Idaho Falls Part 1

 We had so much fun in Idaho Falls I am going to have to put it all in 2 or 3 blog posts! We were happy to see snow when we arrived on Wednesday, and the girls went right to work playing in it! As much as I love the sun in Southern CA, I do miss the snow and it makes me so happy to see my kids playing in it. And I am so grateful we got to see my parents and all my siblings and their kids. We got to meet Rueger and Anna for the first time!

We spent the first day at Lauren & Brian's house, and the were able to watch their kids while they went to Brian's work party. 

 

Penny and Logan were funny when Lauren left. They both wanted me and would fight over it. I would hold one and the other would be screaming on the floor. Penny didn't want to share her mommy and I looked enough like mommy to Logan that he was comfortable being left with me. We had fun, and I like being fought over and getting plenty of snuggling in. 

 

Story time!

 

 And oh how we loved cousin time! I wish all these kids got to play together more often. Maybe someday. But they have a blast when they do!

Penny's first time in the snow! She wasn't sure what to think about it. But she looks pretty cute!

The girls built this huge snowman! They started rolling small snowballs and before we knew it they were huge. Eden wanted it bigger and bigger. 

 

Rueger, Penny, and Logan

 

 My parents arrived Thursday afternoon and the kids were so excited to see them.

8 Years!

We were able to get away and celebrate our 8 year anniversary while we were up in Utah. We left the girls with the Harvey's around 2 in the afternoon and went to Salt Lake City to ice skate. It was fun being on skates after so long, but we wished we had some hockey sticks to go with it! We then went out to dinner at Red Iguana, and then headed to the movies to see the last Lord of the Rings. We spoiled ourselves and snuck in ice cream, chocolate, and cookies. It was nice to get away and spend the evening together and grateful that the girls got to spend the evening with their grandparents.

Christmas Vacation Begins

Heading to Utah for our 3 week break! We are all so excited to see family! We loaded the car up the night before, and then left our house at 5am on Saturday to try to get the kids to sleep a bit more in the car and make it in one day. It was a long drive, but all the kids did awesome and we got to the Harvey's by 4 or so. We spent 5 days there before heading to Idaho to see the Dalton side of the family. 

 It was so fun to see cousin Hazel again, and Carson the next day. The girls put on a dance show and we all just relaxed. 

Penny and Hazel. 1 year, and 9 months. 

Eating pomegranate seeds with Leigh. 

 

Leigh and her dentist were so nice. She arranged so that we could come in after hours and get our teeth cleaned. Grateful that we could do this and get our kids in for a regular check up. Thanks so much Leigh!

Ada was very interested while Leigh cleaned Cameron's teeth. 

While Leigh finished up my teeth the girls went to see Santa down the street with Cameron and Uncle Todd and Hazel. 

Jordan and Ada taking a nap. 

 

A 50 degree drop in temperature mixed with a 3000 foot elevation gain vs. Southern California made for a run that didn't feel that great, but we loved being out together and loved feeling winter!

And of course a trip to the castle park!

And we had to check out the new trails behind Nichols Park. Great start to our trip! Headed to Idaho next to see my siblings, parents, and 9 more cousins!

Yard Mess, Ward Party, & Christmas Parade

We received a good amount of rain this week in Southern California, and it was just enough to weaken our living wall in our back yard and cause it to topple over. And it was a mess to clean up. All of it was tangled together and at least 1-3 feet deep. We hope it grows back soon. Our back yard just doesn't look the same!

We are grateful for friends who lent us a trailer to fill and take it to the dump. Of course it happened right during Cameron's finals and right before we headed to Utah/Idaho. Glad that project is over!

 

That same morning we had our ward Christmas party. Here are the girls with Santa!

 

Penny was pretty excited about her candy cane. 

 

And to top off our day we went to the Redlands Christmas Parade. It was long, and we ended up leaving early, but the girls of course loved every minute of it. Everyone told us to dress warm. Well, coming from Montana and Utah, we took it literally. The girls loved wearing warm clothes even though the temperatures were probably in the upper 50s. 

  

Fun night!

Penny's Birthday

Penny turned 1 on December 9! She hasn't really been sick in the past year, and woke up with a fever on her birthday, and just didn't feel well all day. We tried to get her excited about presents and cake, but she just wasn't up for anything except a lot of snuggling. Aubrey and Ada were excited enough for all of us.

 

Penny grabbed the flame on her candle before this picture. So we tried to redo it but she was scared of the candle after that. 

 

Overall it was a rough day for Penny and you can tell by the pictures. But Aubrey and Ada had a blast singing to her and opening her presents for her. She has her well check up in a month so we will see how much she has grown then!