2011 Winter so far...

Oh........so many fun things to report.  

I don't want to get too wordy so I'll just post pics and explain.

 Yesterday was MONUMENTAL for two reasons.  First,  Halle's now roll'n on 2 WHEELS!  We were completely shocked it only took 20 minutes of instruction and she was done.  Yay, now I have a mini-me biking buddy.  

  Definitely time to upgrade the bike...

Second, Taya attended her first Princess Birthday Party.  Her best friend turned 3 and invited her to her royal event.  Honestly the cutest little party I've seen.  She even walked away with a hand made princess pillow and crown. Rakel - fantastic job! We had to teach Taya how to pick up her dress as she walked due to her short stature.  She doesn't quite fit into the dress-ups...poor thing.

 Also, these two had a Daddy/Daughter date yesterday morning at the Home Depot Kids Workshop.  Halle made a Nascar racer and raced it on a pinewood derby track.  We've decided she and Taya will be attending these workshops monthly. TOO COOL!

February pics (because I was lazy on the blogging)

The worst goose egg we've seen on our little clumsy girl.  She fell from the kitchen stool onto the tile floor.  She is getting better at reminding us not to let her stand on the stools because she'll "fall and hit her heady again".

 One Saturday in February was a scorcher (by scorcher I mean, near 70!) We HAD to get out the suits and towels.  The girls begged for the hose to be on, but it had to stop somewhere.  We layed, played, and weeded in the sun for a couple hours.  It was lovely...

After playing in the sun, we left home and walked around the Demonstration Garden.  Lucky I had a little point and shoot camera in the car.  

There is some serious love between these two when they're not fighting and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Oh, and I have to admit one thing......I finally learned the art of french braiding.  Yes, I'm finally catching up with everyone else.

5 years old!

Last weekend was 4 days of partying!  Thursday was Halle's actual birthday so we threw a little family get-together that night with Grandpa, Peggy, Cassi, and Sarah.  Grandpa gave Halle "Just Dance for Kids" for the Wii.  We danced most of the night away until Sarah popped her knee out of place and had to be sent to the hospital.  We later found out that she had chipped her bone and will need surgery to have the fragment removed.  She blames Justin Beiber because it was one of his songs she was dancing to.  Total bummer...
Mom and Dad gave Halle a new tennis racket and balls which she is very eager to use.  Mom is eager too!!

  Friday night was our babysitting co-op night at our place.  The kids danced for a full hour and wanted to stay even when their parents came to get them.  It was some true entertainment for Brandon and I. 

Saturday was Halle's Hula Hawaiian Birthday Party with her friends.  12 of her friends came and celebrated with us.  Halle's cake was an island cake that Mom designed.  One thing I learned from this party is not to shout general questions out...like who wants ice cream with their cake.  It was GREAT!

After the party we neglected the mess and drove to Vegas for a little down time, shopping and a pirate show.  It was great and the girls LOVED the show.  Sunday was Hayden's party at the other Boulter's house.  So, all in all, a great weekend!

*note* the mirror in the back ground behind our dinning table was a Christmas present from Kimmie.  It was my grandparent's and had moved from their house, to my house growing up, to Kimmie's house, back to my own house.  It took an army to get it here due to it's size and weight.  Very exciting for me to have this family heirloom, even though I once thought it was hideous.  When it arrived, I sanded and painted the frame to match my place a little better.    

Getaway

So we took a weekend away from the kids...so hard...but so wonderful.  San Francisco was our destination and we enjoyed every minute of it.  Of course there was that moment when the GPS was taking us in circles...dang downtown area!  The weather was beautiful and a tad bit warmer than our St. George weather in the winter.  Any way, we took some beautiful drives, took in that fresh ocean breeze, got in some decent shopping, bought THE best sourdough bread ever, all in all...did what we wanted when we wanted.

LOVELY!

Christmas

Lucky for us and for the second year in a row, Kimmie and Luki came to visit for Christmas.  We had a lot planned and little time to do it in.  Christmas Eve was spent making tamales for dinner.  We began the night before and continued with only a shower break until dinner time.  It was worth the effort and there was a lot of laughing being in the kitchen with Kimmie.  After dinner we went to visit Mr. B in the rehab facility. In the morning Mr. B and Helen joined us in opening gifts.  Thankfully, the facility allowed us to steal him for a couple hours. It was also fun to have Brittany and her friend Taylor over for a visit.  We enjoyed lunch together...left over tamales, spanish rice & beans, etc.. and zebra leg for dessert.  Then for dinner had our same Christmas Eve dinner guests once again.  No, no tamales...roasted turkey, zucchini casserole, rolls, etc.  It was a baking Christmas!

 Our wild little bugs in front of the Christmas trees.

 Kimmie crushing the peppermint for the Zebra Leg dessert.

 Our Christmas Eve dinner party guests.

 Sometimes the only way to get a cute doggy on your lap is to sit in its bed.

 An after bath snuggle...

 Brandon on his Inversion Table...think he likes it?

Halle and tired mama

What? No November post?

Well, November went by in a FLASH!
Here's whats been going on here the last few weeks: 

First and foremost....NO MORE DIAPERS!!!  What a wonderful thing.

Second, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving trip in Salt Lake.  Karen and Jeff invited us to their Thanksgiving feast where we had great food amongst friends & family. We also had a feast with my Mom, Mac, GG, Kimmie, and Chad & Karen's family.  And yet ANOTHER feast with my Dad and crew, thanks to Kimmie and her delicious fajitas.  Halle's excitement was the snow and trudging through it with her Hello Kitty boots.  Taya wanted to enjoy the snow just as much as Halle but didn't like how cold it was.  She preferred snuggling with someone instead (as usual).  

Halloween Part II

  Brandon's evil pumpkin lit up our front yard Saturday night. Of course lit to Brandon means.....ON FIRE!

 

Our little Princess and Woodland Fairy ready to hit the streets together.  Some of our neighbors really get into the Halloween spirit.  This year they served scones, hot dogs, cotton candy, & root beer floats and had a tractor ride, bounce house, games and a movie.  The girls had a blast yet again.......and so did we! 

Our welcoming committee 

We had over 200 trick-or-treaters......it was a wild neighborhood...but fun!

Halloween Part I

This door decoration was an idea I saw in Parent's magazine last October and saved to make this October. It's the one and only NEW Halloween decoration this year! (Ok, ok, there was one other but it doesn't count because I bought it in August.) Hey, that's really good for me!

Can you find Halle?  We already had the costume, so it took some convincing that Snow White really is the prettiest princess ever!

Halle's preschool had a Halloween parade and cute singing program on Wednesday.  Halle LOVES school and being where her friends are.  She's ready to hit the hard stuff next year, that's right - Kindergarten!

 Ahhhh, he was the only one to come dressed up to work.....


  ~~~ More to come...stay tuned...