1st Annual Sister's Shopping Trip

My mom and her sister Holly have always gone together to do their Christmas shopping in Salt Lake.  They started by just going for the day and then that led to them staying one night and now they go and stay two nights and get all of their Christmas shopping done.  I know that they love doing it and have so much fun together and I have just been waiting for the day that I could do this with my sister.  Well this was the first year that we did it and we will be doing it every year from here on out.  We had a blast and got all of our Christmas shopping done.  We had to take Stella with us, but she was great the whole time! 

Lauren was goofy all day long and made me laugh so hard that seriously that night my stomach hurt from laughing so much.  She also was a great help with Stella while I got some shopping done for my kids.  

The Nutcracker

A couple weeks ago we had a girls night and went to the Nutcracker.  Robin and Emmy invited me to go with them and then Lauren came as well.  We went to eat first at the Bluebird and then walked over to the performance. It was really good and fun to see. This was actually the first time I had ever seen it.  It was fun to spend time with Robin and Emmy and to get a night out.  Also, it was a great way to bring in the Christmas spirit!

The Killers Concert

A couple weekends ago Josh and I got to go to The Killers concert.  Josh's boss gave him a goal to hit and he did it so we went with his boss and his wife to dinner and the concert all paid for by Josh's work.  It was so much fun.  By far the very best concert I have ever been to!  Josh is and has always been a huge fan of The Killers and knows all of their songs.  Me on the other hand knew a few of their songs but didn't listen to them very much.  Well after seeing their concert I am a huge fan and have listened to their cd non stop.  

Josh and me getting ready for the concert to start.  The couple we went with were awesome.  We had so much fun with them. It was good to meet them and spend time with them and get to know them in a different setting than work.

So this concert was good for a few reasons. All of the lights, lasers and fireworks made it really fun to watch.   But, the most amazing thing to me was Brandon Flower's voice!  Seriously that guy can sing, and when he sings he can belt it!  It was amazing to me that he sang that loud for such a long time and it sounded awesome!!  He was a great entertainer and put on a fabulous show! After the concert Josh and I were talking on our way home and both said this was in the top 2 of our favorite date nights we have ever had!!  

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving wasn't the best I have ever had.  Drake got really sick the Tuesday before and I threw up all night and Wednesday morning.  So when Thursday came around I still felt pretty yucky and didn't have much of an appetite.  Drake was stick all the way to Saturday.  I have never done so much laundry and changing of sheets in my life.  Stella and Josh never got it, so their thanksgiving was great!

I am thankful for this little girl! She is so happy all of the time.  She likes to cuddle and be held which I absolutely love!

I am grateful for my sister.  She is my best friend and I love her so much!

Drake and Kyler eating some fruit loops thanksgiving night.  

Even though Drake was sick he still managed to smile and be as happy as possible.

The day after thanksgiving the girls went to the November Fest.  They didn't have very many cute things, but Grandma got a really cute hat for Stella!

Stella fell asleep with Aunt Lauren

Poor Drake in the bathtub for the 5th time that day!!  I am glad that flu bug is behind us!  I hope we never get it again!

Drake is 3!!!

I seriously cannot believe that Drake is 3 years old.  That time has gone really fast!  He is seriously the funniest kid I have ever been around.  He is the most strong willed, stubborn child I know.  Along with that he is also very sweet and tender hearted. Because of his stubbornness he has been having a lot of fits and won't stop until he gets what he wants... which he doesn't always get his way, so he throws fits that sometimes last a really long time.  I am just glad that he is cute and funny because it makes up for his naughty behavior.  I asked Drake what he wanted to do for his birthday this year and he said he just wanted to play with his friends at Chick Fil-A and have football cupcakes.  So, that is what we did.  All of the kids played while the moms chatted, it was great!  

I was trying to get a picture of the birthday boy when he woke up and he told me, "All I want for my birthday today is NO PICTURES!"

Drake wanted a robot and play food for his birthday.  I had him show me at the store what robot he wanted and sure enough he knew exactly where it was and walked right to it.  Funny kid had been eyeing it down for a while.  Well, a robot is what he got.  We also got him a cash register.

After Chick Fil-A we went to the mall so that he could play on the toys. 

My Mom and Dad gave him play food. They have an awesome set of play food at their house that he loves to play with so they got him a set of his own.  He was so excited and has played with it every day since.

We sang Happy Birthday to him and let him blow out a candle and have another cupcake.

A couple of days later we went to the Spectrum to watch the Aggie football on the jumbo tron.  After that we went to Pizza Pie Cafe with family  to once again celebrate Drake's Birthday!!

Drake and Grace are the cutest friends and are always so silly and funny together. I love these two so much and grateful that they are such great friends.

Boston, Cooper and Drake at Pizza Pie Cafe

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRAKE!  WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

I Think We Have A Dancer On Our Hands

I started dance lessons when I was 3 years old and I continued to take dance until I was 18.  I absolutely loved it!  Not only was it fun but I was able to meet lots of friends from other schools and it was great exercise.  I wish I could still dance just for the work out!  Ever since I was about 12 years old, I have always been excited just by the thought of one day having a daughter of my own that I could put in dance lessons.  I just love watching little girls get all dressed up in their costumes with make up on and going out there and shaking their cute little bums!  So, now that I have a daughter my silly dreams are coming true.  I am not going to push Stella into anything, if she hates dancing then no way will I make her do it.  But just look at the pictures below and I think it is a good indication that she is going to be a dancer!

Some Pictures I Forgot

I use this blog as a journal and a scrap book for our family.  It is so hard to keep up on all of the pictures we take, but this is the easiest way for me to do it. I print off a book in January of the previous year.  Because I do this, I hate to leave out any pictures.  As I was looking through the last few months of pictures I noticed I left out some pictures, so I am adding them in here.  

I love this sweet picture.  Stella is a cuddly baby. She falls asleep on shoulders, and likes to be held.  Both of my kids have liked being held by my dad.  I think it is because he is always warm and has big shoulders to lay on and big hands that hold them.  They feel secure and safe.

We got tickets to go to the Brigham City Temple open house a couple of months ago.  Even though Drake would not remember it, I still wanted him to come see the temple so he knew what we were talking about when we said we were going there.  We went to dinner at Maddox and then headed over to the open house.  Well when we got there it was already like 8:00 p.m. and they told us that it was going to be a 2 hour wait just to get in to the temple.  That wasn't going to to work with our two little kids so we had to leave and didn't get the chance to see it.  We were pretty bummed, but it just gives us more of a reason to go over and do a session.

Stella is always happy.  She only cries when she really needs something.  I just love this little girl.  She makes me smile and laugh every day!

I love witnessing little moments like this.  I walked into my room to find them watching a show together.  Drake could have sat on the chair and watched it all by himself and Stella would have never known or cared, but instead he put it on the floor so she could see and laid by her.  It made me such a proud mommy!

Lauren went to the Homecoming dance a few months ago.  Every time she has gone to a dance I get to help her get ready by doing her makeup and helping her with her hair.  It is so fun!  I enjoy the time I get to spend time with her.  I just can't wait for the time I get to do this on her wedding day!!

Watching cartoons together while mommy makes dinner.

And then eating that yummy dinner!

Drake is so good to Stella.  He always tells her that she is cute and says hi to her and gets her toys to play with.  Stella absolutely ADORES Drake.  She smiles every time she sees him and starts to yell when she hears his voice!  Drake was the only person that could get her to laugh for a long time.

My friend Nikki and I have been sewing some stuff for our girls.  One time when they came over the only way we could get anything done was to strap them down and put on a show!

Josh brought this little toy home for Stella from one of his business trips. I just think this picture is cute!

On the way home from Pocatello late one night both kids fell asleep.  It was heaven to ride in a silent car!

We still have two kids in diapers!!  It is awful!  At the rate we are going, Drake is never going to be potty trained!  

Because of Stella getting so much attention, it has made Drake think that being a baby is a good thing. He sometimes wants to be swaddled and rocked.  He laughs and acts like it is a joke, but deep down he really wants this at times.  That is why I am happy to play along, cause secretly I love it too!