Santa Claus and the Marines

I am VERY behind on this blog and playing catch-up now.  I'm just now writing about some of the fun stuff we did at Christmas time.  A couple of weeks before Christmas, we went to the RS SLC Christmas party (Josh's work deal).  Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus showed up.  Not surprisingly, the girls were terrified even though they brought presents.  Santa Claus made me sit on his lap.  To be honest, he was a little creepy.  Maybe the girls were reluctant to sit on his lap for a reason. :)  

A Very Merry Christmas

 Just a few pics from our Christmas day . We had a wonderful Christmas, but were terrible about taking good pictures.  Our day included a relaxing morning at home opening presents and eating cinnamon pull aparts, then a fun afternoon at my parents having lunch, then finished with an evening at Jim and Rebecca's house with the Jones family.  The girls were loved and spoiled.

Three!! (Part 2)

Josie and Piper's actual birthday started with a little mini-celebration at their school.  Their preschool teacher invited Josh and me to come in and read their favorite books to the class, and bring some treats.  I read "Has
Anyone Seen My Emily Green" and Josh read "How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight".  And we brought cupcakes.

They also had their checkup with the pediatrician.  They're both healthy and growing nicely, despite the fact that they eat like birds.  I had to go back and look at their two year stats to believe that they've actually grown.

Josie: Weighs 30 lbs, Height 36.7 inches
When she turned 2, she was 33 3/4 inches tall and weighed 25 pounds

Piper: Weighs 28.6 lbs, Height 36.2 inches
When she turned 2, she was 33 1/2 inches tall and weighed 24.4 pounds

After school, we had a little family dinner.  Bubba came over after work and we ate more cake and ice cream and they opened their presents from us.

 The girls got a new easel from us

And this Dora guitar that we are going to regret getting for them!  And of course a Dora microphone so they can have a mini-band.

 Happy birthday girlies!  We love you piles and piles.

Three!! (part 1)

Josie and Piper turned 3!  Finally!  After months and months of anticipating when they were going to be "this many", the big day finally came.  We celebrated at Momentum Climbing with a party for all their cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and a few friends as well.

We had cake and pizza.  The cake was a definite highlight for the girls (Dora and Boots were on the cake!).

And we climbed.  Most of the kids climbed right up like monkeys.  The girls were a little more interested in the cake.

Olivia Larsen (only 4!) climbed up to the very top.

 Anna and Allison on the free climbing wall.

 Austin

 Jer, Jim and Riley.  Riley also climbed up a bunch of times.

 Josie taking pictures with her own "camera"

 I had to take a shot at going up once

 Lauren at the very top

 Then we opened presents

 I was so grateful we could be here in Utah and celebrate with family.  The girls loved having their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins here.

More soon on their actual birthday and their stats from their three-year check-up.

Gobble Gobble

This was our first Thanksgiving in Utah in a whole lotta years.  We came home one year when Josh was in flight school, but all other Turkey days were spent with family back east, or with friends.  I think Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday.  I love starting the day out with some Turkey Trotting and ending it with food and family.  That's a whole lot of good stuff.  There are no presents to buy, no decorations to put up, no craziness and running around with hair on fire.  Just some time in the kitchen.

As a vegetarian, one would think I hate turkey day, but I have no qualms about eating a plateful of potatoes, rolls, jello salad (yay, Utah!), and following that up with some punkin pie.

The Cottonwood Heights Turkey trot started less than a mile from our house.  It was a crazy hard course, but still fun with a huge crowd.  I loved participating each year in the turkey trot in New Bern, but I think this one will work out just fine for a new tradition.  Brooke Larsen also ran, so we got to visit with them after and the girls got to see Olivia.  

We had dinner up at my parents this year.  It was a small crowd, but yummy food and good company.

Hello Winter

 This is what November 11th looks like around here:

We got home from Jackson to some serious snow.  Poor Josh has been shoveling away.  The girls (and Blue boy) were loving it, so we took off to purchase snow boots and sleds and off we went to the local park.

The girls were both pretty brave and even went down by themselves after a couple of warm up runs.

Our newly purchased ski season passes are now burning a hole in our pockets!  We can't get up there soon enough and make up for lost time.

Jackson Hole Marine Corps Ball

We just got back from a great trip to Jackson Hole for the Marine Corps Ball.  This was the most unique ball experience we've ever had, and definitely the most family friendly.  Josh's unit is spread out across several states, so everyone meets in Jackson as a central location to celebrate for three days.

We got to visit some of our favorite Jackson restaurants.  The girls had fun playing with their little friend Olivia Larsen during a yummy breakfast at the Bunnery.

Just like we always do when we're up there, we paid a visit to the spot where we got engaged in the town park.

The ball itself was very low key.  Some people even brought their kids and they had a great time on the dance floor.  There is a good chance this will be our last Marine Corps ball.  It's always an honor to celebrate the history and tradition of the Marine Corps and I am of course so proud of Josh.  Plus, the dude rocks that uniform.

With Greg and Brooke Larsen, who we got to know while we were camping in Challis over the summer.  Strangely enough, these two moved to Salt Lake from New Bern as well.  It's a small world.

 Happy birthday Marines and Happy Veterans Day!

A Princess and a Frog Celebrate Halloween

October was one fun thing after another celebrating Halloween.  There are so many things to do here with kids - we had to pick and choose because its just not possible to get it all in.  Early in the month, we went down to Thanksgiving Point for the festival/maze/Halloween celebration down there.  There were bounce houses, climbing ropes, little mazes, pumpkin patches, an entire area for princesses, etc, etc.

 Climbing up the rope ladders

 They had these giant "pillows" for the kids to bounce on.

 Riding some kind of swing horse and sitting on the princess horse.

Later in the month, we also went to This is the Place Park for some trick-or-treating.  The girls got to ride the train there and get candy from the "candy cannon".  Bubba and Grandpa came with us, but I forgot to get pictures. :(  We also went to storytime at the library, which had a halloween theme and the girls got to go trick-or-treating there too.

A few days before Halloween, we decorated pumpkins with tissue paper shapes.  Easier for little ones and less messy than carving them.

The girls decided to be a princess (Josie) and a frog (Piper).  They came up with these costumes completely on their own without any prompting on our part.  I think it is pretty representative of their personalities and how different they can be.

We had a great (and very full day) on Halloween.  The girls had a party at preschool, then we hit up my mom's work party and my work party, then spent the evening with friends and did more trick-or-treating.

 Bubba's work goes all out with their party.  She was a spider and her entire department was covered in spiderwebs.  There were two floors of their building set up for trick-or-treating.

 Josie and Piper had to keep reminding themselves that "bubba's not a real spider".

 Here they are dressed up next to the pumpkins we made and ready to head out.

 Halloween is definitely a lot more fun with little ones.  Can't wait for next year!