Claire's Piano Recital

Claire had her first piano recital this past weekend. She was so excited and we are so proud of her. She started taking lessons in September and is now learning from the books I quit in after two years of lessons. She loves it and is amazing. Grandma made special Christmas dresses for all the girls and they got to wear their special dresses that night with their cousins. They all looked sooooo cute!
Kaylee kept doing these funny smiles. But here are my cute girls in their dresses in front of my nutcracker collection. My favorite Christmas decorations :)

All the cousins

Christmas Cookies

This past Saturday we took the day off from life and made Christmas Cookies. It was so fun for me and the girls to just spend the afternoon making a total mess in the kitchen and coming out with some interesting cookies.Corinne making finger prints :)She wants to help so bad :)
Claire and Kaylee frosting the cookies

The final, colorful product!

These are called Thumbprint Cookies. They are our all time favorite Christmas Cookie. The recipe comes from Betty Crocker's 1963 Cooky Book, the best cookie book ever!

Thumbprint Cookies

1/2 cup butter, 1 cup Flour

1/4 cup brown sugar (packed), 1/4 tea salt

1 egg separated, 1/2 tea vanilla

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts, Raspberry jelly

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla thoroughly. Blend together flour and salt; stir in. (I just use a normal hand mixer) Roll dough into balls (1 tsp. per ball). Beat egg whites slightly with a fork. Dip balls in egg white. Roll in nuts. Place about 1" apart on ungreased baking sheet; press thumb gently in center of each. Bake 10-12 min. Cool and fill thumbprints with jelly.

Sweetie Peetie

I have a wonderful friend who started making tutu's for girls and selling them online and at craft shows. She is amazing, and to display all her hard work she needed some models, so of course my girls jumped at the chance to help! Here are some of the cute pics, she so graciously shared with me. You can check out her website at: http://www.sweetiep.com/ Cute Kaylee

Corinne striking a pose

Beautiful Claire

Bubbles!

My little cherubSisters

Justin

Today is the sixth year anniversary of my brother Justin's death. I don't know why I have been thinking about it so much more than usual this time of year, but it has been on my mind for weeks now. Maybe it is all the crazy hormones when you are pregnant. Justin died around 4am in a car accident where the car went flying and hit the ground seven times and the driver flew out first and he flew out last. It was a tragedy that changed my whole family's life forever. I remember the phone call from my mom and, without understanding a word she said through the sobs I threw Claire (one year old) in the car and ran over. It is interesting when someone that close to you dies, the many emotions that run through you, also the need for comic relief. The coming together of friends and family and the overwhelming support we received through our connections in the church was unbelievable. All of a sudden the smallest things become the biggest and every little event that has happened up to then is amplified and floods your memory. Heavenly Father loves his children so much and knows that he can't keep these tough things from us. He has the grander picture and just wants to see us grow and be happy, but growth hurts sometimes. So in the mist of all the growing he provides us with as many tender mercies as he can to help ease the pain and bring us the comfort and strength to survive those growing pains. I am so grateful for the endless list of blessings that came and continue to come either directly from our Father in Heaven or through the wonderful people he surrounded us with. I love my family so much, I do not take them for granted anymore. I love my siblings, I cherish every moment we have together, we are bonded together stronger now and in a way that I can't describe or compare to anything else I know. My parents are my best friends and I watch out for and defend them as if they were my own children. I never want to see them suffer like that again. The gospel of Jesus Christ was before, but even more now the foundation of my life. I feel as though I had a solid testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ before, it guided my life and was the basis of every decision I made. But there is a difference now that grounds me even closer to those teachings then ever before. I wish I was a better writer and could explain my thoughts more clearly. The plan of salvation and principle of eternal families, is no longer something that I just learn and talk about, something that I am just grateful for. It is so real, almost tangible, something that gives life a reason and purpose like never before, you lean and rely on that knowledge just to keep you sane. I love the gospel so much and am so grateful for the blessing and lessons and opportunities the Lord has provided for me. As I have been thinking about Justin so much, especially today it is a comfort to feel the love and appreciation and peace take over the pain and sorrow in my heart. I love you so much Justin, I pray for you and look forward to the day when we can be a complete family again.This is one of our most treasured tender mercies granted to us. We had this family picture taken on a whim one month before Justin died having no idea how priceless it would become.The time we lived in Glenwood Springs Colorado was full of so many fun memories for Justin and I, we loved our mountain home.This is another one of my most treasured pictures. It is the weekend I came home from my mission to Germany. Robbie is on my right and Justin on my left. Justin and I had a very turbulent relationship for so many years. This was the beginning of rebuilding for us and we were just so happy to see each other. I love my brothers.This is the picture we used for the program at his service. It is a crop from a picture of him with a good friend of mine at my wedding. She was trying on her bride's maid dress to see if it fit over her belly full of twins.

Gerry the Great!

So this is my good friend Gerry. (this is his Facebook profile pic) We were friends up at Ricks College and went through their art program together. He is one of the funniest people I have ever met and I just love this guy to death! You can always count on him for a good time. He is married now with a cute little boy Jonas. Gerry runs his own design company out of Provo and is super talented. He just sent me a link to a Doritos commerical he made for a Super Bowl contest. It is the funniest thing I have ever seen! So I have to share it with the world! Check out this link http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/gallery/video/1355/

Happy Halloween!

This was a fun Halloween. I got the bug to make all their costumes and Damon wanted to join in too. So here are some fun pics. We still don't have a camera so the trick or treating pics will come later when I can get them from my neighbor.

The Good Witch and the Bad Witch

Dr. Evil and Mini Me

Fall

Fall is here! I love fall and all the leaves!

Our front yard tree supplies us with so many fun leaves to play in each year.

Fort Collins

This past Friday was the girls first day of fall break. So we took a day trip up to Fort Collins to visit Aunt Caitie at school. It was so fun to see her and spend some time together with just us.

She took us to the coolest toy store ,

then for lunch we went to the sandwich shop she works at. Cheba Hut makes the best sandwiches! The atmosphere there was so cool, a place that would have been the regular hang out for me in college. Not to mention the great food!

After lunch we went to a park that had a petting zoo. That was the highlight of the trip, along with the pumpkin patch they had there.

Claire and Kaylee fed the cows

while Corinne looked on with awe.

Then we fed the goats.

Corinne LOVED to feed the goats, we had to pull her away from them!

The pumpkin patch was in the barn and had great pumpkins! The girls all got to pick one out. Of course Claire went for the biggest and Kaylee liked the little ones,

and Corinne loved the gourds. I love Caitie so much and it was so fun to see her in her life and be so happy.

Thanks for the great day girl!

Baby Girl # 4!

Well, it is for real now. I got the ultrasound today and we are having baby girl #4! I would like to say we were so shocked and surprised but after three, it was kinda expected. But I am so happy! I was concerned for the future of a little boy surrounded by all these girls, but now I don't have to worry, princesses and pink forever and ever! The girls are so excited, Kaylee has requested that we name her with a "K" name because she is the only one who starts with a K. So I think we are going to make a great effort to honor that request. The only problem now is finding a name with a middle name to go with it. So please send all your "K" ideas our way, we need all the help we can get! I love this picture because she is opening her mouth a little and you can see that prominent bottom lip my girls get from their daddy!

Happy Anniversary

This post is long overdue. I needed to scan the picture and that seemed to take a while to get around to doing, but I didn't want to not do the post. So, Happy Anniversary Honey! Our 8th year anniversary was September 22nd. And just by looking at the pictures, lots has changed! We were sure skinny then!! I love Damon so much and feel so lucky and blessed to have him. I know I am not the easiest person to love and he does such a great job of it. Thanks for a wonderful life!

Secret Hide-out

Yea! I got a camera for the weekend. So here is our Sunday secret hide-out. The girls wanted a hide-out so we took up the whole one room on our first floor. They played all day in it, watched a movie, and well it will probably be up for a few days. So this will be what you see as soon as you walk through my front door :)

HE PASSED!

I AM SOOO PROUD OF MY LITTLE BROTHER!!!!! HE JUST FOUND OUT TODAY HE PASSED THE COLORADO BAR EXAM. HE IS NOW OFFICALLY A LAWYER!!! WAY TO GO ROBBIE!!!

Twilight

I am so excited for this movie!!! I am sure the book will still be better but it will be soo fun!

Syncronized Swimming

This is hillarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86qKQJg3Z8

Brilliant Weblog Award

Brilliant Weblog Award
My friend Michelle tagged me with the "Brilliant Weblog Award". Below are questions I had to answer and post to my blog. Then I have to choose a few fellow Brilliant Bloggers and pass this award along!
A. Attached or Single? Attached
B. Best Friend? My Mom and Jenny Jo
C. Cake or Pie? Cake
D. Day of choice? Saturday
E. Essential Item? Sewing Machine
F. Favorite Color? Blue
G. Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms
H. Hometown? Highlands Ranch, CO
I. Indulgence? European Chocolate
J. January or July? January-Snowboarding with the Fam!
K. Kids? 3 girls- Claire almost 7, Kaylee 5, Corinne 16 months, and a surprise on the way!
L. Life is not complete without? The Gospel, Family
M. Marriage Date? September 22, 2000
N. Number of brothers & sisters? 2 Sisters, 2 Brothers (one deceased)
O. Oranges or Apples? Apples
P. Phobias? Spiders, Tight spaces
Q. Quotes? "take a break" (Damon's suggestion)
R. Reasons to Smile? My girls
S. Season of Choice? Winter, and summer
T. Tag some Peeps! See Below
U. Unknown Fact about Me? I have crazy, silly dreams when I am pregnant.
V. Vegetable? Spinach
W. Worst Habits? I don't shave my legs often.
X. X-Ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y. Your Favorite Food? Mexican Food
Z. Zodiac Sign? Gemini
Brilliant Blogger Award I am passing along to:
1. Annie B.
2. Jenny G.
3. Zac D.
4. Emily R.
5. Rachel W.

Soccer Season

So we were getting ready for a day of soccer and this funny conversation occurred:

Damon: Girls come and eat before we go!

Kaylee: Yes your Hines's

Damon: It's your majesty not your Hines's, I am a boy, the King

Kaylee: No your not! Jesus's dad Heavenly Father is the only King!

Damon: O.K. you're right

It was so funny to listen to. So Soccer season has started off great! The girls are having so much fun and are not afraid to go for it. This last weekend Kaylee made four goals! And Claire had two games and made a goal in each game. She is such a fast runner! I love it that they got Damon's talent in sports and not my lack of talent and coordination.