My Heart is Melting...

Lauren is so thoughtful. I always come home late on Wednesday nights. Everyone is in bed, sound asleep. I can usually count on a picture or note behind the pillow sham on my bed. This is my latest find. And, after I get these sweet pictures or notes, I go in and watch the girls sleep and kiss on their cheeks. There is nothing sweeter than watching them sleep.

I'm so lucky to be a mom to three beautiful princesses. What a blessing!

Pai's Fieldtrip

Pai made this picture for her preschool teacher, Mrs. Connie Bohn, over Christmas break. Seriously, it just made me giggle.

My girls so-missed school and were so excited to go back. On the other hand, I loved having them home. It was hard for me to get back into the groove of things. The best proof of that was the first Friday back at school. I completely forgot about early-out at 10:30. Sweet Lauren called me at 11:00 and said, "Mom, are you ever coming to get us?" Oh, I just about died. I had never forgotten to pick her (or any of my kids) up. Hello!?! I really deserve to be Mom of the Year! How do you forget to pick up your child? Seriously!


I offered to drive on Pai's preschool field trip this week. These are Pai's fave preschool friends, all ready to go. We were off to McDonalds. After touring the kitchen (and those large vats of cloudy, slimy grease - which caught my attention in a not-so-good way), the kids ate and played in the playland. The kids thought the field trip was amazing! I have to say, they were very accommodating to these preschool kids. The kids got to watch them make food, take orders at the drive-up and even visit the walk-in fridge. Then, they treated the kids to pancakes and soda. The kids were in heaven!

The Dreaded RSV

For any of you who keep up on my sister's blog, you know that Danzer had a rough round of RSV. Well, it just so-happens that Danzer and Raegan were together on New Year's Eve. A couple of days later, they both started getting sick. I didn't take Raegan to the doctor for several days - just figuring it was something that had to run its course. But, when Kelly found out Danzer had RSV, I took Raegan to the doctor. Sure enough.

Seriously, she was so happy just days before. Here's a picture of Raegan between Christmas and New Years and then...


She went downhill fast. She had RSV, double ear infections and now is teething. I finally feel like she's getting better...over two weeks later. We've never had RSV with our girls before and it's something I hope we never battle again. She hates the breathing treatments AND her antibiotic. It's been an exhausting couple of weeks for Mom, Dad and Raegan. We're so happy she's feeling better!

Christmas Day 2008

We spent Christmas at Ya Ya and Pop Pop's house this year and had a nice, relaxing holiday.

Here are the grandkids on Christmas Eve - all in their new jammies (which is a tradition in our family...new pjs on Christmas Eve).

Lauren is becoming quite the reader. She got a new Amelia Bedelia book from Ollie on Christmas Eve and got right down to business - reading to anyone who would listen!
On Christmas morning, we always go through our stockings first. Not only did Santa leave Ollie a personalized stocking (OO stands for Ornery Ollie!), but he also left her with a few chunks of Emery County's finest black coal. I laughed until I was sick. Bless her heart, she's had such a tough year. We love to tease her and her medication has brought out the best of her feistiness.
Here's Laur and Pai's final stop on Santa's treasure hunt. At the end of the hunt, they determined that Santa had arranged for a family trip to Disneyland. The girls are so excited. It'll be a trip of firsts for the girlies - flying in an airplane, renting a car, going to Disneyland. They are so excited. Raegan is going to stay with Ya Ya and Pop Pop while we're away.
Raegan was able to enjoy Christmas this year. She loved her new toys and, above all, the candy canes! She was mesmerized by those huge, slow moving dinosaurs at Costco this year. Well, in the end, no $150 dinosaur. However, she was just as thrilled with her $10 Pinkie Pie pony that crawls and talks. They're so easy to please at this age!
Here's the family opening presents together on Christmas morning.
Here's the girlies working on Pai's new LiteBrite. Wow! This brought back some serious memories for me. These have been around forever!
My sweet little nephew in his Santa get-up!
The girls love to go sledding at Ya Ya and Pop Pop's house. My parents have a gigantic field and Pop Pop pulls them around in the field behind the 4-wheeler.
And, last but surely not least, my sweet husband who took all of these pictures (except this one, of course). I couldn't find any Christmas pictures of him...but maybe that was because he was busy playing with his Christmas present - a new Nikon D90. He's so spoiled, but so worth it!

Christmas Eve Day

We spent Christmas Eve day opening presents with Nana and Papa. Nana made each of the girlies a blanket with their name on it. They are so cozy and oh-so-cute! Thanks, Nana.

Christmas Dance Recital

Lauren and Paityn had a Christmas dance recital in December. I love going to watch them perform. But, I get so nervous for them. Tanner has to remind me to breathe as I wait for them to come out. I swear, I'm way more nervous than they are.

My little dance-er-ellas did such a great job! Laur always gets nervous before performances, but she pulls each performance off with ease. They have such a cute team this year and they are all becoming such fabulous dancers.


Pai, on the other hand, asks for months in advance, how many days until she can be on stage. Ugh! We counted down, day by day, for at least a month. She loves to perform. Anyone who's been around her knows that. As long as someone will watch, she'll put on a show for you. Her class is so cute and so funny. They all dance to their own beat, if you know what I mean!

Building a Gingerbread House

Ever since Lauren started school, Ollie has been coming to visit us every Tuesday at noon. We have all loved it. The girlies look so forward to Tuesdays. Some days we go to lunch, some days we go shopping, some days we go swimming and one day more recently we made a gingerbread house.

My sweet friend (who is out-of-town and I'm sooo missing her!) gave our family the most adorable gingerbread house kit as a Christmas gift. So, we spent the afternoon with Ollie assembling the gingerbread house. By the end, Lauren was in tears (as you can see). I can't remember why she was so upset, but I have a hunch it's because Paityn was eating all of the candy, instead of putting it on the house.

We love Ollie and are so glad to have her near us. Just wait 'til you see what she got for Christmas. Stay tuned!

A Visit to Temple Square

We took the Young Women and the Young Men to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights and the Joseph Smith movie. I love seeing the lights. And, the best part? My friend Joni was smart enough to take us to the top of the Joseph Smith building for excellent viewing and much warmth. What a smart cookie she is!

It was also great to see the Joseph Smith movie again. Each time I see it, I gain a greater appreciation for the Prophet Joseph and the trials he faced. How grateful I am for his endurance, diligence and sacrifice. And, how grateful I am, to have a knowledge and understanding of the gospel in these latter-days.

I have loved serving in Young Womens. We have such sweet Young Women in our ward. They seriously keep me giggling! Love you girlies!!

Pai's Preschool Program

This had to be one of the more entertaining parts of my holiday season. Pai's preschool program. About 40 kids in all. Ages of 3, 4 and 5. Need I say more?

They sang lots of Christmas songs and Pai took it very seriously. She let me know before the program that she had "her best singing voice turned on!"

Pai is on the front row in the brown shirt. Next to her (on the right) is one of her fave friends, Ally. Well, the boy next to Ally, who is leaping off the table in this picture, just couldn't keep his hands, breath, legs, arms or anything else off of Ally. He kept yelling in her ear and bothering her the entire time. Ally was so sweet. She just looked at him like he was obnoxious, and went on singing. She never lost her cool. What a gal!


Santa made a guest appearance at the end of the program. Pai loved getting to sit on Santa's lap.

The Slacker of All Slackers...

I have been naughty (but at least I'm admitting it, right?!). Christmas and New Years and parties and trips and all of those things that make the holidays great have just worn me out. No energy for blogging left. We'll, I'm going to try to redeem myself. So, here goes.