Valentines Weekend

Olivia made her own valentines to hand out at school this year. She worked a lot of days to get them ready. She was so excited about handing them out to her classmates and had to make sure she made one for herself. She is growing up so quickly. I can't believe she will be in kindergarten next year. We were so lucky to have company this last weekend. It is so fun to have people come visit us. Jeff, Becca, and their kids Tyler, Brianna, and Ethan showed up last Friday night just before Grandpa and Grandma Lindsay and aunt Heather. We had a house full. Whenever we get together with family, we are never in bed before midnight. We play games, talk, and eat lots of food. Grandma was so cute. She brought valentines gifts, decorations, and breakfast for Saturday morning. The kids loved it!
We tried to go up the Mesa on Saturday morning for the dog sled races but were snowed out and had to turn around. Brad, Jeff, and Grandpa ended up taking the kids down into the adobes to go four wheeling. They had a blast despite the cold weather. We did a little bit of dancing and karaoke at the ward party, and ended the day with more games. The rest of the weekend was nice and relaxing. More games, food, and fun. The kids always enjoy spending time with their cousins!

quick trip to Utah

It seems like we take quick trips to Utah a lot. This last weekend we were able to fit a little bit of everything into just a couple of days. It started with a day of work for Brad in the mountains next to Hanksville while the girls and I played at Goblin Valley. They love it there. It is a giant sandstone playground. This time it was half covered in snow, resulting in a lot of mud. Brad had the camera with him so we don't have any pictures of our muddy mess. We have been able to visit quite a bit over the last couple of years while Brad works. Every time we leave Olivia asks when we will be able to go back. We went to the Draper Temple open house the next day with Brad's brother Jeff's family. Once again there are no pictures. We were really bad with the camera. Didn't get many pics. It was wonderful to take the kids to the temple. They always want to go into them. Olivia told us that she felt the Holy Spirit there and that she now wanted to get married in that temple. Since then, it has changed back to the Manti Temple. It is good to give them these experiences. We visited friends, did some shopping, threw a baby shower for Rob's wife Jess, went to Cabella for some free entertainment, had a graduation party for Rob, went to a baby blessing for my cousin's cute baby boy, had a birthday party for my sister Amity, a Superbowl party, and seemed to fit in a little sleep. NOT MUCH THOUGH! We have been home for a week now and are finally starting to recover now. It is always great to see family and friends. That is the hard part of living away. We miss everyone a lot and love you all.

Finally finishing the girls room

We have lived in our house now for a year and have been working on it ever since then. We have started a lot of projects that are yet to be finished. I recently decided that we were going to finish the girls room. It was supposed to be their Christmas present. I found the bunk beds at a yard sale and made them blankets. So, even though we still don't have doors on the room or closet, I am about to cross this project off of the list.

Happy Chinese New Year

Last night we celebrated the Chinese new year with our family. We ate sweet and sour chicken with rice, used chop sticks, made paper Chinese lanterns, listened to Chinese music, played games, learned about China, and gave the kids money in red envelopes. They thought the money was the best part. It was fun to break up the monotony of January if you know what I mean.




Today the girls and I made cinnamon rolls. We really needed something to do. So, what do we do, we make treats. What we would love is to be able to go to the park or jump on the trampoline. Our house was surrounded with fog and it was pretty chilly outside. I can't wait for the spring and the sun. To all of our friends and family in sunny Arizona and California, consider yourself lucky!

My baby is growing up way too fast!

Here is the picture of our charlie brown Christmas tree that I promised Shay.

Happy New Year!

I know that I am terrible at updating my blog, but I now have a new years resolution to keep it updated. I am doing pretty good so far seeing that it is the first day of the year and I am updating it, even though it is long overdue! I am also sorry that I never got Christmas cards out. I know this is the second year in a row and that is terrible. I even went to the trouble of getting people's addresses and printing labels. Oh well, I love you all and hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Thanksgiving at my parents house this last year, and I am sad to say that I don't have any pictures to show of the good time we had. It is tradition, and has been for the last fifteen years, to go to Sherwood Hills and spend the weekend there after Thanksgiving. The girls had a wonderful time and love their indoor pool. It was also the start of the sickness which is being passed around the family and we just can't seem to kick it. Oh well, I guess it is just that time of year. Upon arriving home, we were quick to get into the spirit of Christmas and pull of our decorations out.

I know that this picture is a little blurry, but it is just too cute not to add. Olivia sang a solo at our ward Christmas party this year and did such a wonderful job. She is growing up so quickly and is just a wonderful, beautiful little girl. Good job Livvy, you did a great job!

Last year when we bought our house, the old junker car on the side came with it. It has bothered me, and I am sure our neighbors too, and I am glad to say that Brad decided to get rid of it. I think that he had fun doing it!

Brad has been hard at work trying to get some things finished around our house. He got the trench dug for the propane line. When we bought the house, it had baseboard heating. We decided to rip all of it out and put in a forced air system. This trench has been on the top of Brad's to do list and he can happily cross it off now. That is if Brad were to make to do lists. He says that I make enough of them that he does not need to do it. So, I will cross it off of my list.

Aubree didn't want anything to do with Santa this year. I am sure that will change.


The people that lived in our house before us were really big on privacy and planted trees around the yard that are too close together. Now that they have gotten bigger, the trees are growing into each other and do not have enough room to grow. So, our Christmas tree this year was one the spruce trees out in the yard, cut down, and topped off. It is completely dead in the back and so it is pretty flat, but we didn't care. That side was just scooted back next to the wall. It is a bit Charlie Brownish, but that is the way I like em. It has a lot of pine cones hanging in it, and it also had a birds nest. The girls think that it is great.


Thanks to my sisters and parents, Brad and I were able to sneak away for a few days before Christmas by ourselves. It has been a long time, but it was nice to be together, alone! We went to San Diego and just relaxed. It was wonderful! Thanks Brad, I love ya. Thanks to my sitters as well, you guys are great.

Bryce and Tessa gave the little girls tutus that Tessa made. Here is cute Emery in hers. The girls love them! Thanks guys.

We had a wonderful Christmas and were able to see all of our family, with the exception of one of Brad's brothers. It was wonderful to be with family. We love you all.


Aubree makes sure Madelyn is always taken care of. It is a little scary sometimes. Today, she was feeding her apple slices.