New Year's Day

On New Years Day we went to our friend's the Dodd's home and made tamales. Well, I watched mostly, having no idea what an ordeal it was. But they tasted great! Anyways, while they were steaming, all the boys of all ages played a little Guitar Hero Rock Band. It was so fun, and funny to watch. The dads, the teenagers, and the kindergartners all in one band. We are so lucky and blessed to be surrounded by such good people, and that they let us be their friends. Love you all!

Ski Trip

Damon took Claire and Kaylee up for a weekend of skiing this past weekend. It was fun to have a quiet home with just me and Corinne, but we would have rather been up in the mountains. Five more weeks till the baby is due. Anyways, here are some cute pics of them on the mountain!

Christmas in Kansas

Merry Christmas! We were able to go to Kansas for Christmas this year. It was such a fun and relaxing trip. Damon spent a lot of time with the girls and Corinne and I got to take a nap every day. It was great! It is always such a treat to stay with Damon's grandparents and visit our family out there, we love them all so much!Papa loves his girls!Aunt Vernie came for the holidays also. The girls always give her quite the run-around!I love the sister pictures!I wasn't able to get all three of them in one shot though. Christmas is just to exciting to stop for a picture!

We spent Christmas Eve and Uncle Jim and aunt Janie's house and they got a new kitty Simon. Corinne LOVED Simon. She played with the kitty and followed him around, and carried him until Simon went and hid under the couch, and then Corinne tried to climb under there with him. Luckily for Simon she didn't fit. Corinne loves animals!

Damon of course had to get his little girl a new pair of Vans for Christmas. She loves these shoes! They have unicorns on the front and she had to wear them everywhere! I made each of the girls a tutu, they were a big hit!Claire's new favorite color is blue. I love having someone out of the only pink stage, finally!By the end of the week Corinne had partied till she dropped. Mac and Cheese was the only pillow she could find :)

Thank you Granny and Papa for a wonderful holiday trip we love you so much! Thanks for letting us come to visit and turn your lives upside down for a week!

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.