Amber's Sexy Face

Amber spent quite a bit of time with my camera. She was trying to do a sexy face....

I'll let you be the judge!

And because of the sexy face, my girls decided they had to give it a try too!

We love Amber!

Zims

The day after Thanksgiving we all headed out to Zim's Hot Springs for an afternoon of swimming and fun. We all had a great time. Of course, Aaron had to roll around in the snow. Once he did that all the little boys thought it was pretty cool and so they did it too. It was pretty funny to watch! We swam for a while and then we headed inside for some lunch. Afterwards, my Dad gave all the kids 4 quarters that they could use however they wanted in the arcade. I put 50 cents into a moving rocket ship for Molly. She hated it, so we put Grant in instead. We were all waiting for Grants turn to be over but the rocket ship just kept going! It was still going when we left which meant it had been going for at least an hour! All the kids that wanted a ride got one. There was no better way to spend 50 cents! We had a great time with the family. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us!

Getting ready to go swimming

Everyone in the pool

The infamous rocket ship

Here it is again!

There was a nice storm hitting while we were there. It was a winter wonderland!

Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We were with my family in White Bird. It was cold, but we had a great time. We started our day with family pictures. They turned out great! Then we went on with our festivities. My Mom made all of us girls aprons. She also made a matching one for our little girls too. I think that her thought was that if we all have aprons then we can't get out of helping with the cooking! Just kidding! We loved them, they turned out super cute! We couldn't really seem to get a decent picture out of the deal, so what you see is what you get! After dinner we just played. I somehow ended up playing Mary Had a Little Lamb on the glasses (you know, like Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality?) And then we had an evening of games. It was a great Thanksgiving and I hope that all of you had a fantastic one too!

They loved wrestling with Aunt Amber

Playing the glasses, as you can see Amber is about to loose it!

Lilly was outside playing for a really long time. Here are her rosy cheeks

Little miss Ava

Our Aprons!

Growing Up

I feel like I am hitting a new phase in my life right now. It happens to be a phase that comes with a lot of introspection about who I am and my life. I have always come across as a confident strong woman, and yes, I believe that is because of certain life experiences which I have had. Those life experiences have shaped a lot about who I am today. But lately I have had to wonder about a few things. Here I am, I have 2 children, I am married and getting ready to embark upon a whole new phase in my life. If ever I am given a task (which is a lot) then I do that task and complete it with confidence and assurity. But when I am in a group type setting I back off. I don't say a lot and I think it is because I feel like I am just so young and all these people are much older than me. So who am I to tell them something they should be doing? But as of late I have realized a few things. There have been some things happening with Aaron's thesis (not surprisingly) but they are things that are totally out of our control. It is because of someone else's errors that we are out a lot of money and time. I have come to realize that I am a strong and intelligent woman. I have come to realize that I know just as much as someone that is older than me, and yes, they may have the life experience behind them, but what about me. If I don't stand up and use those tools that I have worked so hard to gain, then how am I to ever learn from my own life experiences? I feel like I am growing up again. Does that make any sense?

I know I am an adult and all, but once again I feel like my personality, my whole being, and even to some extent my belief system is maturing even more now. I am afraid that if I don't start learning and growing and stop being intimidated by someone just because they are older, then one day I will wake up and be one of those older people who will then be intimidated by some "young punk" who thinks they know it all. I am not saying that I want to become a "young punk" but I am saying that it is time for me to embrace the new me that is starting to emerge.

I am a strong woman who has a lot of knowledge. I am a woman who is trying to make better decisions and make better choices, not only for myself but for my family. I am a leader for not only my children but for other children as well. I am excited and scared about the changes happening all around me, but I hope I can embrace them and grown with my husband and my children. The kids are just getting so big now, and I want nothing more than to enjoy this time that I have with them. I don't know if this little rant means much of anything. I guess I want to know, does anyone else ever feel this way?

My New Bed

Molly has just hit a new phase. She is now in a big girl bed! She is so excited about it. She doesn't cry anymore when it's time for bed and she is willingly going into her room. She loves it! I think she is sleeping better than ever. I was nervous (as usual) for her first night, but she did great. Her nap time went great too. I am so happy for her and hope she keeps loving it.

climbing into her bed for the first time

A Flash Back

Since we were taking a few pictures of Molly and her new bed, Lilly wanted one as well. While I was taking the picture it reminded me of the first time with her new bed. She has sure grown up a lot! I love you Lilly!