Getting Ready for Christmas!

Kylie was not scared to sit on Santa's lap this year. She went right up and sat on his lap and told him how she wants a blue Cinderella dress for Christmas. Kylie is very excited for Christmas this year. She loves the Christmas music, decorating the tree with Daddy, going to look at Christmas lights, and of course, all the yummy treats!

They had a manger at one of the Christmas light shows that we went to with all kinds of animals.

Good job Derek! Looks great.

The other day I gave Kylie a candy cane and she went and hung it right over Lexi's crib. Lexi reached up and grabbed it and was not about to give it back. Next thing I knew Kylie was running in to me crying that Lexi had stolen her candy cane. She knows better now not to tease her sister with candy!

Christmas season would not be complete without a ginger bread house.

Lexi is pretty strong she does push ups while she looks at her books!

We love the Christmas Season. It is such a wonderful time to reflect on our Saviors birth . This year we started early. It has been a stressful year for us so we really wanted to be able to enjoy the holidays. We started out early, the day after Halloween we started playing Christmas music. For the first time this year I went out and shopped on Black Friday. It was actually pretty fun. There were lots of people, things were crazy, and I waited in long lines for over an hour just at one store. I didn't worry about getting done, I just listened to Christmas music and enjoyed shopping for my friends and family. Derek and I went out and bought a tree the last weekend in November. We got it home and decorated it and it was perfect. Two and a half weeks later we are wondering what to do with a tree that is dried up and dead with still 10 days till Christmas. We made a ginger bread house, went to see Christmas lights and I even made Christmas candies today. The excitement of Christmas is in the air for us. We are even hoping that the weather man might be right (for the first time ever) and we get some snow in the next few days. We are really enjoying the time that we have together and trying to teach Kylie that Christmas is not just about Santa and presents. It is also about giving to those in need and sharing the knowledge that we have about our Saviors birth and and life with those around us.

I want all of you to know that I know our Savior lives! That He was born, lived, and died for us that we may one day live with Him again. That He knows our pains, sorrows, and afflictions and is there to lift us up and bless our lives if we will but get on our knees and pray. What a miraculous gift He has given us. Merry Christmas to all and we pray that God may bless your lives with all that you may stand in need of at this time. We pray for you all and think of you often. MERRY CHISTMAS!

One night a month at the childrens museum kids get in free. It is pretty crazy because a lot of kids show up. The girls just love it, so we try to go when we can. It always makes me appreciate my kid a little more as I see so many children running around like monsters. I think my kids arn't that hard after all.

Every time we go to the beach we stop by the Cheese Factory. There are lots of cheese samples, ice cream, and we go watch how cheese is made. My favorite part is the squeaky cheese. I have fond memories of stopping at a cheese factory in Boise while on family trips to see our grandparents. We always would buy squeaky cheese to eat on the trip.

Watch out for that wave!

Lexi turned ONE!

Lexi was born just over a year ago. I went in to be induced on a Monday afternoon. I had told the nurse that I wanted to labor down with this delivery since I had had to push for 2 1/2 hours with Kylie. Labor progressed slowly until I was ready for an epidural. So I got my epidural and then the doctor broke my water. I progressed from 6 cm to 9 in 30 minutes. I was tired and not in pain so I decided to take a nap and was suppose to call the nurse when I felt the need to push. Shortly after I felt a slight inclination to want to push, but it was so slight that I questioned whether it was really worth calling the nurse for. I decided to call her just to be safe and and when she checked my Lexi's head was already half way out. Luckily the doctor was right outside my door in the hallway at the time. She ran in and barely had time to put on her gloves. I pushed once and the baby shot out at her. It was the easiest thing ever. I thought I could not have just had a baby it was way to easy.

This is Lexi's first steps it was taken about a month ago while we were at the beach house.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween is an interesting, but fun holiday. It is so weird to me that it is the one night of the year that you go door to door getting candy from complete strangers. Kylie and Lexi went out trick or treating with their cousins and had lots of fun. By the end of the night they were on such a sugar high. What an adventure!

I've Been Tagged!

The ABC's of Me
A. ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached (4 years)
B. BEST FRIEND? Derek
C. CAKE OR PIE? any kind of fruit pie
D. DAY OF THE WEEK? Saturday
E. ESSENTIAL ITEMS? diapers, wipes and milk. You cannot leave the house without them!
F. FAVORITE COLOR? Red for now (It change frequently)
G. GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? Gummy Bears
H. HOMETOWN? Oregon City, OR
I. INDULGENCE? Snickers
J. JANUARY OR JULY? July.....watermelon and BBQ how could you not love July!
K. KIDS? Kylie and Lexi
L. LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT? Derek and the girls
M. MARRIAGE DATE? August 6th, 2004
N. NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? One sister and four brothers
O. ORANGES OR APPLES? I love them both.
P. PHOBIAS OR FEARS? Spiders, public transportation, and weirdos at night.
Q. QUOTE? "Use it up, wear it out, make due or do with out." we are back into food storage.
R. REASONS TO SMILE? When my house is clean the kids are fed and my husband
has a day off. Sunday drives. Derek, Kylie, and Lexi always do things to make me smile.
S. SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN? Superman
T. TAG 5 PEOPLE? I don't know if there is anyone left to tag.
U. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? When I vacuum I like to sing. Kylie has found her favorite place to sing too, it is at the store and as loud as she can get.
V. VEGETABLES? Yes
W. WORST HABIT? Procrastination!! We are always late when the family gets together.
X. X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? Ultrasounds
Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? All Mexican!!
Z. ZODIAC SIGN? Virgo

The Pumpkin Patch

Here are some pictures we took this weekend at the pumpkin patch. This was Derek, Kylie, and Lexi's first trip to a pumpkin patch. The patch had hayrides, an animal farm, a corn maze and a huge pumpkin patch to pick from. We had lots of fun! It was a beautiful October Day! Now we just need to carve that monstrous pumpkin!

Whos Child Is This?

So yesterday I needed to run some errand and I decided since I was already out I might as well head to the grocery store and pick up a few things. I knew that it was already close to nap time, but the girls are a little unpredictable when they are tired and I took the risk. So I put Lexi in the cart and I always have Kylie hold on to the side of the cart or sit in the cart. Those are her only two options. Well she wouldn't have it. She wanted to try to stand on the wheel of the cart so that I couldn't go anywhere. I tried to quietly repeat her options and let her decide. She still would not have it. So I told her that we were going home. I got Lexi out of the cart and carried both the girls in my arms while Kylie kicked and screamed as loud as she could. As I was carrying her back to the car I watched as people all stared in in horror. The look on many of the peoples faces said it all. I could see they were wonder if I was kidnapping this child right before their eyes. After 10 minutes more of trying to get her to sit still long enough to buckle her in, we headed home. What a day!

Derek's New Job!

Well it has been a crazy last couple of months for our family as we have been trying to decide what would be the right move for our family in Derek's career path. It has been a hard road and one full of hard decisions. We had three job offers this last week and all of them were great options and very comparable. We had to decide what job was the right one for us at this time in Derek's career and and also for our family. After much contemplation and lots of prayers we finally accepted a job offer today. Whoa! We feel so blessed in our lives right now and thank Heavenly Father for these great job offers. Maybe life can get back to normal for a while.
HA HA! What am I kidding myself with two little girls life is never normal.

You may be wondering what job we decided on and the details....well I wanted to leave that up to Derek to tell you all!

Kylie's B-Day!

Kylie turned 3 last week. Has it been that long already? We decided to just do a little family party this year. We had cake and opened presents and then went to the circus which just happened to be doing their last showing the night of her birthday. She had a lot of fun. Kylie is very smart and never forgets something that you tell her. We bought her this story time reader books which she calls a "computer" about a month ago and had it in our closet. Well, she saw it one day and wanted to play with this new toy. I told her it was for her birthday and that she would have to wait. It didn't come up for the rest of the month. On the morning of her birthday she woke up and I said, "Kylie today is you birthday" and she said, "Oh yeah, now I get my computer today!" She is such a wonderful little girl. Derek and I love having these two amazing little girls that we are able to help learn and grow as they discover the world around them.

Derek was dying to buy Kylie a bike for her birthday. He found one that he knew that she would love and bought it about 1 1/2 months ago. He had it in the garage for a few weeks under a blanket and Kylie never noticed it. Well, a few weeks later he could not wait any longer. He was so excited for her to have it. He knew that if he waited until her birthday a few weeks later the rain would start soon after and then she could not ride it very much. So we gave her this bike earlier this month. She loved it!