Merry Christmas! We all had a wonderful Christmas day. We are so blessed with everything that we have and can give each other. Josh was pretty excited about his BB gun-it's a Red Rider BB gun! :) 
We had a family Christmas Eve Party at our house this year. Londa and her family came over as well as my Mom. We had TONS of food to eat and games to play. It was a great time. Erin loved the calimari--octopus...yuck! She took off the breading on it and inside were some tenticles and she thought that was super cool. Disgusting if you ask me!
Cavin, Cassie and Marissa making crab wontons
Eating food...
Ugh, I am 30 years old now.....Maybe 30 can be the new 21 though! :) We had a great birthday.
I'm trying to think of a really good wish here.
Here we are with the owner: Londa Davis! :) I'm proud of my sister!
We went to Salt Lake City after that and saw the movie about Joseph Smith that is being played at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. What a great movie about his life, the girls learned a lot about his life and the sacrifices that were made. Then we went to the Beehive House, which is where Brigham Young lived. I remember going there when I was little so it was fun to go again. We went to a great dinner at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (the girls loved being up so high).
The lights on Temple Square were great to see, such a beautiful display.
It was a great day of memories for us. I think it was a day the girls will remember.
This picture I took back in October, it was a chilly/rainy day. The girls were cold playing out in the rain so they decided on scarfs and snowpants but didn't want coats! And look at their feet--no socks or shoes! No wonder they were cold! :)
Erin started Karate this fall as well. She absolutely loves it. She is typically the only girl there so she is excited to be taking down boys. She is proud that she can take the boys down to the mat but they cannot get her down. She is strong! It is so much fun to watch her.
When Josh's parents were in town, we went on several hikes. This one the girls went with us as well. It was a cold morning so Erin decided to bring her "emergency backpack" Well, she was certainly prepared when we stopped for a rest on some rocks. She had a small blanket, some snacks, a small pillow, and her binoculars in there! It was sure to cute to turn around and see Erin settling herself down on a rock with her blanket in the middle of the canyon.
Bailey is turning into such a beautiful young lady. She is growing up fast and is such a good girl. She is top of her class in all her subjects and is so sensitive to helping others in her class and especially her sister. She is such a loving girl with lots of talents. She and I have been going to Ward Choir and she has such a talent in her singing, many people in the ward have commented on her voice. I'm proud of her!
Erin is still a big ball of energy but it is great to see some of that energy go into more than just jumping around the house. Reading has really clicked with her and she Loves reading Magic TreeHouse books. She loves that series partially because she knows they are 2nd and 3rd grade level reading books and she can read them. She is so proud of herself. She is a great helper around the house and is full of love.
My friend, Wendy and I went to Salt Lake City last weekend for a little getaway. We spent Friday wandering around the Gateway, dinner, ice cream, a movie, and not having to worry about kids! Saturday we lounged around the hotel in the morning and went to a yummy lunch at The Garden Restaurant. After lunch we walked around Temple Square for a bit and then saw Mamma Mia! It was a great show!! No, we didn't plan the purple shirts-purely a coincidence. After Mamma Mia we had ice cream again and drove home. It was a wonderful weekend break. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful friend!
On our way to SD: Shell Falls, in the middle of nowhere WY. What beautiful things you can find when you are driving through 9000 ft. mountain passes!
Spent a quick day at Yellowstone on our way to SD (we took 2 days to drive to SD so we could see things on our way). Here are the girls waiting for Old Faithful.
Our campsite at the Black Hills. Our tent and Gary and Nancy's little camper which was nice to eat in when it was raining. We are trying to dry things out!
Wild Burros!! We saw so much wildlife-buffalo herds, prairie dogs, pronghorn antelope, etc.
We saw Mt. Rushmore, went to Reptile Gardens, Wind Cave, hiking, Bear Country USA, museums, etc.! The girls were so excited about going to Mt. Rushmore and the Cave-those were two things that were on the top of their to do list.
Made a detour to Devils Tower on our way to SD.
We were having a goodbye BBQ at our house for our good friends the Crockers (about 30 people at our house). Towards the end Erin came to me crying saying that she hit her head. It wasn't a huge cry so I thought she had just bumped it. Nope! She split it pretty good. So we left our guests and took her to Instacare. She got 5 staples in her head. I saw her skull!! She handled it so well, she was incredibly brave. It is now healing really well. Thankfully they didn't have to shave her head.
Lauren and I. Below: Evan, Lauren, me, and Josh. They moved to Pennsylvania. I am so thankful for email and phones so I can keep in touch with them. I miss them!
Happy Easter!! My beautiful girls!
Of course had to go to Cheers, I remember watching that show with my dad when I was young.
Public Garden-the trees haven't leafed too much yet, but can you imgane the beauty here??
One of the days I went to Salem, MA on my own while Josh was in classes. I was a little nervous since I had to make a few changes on the trains, but I made it and I'm glad I went!
Memorial to those who were killed during the Witch Hunt. Each bench represents a person, this is only a few of the benches.
USS Constitution (aka USS Ironsides). Fun to climb aboard this historical ship.
Paul Revere and Old North Church. To be able to sit in Old North Church and see where the lights were lit and follow along the path that Paul Revere took that momentous night. It was amazing!
We had a fun filled weekend the past couple of days. My brother and his family came into town from Washington so we headed down and spent the weekend at my mom's house. First up was a yummy dinner at Texas Roadhouse-just adults (I guess we can count Ky, my nephew as an adult now).
Bailey's sign on the side says: "Gold Up Ahead" just to make sure the leprechaun doesn't give up climbing the marshmallow ladder!
Erin lost her first tooth the beginning of February. She was so excited and is diligently wiggling another tooth so she can get more money! :) She had to leave her bedroom door open that night so the tooth fairy could get in easier.
Our 2nd Annual Non Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner! Last year I think we did it in March but we did a super yummy Thanksgiving dinner with our friends the Jasper's again this year. It has become a fun tradition, but really, who needs an excuse for pumpkin pie?!
Our Ward did a talent show. The girls heard it announced at church and told me they wanted to participate. Erin told me that her talent is that she is a good "drawer" so she put together a couple of art pieces to show. I made little titles for each one that also stated what medium she used to make her picture. The one on the far right is a collage of trash that she found in the basement trashcan one day. Mostly it is electrical wires and pieces of that nature.