December Projects

I was super busy this month creating layouts for my family's calendar. 

Between getting the calendar done I also had to do some projects for my Creative Teams.  Finding time to do that in between Chrsitmas activities was hard, but I got it done!

Merry Christmas Card

 

Origami Gift Boxes

 

UR Awesome Card 

 It's Great to be 8 card

New Year's Eve

We decided to take it a bit easy today and enjoy some down time with the girls.  They have been requesting to ride bikes so Russ agreed to go pump them up.  I have no idea why, but the tires on the girls bikes WILL NOT stay filled.  Russ has checked for leaks, cracks, everything.  We still can't come up with a reason.  About every 3rd or 4th time the girls get on their bikes the tires need pumped up again. 

Lily wasn't very patient about waiting for her tires to get pumped up so she took off on Charlotte's tricycle.  Look at the legs on that girl!  They are so long!  And no it isn't just because she is on the tricycle.

And this is how Charlotte felt about Lily stealing her trike.

Lily gave it back and took off on her own bike.  If you look closely, you can see Sprinkles was enjoying some time outdoors too.

Allie has become a pro at riding around with her training wheels.  She probably could go without them, but she gets distracted easily.  That and riding without training wheels isn't a good mix, so they will stay on a bit longer.

At one point I heard Allie crying and looked over to find her sitting on the ground holding her bike pedal.  Poor thing thought her bike was broken for good.  But Russ fixed it up for her right away.

Daddy also was helping Charlotte get the hang of pedaling her own trike.  She almost could do it by herself at the end.

Russell humored me by taking us all out to eat at Taco Bell.  We did that last year and thought it would be fun to do again.  Daddy made us some yummy strawberry shakes for dessert. 

We watched a movie on Netflix while waiting for 8:00.  Our girls just don't do well staying up late, so we always celebrate the new year at 8:00 so the can wear their hats and blow their horns.  

Charlotte wasn't so found of her hat, but loved to blow her horn with her sisters.

Daddy agreed to wear her hat for her.

Allie insisted I wear her hat for a bit and I totally forgot I had it on.  I ended up wearing it the rest of the night!

After the girls were in bed Russ and I each did our own thing.  He watched so me TV and I scrapbooked. Around 11:00 we went to bed.  We are such party poopers!

Breanne's blessing dress and three month photoshoot

Bree got blessed yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of her besides the quite comical ones of our family with her.  Since Russ was still on vacation today I asked him if he wouldn't mind helping me take some pictures of Bree.  He did a lot of dancing around for me, and I got quite a few pictures I liked.  Yay!  These also doubled as her 3 month pictures. 

I had to get a full shot of Bree in her beautiful blessing dress.  It was an adventure to get this dress for sure!  Grandma Deenie gave us money to buy the dress.  I searched all over the internet but could not find one that I liked.  I finally sent my sister to a store in Provo and she texted me pictures of a bunch of the dresses there.  I picked one that I liked.  Then my sister shipped it to us.  This dress was worth all the trouble though.  It simple and beautiful.

Tiny feet in Aunt Becky's booties.

Blessing bracelet from Lala

Bree is such a smily, giggly girl!

I had just finished taking pictures when Allie started talking to Breanne.  Those two were laughing and giggling so much.  Bree looks a lot like Allie as a baby.  It was fun to get this picture of the two of them together laughing and playing.

Another sister picture

Yep these silly sister's requested another sister picture when I finished up doing Bree's.  The posed like this with their arms around each other.  I'll admit they aren't always this sweet to each other, but that is okay because it is evident in pictures like this just how much they love each other.

Breanne's Blessing

Breanne's blessing was today!  It turned out a bit different than we had planned.  For one thing we were here in Texas for it instead of in California.  Because of the unexpected change of plans no family was able to be present for her blessing.  However, we are lucky to be surrounded by great friends in the gospel and many of them were present.

I set up the camera on the TV stand and got a few pictures of us before we went to church.

We got this semi decent picture of the girls before Charlotte wanted to hold Breanne.

She wanted Breanne so this happened...

And this...

We sent her off to her room to cool down and I set up the camera for a picture of just me, Russ, and Breanne.  As I was doing a test shot, I just happened to get this beautifully tender picture of Russ and Bree.  I love my how wonderful he is with our children.

And a picture of the three of us...

At church Russ was able to give Breanne a blessing and a name.  Those standing in the circle Russell, Joseph Stevenson, James Davis, Bishop Victor Bond, Lance Oden, and Gennaro Dicataldo.  Her blessing consisted of many promises of happiness, laughter and humor.  Apparently she is her daddy's child with the sense of humor!  Russ also told me as soon as he sat down that Breanne was so happy throughout the whole blessing.  She smiled the whole way through!

Breanne truly is a blessing in our lives.  She has brought much happiness and laughter in a time where it was greatly needed.  I'm excited to see what a wonderful young woman she becomes.

Christmas a little longer...

A few years ago I read on a blog about how fun it was to have a Lego advent calendar.  Lily was just starting to get interested in Lego's and I have a deep love for advent calendars.  I searched out the Lego advent calendar and bought one.  I'll be honest, it was pricey...aren't all Lego's pricey?!  But I know now that it was worth every penny.  The girls can hardly wait until daddy gets home from work each night to build the Lego piece for that day.  Countless times throughout the days I have caught Lily and Allie playing with the Legos or rearranging them.  They just can't stay away from them.  I'm so glad I started this tradition with our family and I look forward to doing it each Christmas.

I had the girls each pick out a favorite Lego piece today and this is what they showed me...

Allie's favorite...

Lily's favorite...

Tree ornaments are also a favorite of mine.  I love adding new ones each year.  But I also love pulling out old familiar ones and remember the stories that go along with them.  I encouraged the girls to look carefully at the tree and pick out their favorite ornament this year.  

Charlotte chose this cute one she made in nursery...

Lily chose her very first Christmas ornament she received...

Allie chose baby Jesus.  She looks forward to putting him on the tree every year.

As the Christmas season is winding down it has been fun to look at some of the traditions we have as a family.  Soon it will be time to pack them away, but for now we get to enjoy them a bit longer.