5 Years and Counting

Logan and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary last night.  Holy Cow I can't believe it has been 5 years.  We had such a good time together.  First, we went to see the movie "Juno."  It was so good.  That was the first time that I have been to a movie in a theater since before Collin was born.  Second, we went to dinner at a restaurant up Millcreek Canyon called LogHaven.  It was delicious.  We both were a little nervous driving up the canyon in the crazy snow storm we had last night, but it was worth it.  The food and the atmosphere were great. Lastly, we went ice skating at the Gallivan Center.  So Fun!  I have to say that we were pretty good and could keep up with all of the teenagers on the ice.  We were by far the oldest people there.  But, it was a lot of fun. Ice skating is something I haven't done in so long, but something that I would like to do more of.   So here is to 5 great years and many more!

Sophie's Big News!

Sophie is potty trained! 

 

Yahoo!  I am so proud of her.  I decided to give this potty training thing another try over her Christmas break.  I did a count down to the day Sophie would only wears panties.  The first day she wouldn't put them on, so I made her just wear pants without a diaper.  She hated that and quickly resorted to wearing her panties.  Anyway, I think she was finally ready.  I gave her a few big rewards in the beginning and then worked down to a chocolate coin every time she went.  Now she doesn't need anything and she is even beginning to tell me when she needs to go.  She still has an accident every now and then, but she is doing so good--we made it through a mall shopping trip without one. What a big accomplishment.  We are so proud of her, and she is pretty proud too.  I love to watch her jump up and down after she goes.  She now says "I am a Big, Big girl!"  We love you Soph. 

Christmas

I felt like we took so many great pictures this Christmas and made so many great memories that I wanted to display them in a fun way.  So here are a few scrapbook pages showing some more of our holiday. 

Merry Christmas

Christmas came and went again this year. What a fun, busy day. My kids must have been really good this year, because Santa visited and brought just about everything that they wanted. It was a special Christmas for me because it was really the first year that Sophie understood what was going on. It was magical to watch my children enjoy this amazing day.


It was an all boy Christmas for Collin.  He received trucks of all kids, cars, and his most favorite a basketball hoop.  He has quite the skills.  I just love this picture of him dunking the ball.


Sophie had one Christmas wish and that was for a pair of slippers.  Well Santa listened and she received.  She also got a bunch of princess dress-up stuff, games, and her favorite a kid tough digital camera.  She is quite the photographer.  She walks around our house snapping photos right and left.  


Logan and I enjoyed spending the day with our children and our families.  I feel lucky to have Logan home for the holiday and enjoyed every minute we could spend together.  


We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas as well.  Merry Christmas!

Family Nativity

This year for Christmas Eve we were at Logan's parents house. It was a nice night visiting with family and eating yummy food.


Logan's sister arranged for the all of the kids in the family to put on a Nativity.  It was so fun and cute.  The kids did such a good job and played their parts so well.  Sophie and Collin chose not to participate.  Sophie wanted to be a princess (maybe we haven't taught her the Nativity story so well), and Collin was tired and wanted nothing to do with his costume.  


This is Clarissa our Nativity angel.  Isn't she cute?


After the Nativity we talked about some of the symbols of Christmas.  Each child got to pull a symbol out of Santa's sack.  Sophie pulled out a star.  This is her showing all of her cousins the symbol.


Collin spent most of the evening eating food (or should I say sweets).  He is always hungry and loves food, but he has a real love for candy.

Christmas Party

Well, it is that time of year again.  A time for family, friends, food, presents, parties, and fun.  We had our yearly Christmas Party at my parents house today.  It was a lot of fun for everyone.  Sophie especially had a blast playing with her cousins that she doesn't get to see that often.  They are quite a bit older than her, but I think to her that makes it all the better.  There wasn't a dull moment for her.  It is always so fun to get together with family.  This year we were able to have everyone at home, so that made it even better.


My mom always has the kids put on a little performance.  It started when I was little, I would play Christmas music on my violin and then we would all sing Christmas carols together.  Well, I don't play the violin for everyone anymore (in fact I wouldn't even say I could play), but the performance has evolved.  Now the Grandkids sing songs that they have learned, and we still all sing carols as a family.  Sophie was so quick to jump up in front of the group.  She suggested the first song--"Once There Was a Snowman."  She was so stinking cute.  She sang every word and did every action.  I was so proud.


Another hit among the kids was "Jingle Bells."  My mom has a bunch of jingle bells that the kids shake while they sing their hearts out.  Sophie was having a blast!


This year my brother Dennis played the guitar and had some of the grandkids sing to it.  It was fun to hear his musical talent.  The girls did a good job singing too.  Maybe he will play every year!


The family is always grateful that my Grandpa is able to make it each year. We love having him there to enjoy the holiday with us.

Through The Eyes of a Child

Tonight we had a big snow storm that started off with some pretty intense hail.  Sophie was looking out the window and yelled at me "Mommy, that popcorn is making a big mess!"  She then continued to yell at the window, "Stop popcorn, stop!"  To her the hail looked just like popcorn.

Later on we were driving home from my parents house and the snow/slush was spaying up from beneath the tires of the car and Sophie said, "Mommy we need a sled."

I just love seeing and experiencing things through the eyes of a child.