New Year's Eve

New Years Eve really isn't something we look forward to and with all the holiday choices we always choose to work New Years Eve/Day. This year was no different and I ended up being scheduled to work New Years Day. Ashley invited us over for a New Years Eve party so we figured we would go over for a little bit before coming home and going to bed. At about 630 I got a call that they had no one in labor and so they were putting me on call. We ended up having a great time and decided to stay later than we had planned. By about 10 Em was so tired and done that we packed up and headed home. But before that we had some snacks and played a game of Wacky Six. Matt and I used to play that with his family all the time but it seems in recent years we don't really play games anymore. It was fun to play it again. I was sad I didn't take any pictures but we had a great time anyways. We came home and got the kids to bed and headed to bed just before 11 just in case I got called in. The next morning we woke up and I never ended up getting called into work. We went to church at our new 11 oclock time and it was packed. I guess we will see how this new schedule goes.

I feel like this year I have learned and grown a lot within myself. I am not a big one that loves resolutions. I feel like once January is over the resolutions are forgotten until the following year. But I unintentionally made some for myself and didn't realize until Matt and I were talking about our yearly goals. I'm going to make a better effort to take care of myself because lets be honest I spend the majority of my time taking care of everyone else. Secondly I want to do a better job of encouraging and loving the people around me. Over the last year I have found several quotes about cutting negative people out of my life or people that don't encourage or help make me want to be a better person. I have now taken a step back and want to make sure that I myself is that person. That people come to for support and encouragement. I can be very judgmental and I really want to improve upon that. 

Im not sure what 2017 has in store for our little family but I hope that it includes health, wealth, and a whole lot of fun and maybe just maybe the decision to add another little friend to our home. Only time will tell

Sledding Party

 I love Christmas break. I love that the kids are home from school and Matt's home from work. We don't run on anyones schedule but our own. I know life can't run that way all the time but I wish at time it could. Today we got up and decided to go sledding in part this decision was made since our friend invited us over for a sledding party. A bunch of the kids friends were there we had snack, cookies, and hot cocoa. The moms visited and well fr that reason Matt decided to stay home and work for most of the day since all the moms were going to be there. The kids and I had a fantastic time. Even though we have been here a year I still find that there are a lot of people I don't know and I enjoy getting to know more about the people I do know. I love making memories with my kids and for just a little while having no problems remembering whats important. I love the age that each of our girls is at. I love that they can be independent enough for us to have a good time leaving me to primarily take care of Em but need me enough that they want me to be a part of whatever is going on. I have days that I panic when I think about the kids getting older and not needing me anymore. My entire life I have wanted to be a mom and now that it is finally here I feel that its going to fast. I want to freeze time and remember every giggle, silly face, sleepless night, and yes even the rough days. I love the cuddles, the kisses, and even the messes made. I love to think about the memories we have made in the previous week as I found the laundry of the clothes they were wearing when they said something funny or did something so "normal."The life I'm living right now is what dreams are made of. I have what most people would give anything for and so I'm going to do my best to enjoy every moment.

Christmas

Sunday morning Hallie & Grace woke up about 8:15 and we got up. The kids were able to look at what Santa brought them, their stocking, and a few gifts before having to get ready for church and have some breakfast. Em slept until 9 so she caught a few minutes of the action before we headed to church

            Hallie got a puppet set and everything she needs to put on all the shows she can think of

                             Gracie got the castle Barbie house she has been asking for for months

They were both super excited about everything they found. In Hallie stocking she got...some hot tamales, lip gloss, reeses pieces, bubble tape, and a pez set

Gracie got in her stocking sour patch kids, a best friend charm necklace(she gave the other one to Hallie), a pez set, bubble gum, lip gloss, and licorice

I loved their they hair in their curlers

Em got a car track from Santa

As you can tell Hallie REALLY loves bubble tape

I got a pastry blender, mentos, and lindor truffles in my stocking

Matt got oreos and some spicy almonds that he loves

Then we decided to open a few more gifts before church

The girls each got a couple new ornaments for their trees

They were so great at taking turns so Matt and I got to see them open everything. They both got some quiet things to do during sacrament meeting

Hallie's colorblast(church thing) and Gracie her binoculars(she can't stop talking about)

Gracie loved her coloring book from her preschool teacher...I really don't think she makes any money with all the money she spends on the kids and the activities they do

Hallie got about a dozen chapter books that probably she will read in less than a month! This girl loves to read and we couldn't be more proud of her

Gracie really wanted Legos and she was so excited/surprised when she found some of them under the tree

I love her crossed legs as she was so focus on checking her Legos out

Gracie loves Gnomeo and Juliet

Hallie got a horse and stable Lego set...they will keep the girls busy for days

Elana of Avalor has been one of the things on Gracie's mind since the show came out...as you can tell she was pretty excited with her Barbie. The look on their faces never gets old

When Em finally woke up she was greeted by eager sisters who wanted her to open her presents. Im sure it was pretty confusing since we have been telling her not to touch the gifts for weeks

She is very into Mickey Mouse right now and she was very happy to find Mickey in her stocking. Her poor face was all red from having the viral slap face that both the other girls had the previous week but it didn't seem to bother her

She was anxious to get her cars out of the wrapping to get them on the track

Em's rocking horse was a highlight for all the girls. Em was not really wanting to share initially so Hallie and Grace had to patiently wait for their turn. Em quickly picked up on how to rock the horse as well as push the button to make it neigh and move its head

While Matt and I got ready Hallie put on a puppet show for the girls

I really didn't like having Christmas on a Sunday. I found myself wishing we would have opened gifts on Saturday so we could just enjoy the day instead of feeling rushed to get ready for church and get there on time. Matt had to be there early to help set up the sacrament since the 3 wards were meeting together. So we quickly got ready and headed out to church. We had gotten about 6 inches of snow through the night and it was still snowing. I love having a white Christmas. To me it just doesn't feel like Christmas without snow. The girls looked beautiful. The only way to describe the picture below is blessed.

The program at church was beautiful. They had an amazing bells program to go along with the other music. After church we hurried home to enjoy the rest of our Christmas

After the girls opened their gifts they were off to play with them and Matt and I took a few minutes to open our gifts. I was super excited about Matt opening his gifts since I had a few big surprises and I'm never super great at getting him something he super loves. He got a new coat, snow boots, a pullover jacket, and his big surprise was his Bose headphones! They are top of the line noise canceling, blue tooth, quality headphones. I got an Instapot, Sorel snowboots, truffles, fashion boots, some clothes, kitchen stuff, and a certificate to get our family pictures done.

That afternoon Matt's parents, Chris, Krissy, and Chris's friend Michelle came to dinner and see what we got for Christmas. It was nice to have them here really it was one of the best family get togethers we have ever had with that side of the family. It was fun to catch up on whats going on in everyones lives and what they are looking forward to in the new year. Everyone was starving since they had spent the day stopping to visit family but really hadn't been fed anywhere along the way. We had ham, rolls, jello, stuffing, and scalloped potatoes. We also had cheese cake and turtle pie for dessert. We played games and while we ate our dessert the girls put on a play for us with their puppets. I only wish our get togethers could be like this all the time. It was a great way to end our Christmas Day.

Since we forgot to take pictures on Christmas Eve of the girls in their pjs we put them in the second set they got and got our picture. I love these girls, the love they have for each others, and the patience they have for Matt and I as parents. Christmas is magical with kids and we couldn't imagine our lives without them. They are our world

Merry Christmas everyone
Matt was excited to buy the girls a puzzle and continue the tradition of doing a puzzle over Christmas break. Fittingly it was a fairy puzzle