Saturday, December 31, 2011

Last Day of the Year!

The kids all had a sleepover here last night, getting to bed quite late, and then at 6 AM, they all woke up and Leiden found this under her pillow, along with $2.  Very exciting.  She is super excited to return to school and tell her teacher the date she lost a tooth.


The girls are always fascinated with Grandma's curlers, so we tried that this morning. 



Leiden's hair got a little volume punch, 


And Mac's got a little wave.  Super cute, but it was of course gone after 15 minutes or so. 


The kids are NOT staying up tonight to ring in the new year, and I probably won't either!  Boring, I know.  We headed over to Grandmere and Bapa's this afternoon to spend the next week with them.  We've had a fun time here at Grandma's!  We took Brad to the airport this afternoon before we headed to Grandmere's.  Someone has to fulfill responsibilities!  We'll see him in a week when we head home.

Friday, December 30, 2011

New Smiles

We went to go visit Great Grandma today, and the girls had a nice visit with her.  They got to show off a little bit, and Grandma gave each of them a beautiful little keepsake--the kind that goes high on a shelf until they are old enough to treasure it! 


 
I made dinner for us all tonight, and suddenly found myself in the New Year's mood--a day early!  2012 is upon us, and I can't believe it! 


The boys were hanging out with us, and going to sleep over.  I snapped this picture of them eating their fudgesicles literally 5 minutes before I hear this: 
Leiden:  "There's a tooth on the table!"
Me:  "What?"  As I get up from my chair.
Leiden:  "My tooth!"
Me:  "Leiden, this is great!  Remember how hard it was to have such a wiggly tooth--this one came out without you even realizing!"
And Leiden bursts into tears.  We asked her what was wrong, and she said they were tears of happiness.  Hmmm.  So we went into the bathroom and rinsed her mouth and the tooth--she was very concerned that there was some bleeding.


 
I have to say, I love her gap toothed smile even more now! 


 
We'll have to see what the tooth fairy brings to her!


She wrote this cute little letter for the Tooth Fairy and put it under her pillow for her.

We're Going Private!

Hey, friends!  We've decided to take this party to a more secure location.  Because this is a blog of my family, and I'm not concerned with building a readership, I'd like to make sure I know who you are before reading!  If you would like an invite to our soon-to-be-private blog, go ahead and leave your email in the comments here, or you can send an email directly to me.  Thanks so much!

(This message will sit at the top for a while, so check below for new updates.)

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Ski School

Brad and I left Mimi with Grandma this morning and took the older two up to Brighton for a little ski lesson.  Leiden has had a small amount of experience on skis, but we wanted Mac to try it out.  She was pretty excited.  They went out for their lesson, and got to ride the Magic Carpet up the bunny hill.


From the back they look fairly proficient. 


But this is what Mac's every descent looked like.  She would not let go of her teacher.  Brad and I just kind of looked on, feeling a little self conscious.  We had put Mac in the class for 4 to 7 year olds--she's not yet 4, and we think it showed. 


Leiden got going pretty fast, and seemed a little surprised. 


Confidence and ability to stop restored. 


After the lesson, Mac didn't want to do any more trips down the hill.  The coordination really just isn't there, yet, so we'll try again next year. 


While Mac and I were waiting for Leiden and Brad to come back, we saw this little guy.  I have never seen a porcupine up close, and they are really funny looking.  They also look very soft.  Mac was a little worried that I was getting too close.  She kept telling me to stay away.

Airborne!

Today was busy!  After skiing, tonight we had a big family activity.  We took off to Airborne, which is basically a giant warehouse filled with trampolines.  I have to say I was a little worried that someone would get hurt, but luckily I was proven wrong.  Although I still see the enormous potential for harm!

They have a smaller section for tiny kids (up to 8 years, really) that has smaller trampolines and a foam pit and balance beam.  Mimi had a great time, although had to work harder because she can't actually jump with both feet off the ground, yet!


Sorry, you're going to have to turn your head sideways, but you'll get the picture.  Brad and his brothers were doing all kinds of tricks--this is just one I caught.  Sideways.


Brad took over the camera for a minute while I tried jumping on the big trampolines.  And I promptly ate it.


Leiden was very excited to try this rope ladder, and the foam cubes looked pretty fun to fall into.  On either side of the ladder there were big trampolines where big kids (and adults!) could do flips or just jump into the foam pit.


Jumping on trampolines is actually a pretty good workout!  I was surprised at how good.  And I was reminded that jumping on trampolines gives me a headache.  I remember as a kid, a neighbor friend had a tramp, and we would jump on it all the time.  I did a bum war with Leiden and sent her flying!

After Airborne, we all went out to dinner and used gift cards given to us from Grandma and Grandpa.  Thanks for a fun night!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Ice Skating and Towers of Power

We took the older girls to go ice skating this afternoon while Mimi took a nap.  They were super excited to go, and so we headed out.


Leiden kind of cruised around using the walkers, but then things tanked as we realized her little legs were being chafed by the skates.  That ended her fun. 


Mac is probably a little young for recreational ice skating.  She took a tumble or two, and that was that.  She did buy into sitting on the walker while Brad pushed her around. 


Here's some live footage from the Mac and Brad.


Leiden enjoyed the whole thing quite a bit until her legs were hurting.


After we got back, Mimi was getting up from her nap, and she wanted some Pop Rocks she got in her stocking.  We thought it might be tape-worthy.


The boys built a giant magnetic tower today--taller than they were!  This is totally what the kids (grown and little) do at Grandma's house!  The magnet tiles are a favorite there for sure.  

Monday, December 26, 2011

The Day After Christmas

Today was meant to be a quiet, calm day, spent playing with our new toys and just hanging out.  It was much needed, as the kids were pretty wound up from yesterday and the day before.  Mac has been struggling a little--I took her to the doctor for a suspected UTI, but the doctor said there is nothing wrong!  Ugh.  Something is wrong, so we'll have to keep an eye on her.


Mimi kept climbing into one of the toy boxes and the other girls complied with piling the toys on top of her.


Then she got tired of it, and climbed out.  And then climbed back in again.  Several times. 


It was nice to take it easy and stick close to home.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

The girls woke up pretty early this morning--before 7, which was exhausting, but we kept them occupied for just a few minutes while waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to get home.  Then, all of a sudden--they must have heard them come in the door--the girls all ran out into the front room without waiting for us!  They first found Snowbell, who made the journey on the plane with us.  She was sitting in the middle of the floor, sporting her little airplane wings pin.   She left the girls a note saying goodbye until next year.


Santa left the girls a little note, which Leiden read for us.  He talked about how he really liked one of Mac's requests, which Leiden liked.


Mac's request was Disneyland, and because Santa liked it so much, he decided to send our family to Disney World!  We'll be going in about three weeks, and spending a week there.
I am so upset, but I didn't get pictures of the other little tokens Santa left the girls.  He made each of them a Rapunzel wig and told them he hoped they would see her at Disney World.  I'll have to get a picture of them later.  They are really cute, and the girls like them.


Mac was super excited to open up some gifts--she got some Littlest Pet Shop toys that she had asked for, some markers, paper, and Grandma and Grandpa gave her lots of books and games that will keep her busy and learning.


Mimi got some books, too, and a cute little bear jack in the box, that she loves.


Brad's gift was too big for us to bring to Utah, so it stayed home, and the side of the box came here to be wrapped and opened.  I got him a smoker, which should be fun.
We were all spoiled much more than necessary!  Grandma gave Brad and I new sheets and a new comforter--we're super excited to sleep in flannel sheets in our cold Minnesota winters!  Thank you so much, Grandma!


After presents, we left for church, which was just Sacrament meeting.  Quite the crowd came after church for brunch at Grandma's house, and we managed to get a picture of all of us together.


The kids even complied for a picture.


After some good food and Mimi's nap, we headed up to Great-Bapa's house to exchange gifts with my brother and parents.  Mimi got a giant gift that came in a box bigger than she is! 


It was a Radio Flyer, which will have to be shipped home and assembled there.


Assembly does not seem to be necessary for a good time!


Mac got a giant floor piano.


Leiden got an American Girl Doll, which was also on her list for Santa.


More playing in the wagon body.


Leiden named her doll Rachel, and is so excited.


Here's one of the only pictures of me--trying to keep Mimi from slamming into the table while opening a gift.  I got a Volcano stove, which is awesome.  I need to get the oven tent for it, and practice making bread in it!

Brad got a turkey fryer from my parents, and his response to the day was something like, "We'll be buying a lot of meat!"


The girls got cute little temple blocks to put in their room to remind them they're going there someday.


Thank you to Mom and Dad and Mad and Joni for the wonderful Christmas presents!

We had a lovely afternoon and then got to see hordes of my family for Christmas dinner--hamballs!  I can eat them once a year, and that's about it.  My big family did a gift exchange, so there was one more round of gift opening, and then the girls were about shot.  It was a wonderful day all around, very nice to attend church on Christmas morning, and we were happy to be able to see our families for the holiday.  Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve

Whew!  We made it to Utah with hours to spare before Christmas!  We flew in at about 4 PM, grabbed our bags, and headed pretty much straight for Temple Square to see the lights with my family.  It was a great evening for it--not too cold, and it wasn't too busy.


Mimi got to ride on shoulders, which was great for her (fun to be up so high), and great for me (I didn't have to worry about where she was)! 


After the lights, we headed out to Grandma's house to sleep for Christmas Eve.  Before bed, the girls each got to open one gift--jammies! 


Three little Christmas Eve girls! 


The flight today was very uneventful--I got lucky and had a seat empty next to me, so Mimi had some wiggle room.  Brad sat a few rows back with the older girls.  I'm trying not to even think about the ride home.  I'll worry about that later!