cousins

These girls have so much fun playing together. I love that even though they spend everyday together, they can't get enough and the more creative they get. I hope they always stay close and enjoy each other!

November

November was pretty fun. The ladies and I were able to spend a lot of time just enjoying each other. Hannah had a fun feast at school that I was invited to and Bella enjoyed a party as well. I was lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving with the family and Kete's famous cooking. It was the best Thanksgiving I've had in a long time with fabulous food, great company and a relaxing day.

Trick or Treat!

As you all know, I adore Halloween and luckily I have passed that important trait onto my girls.

We had so much fun dressing up and going trick or treating! Bella and I were both witches and Hannah was Barbie the Island Princess. It was a fabulous day!!!

Hannah Halloween program

Hannah was practicing her Halloween songs for weeks so I was thrilled to see her in action! Quite the little performer, oh how I love my Hannah Banana!!!

Birthday

I think everyone was a little worried about my birthday and my mental state considering I'm half way through my life, oh and that I'm single. I've never had so many birthday wishes, it was very thoughtful of everyone. Lindsay really wanted to make sure I had a great birthday celebration though so what better than pizza benders, dressing up as a witch and heading out to Gardner Village with the family. It really was a great day and I appreciate all the support from everyone, I love and adore you all!!!

Halloween party with Grandma

Grandma certainly loves her grandkids above all, so she loves to do special things like hosting a Halloween party!!! There was great food, pumpkin carving, a new Halloween book for our collection and great costumes by all. What a fun family tradition!

Yellow submarine

My Dad and Char came in to town and Kete and Lindsay are always lovely hosts and are very activity oriented so we had so much fun playing Beatles Rockband! Bella and Hannah were loving it so much that cousins and playtime couldn't pull them away. Yellow submarine is now a daily song with the girls and I!!! Oh how I love these moments!

witchy poo

October has arrived which means my favorite time of year!!! There are so many fun activities we will be doing, but one of the best ones is going to Gardner Village and celebrating with the witches festival. It's October 5th and we have already been twice to enjoy the ambiance, hot chocolate and just have fun together. I love my 2 little witches (which sometimes the name fits more than others) and I'm so lucky to get to play with them!

UEA

Miss Isabella has had a crush on Andrew for over a year now. I was hoping that with Andrew going to a different school this year, it would subside, but no such luck. So to appease her mildly, we had a playdate with Andrew, Gretchen and London during the UEA break. We had quite a day with a picnic, park play, a movie and even Rice Krispy treat devouring. While I hope this crush subsides soon, I hope my little Isabella enjoys this time, because this is her last boyfriend until she's 25.

Me and the ladies

The girls and I went to a fun Primary activity and got some great ideas on family activities. One of them was going to the Temple, and Hannah thought that idea was absolutely fabulous, so we invited Grandma and headed down last Sunday to the Temple grounds. The drive there was my favorite part though. We were in the convertible, hair blowing in the wind blasting out "Popular" from Wicked and we were in complete bliss!!! I love these moments with my ladies that make everything worthwhile!

Cabin

When we were growing up as kids, we had the most fabulous place to visit, my Grandparents cabin. I adored everything about it, the smell, the freedom, the constant explorations, freezing in the river, the long walks, waffles on for breakfast, my Grandpa cutting the cantelope and starting the fire on Saturday morning, the player piano, and of course the pinocchle games. We had the opportunity to go up this past weekend and take our kids and it was truly walking back in time and it was perfect. The girls fell in love with everything immediatly. Bella woke up at 6am Saturday morning and was ready to ride the horses. All the girls took turns with the player piano while Lindsay and I belted out the tunes. A perfect walk back in time and I got to spend it with the 2 most wonderful girls!!!

Super Hannah!

Hannah was so proud of her self portrait! She happened to wear a perfect outfit to school so her Super Hannah status could go down in history!!! Boy do I love this girl!!!

A Seussical evening

What more fun could one have than a Dr. Seuss evening. Macy, Emma and Lindsay spent the evening with us eating green eggs and ham for dinner, coloring pictures of The Cat in the Hat, decorating brownies with marshmallows and licorice to look like the cat's hat and we topped it off by watching Horton Hear a Who! I just love these ladies and being a cheeseball, they both work perfectly together!

Schwartzy

Well it's hard to believe, but Grandma and Papa really want us to stay with them so they allowed a puppy to be added into our family. It only took about 3 minutes to find the perfect one. Bella and Hannah were so excited they couldn't stop giggling. As soon as we saw him we knew he was a perfect addition. We named him Schwartzy, which means black in German (aren't we clever)!

So far, he has been the most well behaved family member without one accident in an entire week!!! Of course, he will have to relearn how to walk as he is constantly being snuggled and luckily doesn't seem to mind at all. We love you Schwartzy, and thank you Grandma and Papa!

Hannah's first day of preschool/year 2!

My Hannah Banana could not wait for school to start. When Bella started 2 weeks ago, it was absolute torture for her to have to wait, but it was worth it! She was so anxious to see her favorite teachers Mrs. Stoker and Mrs. Jansen and give them loves. She even got to meet a real frog on her first day, which of course was her favorite part!

I usually only post if I have a picture, but I couldn't decide which one to choose from today. Bella's emotional meltdown at school, the fire breathing dragon I turned into as a result. The frustrated look on my face as the dentist explained why yet again we have to perform surgery on my mouth, which is of course expensive. Or the look of Hannah and I when we found our car interior soaking wet from the sprinklers being on! Any one of these picures would have told a thousand words, but I was humbled (yet again) by my wonderful girls. The entire day was put into perspective at bedtime when we were all snuggled into the king size bed with me in the middle and the girls both laying on each shoulder as we sang our bedtime songs as a trio. There was lots of giggling, kissing and Silent Night being sung over and over. I love these little ladies more than I could ever imagine and I am so grateful to have my priorities reprioritized!
I love you Bella and Hannah, and Schwartzy!

soccer

Soccer

"I don't know about this Mom", Bella's thoughts as we pulled up to the soccer field for her first game. She was a little nervous, but she and Macy had a great time! She had a great game and assisted with a goal and their team won 3-2! Go Bella and Macy!

Oh, my Hannah! Could life get any better than this? This picture is so Hannah to me, individual, unique, a litte quirky! How I adore this one.

First grade for Bella!

I can't believe my Bella is in First grade!!! She is so excited and as soon as I asked her how her first day was, she said she can't wait for tomorrow! I think that's a good sign.

So far her favorite things are having her own desk, sitting in the front row and lunch. She has Mrs. Fairbanks as her teacher and we have heard wonderful things about her so we are looking forward to a productive year! She has started violin lessons (with Hannah and myself) and soccer as well with Macy so she is off to a busy year and she couldn't be more excited. I will be happy if we can keep her focused on school and activities and not Andrew!!!

Vail

The little ladies and I got to tag along to Vail for a long weekend vacation and it was fabulous!!! The girls and I had so much fun being together, relaxing, swimming, making friends. I can't believe how easily they make friends with anyone and everyone, especially dogs. Bella got as her prize 2 dog toys, Sophia and Vail and Hannah chose a Spiderman fishing pole and rocks (who would have guessed?). We went on a hike, roasted tons of marshmallows, met atleast 15 new friends and 10 of them were dogs! We went to a fabulous farmers market, ate some great food and we even went ice skating!!! I haven't laughed this much in a long time and it felt so good.
I am one lucky mom to have such beautiful and fun little ladies!!!

I Tri!

I tri!

I did it, along with Lindsay, Beth and Chris! We completed the Bountiful Mini Triathlon on Aug.8, 2009 and I accomplished both my goals: 1. I finished and more importantly 2. I wasn't last! It was such a rush. I'm definately doing more, there's a competitive side just dying to get out. I was really happy with my run, 10 minute miles (nothing to jump about, but still exciting to me), the bike was challenging. I kept watching everyone I had passed in the run, pass me on the bike! It was probably my least practiced category though so I can only improve. Then to the swim. It was interesting with so many people huddled together in one area, many feet in my face and we were swimming snake style so under lots of ropes. The most fabulous part though was getting out and having everyone there to support us. I almost cried, but I tried to hold it together due to the crowds, but it was pretty rewarding. Hannah and Bella wore my number, 374 on their arms and were there to cheer me on every step of the way along with my Mom, Dad, Char, Kete, Macy, Emma, Andria, Gretchen and Thatcher! Who could have asked for more.