I took a few pictures of the girls the other night while they were fast asleep. It always makes me so grateful to be a mom when I check on them at night and they are sweetly and soundly asleep. Many nights I check on them and think, "I should have been nicer today", or, "I shouldn't have gotten so angry at so-and-so." But, one things for certain. I sure love these sleeping beauties!
It's Ryan's birthday today. I think this has been the busiest day of the month. But, we got to spend a few minutes together. I'm thankful for him in my life everyday. He has been an amazing husband and father. I know I'm a better person because of him.
It is now 2012 and life continues to fly by. We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I guess we have a great Christmas every year, but it was fun with all the kids being so excited about everything (except Hayden, of course). After being gone for Thanksgiving and then being gone again for my grandma's funeral, it was so nice to be staying home for the remainder of the holidays.
This year we decided to do the Twelve Days of Christmas. I did this every year that I can remember growing up. You leave a small, simple gift that has to do with that "day" of Christmas and a note at the door of someones home and then ring/knock and run...fast! (ie: bag of pears for partidge in a pear tree, Dove chocolate for two turtle doves, chocolate milk for eight maids a milking, etc.) The girls had a lot of fun, but it was sort of stressful as well. The family we chose kept trying to catch us. Luckily we did not get caught and we look forward to doing it again next year.
For Christmas Eve we were able to get together with some close friends. We enjoyed food, great company and a reading of the Nativity story.
We had a fun Christmas morning and then headed to church after lunch. It was wonderful to be at church on Christmas day. The music was beautiful and the spirit was felt. The whole purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Savior. It was a wonderful day!
That evening, we had some family and friends over for food and talent enjoyment. Not everyone participated, but hopefully next year they all won't be as shy. Our family sang a few songs and the girls did some piano numbers and some cup stacking tricks.
It was nice having the girls home for a few weeks and not having much of a schedule to follow. They all love playing together and it's fun to see them do that when we have the time.
(This one above is very difficult right now. But, I love her to death and wouldn't have it any other way.)
Ryan ran a race on New Year's Eve and then we went to a New Year's party with some other families where New Year's is celebrated at exactly 7.15pm. It was a lot of fun. The kids got to do some noise makers and confetti and were still in bed at a pretty normal time.
Here are some pictures of the run. It was at Wash Park, which is a great place for running, but it was so cold. We were expecting that...it is winter and we do live in Denver. It could have been a lot worse.
After bathtime and haircuts the other night. We sure love our girls and look forward to this year and the many things that we will experience as a family!
Right after Thanksgiving (while were still out of town in California) my grandma passed away. We knew it was probably coming since she had not been doing well the past few months, but it's still very bittersweet to have her gone. I am so glad she is out of pain and in a better place.
She was loved by so many. People who knew my grandma loved her. She was easy to like and was always serving. She was pretty famous for her cooking and baking and energy. She was the chocolate, pie, peach and party lady. I spent many hours helping her dip and box chocolates, organize the peach and chocolate deliveries and bake pies.
We miss her. She's been somewhat "away" for the past few years. She had suffered from dementia but was still so kind and sweet. My grandma taught me so many things...in the kitchen and out. She was one of the hardest workers I knew. She was never afraid to work and get dirty and and she was always upbeat!
All of my siblings were able to come to the funeral. My parents are far away and didn't make it. We thought my mom may try to come, but it is a very long and hard trip and my grandma died not too long after my parents left (5 months). We missed having them with us, but it was so nice to stay at our home we grew up in and be together for a few hours with everyone.
There were two events for the weekend. The funeral was in Fallon at our church building and the burial was in Brigham City, Utah, where my grandma was born and raised. I'm so glad my grandpa decided to bury her there. She talked about Brigham all the time and I'm sure she is so happy to have her body there.
We were all able to attend the service in Fallon, but Jeff had to leave afterwards and drive back to Vegas so he could take a Torts final the next morning...lucky him. The rest of us drove to Utah for the burial. It was a very busy and quick weekend. But, it was a wonderful reunion. I love my family and I'm so grateful for the perspective we have of where we go after this life. We are an eternal family and will all be together again someday!
Scott and Brent were supposed to be pallbearers as well, but Brent was meeting Scott somewhere along the Amtrak line at the time of this photo. Scott's train from SLC had track problems. It was delayed 3 hours and he was going to miss the whole funeral. Luckily, he talked to the conductor and they let him off somewhere around Lovelock and he was able to jump off (literally...down the gravel) and meet Brent. They made it just in time for the viewing and service.
Cousins! Logan hadn't seen Hayden for about 2.5 months.
This was after the funeral outside the church. We all ran back to the house to clean up and change. Then, we all (minus Jeff) headed to Utah.
It was freezing in Brigham, but that was to be expected. At least the sun was out and it wasn't snowing!
We love you grandma!!!
We spent Thanksgiving out of town with Ryan's side of the family. Almost everyone was there and we had so much fun. My sister-in-law is from Santa Barbara and she and my brother-in-law moved back there about 2 years ago. We really miss having them closer to us here in Colorado, but it sure is nice to have an excuse to take a beach vacation :)
Ryan's mom rented a beautiful home in Montecito and it was just the right size for all of us to stay together and have lots of fun cooking, talking, laughing and eating. The girls had so much fun spending hours on end with their aunts...who are teenangers. They were all in heaven! We also got to see some of our good friends, The Wangs. They came up from LA to spend part of a day with us.
We flew into LAX (the girls were all awesome on the plane and everything went as smooth as it could) and then drove up to Santa Barbara. The drive was beautiful and we were so excited to be spending a week away. We hadn't really left Denver since the spring, so this trip was a much needed vacation for us. The girls were so excited to see the ocean. It really was beautiful, and the weather was perfect all week!
Here is a view from the loft of the house (I should crop out the roof, but I don't want to take the time :)
We spent time at the park, at the beach, in and around the house (it really was a perfect house for a family get-together with lots of outdoor space as well), turkey-trotting, and eating, eating, eating.
There are a lot of Howell girls. We have one other Howell cousin and, of course, it's a girl. She is the cutest thing and had so much fun with all of our girls.
We went to the beach twice. The first time without suits...mistake...but we still had fun. The water was FREEZING but the girls still had so much fun!
If you have little kids and are in the area, you have to eat at the Padaro Beach Grill in Carpenteria. The food is good and affordable and they have the best outdoor eating area for the family. You don't feel like you are bothering anyone. It is right on the beach, although there is no beach access from the restaurant. And, the kids can play in the sand pit for hours! We went two days in a row and the kids were in heaven.
Hayden had fun, too. She just didn't get out of her stroller much. Maybe next time.
Another highlight of our trip (which I apparently didn't take any pictures of) was staying the night in LA before our flight home and visiting the Los Angeles temple. It was a Monday evening and for Family Night we decided to walk around the temple grounds. It didn't cross our minds that the temple might have Christmas lights, but it did. It was beautiful. The Visitor's Center was very nice as well. We had a fun evening being there and feeling the spirit with our family.
While we were in California, we got the news that my grandma had passed away. The last few days we were trying to finalize our plans for attending the funeral, which was going to be three days after we got home. We decided to go home as planned and then Ryan, Hayden and I would fly to Reno (leave the rest of the girls with his dad, here...thankfully), rent a car and drive to Fallon for the funeral, drive to UT for the burial, then fly back to Denver from there. This was basically a busy, jam-packed 48-hour trip, but it was another wonderful reunion. I'll post pictures later.
For now, life is getting back to crazy :) Christmas is in a few days and we are all excited. I can't believe it's nearly 2012.
We just got back last night from a week in Santa Barbara with Ryan's family. It was a wonderful trip and it's nice to be home.
But, tomorrow Ryan, Hayden and I will head to Nevada and then on to Utah to celebrate the life of my grandma who passed away while we were out of town. It is a bitterweet time for our family (especially since my mom and dad are so far away), but it's comforting to know that grandma is out of the pain and suffering she was experiencing and on to a better, more perfect place.
I'll post some more pictures when we get back. It's been a whirlwind of a week, but it is always nice to be spending it with family.
Hayden has been sticking her tongue out for about 3 days straight. She is such a sweetheart and we love her so much!
Here she is at 2.5 months! Where does the time go?!?!?!
On another note, my parents are doing well in Africa. We love talking to them via Skype and phone. They were recently able to have a groundbreaking ceremony for the first church-owned building in their mission. It will be a meeting house and they are so excited to have a comfortable place for the members to meet. Sister Wixom and Sister Allred were there. What a joyous day for the African Saints!
Halloween has come and gone. The kids had so much fun this year. The girls got way too much candy and every door was just as exciting as the previous one. Kate (4) would run back from each house and tell us that she said "trick-or-treat" and Leah (2) had to show us that they gave her candy...simple pleasures. The kids were up way too late and we all ate way too much candy.
Hayden is 2 months old now! She is starting to smile and is getting more and more expressive. It's a lot of fun! She has two dimples and we love seeing them appear when she smiles! Our only other girl that has a dimple is Kate...and she only has one.
We had a snow day last week. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the snow.
Ryan and Carly did another 5K this past weekend (I'll do one sooner than later, hopefully). It was a Halloween-themed race put on by one of the rec centers nearby and the evening was perfect! We all had a lot of fun. They ran along the Highline Canal and the colors were absolutely beautiful. Many people dressed up for the run, but I told Carly that her mermaid costume would probably be too hazerdous. So, Mya decided to wear it. My sister-in-law ran with Carly and Ryan ran a personal best. He was pretty excited and I was very proud of him.
Here is Hayden trying to stay warm. The race started at 6pm so it got pretty cold and dark by the time we were done with all the activities. But, everyone had a lot of fun. There was candy, gatorade, a costume contest, a children's 50 yard dash, a smoke machine, marshmallows to roast, lots of great decorations and carved pumpkins. We will definitely be doing this again next year.
Here are a few more pictures from the past week or so. We are all still alive and kicking. The girls are on Fall break this week, so it's been nice to not have a strict schedule to follow.
This was Hayden after church a week and a half ago. She was just over 6 week old. She will already be 8 weeks on Friday!
This is a picture from a week ago. There are very few pictures of me, but here is proof that I'm still alive...taken by Carly.
This little girl is full of personality. She makes me laugh!
And this one loves her baby sister. They all do, of course, but Kate is so happy to have a baby in the house.
It was so warm on Monday (and today we have about 8 inches of snow). We went to a local garden center that has free activities for the kids. It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect!
We carved pumpkins for FHE this week. Our friend Denise joined us and the pumpkins turned out great! It has been a great fall so far and we are looking forward to heading into the holidays.
Hayden will already be six weeks on Friday. She continues to be a great baby and we all love her to death! Her color is looking better. She is much more alert and is awake for a few hours at a time during the day. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks.
Today:
Ready for church on Sunday (5 weeks old):
10/4/11 (4.5 weeks old):
10/1/11 (4 weeks old):
9/28/11:
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
