Merry Christmas

Christmas was quite the experience this year. We've always loved having our own little Christmas with the kids but I'm pretty sure they'll never want to have one away from grandma and grandpa's house. We had a great relaxing day and the kids had fun with their cousins and their new toys.

I think they came out just fine...

Sadie was so excited that Santa listened and got her a princess piano.

Sienna's gift of choice was her new leapster game that she asked Santa for the night before. She was also pretty excited about the castle and unicorn she gets to build and color herself.

Tanner loved his new puppy and snuggled up to it immediately.

Sadie was so excited to get a new costume so she could play dress up with Sienna.

Tanner is already a little baller.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANNER!

December 21, 2011 - Tanner turned one! What a joy this little guy is to our family. He is a special little boy that is always making us smile and laugh. He has a little temper when he doesn't get what he wants but it is not hard to get him back to his typical happy self. He was walking by his birthday and has since taken off and there is no stopping him. He has transitioned to walk more than he crawls now and will even turn around and motion for you to follow him as he says, "come-on" in a super cute baby voice. Tanner loves playing with his toys and Matt loves to sit and watch him drive his trucks around or shoot baskets on his new little hoop. He also pretends to shoot you as he points his finger out and says, "pow." Tanner is full of energy and already knows how to tease his sisters and loves doing it. His favorite thing is to turn off the TV when they're watching a show. He dances around to music and loves animals. We watch Planet Earth together because I love when he points to the different animals and makes different noises and gets excited. He loves stuffed animals and will always smash them into the ground with his face as he loves on them and gives them hugs. He is Matt's little buddy and just like the girls has a special relationship with his dad. He also makes mom feel special by snuggling up to her daily. Tanner has been the perfect addition to our family and we are so very lucky to have this happy, fun-loving little guy in our family. Happy birthday, Tanner!! We all love you so much.

Our busy little guy. He loves to 'help' grandma vacuum and chase around the hose.

Tanner made his daddy very happy when he pushed away his cake and insisted on eating ice-cream for his birthday.

Opening presents at Nana's house.

TEMPLE SQUARE

Matt and I took the kids to temple square to see the lights. We stopped by the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg first for dinner and ate at the Nauvoo Cafe. It was so crowded but we were able to muscle our way through the line and take our food into the downstairs cafeteria to eat. We tried several different things for dinner and dessert and then headed out to see the lights. It was FREEZING as it has been all year but the kids were tough and all three of them started, "ooo-ing and awing" the second we walked outside. I love nights like these where it's just us and our kids. Sienna told us the story of the Nativity as we walked around and after spending a good half hour or so we decided to thaw out and head home.

This poor kid was bundled from head to toe and could barely move.

Family picture in front of the temple.

Three of my favorite people ever!

Me and my little buddy. He got stuck wearing my gloves because we didn't have any his size.

Not my favorite picture of me but we only have so many of the two of us so I'll keep it.

Two little cheese balls.

Raclette Party!

Matt's first semester is over and to celebrate I threw a big party for his team and a couple other close friends. Matt loved his team and the way they worked so well together and was able to make some great friendships. This was my way of saying thank you to our close friends but also for me to celebrate the changes in Matt's life from the last year. I would be lying if I said that I haven't struggled not having a home to call my own or that I haven't missed my friends and ward from Texas a lot; but it is all worth it because we are on a better path as a family and Matt is so much happier. He loves his program and we are both very excited for the upcoming adventures we have in finding an internship and deciding where we'll be working and living after he graduates. It's been a fun year that has come with its fair share of ups and downs but the ups have out weighed the downs and we're grateful for all of the help and support along our way. I feel like we're in a very similar place that we were when Matt was graduating with his Bachelors degree not knowing what the future holds or where we'll be but it all worked out last time and I'm confident that it'll all work out again. I know that Matt will always put our family first and follow the spirit to get us where we need to be. For now, I need to focus on blooming where I am planted and work on making the best out of different situations that I have struggled with the past few months.

The food was delicious! It really turned out so great and everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed the food. We had steak, chicken, shrimp, potatoes, breads, omelets, pizzas, rice with different kinds of cheeses and vegetables. It was a lot of fun because it gave everyone the opportunity to socialize and get to know each other better as their food was cooking plus they were all able to make what they wanted.

After dinner we had a white elephant party which was beyond hilarious and I think we were all able to work off a good portion of what we had eaten.

Mustang Club Christmas Dinner

Santa has come to see the girls a few times this year and they have loved it. He came to visit them at my dad's NUMOA party and again on Christmas Eve late at night with their cousins. They got so excited and couldn't stop smiling.

Santa asked the girls to come jingle the bells while everyone sang different Christmas songs.

I don't know why Sadie pulled out a chipmunk face but I like this picture.

Dancing the Night Away

I spent a lot of the night of the wedding talking to different friends and I went in to check on Matt and the girls and found them dancing. He really is the greatest and it made my day watching him with our girls. It was something so simple but it put a big smile on my face. Matt loves our family and there is no questioning that. The girls were having a blast dancing and just kept going and going. My kids are so lucky to have such a great daddy.

Sadie taking a rest from all of the fun.

Pictures from Kirk and Adrianne's Wedding

My little brother got married at the beginning of the month and the wedding was beautiful. My mom and her friend(s) out did themselves and threw a great party. Here are some pictures from the night.

F is for Fire Station Field Trip

Sienna's class went on field trip to the Provo fire station and Sadie was lucky enough to tag along. The girls loved seeing where the firemen slept and what they did but they especially loved seeing the firetrucks and ambulance.

This is both of Ms. Morgan's preschool classes lined up next to the main firetruck.

Too Big!

My baby boy is growing up too fast. The fact that he is so close to crawling is freaking me out a little bit. I don't know why because his sisters were already walking well by now but I just want him to stay my baby a little longer. He is so funny and cracks me up all day long. My favorite things to watch him do are when he dumps out all of the puzzles, chases grandma up the stairs, laughs at everything, snuggles up to stuffed animals (especially puppies), stands and jumps in place without holding onto anything even though he refuses to take steps, pulls out all of the DVDs and then stands in the drawer, climbs on the fireplace even though it drives me crazy- it also makes me laugh because he knows he is being naughty and will intentionally make noise to get our attention before climbing up. Our little guy is a stinker and loves to get into trouble but he is so very sweet and loves to snuggle up to us and give us the biggest-cheesiest smiles. I cannot believe he is almost one, this year has gone way too fast.

Team Picture

The girls' team picture from soccer. They had a lot of fun, Sienna playing and Sadie climbing the trees. I think we'll have to sign Sienna up for "real" soccer when we get back from our summer internship, she was a natural leader and played really well.

Tanner Loves Food!

YUMMY!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We had the whole family (on my side) here and the cousins had so much fun together. We all got together to carve pumpkins and have a party and again the next day to trick or treat. Cousins are the best.

Our little princesses.

Standing on our 250lb pumpkin that grew at my grandma's house.

The biggest pumpkin we've ever carved. (Jake really carved it)

Taking a break from the festivities.

Poor Adam tolerates so much from Tanner.

They are still buddies though.

Aren't they cute? This picture is actually from a b-day party but I love it.

Sadie's is the spider and Sienna's is the cat.

All of our pumpkins.

The cousins with their pumpkins in Jake's truck. Jake cut open all of the pumpkins and cleaned them out so the kids could carve them.