Thankful for Family.

We spent a wonderfully warm and beautiful Thanksgiving at Sundance this year (again, we love it).  We ate and ate--and Presley was very proud of her three plates of food (she is a growing, hungry girl).

Stella was being dramatic--she kept saying she was freezing in the 60 degree sunshine.

Sister love!

A lovely, but snow-free Sundance.

I think the girls were tired of taking photos . . .

Sundance might very well be one of my favorite places.  Beautiful.  I am so THANKFUL to be so BLESSED.

More Cake (again).

My good friend threw a Hollywood themed birthday for her 12 year old daughter--complete with feather boas, a red carpet, and a limo!  Here is the star studded, sparkly cake I made for the party.

I used an edible, gold spray to give the roses that golden shimmery shine.

Eleanor Ann.

Meet Eleanor Ann.  My girls are super excited to meet their newest cousin.  And they are sure happy to welcome another girl to the family.

Eleanor looks like her big sister Guinevere but with DARK hair.  We think she will have blue eyes but that her dark hair will turn blonde like Presley's.

So proud to be holding her new cousin!

  We still need to meet Ender (my sister Becka's new baby boy!).  Hopefully we will get to hold him soon!

Halloween--trick or treat.

The girls planned their own costumes this year . . . Presley was a pumpkin fairy and Stella was a kitty.  Even Chris joined in the fun and put on a costume of his own making.

 

The girls were pretty excited to see dad in a tutu--they had to teach him a few moves, though they will need to hep him out more if he is going to do them correctly.  As for me and my costume, the giant, fake, pink eyelashes were just too much and I ended up with red, tired eyes after wearing them for most of the day.  It was a wonderfully warm and beautiful Halloween this year!

School Halloween Party.

I went to Presley's class today to help out with the Halloween party.  We played games, ate gooey green goo, played BINGO, and dressed up as mummies (no costumes allowed at school).  Stella tagged along for the fun and we had a good time.

"Witches Bones" made out of pretzels and mini-marshmallows dipped in white chocolate.

Presley wanted a face drawn on her mummy.

Stella is a happy mummy!  She was so excited to be in Presley's first grade class.

Halloween BINGO.

Gooey goo.

23 first graders can be a crazy bunch, and I now have a new respect for teachers and all they do (I am sure I had respect before, but I now know I could not have been a school teacher).

Cheerleader.

Presley came home from school with a sign up sheet for doing a cheerleading mini-class at the high school.  She asked her dad so nicely and despite his initial reaction, Presley got to go to the cheerleading class she was so excited about.

Go Wasps!

 

After a week of practices Presley and the other cheerleaders got to preform at the high school football half time show.  Presley had such a fun time and loved being a cheerleader!  The best part was I told her to make sure and get in the front row so I could take good pictures--she got onto the field and held her spot in the front row.

Preschool Second Year.

Stella was super excited to start her second year at Sunshine Circle {best preschool ever}.  This year her teacher is Miss Melissa and she has several friends in her class.  This girl loves school, doing her reading lessons, and spending lots of time with mom while Presley is in school full day.

All smiles in front of our "picture tree".

Stella loves swinging on the railing in front of her school.

My little mountain goat climbing the fence.

Stella is a fun one to spend so much one on one time with--happy, up for anything, and ready to do everything.

Baby Blessing Cake.

This is a cake for my friend Ali and her new baby Ella.  Happy to make this special day a sweet day too with a cake!

First Grade.

I don't know what to say . . . Presley is in first grade and I can't believe how the time is flying by.  Of course she was up early and ready to get to school--she loves school, her friends, and her teacher.

Presley learned to tie her shoes this summer--new shoes!

"I {heart} school"

Couldn't wait to get on the bus.

We are getting used to homework every night, eating lunches at school, and making new friends.

Summer "Stay-cation".

We waited too long to plan a big trip, and to be honest we wanted to save money--so this year for Chris's 2-week break before school started, we stayed home and did lots of local day trips as our vacation.  Here are the things we did . . .


Camping in the Uintas.

Camping near Sundance.

Float trip on the Provo River.

Grandma and Grandpa came on our float trip.

Boat and tube on the lake.

13th Anniversary.

A fun night out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Alpine slides.

We had fun sticking around this summer!  We also went to Lagoon for the first time (the girls got their money's worth on their favorite ride OdySea).  Watch out next summer--I am in a planning mood and I am thinking Florida with my sister, a Dinsney cruise, and Europe again {can I convince Chris the girls are ready?}.