Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous christmas this year, and hope that all our friends and family did as well. We spent christmas eve with my family, and had a nice quiet wonderful evening together. We enjoyed wonderful food, and exchanged gifts. It was so much fun this year because both kids were very interested in everything that was going on. Gracie was so excited over every present, even socks! I have worked really hard with my children to try to get them to understand how lucky they are to have what they do, and be grateful for what they receive. I was very proud of them, when the thank yous came easily with very little prompting. Then Christmas morning we were able to spend a few precious hours alone as a family before we had to go to Jed's familys celebration. We really enjoy this time together, just the four of us. I have so much love for our little family, and I cherish our time together,knowing that time passes so quickly. The smiles and giggles are so fun to watch. We got dressed and headed off to Jed's family, and boy is their xmas celebrating so much different than my family's. That is one of the fun parts of living so close to our families. We get to have our children experiance both families and their different traditions. The energy level at Jed's parents is really high and the noise level even higher. There are lots of little ones running around, keeping us all on our toes. Finally on christmas night we packed up and drove over to Heidi's house and had dinner with her and her family. It was a wonderful day and I always feel so blessed to have all of these wonderful people that love and care for our family.

Christmas Tree Hunt

This year we decided to go with my in-laws to cut down our christmas tree. In the past we have done this, you don't always end up with the most beautiful tree, but the experiance is fun. It has been so much colder than it usually is this time of year, so we had to bundle everyone up really well. We all piled into the vehicles and headed up the mountain. It took quite a bit of searching to even find any, I think they sent too many to California this year:) Any way we finally found a few along one of the mountain trails and everyone piled out to find the perfect one. It was so cold and the wind was blowing really hard! Needless to say I think we may have settled a litlle. We ended up with a cute Charli Brown tree. When we got it home I was a little skeptical, but once the lights and ornaments were put on it looked pretty cute! And of course the girls had fun which is all that really matters! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Well, as usual we are running late on our blogging. I know we are almost at thanksgiving, but I thought I should share a little bit of the fun that we had this Halloween. The morning began with some pumpkin decorating. I am the only one in my family who enjoys carving pumpkins, but I was tired of carving three or four each year. So I decided to carve one pumpkin and let the little ones paint there pumpkins. They were so excited! I set up a sheet on the dining room floor, set out a bunch of paint and let them have at it. Very funny how different my girls are, Gabby painted a nice pumpkin and had a spot of paint on her the size of dime. Gracie on the other hand was covered from head to toe with paint. My mom got to come share the Halloween weekend with us and really got into the spirit, costume included:). We got the girls dressed up, Gabby was Tinkerbell and Gracie was a peacock. They looked so adorable! Then we were off to trick or treat. The art of trick or treating has drastically changed since I moved here. They do not go door to door like at home, the houses are further apart, with long driveways and mostly all gravel roads. So we instead go to the outlet mall in town and all the stores hand out a lot of candy. Then we hop in the car and make the required stops at the houses of friends and family. I kind of miss the old way, but the kids have fun and they don't know any different. Needless to say they made a nice haul and had a great time. Now we look forward to the next holiday, my favorite Thanksgiving!!!

Colorado, the secret getaway

I have been feeling like my husband and I needed some alone time, especially with another baby on the way. So I got the idea for our anniversary, which was in the end of August, to take him on a secret getaway. I couldn't do it in August because too much was going on with my sister's wedding and schhol starting, so I decided on the last week of september. I knew I didn't have a huge budget, but that I wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been before, so I chose Colorado. I booked the trip in secret and then arranged with my husband's boss to give him a few days off. It was pretty difficult keeping the secret for so long, but so worth it. The morning we were supposed to leave I let the alarm go off, and then just didn't get out of bed. He of course started telling me I was going to be late and to get up. I explained that we weren't going to go to work today and we were going to go on a trip instead. He didn't believe a word I said....I explained the whole plan excluding destination. Still he wouldn't beleive me!!!! I pulled the packed suitcase out from under the bed and he just stood there with a crazy look on his face. Finally he went to his work computer to download his route and it came up, you don't have a route today....finally it clicked. He just couldn't believ that I could pull off a secret like that, I'm a horrible liar. My mom soon after showed up to stay with the girls and we were off. I didn't tell him we where we were going until on the way to the airport. Boy was he surprised we haven't been on a plane since our honeymoon 7 yrs ago. WE had a fabulous time in Colorado. We ate great food and saw very neat things. We rode the train up to Pike's Peak, so gorgeous!! It was 87 degrees at the bottom and 12 degrees at the top though..brrrrr!!! We went to the Indian cliff dwellings, the musuems, zoo and more. It was so fun and relaxing to just be together and reaquaint ourselves. We all have a habit of getting caught up in the day to day and forget to take time to tend our marriages. I really missed my kids, it was the longest I had ever been away from them(4 days), but I was so glad that we did it. My husband is not a big traveler, so I was exstatic that he said he had a great time and that he wanted to plan the trip nex year....YAH!!!

School has started

It's official I have a child in school....AAAAHHH! I think school is such a big milestone that makes me feel old. Gabby started preschool this year, and she was so excited where as I was a nervous wreck. I was so afraid that we would get there and she would panic and chase me out of the school. She is such a sensitive child and has recently been having some seperation anxiety. That morning I got up and tried to prepare myself for the worst case sernerio and what I would do if it happened. Funny thing is we walked into the school found her coat hook and classroom and when it was time to leave, she did fine. Her eyes got a little big and she looked nervous but she just gave me a hug and said "I'll be OK mommy." So I left and cried all the way to work. My baby is growing up so quickly and I am so proud of her, she is doing so well and she always can't wait for the next school day. They go monday, wednesday, and friday mornings. It has been more of an adjustment for Gracie, she has never been without her sister and she has had some trouble. She begs Gabby not to go, but I'm sure once she adjusts she'll enjoy the alone time.

Gracie is TWO!!!

I can't believe how behind I have gotten on my blogging. On the fourth of September my little one turned two years old. Time just goes so quickly....we feel so blessed to have her in our lives. She is so different from her sister, and already so full of personality. She keeps us on our toes and makes us giggle ona daily basis. Since Heidi and I had our babies on the same day and we have all the same friends we again decided to have a joint b-day party for Gracie and Jacob. What a great party!!! We rented a huge slide and a bouncy house and boy was it a hit! The kids all had so much fun. It was a little warm that day so the dads got the idea of turning the big slide into a water slide. It turned into a wet and wild day!! I just love the fact that we got to experiance being pregnant together, labor together and now raising our babies together. On their birthday's it just reminds us how lucky we are to have such precious gifts from God.

My poor little one!

I know now as a mom of two what people say when they allude to getting gray hair from their children! I am surprised that my whole head isn't covered with it. In the four short years I've been a mom, my kids have already put us through a number of things. I can't help but get a little nervous about another one on the way, I suppose it will only get worse. The other night I was coming home from work when Jed called and asked how soon I was going to get home. I told him in a few minutes, why? He told me that Gracie had fallen and was pretty hurt. Of course all the worst things go through your mind. Do we need to go to the hospital? I asked, he said he didn't know yet. Automatically the foot hits the gas and I rush home. When I walk in my poor baby was lying in her daddy's arms, his entire shirt covered in blood. She tripped and fell hitting her mouth. She chipped her front tooth and completely ripped up her gums. It took quite a long while to stop the blood. We took her to the dentist the next day, but we were lucky and found out that the gums will heal and the chip didn't expose the nerve so...she will just have a smile full of character now! Talk about a feeling of de ja vou, when Gabby was three she fell on a bookshelf at Grandma's and knocked her two front teeth in half. After a surgery and a hefty bill she has a nice set of caps on her teeth. They really should find a way to put kids in bubbles:) I don't know how much I can take!!