Just like dad

I remember being a young girl and wanting to do things just like my dad.  I think out of the two girls Allie is definitely more likely to follow in her daddy's footsteps.  She already has good hunting form and has asked for her own gun and bow and arrows.  What are they aiming at you ask?  A snowman on the window sill.

We finally go some snow...in the mail that is.

Steven sent us a huge box with our gifts in it for Christmas.  The box was filled with packing peanuts.  When we first opened it I was trying to have the girls help me fill a basket with all the packing peanuts but I quickly realized this was not going to happen, there were just too many and it was impossible so I said "what the heck...have at it" and they did.  NOTE to Uncle Steve, next time save yourself some money and just send a box of packing peanuts and 2 shovels.  We called it snow.

We want to wish you a merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Let it Snow

Allie has been begging for snow and so we finally got some one afternoon.  The girls wanted to go out to play in it even though it was late and I was not really in the mood but we went out anyway.  It was good because the next day Allie was really sick, I had to go to Price to get some last minute things and by the time we got home all the snow was gone.  So we enjoyed it while it lasted.  Allie has still be sick and said she was never going to eat snow again because it made her sick.  We shall see about that.

When we're helping we're happy.

Yep that is true for my kitchen help. 

And the first place trophy goes to....

Temple Lights-the tradition lives on.

The past 2 years we have gone to Salt Lake to see the lights on temple square with my long time friends Tali and Preston.  This year we did it again -only it is getting tougher cause our kids are bigger and don't want to ride in the stroller and it is such a packed place.  Usually we see the lights and eat at Olive Garden but we skipped the eating because Tali just recently had a baby boy Crosby and he was having nothing to do with the eating.  We will resume that next year.  It was wonderful to see our friends and the girls were so excited about all the baby Jesus's they would see.  The lights are so amazing and I love being there are Christmas.

I love this picture.  Have to frame it with "the temple I am going there some day."

The girls watching this cute senior bride and groom in the background.

Greg with the girls and Miles (Tali and Preston's son).

Aren't the lights so spectacular.

The kids in front of a beautiful tree with expressions that speak volumes.

One more look at baby Jesus.

For my girls

When my dad was diagnosed with cancer this spring I was pretty heartbroken.  I took my girls and went home for a while to wait until things got better.  I went to see him in the hospital for the first time and when I had a minute alone with him he asked, "how long are you going to stay" and I answered (through my tears), "until you get better."  But he didn't get better-not while I was there (in fact he didn't even get out of the hospital in the time I was there) and he kept getting worse in the weeks and months to follow.  Before I left I sat beside him on his hospital bed to tell him that I loved him just in case I didn't get to say it to his face again. I had plans to say a lot more but it was awkward so I left it at that.   There are lots of times that I wish my dad was better with showing his feelings and being a bit more sentimental about things.  Sometimes a daughter just has things she needs to say to her father that require an extra amount of sensitivity.  The weeks and months following made me think a lot about ways to show my girls that I love them, both right now and in the future.  I think that if I was possibly in my last days (if I had the chance to know an end might be coming) I would want to call them every day, or more than once a day to say hello and tell them that I love them.  I would want them to find evidence of my love in all the things that are around them as well as in memories that they have.  I have a box for each girl in the basement in which I keep special things for them.  I have been trying to add little gems of love more often so that when they get older they will have as many reminders as possible that their mom loves them.  This is one of those gems.  It is a slide show of my favorite pictures of the girls.  There is no particular order.  The music speaks thoughts from my heart.  It is about 20 minutes long so I don't expect many of you to sit through it (except for my mom of course and Auntie Helen and Uncle Doug).  If nothing else though maybe you could watch it through the first song.  I first heard this song months after Brailie was born.  I was struggling with post partum depression and was having a really difficult time.  This song came at just the right time for me.

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Decorating the Tree

Since we decided to stay home by ourselves for Thanksgiving we decided that we would just use that morning to get our Christmas tree.  The weather was perfect-cut the tree in our t-shirts and long sleeved shirts (that would never happen in Sask.) The girls were excited and it is a really fun tradition.  That evening after we had stuffed ourselves on turkey dinner we decorated and I got the rest of my Christmas decorations out.

Here is our perfect tree and it really is perfect-no trimming, no reshaping.

A tradition-family picture with the tree

Playing in the dirt while dad cuts

A stick-how could we have an outside picture without a stick

I took this picture of Brailie upside down and through my legs

There he is-the tree slayer

Here is the tree with the new tree skirt I made from a table cloth

Brai putting on the star that was Greg's family as a boy

Adding the decorations-she loved this

Allie loved it too but was done after 3 ornaments and wanted to watch more movies.