Yet another update where I have to condense months into a few paragraphs because I am so far behind! Things have been going well for us. This winter has been incredibly mild for this area, as I know it has been elsewhere. I have no complaints...at least for now. I probably will when they start rationing water later this summer since we have so little snow in the mountains!
But let's start with last fall. Here is a picture of Sam and Lily raking leaves in the backyard of our new house:
Bella is growing and learning and loving to play with friends. She is recently potty-trained (yeah!) and keeps things exciting at our house. She may be taller than the other two older kids soon...she is wearing Lily's clothes already!
Late last fall I ordered a box of pomegranates along with one of my bountiful baskets and we spent a lot of time getting all of the seeds out to freeze them. We turned the opportunity into quality family time! Even Grace got in on the fun.
As usual, we drove down to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. We always love going to warmer weather. We enjoy great food and spending time with family. This is a picture of all the family together. We all signed a "good luck" poster for Dann's and my niece who shortly after began training with the US Olympic Water Polo team.
Christmas was lots of fun, as usual. The only downside was when I got sick Christmas Eve and had to stay home from church on Christmas Day with Grace, who was also sick. Luckily, it was only a 12-hour bug that nobody else caught. We had a progressive dinner with nearby family members. The kids loved all the presents and also loved having Uncle Mark here for the holiday! Here are the pictures we used for our Christmas cards. If you didn't receive one from us, I apologize. I did not order enough this year and didn't have enough time before Christmas to order more. You think I would have it down by now! Oh, well. Next year I'll try to do better.
Lily started taking ballet lessons last fall and loves it. She has some of her good friends in her class. They had a small part in the Nutcracker. Here she is in her costume:
A few weeks ago we took a trip to Salt Lake and Dann took Sam to the Auto Expo. They went with my dad and brothers as well. Sam loves cars, and he loved the expo. We may have to make that a tradition!
The girls have plenty of girl-time in the mornings after Dad and Sam leave for work and school (Lily has afternoon kindergarten). Here are some of the many outfits the girls have come up with:
I can't leave out my darling little Grace. This little girl has brought me more joy than I can say. She is now 9 months old and the cutest little bug ever. Her hair is crazy, she has 7 teeth, is almost crawling, sleeping great, loves baths and food, and is happy as can be. What a blessing she is in my life. I can't say enough about her. I wish time would slow down so I could have her be a baby for longer.
Dann and I are busy, busy, busy. We are still working on remodeling the building we bought into offices. Also, since it is tax season, Dann goes over to Vernal to help out with his Jackson Hewitt tax franchise when he can. It is super busy and doing really well. I am still working on getting our house painted and decorated. We've also had a lot of parties and dinners lately.
Sam has a party this week for his birthday...hopefully I'll post on that soon!
