Christmas 2011

Our friends asked Michael to play Santa for their holiday Christmas party.  The girls were excited to sit on Santa's lap.  Kaitlin wasn't fooled for a second, Allison seemed to know who he was but then was excited to go see daddy afterward.  They had a professional photographer and the pictures turned out awesome.

Snow Day

It's been so fun to have snow in our new house.  The backyard looks completely different with the pretty white layer of show, and the kids have had a ball playing in the show and sledding at the park close by.  I love this time of year!

Pet Store Fun

You'd think a family with two dogs wouldn't spend so much time at the pet store, but alas, it seems to be one our favorite free activities.  We had a few minutes to kill this week and I got a couple of cute shots.

Our new house

Here are a few pictures of our new (or soon to be ours) house.  We close on June 3rd, and we are very very excited about this.  I still can't believe how blessed we've been in this whole process, and how many things have come together so easily.  From a dream loan coming together, to ending up in a ward that I know is very welcoming...it's been a very fun adventure so far. 

The family room

The Living Room

The upstairs landing

The master bedroom

A Bunny Birthday

Kaitlin's 5th birthday fell three days before Easter this year, so we decided to do a bunny themed birthday party.  We ended up having 16 little kids show up and it was very crazy, but fun!


We dressed all the kiddos up as bunnies, and we read Peter Rabbit. 



Afterward we went into "Mr McGregor's garden" to feast on carrots, strawberries, and lettuce

Eating our "carrot cakes"

A very angry Mr McGregor shows up to chase all of the bunnies away

It was all very fun and sweet, and I have to hugely thank my mother-in-law for helping to entertain all of these little bunnies.  We had quite a bit of time to fill after doing all of the bunny festivities, and she stepped in with London Bridges and The Hokey Pokey and every other wonderful 5-year-old game that the kids just loved. 

I also have to say how much I enjoy having a 5-year-old.  Kaitlin is as smart and witty as she has always been, and it's been such an awesome experience to see these qualities grow in her as she has changed from a little girl to a not-so-little girl.  She loves being in charge, she loves appointing her minions to do anything and everything she wants (especially her little sister), she loves giving the biggest, warmest hugs and she loves having "girl talks."  We've been reading novels at night for the past few nights, and we're now working on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  We have so much fun reading together and talking about how awesome Aslan is.  I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has trusted Michael and me with this sweet, spirited little girl.  We love you, Kaitlin. 

Pedicures

After one of the BYU basketball games ended, my mom brought out her pedicure bath and asked if the girls wanted to soak their feet and use her smelly lotions.  They were of course game, and after awhile they'd done pedicures on me, on my mom, and even on my dad.  I've spent so much time at my parents' house over the last few years and it never occurred to me to pull this stuff out to entertain my girls - they had a great time!


Kaitlin and our friends Barbara and Eliana getting a pedicure.





I'm not sure he'd admit, it but I think he actually enjoyed having his feet babied a bit.



Austin and Erica's open house

Have I mentioned there was face painting at this wedding? 



Hanging out with Allison - she had a painted face and a swollen lip.



Allison with her swollen lip - she fell off my parents' bed and crashed into the dresser...right before the openhouse.



My dad dancing with the girlies.



Austin and my mom dancing.  She told me it didn't really seem real that he was married until this dance.  It's fun how some of those wedding traditions actually seem to have a purpose.



Allison's birthday

Here are a few fun shots from Allison's second birthday. This time of year is always just insane for Michael and me, so we decided to forgo a birthday party and go to the Paul Derda Rec Center pool. My kids love this place, and honestly, Michael and I love this pool just as much. We swam our hearts out and hit the slides about 100 times, and then we went to Red Robin for dinner. It was very fun.

We also broke down and bought Allison the pottery barn kids stroller for her birthday. She has played with this so many times at the mall, and we've gone through about 10 of the cheaper strollers that aren't tall enough for our kids. She was so excited to see it, and it's been fun to see even big sister wanting to play with it. I just love having little girls, I love all of the pink!

Michael and Kaitlin playing on a Sunday afternoon. They were cracking me up!





And another...

Austin and Erica's Wedding

A few fun pictures from the wedding. It's so crazy to think that 3 of my 4 brothers are now married, and I feel so lucky that I have 3 amazing sisters-in-law.



All of the flower girls with my grandma LeBaron.



The entire wedding was a carnival theme. They had cotton candy, a jumpy castle, face painting, bingo, hot dogs and hamburgers...it was all so much fun. I honestly sometimes find wedding receptions boring, but this one was anything but.



The getaway.



Our bridesmaid dresses were gray and really fun. I had fun getting my face painted too. Like I said, totally fun wedding!

The kids fly

My brother Austin got married in Idaho, and we decided to take the opportunity to avoid the February yucky roads and fly out there. It turns out the direct flights into Idaho Falls are outrageously expensive, so we bought cheap tickets to Las Vegas and then took a different airline to Idaho.

Good decision!

We woke the girls up at 4:00 am to catch a 6:30 am flight, and they were total champs. Between the trains at DIA, the snacks and drinks on the planes, the flight attendants showering them with attention...it was overall a much less stressful experience than I had worried it would be.

Couple of funny things:

1. Allison stripped in the Las Vegas airport. She never did let us put her clothes on again before boarding the plane, so we let a diapered little girl walk onto the plane. One of the flight attendants joked that "that girl had spent too much time in Vegas."

2. The pilot let Kaitlin come up and look at the controls after the flight. I was so jealous!

3. Allison came down with a nasty ear infection the day we left Idaho. We took her into an urgent care to see if she could even fly. They prescribed baby codeine for the plane. It never did knock her out, but it did make her loopy. Her eardrum never did burst mid air, which had been the pediatrician's worry (hence the codeine!)

4. Kaitlin was chasing a random bird in the Las Vegas terminal. She put on my coat to "dress up like a bird" so the bird wouldn't be afraid of her:)

My dad - my friend

My dad and I drove up to Cheyenne together for a cousin's baptism, and we had such a great time talking in the car there and back. I got a couple of pictures of us together (which we never get) and I thought I'd post them. Thanks for a fun day, dad!

Roller skating

We met up with some friends for a playdate at Skate City, and Kaitlin put on skates for the first time. She was a little timid, but she did great and I was really proud of her.