Cinco de Mayo 2013

This year for our Cinco de Mayo party, we had a few friends join us to celebrate.  We all wore fake mustaches the whole night, beaded necklaces and listened to fiesta-esque music all while enjoying Cafe rio recipes.

Mustaches never get old.  No, but seriously.  We laughed and laughed.

these two babes were so cute together playing on the blanket.  Such little hams!

The spread that you can't see very well.  But I have to document.

Happy cinco de mayo two months late!

St Patrick's Day 2013

Our traditional St. Patrick's Day was a hit this year.  We had our friends over for a green dinner of green buns, hamburgers, asparagus, kiwi, green salad and green cupcakes.

We put the girls down for a nap after church, and prepped for the festivities.  I put little green footprints on the floor to pretend that a little leprechaun came and decorated the kitchen.  Millie came downstairs, gasped and said, "don't step on the pawses!"  It was really so cute!

She kept looking at them and was a little confused.  But they were a fun surprise.

After dinner, Millie and Will went on a little scavenger hunt around the house.  The clues led to the mailbox where their treasures were.

We look forward to St. Patrick's Day every year and we are thankful for friends to share in this funny little tradition of ours!

Christmas 2012

Christmas came and went so quickly this year.  Luckily we were all able to head to Utah to spend time with family.  I was there for about a whole month.  It was a great month, and I wish I could go back.  My girls, especially Millie, had fun with all her cousins.  She always had to know where Grandpa was, and would leave my side the second she woke up to head down to her cousins bedrooms.

On Christmas eve we did our traditional fondue dinner.  Filling, but delicious, like always!  The kids ate pizza, and then headed to bed so the adults could enjoy the night worry free.

Sarah was the fun aunt that night.  The kids played a few games of ring-around-the-rosie and sang Christmas songs.  Rudolph the red nosed reindeer was a hit...with Sarah!

The kids performed the Nativity.  It really was so cute.

:::Millie holding the star on the left:::

Later that night, the elf came and brought the girls matching jammies.  That is one smart elf!  He knows the way to this mama's heart.  Matching!

And the dinner table.  No pictures were taken at dinner as we were all having such a good time. 

The kids woke up at a decent hour and waited patiently to see their loot.  They were all really excited!

Ivy's first Christmas was very relaxing.  She loved watching all the kids open their presents.

These Mickey Mouse figurines weren't wrapped and naturally they were the first thing Millie grabbed.  Christmas could've been over after them.  That was all she needed.  She played with them for a long while and then realized she had presents to open. 

good morning!

There wasn't all smiles that morning.  We did have a few tears...probably because she couldn't find her baby's bottle...or someone was playing with her new dollhouse.

Best aunt. Tired babe.

Millie still talks about Christmas.  Any new fun toy she sees, she says she wants it for Christmas.  And she still talks all about her cousins, grandma and grandpa and flying on the airplane.  We miss them. 

 We had a great Christmas with family remembering the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  How grateful we are for family to surround ourselves with during the holidays.   

Trick-Or-Treat

This year as the tornado siren went off at 5:30pm to let us know it was time to trick-or-treat, I was still squeezing my babies into their costumes.  Cason was on a phone call for work, kids were ringing the doorbell that I was unable to answer, broccoli cheddar soup was on the stove, and rolls were in the oven about to burn.  It was a crazy day (evening mostly), all for some free candy.  We finally made it out the door around 6pm.  BUT, I love the holidays more now than I ever have (in a different sorta way).  Nothing brings me more joy than to see my children get excited and anxious for the events of a holiday.

Millie loved trick-or-treating.  She walked right up to the door, would sometimes forget to say "trick-or-treat", and a treat always landed in that round plastic pumpkin.  She ran from house to house.  But she mostly enjoyed all the doggies outside.  It was almost as if she was out there for the dogs and the trick-or-treating was just an added bonus.  The girl and her animals!

Ivy just sat back in the stroller, with her paci in her mouth, enjoying the crisp air and watching all the kiddos.  It was freezing, so we let Cason and Millie do the rest of the trick-or-treating while we went back to the house to pass out candy.

We finished the night off with treats and full tummys.

We had a great Halloween week and are looking forward to the rest of this holiday season.

Happy Halloween

This is how successful I was yesterday at getting a picture of the girls together: 

I wasn't. This is the best I could get.  At least they are both smiling!

Happy Halloween!  I will be enjoying my little chickens tonight walking the neighborhood asking for free candy.  Enjoy your little ones!

Easter 2012

Before I get into the details of our new little addition, I need to catch up on events prior to Ivy's big debut.  

This year for Easter, it was pretty low key.  We attempted a family picture in our Easter Sunday best, but that failed.  We went to church, came home and took naps, had a little Easter egg hunt for Millie and ate the traditional Easter dinner with some friends.  It was fun to see Millie search for eggs filled with her favorite jellybeans.  

{a reenactment of last years Easter}

second picture down

obsessed!

I don't know what I did that day that put me into labor...maybe it was the ham? or how relaxing of a day it was?  Let's just say, we definitely enjoyed our last Easter together as a family of three.