Dear Lydia

Happy Birthday my little angel. I can hardly believe how quickly your first year has gone.

As I have watched you grow this year, I can't help but love your sweet personality and your pure excitement for everything new. As you were learning to crawl I could see your anxiety as you watched your sisters play. I thought it was a longing to be part of the action. Now I know that you just want to do things...with your sisters and on your own.

I love your smile as you discover something new. Your excitement is captivating and we all love to be with you.

Thank you for bringing so much joy into our home. We can't imagine our family without you!

Love,

Mom

Happy New Year

Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year!

What do you think of Eliza & Liesel's new hair cuts? It was so painful for me to see 3 1/2 inches being cut from Liesels beautiful white blond hair, but Daniel convinced me that they might look more presentable this way--alas, he is right and the girls could care less that their hair is short.

Today was a momentous day--Eliza is a Sunbeam! (That means she is now with the 'big' kids for Sunday meetings) She is thrilled but was a little traumatized that she couldn't sit by her friend Hailey. Baby steps!

We worked on our New Year Resolutions Today...I haven't finished mine yet but here is a taste of the girls...

Eliza--Learn letters, enroll in a physical activity, .....

Liesel--Learn to go Potty, put laundry away neatly, ...

Lydia--Learn to walk, get into car seat without help (of course we will buckle her in), ...

So what are some of your goals for 2009? I hope to post mine soon!

Our Disneyland Adventures

So I feel like such a slacker just barely posting about our trip to Disneyland. We caught a stomach bug on our way home and are still in recovery. So here is a brief glimpse at all the fun.

One of the highlights was our back stage pass to meet the princesses. And who do you suppose was there? Cinderella and Snow White. I could have kissed them both. Liesel had been talking about seeing Snow White for weeks. Luckily that dream came true.

Liesel was a little shy but not as shy as Eliza. This is about as close to them as she got. Kind of funny since that is all she could talk about before we left...seeing the Princesses.

The best part of the trip was being with cousins...swimming, waiting in line, riding the carousel (over and over), the parade with Grandpa, matching shirts, pretty dresses...the memories will last forever.

The wedding was also fantastic. Congratulations again Andrew and Tara...we are so thrilled for you!

The girls loved their new pretty dresses from Grandma Nan.Here is our attempt at a nice family photo...can you see the cheese stick in Liesel's hands...good times!
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year. I hope to be asleep before it is midnight here...is that weak?

Ten on Tuesday

1. We celebrated Daniel's birthday on Friday. It was a bit of a busy day with Seminary, changes at work, and school that night. But he made it home in time for cake with the girls. Happy Birthday Daniel...we love you!

2. Our Thanksgiving was wonderful but uneventful...no pictures and very little accomplished but Daniel did let me go shopping on Black Friday...loved it!

3. QOTD: I was finishing up Lydia's stocking when I said; "Girls did you know that Santa is going to come on Christmas and fill your stockings with toys and presents?"
Liesel: "Oooooooh, that's so nice!"

4. I have been up to my neck in projects...making pajamas for the girls and their babies, working frantically on our gift for the lucky member(s) of my family who's name we drew, finishing stockings, shopping, finishing my Christmas cards (sorry for the delay...our printer broke), and it seems like more are added everyday. I think I over book myself at Christmas.

5. Daniel's job title changed again on Friday. He is now a Sales Associate at the Bluffs. Anyone you know looking for a town home in Colorado Springs? We are really grateful to still be employed and are so grateful for the Lord's kindness to us.

6. We got our Christmas tree on Saturday and the girls are thrilled. Our candy canes only made it two days and only the top half of the tree is decorated (Lydia can't keep away) but we love the sent it brings and the girls love to plug in the lights.

7. Daniel now only has a week and a half of school and we are thrilled. He has worked so hard and has been so consistent through the past year and a half. He deserves a great vacation.

8. Vacation you say...coming right up. We head for Andrew's wedding and a visit to Disney Land as soon as class is over on the 17ht! Any Disneyland survival tips?

9. We were so grateful to watch the Christmas Devotional on Sunday. You can watch it here.

10. Neglected to lock up my craft closet today and now have embossing powder and stamp pad ink dotting my bedroom carpet. Does anyone have any bright ideas of removing that?

Goooooo COUGARS!

We went to the BYU vs. Air Force football game on Saturday (thanks again Brian & Rachel for the great tickets!) The girls did pretty well. Liesel spent most of the time pretending to giggle...and kicking everyone around her trying to decide where to sit.

Eliza wanted to go home until we snatched her friend Hailey from a few rows behind and had her sit with us...Thanks for being such a great cheer partner Hailey!Lydia was by far the happiest of the bunch...she was a perfect angle to whole game.It was great to see our Cougars pull out another win. We had a few mistakes but overall they played well. We are hoping and cheering them on to another win this weekend against Utah...COME ON COUGARS...YOU CAN DO IT!

Excuse the delay but...

Happy Halloween!
We've been distracted at our house with voting and designing our Christmas Card and with this... A little book for my sister of the pictures I took at her reception (sorry Jen that it is so late).

Here are a few pictures from our Halloween. We went to a couple of different parties so the girls were a Snowman, Bee, and Ladybug for one and Cheerleaders for the other. They loved the fun.

The girls favorite part of the whole holiday was handing out Candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. Daniel had school and I wasn't about to take them by myself. Eliza loved holding the bowl and telling the high schoolers to say Happy Halloween before they got a treat. Fun times.

On another note...my Christmas card is turning out super cute...if you want one in the mail send along your address!