Two little sickies sittin' in the tub...

The kids have been sick.
Sara and Violet were the last ones to get it.
And they were the sickest :-(

coughing, fever, stuffy nose, green boogies, ear infection, up all night...
all called for bubble-bath-in-Mommy's-tub-medicine!

Unfortunately, Violet was then diagnosed with
BUBBLE-PHOBIA!
So this medicine didn't help.
We'll just stick with the amoxicillin.

Violet also had her 12 month check-up.
Apparently she is TALL!
Aaron's genes just might make an appearance after all!

Skillz

I know most babies are walking by now, but we still get a kick out of Violet's new skills no matter when they're mastered. Here she has finally learned to go from a tummy position to sitting up:



I swear I heard Woody Woodpecker laugh at the very end :-)

Because you can't hear too much about LOVE in February...

Have a lovey-dovey Valentines Day!

ANOTHER daddy's girl :-)

little miss ONE!

Our sweet baby is ONE!
I can't imagine our lives without her.
What a BLESSING she is!

Here she is just one year ago:

Violet Mae

(picture taken by SIL Dawn)

Sooo BIG!

Miss U Daddy!

Our studly daddy (& hubby) has been traveling LOTS.
How we get a long without him, I'll never know!
We miss him LOTS.

getting SO big!

Just a few more weeks left in infancy!
But she'll be our baby forever.

Sledding in the New Year!

The kids love sledding!

Especially Sara (aka, Toboggan Girl)
She got a polar bear sled from Santa, and we had to put the sled in the garage after we discovered her love for sledding down the hallway, across the living room, and down the stairs!



Sam got a snowboard-sled from Santa and loves it.
He looks quite studly in his boarding goggles too :-)



And Kaeli & Rylie like bumping into new friends!

Our search for a steeper, faster, bigger sledding hill continues...

Merry Christmas!

and Happy New Year!

Lights on Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we bundled up & headed to Temple Square!
It's a MUST every year!

On our drive home we searched the sky hoping to see a glimpse of Santa flying through the night. We think we may have actually seen Rudolph's nose!

When we got home we did our annual Christmas Eve routine...
Luke 2, opening one gift (jammies & snowman soup), leaving goodies, egg nog & a note for Santa (apples for the reindeer), and going to bed hoping to fall asleep quickly so Santa can come.

But it's soooo hard to fall asleep when you're soooo EXCITED!

Tis The Season

Tis the season for Christmas cards,

pictures of baby's first Christmas,

decking the halls,


and candy making!


1. White Chocolate Peppermint Candy
2. Marshmallow Creme Chocolates
3. Mousse Balls
4. Caramels
5. Peppermint Bark
6. Snow Balls
7. Krispy Turtles

Lil' Bum Scooter

This is Violet's way of getting around.
She reminds me of a little frog :-)

Say CHEESE

2010
SCHOOL PICTURES

Sam - 5th grade

Kaeli - 4th grade

Rylie - 1st grade

my little MONSTERS

Violet was a kitty.
And yes, I know her whiskers aren't on straight.
She's a wiggly little kitty.

Sara was a witch!
She requested the green face and green hair.

Rylie was a ghost!
She was hoping to be scary, but turned out to be cute,
bummer.

Kaeli was a vampire!
And she took the role very seriously.

Sam was a ninja!
Don't mess with the ninja.

What a frightening sight!

We hope your Halloween was as SPOOKTACULAR as ours!

Birthday Ghoul!

Can you believe it?

Sara had her friends over for a Halloween/Birthday/Costume
PARTY on Saturday!
They had a real spooky-good time!!!

Sara is such a blessing to our family!
She is sweet, spunky, and oh so very silly.
She has so much energy and is always bouncing, twirling, & running.
Sara is also very good at sharing and very loving!
She's a HUGE helper and takes such good care of her baby sis.
We love our Sari!

Flashback: Here's little Sara on her first birthday!

Arches

(whatever :-)

The kids had "fall break" last week. So we invited my parents to go down to Moab with us and hike in Arches National Park. We had the nicest campground I think I have ever camped in...flushing toilets, warm showers, and even a sink to wash dishes in!!! Despite temperatures dipping in the low 20's at night (brrrrrr) we had so much fun hiking and exploring!

Our first trail was considered "primitive" but we hadn't had more fun on a trail before! We followed the cairns to know which way to go over the slickrock. There were a few places that presented a challenge to get to where we needed to go, but we tapped into our "inner mountain goat" and navigated the trail.

(partition arch)

(me with the tiniest nanny goat)

(kaeli, sara, & rylie)

The next day we hiked to Delicate Arch
It was one of the coolest arches we saw!


The girls were inspired by the arch!

We took a ton of pictures around the arch!

(Daddy & Vi)

(vi, me, ry, sam, sari & K)

(me & my kiddies under the arch)

(my parents on the trail)

We also went on some mini-hikes around "windows" and "balanced rock".

(muscles)

(windows)

(I couldn't resist taking this one :-)

I balanced balanced rock on my head.
Beat that!

And we happened to find an adorable baby sitting in the middle of the desert.
So we took her home :-)