picture taken she wants a picture with everything and that night was one of the nights. She wanted her picture with Santa alone after the kid pic.

 We rode the train probably a total of 5 times and the kids loved each time equally. Each time the girls wanted to ride together which meant Matt and I got to ride together so we were completely ok with that.

 Our family took up the entire train...here is my attempt to capture that

 Me and my sweetheart

 Next came the tube ride. Since they don't have snow in Vegas this is how they attempt to go "sledding" it was fun but definitely not the same as sledding

 The dads racing with the kids

 Hallie was excited when she got to go down by herself...she is way grown up you know

 Then they had these pedal go karts. The seats adjusted so the kids could reach the pedals. Gracie and smaller needed more help so they let us basically push them around the course

 The carousel was another fun highlight. I don't think I have ever ridden a carousel at night. It was beautiful with all of the lights but once was enough to make my stomach turn so Matt took the girls another couple times.

 They had an indoor area to get food and where they actually showed movies. The night we were there they were showing Frozen the girls were so excited until we told them they didn't get to stay and watch the entire movie. So they settled for having a picture with the cardboard Anna

 Maddi and Gracie waiting for their hot cocoa to cool off enough to drink it

 As the night went on the place got busier and busier and we decided to make a quick pass through the light village and call it a night. No one wants to stand in lines for rides when its freezing you know!! The girls loved the castle in the light village

 And a couple more characters on the way out

 My mom insisted that I take a picture of the front enterance and just like Vegas there we cops there as well making sure we were safe. It was a fun night spent together making memories and doing fun things. After we headed home for baths and a quick bite of pizza before turning in for the night it had been a long day