Temple Square and Winner School Christmas

I am still trying to get caught up on this blog.  I have no idea why its so hard for me to stay on top of it, but I really want to do better this year!

There are a few more things we did over the holidays that I haven't had a chance to write about.  And now its almost too late.

Before Christmas, we took the obligatory trip down to Temple Square to see the lights.  We lucked out and it was a warm night.  But that meant it was crazy crowded.  I admit, it wasn't like I remembered as a kid.  And I thought the girls would be more into the lights.  They were a lot more into walking along the walls around the lights. :)

The girls also had their Winner School Christmas program.  Both of them sung their little hearts out.  I was surprised.  I thought they would sit there and do nothing, but they liked the songs and it was super cute.  

Egan Family Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve this year, our Egan family party included "The Amazing Race".  While we initially groaned a little bit about the game, it ended up being a lot of fun.  We were divided into groups (no siblings or spouses together) and had to run all over Farmington taking pictures with different things.  My mom, aunt Debbie and aunt Kris were back at the house watching the little kids and collecting all the pictures as we texted them in.

There was a rather heated debate about who actually won and several teams disputed the judges' ruling. :)  Especially Josh who said he pulled into the driveway first.  But we had a good time.  Here are some of the pics we took (my sweet grandma was on my team and had no problem hopping in and out of the car and sliding all over ice to get our pictures).

Some more pics of the party.  Little EJ was a little overwhelmed with all the people.

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.