Game Night

It's the little things that count, and tonight I am thankful for a husband who likes to have fun with our kids. Whenever there is a day off of school, my girls start asking Daddy if they can stay up late with him. This week was no exception. Thursday night was set aside as "game night". They made kettle corn, ate licorice, and played several games. Even though Grace ended up going to bed early, Claire had a great time spending some quality time with Dad. They just love these date nights with him. Whether it is camping in the living room, watching a movie, going for a hike, or playing games, I know they are having a great time. They are already talking about their next night up.

Little Baker

I've been really busy lately with planning and teaching Grace's preschool group this month. She is really loving having preschool with all of her friends. It's great to see her really catching on and learning her numbers and letters. The only downside is that they only meet once a week. Poor Grace would like to go everyday! She just loves it.

One of the really fun things we do is have field trips that relate to lessons that are taught. Recently we were able to tour the Costco Bakery, which was a big hit! The kids had to wear hair nets, and were quite excited to get employee name tags. We saw the big ovens, fridges, and packaging machines. We watched them make one of their famous chocolate cakes, and then had a yummy freshly baked chocolate chip cookie for a snack. Grace loved it! The funniest part was that she kept the hat and name tag under her pillow and wore them everyday for almost a week straight.

Snow

This last weekend we had a brief run in with the fluffy white stuff. It teased us for days with cold temps and a rain/snow mix. On Sunday morning there was a dusting of snow, but not much to speak of. After Church it started really coming down and actually sticking. I got the girls dressed up as fast as I could and off they went to frolic. It was a good thing that we were speedy because within an hour the sun came out and everything melted. At least they got to play for a bit.

18 Months

Woohoo! Neil turned 18 months this last week. Hooray for being old enough for nursery! On Sunday Chris took him to his class and dropped him off. Miraculously he stayed without tears and had a great time playing with the other kids. We were fully prepared for another horrific expeirience like we had with Grace, but so far (knock on wood), he is doing great!

I took him in for his check up on Monday, and he weighed in at 29 1/2lbs (88%), and is 33 1/2 in. tall (81%). He is a big boy and is getting more and more grown up everyday. It just melts my heart when I hear Chris go get him in the morning and he happily says Dadda, dadda. He is the sweetest little man, and his smile is the best. He can go up and down the stairs quite well now on his own. He likes to eat with utensils, and he is still mostly a vegetarian. Neil loves playing with cellphones and all toys that make noise. He especially loves his sisters and follows them around all day. So far they are good about letting him play with them. He is just on the verge of saying more words. In the last week he has started doing a lot of new things. Saying "night, night", "uh oh", "cracker", and signing milk, bath, all done, and up. I'm sure this is only the beginning. My only wish is for him to stay my baby for a little longer. These kids get bigger way too fast!

Feeding Time

My family has a tradition of going out to the Jewell/Mist Wildlife Preservation area each year to help feed the herds of elk. Apparently, winter is a tough time for them to find enough food to eat. Because of this they (the dept. of fish & wildlife) supplement their diets with bales of hay/alfalfa. You can ride along in the tractor and help distribute the hay. It's actually pretty neato to get so close to these giant animals.
This year Chris took the girls. I stayed home in my warm bed while the baby slept in. It was interesting to hear that they sometimes relocate a few elk each year in order to start new herds around Oregon and even as far as Alaska. I think the girls had a really great time seeing all the elk. Afterwards, they headed to Camp 18 for a tasty brunch.

Candy Cane Please

Saturday was our ward Christmas party. We had a tasty ham dinner followed by a musical program. Afterwards there was a special visitor. Neil just wanted them to hurry up and give him a candy cane. Claire didn't mind Santa, but Grace wanted nothing to do with him. She ran past and grabbed her candy cane. Maybe next year I can get the three of them together.

One Decade

This is us...ten years ago. What an amazing day it was! A November wedding in Oregon, and we lucked out with no rain. We were sealed together forever surrounded by our family and friends. A whole decade has now passed, and although we may look a little bit different, we are still very much in love, if not more so. I can't wait to see what the next ten years will bring!

In order to celebrate our milestone anniversary, we headed off to Las Vegas while our kiddos were able to stay with Grandma. What an amazing trip we had! It was so nice to not be on a schedule and get to sleep in everyday! We stayed 3 nights in Luxor Hotel on the strip, and we had a blast! The weather on our first day was perfect! Blue skies and 72 degrees was just what I needed. We took advantage of it by going to the Red Rock Canyon Conservatory that is just outside the city. They have a visitor center and maps of probably 20 different hikes that you can take ranging in difficulty. It was perfect. The landscape was beautiful, and it was so quiet out there. The hike we chose was amazing! It climbed up a rock canyon and ended with a great vista of the city. What a great way to spend our day. We also ate lots and lots of great food, including our stop to Max Brenner Chocolate. We saw Blue Man Group perform, which was pretty entertaining.

The next day was actually pretty cold and rainy, which was a bummer, but we made the best of it. We went to a movie, shopped, went out to eat, and saw Chris's family in the evening. Our last morning we found a great place for breakfast that is pretty popular called Hash House a Go Go. Chris had the fried chicken and waffles, which was actually pretty tasty. I had a more normal breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and a giant pancake. It was pretty tasty!

It felt great to get away, and have no responsibilities. We definitely needed a break! We were happy to come home and see our kids much more relaxed and ready to tackle the holiday season. a big thanks to everyone who helped make our trip possible! Thanks Grandma's and Uncle Troy! We can't wait to do it again sometime!

PS- We spent 3 nights on the strip and did not gamble a dime....there are plenty of fun things to do there. We were always busy!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!