Recap of January 2012

In the beginning of the month, Little Miss celebrated her 7.5 birthday. She got a yummy  hot breakfast made by daddy. Then we went exploring in the mountains, found a nearby ski resort, got hot chocolate from the gas station, and had donuts to celebrate.

We love the little guy's preschool this year. His teacher is phenomenal! She's very patient with him and always has fun projects. He's learned so much from school this year. In Janurary, his class went on a field trip to a gymnastic center. He loved running around for an hour. His most favorite part was jumping into the giant foam pit!

We got a HUGE snowstorm! They closed school for a couple days...which is big here. We got 15-18 inches, and guess who got to shovel it all from the sidewalk and driveway.... ME! It was a big time workout. I also got stuck in the neighbors driveway which was funny. Oh the adventures of snow. The kids had so much fun with the white fluffy stuff. The only thing is they were both sick while we were getting the big storm. But a couple days later, they were better, and it wasn't snowing anymore... so we played outside a ton. We even went sledding one day with Daddy.

This little girly is having trouble getting her bottom teeth to come out. So we had to go to the dentist and get 2 more teeth pulled. She's such a trooper. This time though her lip was sore for a few days, I think he may have pulled just a little too hard. She sure is rich from the tooth fairy though.

So i'm gonna try to blog again, but not daily. Just occasionally. My life's too hectic to snap a picture every day. But I still want to remember the things we do as a family. And since my memory is poor, this is a great way to look back and reflect on the good times.

Last Post for 2011

So I know one day I wanna make a scrapbook of this blog. So since I slacked off at the end of the year, I need to wrap it up all in one post. (oh and I stopped doing photography... so I haven't been editing much, these pictures are straight from the camera.)

First off, at the end of October we drove to STG for a family reunion. We celebrated Halloween, went to Zions, and a few other things. Then we went to Vegas to visit my family for a few days. Since my sister's family was visiting as well, we celebrated an early Thanksgiving.

3 generations of Packer's fans... with Utah & UNLV shorts

We were a family of 4 skeletons

Celebrating our early Thanksgiving

When we came home we got back into the swing of things. We celebrated Kenny's 30th birthday. Had a little different Thanksgiving, and then I went black friday shopping.

Daddy eating his yummy Resees' Ice Cream Cake

In December, the Little Princess lost a tooth (all on her own), then we decorated for the season. The kids carried on their tradition with their Daddy of building a gingerbread village. Both the kids had Christmas programs at school, and the Little Man was one of the Wise Man. He kept waving to us from the stage (when he wasn't peeking inside the present). One of our next adventures was driving into the wild and cutting a small Christmas tree for the kids' room.

missing something?

starting the gingerbread village

completed village

giving a thumbs up from the stage

happy to be in the program, next to his best bud

sledding in the forest

found the perfect tree!

family picture

haha... we found him one night sleeping on our giant pile of clean clothes. Silly kid!

We were blessed to spend the last week of the year with Daddy (he used a few vacation days.) The last day of the year... we went to our friends house and celebrated the New Year with lots of yummy food, games, fire crackers, and some sparkling juice!

We had a great year. We were blessed with good health, a great job, lots of friends, fun vacations, supportive family, and many more blessings from the Lord. (of course there were trials throughout the year, but you can't expect less than that.)We can't wait for this next year to see what adventures it brings.

Day 301

The little guy had a playdate today. His friend is having a birthday party this weekend and we'll miss it since we are going outta town. So we invited him over and gave him his present and the boys played a ton. We love how many friends we've made here in Montana :)
*and yes, my kitchen is a mess...that's what happens when you are crazy busy!

Day 300

So today the little man had a field trip. They went to a farm and first they got to check out the horses from a distance and feed the goats. Next they listened to fairytales and saw different scenes from each story. Each kid got to pick a cake pop from the witch (in Hansel & Gretel), and try some hot chocolate that was "just right" (from Goldilocks). Then the kids ran through a hay maze, and last played in a huge pile of leaves. My little man had a great time (once he warmed up to his new surroundings). Plus his little buddy was back from vacation so he was excited about that too. Here's a snapshot of the cute little group.

Day 299

Guess What?!

It snowed today!!! Can you believe that? It didn't stick, but still. First it snowed tiny little flurries... then 45 minutes later there were BIG flakes. It was fun!

Day 298

I love fall!!! So we try to do everything we can. Tonight we made caramel apples. The kids had a great time!

Day 296

So since the little guy's been into picture taking lately I thought I'd go try and get some photos with the beautiful fall colors. So yesterday I got everything ready and then told the kiddos what we were gonna do. It didn't go well! He HATED the idea because I wouldn't let him wear whatever he wanted. Since he was about 2 we've been fighting over clothes. (he's a very opinionated boy) So I resorted to bribery!!! I payed him $5, and that still took some coaxing. And sweet big sister needed to get paid to make it fair. So $10 later, and a few tears.... we have these pictures:

While we were taking this picture, she asked me "Why do my eyes kinda close shut when I smile?"Dear ol' Daddy... that's why!

Aren't they cute?

Day 295

I love that my kids are playing outside when it's rainy and in the 40's! I also love that they are imaginative. They decided to make a shelter... they shoved an umbrella, 2 sleds, and she's working on getting the christmas tree stand into the tree. For decorations they have birdhouses and buckets. Somehow they have a kitchen (to make stew) and a garage... where the puppy (little brother) is kept.
When my little man discovered I was taking pictures he kept doing "silly" things and asking me to take his picture. This just started the last few days... and I think he's adorable. The first picture below he's balancing on his one foot. And the second, he's shaking his head back and forth.

Day 294

WARNING.... this is a scary costume!!!  Ok maybe not to you, but I have a hard time looking at it-well the mask. I love Halloween.... the fun side. And this is a little too creepy to me. She loves it though, so that's what's great, right?

Day 293

WOW! I thought having my son in preschool would free up some time for me. That hasn't happened yet. I find that I wait to do all my shopping and errands, and even cleaning for when he's in school. So free time... nope! It is nice being able to run errands without kids though. (I've even been able to go on a few lunch dates with my hunny-no baby sitter needed!)

I realized last night that I've been wanting to make a pillow dress for my daughter for the Halloween season. I HAD to get the dress made last night, so she could wear it today since today was her last day of school this week, and she only has next week till Halloween.

So here's the adorable little ghost!!!