Penny's 5th Birthday Party

I told the girls I would try and do birthday parties for them this year. But December rolled around, and with Thanksgiving and all the Christmas activities I just didn't have the energy to do one earlier. So finally in mid January I decided to do a 'surprise' party for her (meaning I just texted her friend's parents). So Thursday morning her friend's all started showing up. She was pretty excited!

We played games, ate candy and cupcakes, and had an absolute blast. 

Hot potato

And presents!

Penny and her friend Shaylin

And cupcakes. Penny had the best time ever!

And we love these sweet cousins! So special to have them close. 

Cheer Camp and Piano Recital

Ada brought home a flyer from school and was so excited to participate in a mini cheer camp. She paid her entry fee and spent two days learning cheers. And then she got to perform during half time at a high school basketball game. She loved every minute and felt so special. 

She even got to do a stunt! 

Aubrey also had a piano recital the same day. She is learning so quickly and did amazing. 

January Randoms

More Flying Squirrel! We have loved using our family pass that we got for Christmas. I was able to go get my hair cut while Cameron took the girls. 

Paige kept pretending she was asleep. 

And now really sleeping!

What a fun dad. He let the girls face paint him one day. 

We got to go to Ada's Great to Be 8 Baptism preview. Can't believe she will be baptized in a few months!

Aubrey and Ada love baking. I would say at least twice a week they come home and bake something. We haven't been as busy with sports this winter, so it is a fun activity they enjoy. Pretzels were delicious. 

Pretzels with cheese sauce. 

I think Penny made this at preschool and was super proud of it. 

Walking to pick the girls up from school on a day she refused to nap. 

Paige and her friend Callie. 

Back before we got all the snow. 

It finally snowed! And it hasn't stopped!

Got all bundled up and Paige immediately was ready to go back inside. 

Post nap snuggle. 

Any my haircut!

Mt. Spokane Skiing

We were able to take the older girls skiing to Mount Spokane in January. They did amazing! Ada was definitely a natural and amazed us all. Aubrey was a little more cautious but also loved it. I keep hoping to get up once more before the season ends. 

We spent the whole day! It was super foggy in the morning, and pretty wet, but the girls never complained. 

So much fun!

We stuck to the bunny hill for most of the morning, but then ventured out to some longer runs in the afternoon. 

What a fun day! The younger girls got a babysitter all day long. We are hoping skiing will become a regular activity as our girls get older. 

Flying Squirrel and Chuck E Cheese

My parents got us a gift card to the new trampoline park near us. We were worried to try it out on New Year's Day, but the crowds actually weren't too bad and they loved it. The Dalton cousins joined halfway through too. 

They were all worn out by the end! It is a fun new place and we can still go back a couple times, and I am sure we will be back more than that!

We were extra extra nice parents today when the kids asked to go to Chuck E Cheese with Penny's gift card from Santa. We as parents weren't really looking forward to it, but it ended up being a blast. We played a lot of games and ate pizza. It was a great first day to 2019!

New Year's Eve was spent with some new friends. We were saying goodbye to some friends that are moving away in the ward next to us, so we also met a lot of new people that have kids in the same school as ours. It is nice to keep getting to know more and more people in our community. We stayed til just after 9, came home and drank some sparkling cider, and then sent the kids to bed after 10. Cameron and I ended up going to bed around 11:30. Aubrey and Ada wanted to stay up until midnight, but we didn't let them and it was nice to be able to tell them in the morning that we didn't stay up either!

Happy New Year! I think 2019 is going to be a good year for us!