The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

*Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!*

(The girls in their new Christmas p.j.'s)

Inspirations

The #1 reason I love Christmas soooo much!

THANKSGIVING

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our good friends, the Robertsons and Olsons, invited us to join them. The food was delicious and the company was even better! It was a fun filled night of stuffing ourselves silly, lots of talking and laughter, football and even fighting! That's right. Suzie started talking smack and challenged Luanne, Marianne and I to arm and leg wrestling. I won't say who won. Well, ok, maybe I will....I SMOKED HER ON BOTH!!!!! LOL. The girls also had tons of fun with Alexa,Grace and Adelle. They are all best friends! It's adorable. Thanks for having us over guys...we had a blast!

Grandpa's Funeral

*TOGETHER AGAIN *

Saturday the 22nd was Grandpa's funeral. It was beautiful! I was very thankful to have the opportunity to travel down to be with family. These are a few of my favorite pictures from it. Kaleigh drew Pocky a beautiful picture and note that she insisted on leaving for him. It was so sweet! Although the occasion was a sad one, Scott, the girls and I enjoyed being around family. We had an opportunity to see them all, both sides! I am extremely grateful for all our family and especially for those who seemed genuinely happy to see us. Thank you! Grandpa was an amazing man and will be missed dearly.

Herman E. Griffin...9-29-1925 to 11-17-08

My dear, sweet Grandpa, Pokie, just passed away a couple hours ago. What a privilege it was to call him my Grandpa! He was a wonderful and hard working man right up until the end. I am overwhelmed with emotion right now. On one hand I am saddened at the loss of him in our lives, and on the other hand I am touched at knowing that he is having the best reunion in heaven! My sweet Grandma Dotty passed away 5 years ago and my Grandpa has been lonely and grieving ever since. It gives me great peace and comfort in knowing that they are together again! I can only imagine the joy they are both experiencing. Now if only that could stop me from crying. I love you Grandpa and I will miss you and see you again someday!!!! God be with you till we meet again...

Our Family Pictures (11-8-08)

Last Saturday we had our family pictures taken. Finally! The last time we did was two and a half years ago! We hired a wonderful photographer named Wendy (Gailey) Atkins. You can check out her beautiful work at photosbywendyg.com. She did an amazing job and captured us exactly the way I had in mind. The girls were as cooperative as they can be at that age. We went to Gardner Village. She took 100 photos and I loved them all, but I wanted to share with you my favorites. I made the header above with some and you can see the others on the side and bottom of my blog. I hope you like them as much as we do. Thanks Wendy...you are the best! Emily, thanks for the referral to your AWESOME sister, I mean photographer! xoxo

Mis-pronunciation

This is a little crude, so forgive me! But nonetheless, hilarious! Shayla was trying to say that Tinkerbell lived in a "bench" but had a little trouble relaying it that way. It's amazing what a difference a few letters can make. We couldn't help but laugh and decided to capture it for memories sake. (Don't forget to mute my playlist)

Parent Observation Day at Ballet

Once a year the girls' ballet teacher allows parents to come in and observe the students. I love this day! It is so fun to watch them with their friends and see the things they've learned. Shayla was so cute dancin' and prancin' in her tutu! She did all the moves REALLY well and as usual, is very advanced for her age. I was very proud of her! (Thanks Emily for watching Peyton!xoxo) With both Kaleigh and Shayla I was very impressed at how far they've come since last year. They are turning into very good little dancers. They have the best teacher, who I just LOVE! Tiffany Dance Company rocks!!!

Kaleigh's Parent Observation...

Later that day it was Kaleigh's turn for observation. It was the first time I got to see her Christmas Recital dance, because she would never show me. I was surprised at how well she did compared to the other girls. She was awesome! One thing is for sure...Kaleigh is definitely a dancer! She is really good at it, she has the body for it and most importantly, she LOVES it! I was one proud mama!

U of U/ TCU Game

Last Thursday Scott and I went to the U of U vs. TCU football game. Suzie is a season tickets holder, but because she was on vacation she gave the tickets to us! We had a blast! It was freezing and really crowded but we loved being there. It was especially fun because we won! Thanks for the tickets, Suz...we loved it! (Your seats rock too!)

The Case of the Missing Ring...

So the other day I went to put my ring on and it was missing! I knew exactly where I put it so I knew that someone had to have taken it. Kaleigh was at school, Peyton is just "not capable" so that left Shayla. I questioned her extensively and made her help me search for it for an hour. No luck! I panicked, but had to leave to be somewhere. After I got home a couple hours later I went to change innocent little Peyton and this is what I found: SHE stole my ring!!! Apparently she's tall enough now to take things off my dresser. She stashed it in her diaper!!!! It even left an imprint on her!
The moment I pulled her diaper down she started cracking up. She knew what she did. I was laughing hysterically and had to grab my camera. Sneaky girl!

Sarah and Suzie

I don't know what I love more about these ladies....my relationships with them OR morphing them! He he! Thanks for the info Kellie!

The next day...

She still loves her hair! No regrets...yeah!

Shay's First Haircut

On Monday Shayla had her first haircut! She has been asking for a few weeks now, so Monday after school I finally gave in. Her hair was almost to her butt. She has had it trimmed about 5 times, but this was the first chop. I took advice and learned from my friend (thanks Mindy!) that if you want your kids to be independent and make their own choices, you can't pick and choose which choices should be theirs and which one's should be yours. Shayla made a good choice! She looks absolutely adorable. Her sassy haircut matches her sassy personality. We love it!!!
Her favorite part....the hair wash! (that's my girl) Gettin' ready for the A-Line......

AHHHHH!!!!! There goes my baby's hair!

Brushin' it out....

And the grand finale....she looks precious!!!

The day after

Any time you make a big change with your hair I find it's the next day that determines if you love or hate it. Luckily...I still love it! I got a ton of compliments at church, which made me feel good about my decision. Boo-ya Mom!!!!!! LOL

Saturday

On Saturday I took Kaleigh and Shayla on a "Mommy and Me" date. We went to lunch, did a little shopping and then went to the movies to see High School Musical 3. It was great time together and the movie was awesome! It was nice to be with them alone, and much needed. Peyton is the best but can be quite a distraction! :)

My sweeties!

After we got home from our date I headed back out for a hair appointment. And as you can see...I went blonde!!! I love it and so does Scott.

Class Party

On Halloween was Kaleigh's class party. Because I'm a room mom I got to be there for the festivities. Unfortunately my babysitter canceled on me an hour before I had to be there so I had to take the other two. I spend a lot of time in the classroom so the teacher and classmates know Shayla and Peyton and are really good with them. It was a blast! There were lots of games and crafts. Shayla got to participate too. It was hectic chasing Peyton around but well worth it!