V-day

Hanging out outside waiting for dinner to be finished. Uncle Cameron was just coming around the corner honking the horn and caught their attention.

Valentine's kisses

My sweet brother Cameron brought each of the girls as well as me a beautiful carnation. Isn't that sweet? The girls were thrilled and they made a nice addition to our Valentine's dinner table.

The table

I tried making a from-scratch yellow cake topped with homemade milk chocolate frosting. Delicious and VERY rich.

Ben made a delicious Chinese meal for us, complete with homemade hot and sour soup--my absolute favorite!!! It was so nice of him to do that for us. Thanks honey!


Hope everyone had a fun and love-filled Valentine's day!

Luke Shakes It

Luke can't help but move his body when he hears music. It doesn't matter if it's hymns at church, Ben's guitar, or songs on the radio. He can't resist anything with even a hint of rhythm. Sometimes he subtly sways back and forth. At other times he goes all out with dance moves reminiscent of Axl Rose's sidewinding stage theatrics.

Emma's First Piano Recital

Emma had her first piano recital on January 23rd. She's been taking lessons since last September and loves it! She has a natural talent for music and is able to learn quickly. She's beginning to play songs with both right and left hand now and is so proud of herself. We are too! The two songs she performed were "We Love Music Class" and "Good King Wenceslas." We treated her to lunch at Chili's (her favorite restaurant) afterwards. A fun Saturday!

Fun with Aunt Ali

Wow, I sort of fell out of the blogosphere for awhile there. It seems like every January I don't take pictures, probably because I've overdosed on pictures at Christmastime. But I did take the camera with me on Monday when my cute little sister Alexandra was in town. We headed over to Kangaroo Zoo for some bouncing fun. The kids had a wonderful time with her--we only get to see her a few times a year. So this was a big deal!






We love you Aunt Ali!

Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, filled with several family gatherings and fun activities. We enjoyed baking homemade gingerbread, doing Christmas crafts, singing Christmas songs, seeing holiday lights, helping out those less fortunate, and shopping for others. I love watching our collection of Christmas traditions grow each year. It was a wonderful, sweet time and I love watching our little children's testimonies of Jesus grow.

Ben's sister, Cyndy, held a cookie--or rather, a cupcake-decorating party at her house on the 23rd. It was a lot of fun and Luke was thrilled to be able to sit in a big-kid chair all by himself and eat junk. Good times.


Grandma and Luke

Aunt Sue and Rachel

Christmas Eve tradition of gathering at my in-laws' house for homemade clam chowder (the best!) and a mini-talent show of music and readings. Emma played the piano for us and the girls sang some songs they had practiced. Ben read the Christmas story in the Bible.

Aunt Kathy and Emma

Christmas Eve tradition of opening one present. I made the girls jewelry this year--a necklace and bracelet. I thought they turned out pretty cute!


CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!
Luke loved his new puppy!

Aunt Cyndy gave the kids some new sleds. They are great! And they work well as surfboards too!

Ben got a new guitar and new teeth for Christmas (check out that smile! Beautiful!)

My cute boys

Luke got a xylophone which he loves to play and chew on.

Granby made each child a warm, fleece blanket. Aren't they cute? We love you Granby!

Emma's big gift was a Leapster. And she loves that thing!

Santa was so kind to give me pickled pigs feet. This may appear as a white elephant gift next year at a Christmas party. Beware family!

Rachel's big gift: a Barbie swimming pool!


Thank you everyone for a wonderful Christmas! We received so many fun and thoughtful gifts. We love you all! Happy new year everyone!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

The kids watching the snow fall today. Keep it coming!

Santa

The kids got to visit with Santa on Saturday at the ward Christmas breakfast. Rachel flat-out refused to go see him; she wouldn't even look at him and preferred to be very far away from him. Kind of sad. Emma was adorable with him and in the sweetest little whisper, she told him what she wanted for Christmas and then told him what Rachel wanted (since Rachel wouldn't have anything to do with him). Luke was SO sweet with Santa and was quite fascinated by him. He sat so still and just smiled and stared at him. It was amazing how comfortable he was. There's just something about Santa--especially THIS Santa. He is the best!




An intimate moment with Mr. C--I love how she's holding his finger.