mERry ChRiStmAS

Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannembaum!

The Christmas Tree Hunt

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we headed up with my family Preston-way for the annual tree hunt.

We had such a great time trying to find the perfect tree. It was a beautiful day with just enough snow to make it seem festive. We missed my mom who couldn't be there and Elise who is in Argentina on a mission.

We all headed home with trees that were at least 5 feet too tall for any of our houses.

ThANksGiVinG

Thanksgiving. . .
spent with Nate's family
lots of time with cousins
lots of laughing
not a lot of sleep
great food
good times!

A Little Bit Of Nothing. . .

There has been nothing exciting to blog about lately. . .
And so, I present you with life according to Miles.

Miles has changed his name to "Mile" because it is too hard to write the letter 's.' He even went so far as to inform his preschool teachers of this new fact.

The doorbell rang today and Miles and Lola ran to answer it. As I came around the corner Miles says, "Oh, don't worry mom, it's just that guy that always rings our doorbell and drives off." Apparently the UPS man has been coming quite often lately.

The most exciting thing for Miles this Thanksgiving weekend? Not the turkey dinner. . . not the lazy day filled with family and festivities. It's the fact that Chelsea and Marcus are coming up and going to "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" with us. Miles lives for a good flick.

Miles has been informing all his little friends that he is going to Hawaii for his birthday. He was kind enough to let them know that they can come if their moms will come with them.

How nice to have a little person around to give my world some spice!

Grateful

Today I am extra grateful for these 3 in my world.

TriCk oR tREaT

Dance Class

Lola started dance a couple weeks ago.
I was a bit hesitant to start her, but after seeing the absolute cuteness of all those little tiny girlie- girls I was completely on board! She loves, loves, loves going and always shows off her new dances for dad after. She's always on the look out for new 'dance clothes' whenever we're out shopping and tries to talk me into new tutu's by justifying that she absolutely needs them for dance.

I so love that little girl!

Pumpkin Picking

We love pickin' pumpkins in the fall.
The crisp air and crunchy leaves,
wandering around
to find just the right pumpkin.

Heading home
to homemade
caramel apples.


Just about perfect.

Hawaii

Last week Nate and I returned from 7 fabulous days in Hawaii. Hawaii was amazing. This was my first time visiting and it exceeded any expectation I had. Such an beautiful, magical place!


We spent a few days chillin' beach-side on Waikiki, books in hand, soaking up that hot Hawaiian sun. We had fun exploring the beaches on Oahu's North Side. I couldn't believe how differently beautiful each beach was.

We loved Pearl Harbor, spent a few hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center, walked around the beautiful Temple, did plenty of shopping, spent a couple days snorkling, spent an afternoon wandering through a beautiful botanical garden that led up to a waterfall that we swam underneath, and had a blast at the Dole Plantation eating delicious Dole Whips and seeing the cute little pineapple's growing. Who knew pineapple grew like that???


We ate delicious food and especially enjoyed mealtime with no little rugrats to cater to! We had the most yummy shrimp ever from the ghetto shrimp trucks in Haleiwa, loved our Matsumoto's shaved ice (complete with ice cream and Hawaiian red beans), watched Nate go to burger heaven eating a burger just about the size of his head, visited the Cheesecake Factory (twice I might add), and had plenty of other good stuff.

What an amazing trip! We had such a great time just being the two of us, feeling as if there wasn't a care in the world, relaxing together, feeling young again, being goofy and remember exactly why we fell in love so many years ago! How grateful we are to all those who made it possible for us to have this time by watching our cute little ones.

Monkey Miles

This is Miles being self-sufficient:

Apparently he was hungry and needed something from the top shelf of the pantry.
I find myself in awe every single day that we have yet to find ourselves in the ER with this one.

Note: Please ignore the messy pantry!!

Top of Utah Half Marathon

I am so far behind on posting, but. . .

On August 29th I ran the Top of Utah half marathon with my sister Chelsea and friend Sam. After training hard all summer, I was so glad to see the day finally arrive! It was a perfect, beautiful day for running.



I was able to run with Chel the whole time and it was so neat to cross the finish line together. It was so fun to see all our family there, cheering us on. We finished in 1 hour 51 minutes.

Such a great run, but even greater that it's OVER!

Tomorrow. . .

Tomorrow. . .
I head off
to the paradise that is
Hawaii

To celebrate
10 years
with my favorite person
in the whole wide world.

I can't wait.

Preschool Firsts

Lola and Miles started school this week. . .

Miles was off to Sports Academy
where he starts swimming
tumbling and tennis

Lola stays closer to home
at a preschool in our neighborhood

Both were more than excited
to head off on their own. . .
backpacks and all!

And me?
I celebrated an hour and a half
with no kiddos.

A big milestone!

Off To School

Last week marked the first day of school in these parts.
Off Jackson went, donning new clothes,
shiny new backpack slung across his shoulders. . .
off to discover all that 1st grade has to offer. . .

school lunch
3 Recesses
a new teacher
new friends

I'm just wondering when he went from this:



to that big kid who boarded the big yellow bus without looking back.
That kid who will be gone all day.
Time flies!

Jackson's most important 1st grade accessory?
His missing 2 front teeth!

Today

Something that made me
smile
today:



Seeing my Jackson become
passionate
about a
stick and a little round ball.

Boys

How many
boys
can fit around
one wii?

Beach Day

a trip to Bear Lake
with my
3
little beach
bums
and some good friends.

soaking up the summer
as we realize
school
is a mere
31
days away

4th of July

We had a busy 4th of July weekend, but oh so much fun! My parents and brother Joe came up and stayed a couple days with us. . . we all had so much fun being with them.



Cuddling with granny during our BBQ



Miles was just a blur of activity waiting for fireworks to start. Doing pops, playing with glow sticks and pretty much just wearing us all out!



I ran the 9.3 mile Freedom Run on the morning of the 4th with my friend Sam. It was a beautiful run down Blacksmith Fork Canyon, reminding me once again how lucky I am to live in this valley.



Chillin' at the Cache Valley Cruise-In. A highlight of the summer for Jackson and Miles. Nothing better than eating junk food, watching great cars and checking out crazy, crazy people!

Creativity and Persistance

This morning my boys painted sun catchers. After several hours, they were dry and Miles was ready to hang them in his window.

I, unfortunately was in the middle of something.

"Miles you have to wait and I'll help you," I told my impatient 4 year old.

He stormed out of the room.

Realizing it was a little too quite, especially for child lacking in patience, I went to check on him.

There he was, tape in hand, covering those sun catchers with enough tape to secure an elephant to the window.



One thing about Miles. . . .

That kid is not lacking in the creative solutions department.

Cousins

I can't believe how much Lola and her cousin Isabel look alike! I think they could be sisters. They were so excited to wear matching dresses to new cousin Sam's baby blessing. I'm so glad my kids have these cute cousins to play with.

Elephant Ears

We went up the canyon the other night with Nate's family and came home with this little gem:



It's just so out of character for Jackson to be so goofy. . . he's at that age where it's no longer at all cool to dance and sing. It cracks me up every time to see that little booty shakin'!

Preschool Program

Last week was Miles' big preschool program. He was so excited and so proud to show us all that they had been practicing.



He sang so loud and so clear. . . such a big difference from his program last June when he didn't make a sound the whole time.

We had mixed feelings that day. . . he has officially graduated from his speech preschool. Good news because he is caught up. Bad news because we have to say goodbye to fantastic teachers like her:



And friends he adores like him:



He has loved every minute of this preschool and it has truly been a tender mercy in our lives. We feel so blessed for the help he received there, the amazing progress he made and for how much he was loved.

Growing Up

When I saw these pictures I couldn't believe how grown up my Lola is getting. As she nears her 3rd birthday at the end of the summer, I am slowly seeing her baby ways disappear as she becomes more and more little girl.

Some of Lola's favorite things:

• Her babies, all of which are named Anna, are carted with her everywhere.
  

• Books, called bookies in her lingo, surround her all day long. . . to bed, in the car, on bike rides and all over the house.
  

• Cuddling with mom or dad on the couch. She could do it all day long if we had nowhere to go or nothing else to do.

She's getting more and more dramatic the older she gets. She's all about putting her hands on her hips and dramatically folding her arms when she's mad. She thinks it's her sole responsibility to keep her brothers in line.

We love her feisty little personality and her sensitive, loving ways too.