My wonderful sister got married last week. It was a beautiful wedding and I am so grateful that I got to go and be a part of it. I flew up to Utah by myself and the whole trip (including travel time) was only 48 hours, but it was so worth it. I had a lot of fun helping my mom with last minute wedding arrangements, and just really enjoyed being there for my sis...I love her so much! She married a great guy...welcome to the family Joe!
The girls had their dance recital last night. They both did a great job and were a lot of fun to watch! Grandma and Grandpa Lewis, Uncle Brad and Aunt Sarah were able to come and watch...it meant so much to the girls to have them there! Sarah did a great job getting videos of both dances. Click below on each box to watch and enjoy!
So even though it happened like a week and a half ago...I really wanted to share a fun day the girls and I had last Monday. It was Dr. Seuss's birthday and we decided to celebrate (any excuse for making cake and blowing out candles, right?!) It started with my suggestion that we make cupcakes and decorate them fun colors, but the girls kept coming up with fun ways to make it truly a Seuss-tacular day! They decided to wear their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes (from Halloween) for the majority of the day; they rounded up every Dr. Seuss item in the house from which Grace made a display table; and of course we read Dr. Seuss books to our hearts content! Later that night we had a FHE lesson on the importance of learning, and I spotlighted Dr. Seuss and his contribution to the world of children's reading and literature. We ended the night by singing Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss and letting the girls each blow out a candle. Okay...it sounds kind of fanatical, but when my kids get an idea in their heads they want to carry it out to the max (and when I see them having so much fun, it only makes sense to encourage it!)
...just look what we can do with the old ones!!
"Dad go to my room"
"Dad go to the laundry"
"Dad o to the office"
"Dad go to the garage"
Aaron, the girls and I had a fabulous weekend. We spent it together on a quick overnight to the L.A. area. The reason for our trip was to attend the baptism of our dear friend Lisa's grandson Robert. We hadn't seen him since he was a baby, and it was so much fun to get to know him...what a cute little boy! I just loved him. We hadn't seen Lisa since Eve was a baby, so it was great to be able to catch up with her too. She is an amazing person.
One of our wedding day photo spots
Eve on "the bench"
You would think that the “firsts” for a second child would be slightly less thrilling for a parent to witness than those of her older sibling, but I have found this to be absolutely NOT true! Even though that first word or first step has already happened for you as a parent, it has never happened before with that wonderful second born. If anything, you appreciate it more because you now realize just how fast they really do grow. This evening Eve participated in her first ballet class, and it was marvelous! It was as if I had never seen a three year old twirl or point her toes before. I was captivated by the newness and held a permanent smile for the entire half hour.
Two years ago I watched Grace dance in her first ballet class, and I remember feeling exactly the same way then that I did tonight. The only thing that made tonight even better was that I had Grace sitting right next to me watching her sister as closely as I was, and giving the occasional “Oh, she’s so cute!” and “Good job Eve!”
A Few days after Christmas we drove out to Utah to visit some of my family. Grace had really been looking forward to the snow and was not disappointed. Even though it didn't snow at all while we were there, the white stuff was everywhere.
Our Christmas festivities started Christmas Eve with Aaron's family. We spent the evening singing Christmas Carols, reading in the scriptures, acting out the Nativity, and sharing with one another our successes and disappointments experienced this year. It was a wonderful evening full of the kind of memories Christmas is all about. Grace enjoyed playing Mary, while Eve was content to just watch (she was feeling lethargic with a 102 fever.)
For the last two weeks since arriving home from our Colorado getaway, I've wanted to write about the fun we had, but it kept falling to the bottom of my list (other things took precedence like getting packages out in the mail, Christmas cards written, presents made for teachers, putting up lights...you get the idea.) So here I am with a moment to spare.
es, etc. We also got out and did some really fun things in the snow. We skied one of the days at Snowmass, and had a snow-shoeing adventure the next. We also had fun walking around town window shopping, admiring art galleries, and eating in a couple of the restaurants. It was a great time to be together as a couple and also spend time with good friends that we don't get to see very often. A special thank you to Aaron's family for looking after our little ones while we were away. The time was greatly appreciated!
Julyssa is in San Fransisco visiting some of her family for Thanksgiving and invited us out to spend a day with her and the kids. The girls and I drove out as soon as Grace was finished with school yesterday. We had so much fun taking our time, enjoying each other and the vibrant city. We watched the sea lions at the pier, a clown on the street that made each of the kids a balloon creature, and the artist bread makers at the Boudin sourdough bread factory work their magic (their hands really do seem to work like magic!) We stayed at the factory for dinner and enjoyed a variety of sourdough bread dishes, and then walked back over to Pier 39 to marvel at the enormous, lit Christmas tree. We finished up with ice cream and romp in the play area at a mall near her sister's home. The kids were enjoying their day of fun together and didn't want it to end. As Grace and Nyomi hugged each other good-bye Grace looked straight into her eyes and said, "I'll think about you everyday." So far Grace was telling the truth, because when she woke up this morning the first thing she said was, "Mom, can I call Nyomi?"
Aaron's sister Angela and her family are in town for Thanksgiving. Today we had the privilege of having her two oldest kids spend the day with us at our house. Grace and Eve loved the time with their cousins Julia and Dallin. The four of them spent hours dressing up, putting on plays, building forts, and creating their own art projects. It reminded me of the fun I used to have playing with my cousins. I love to think they are making those same kinds of memories!
Grace had her last soccer game today. She was actually very happy to be done with her season. It turns out that she's not as big of a soccer fan as we had hoped! Although she really did enjoy playing goalie. She would pretend to be a tiger when in the goal (her team's name was "Tigers.") It was really cute...she would growl and claw at the ball as it came to her. She was actually very good at stopping the ball from going in the goal, but as a player on the field she just ran around aimlessly. It was very fun to watch!
Grace stayed home from school today; sick for the second day in a row. She has a dry, very persistent cough. Yesterday she was coughing so much that it made her vomit. We actually had quite a pleasant day once her cough died down, but then it was back again this morning. She really wanted to go to school and was even dressed for the day, when we found her in her room hacking up a storm. We kept her home to be safe (the last thing we wanted was a repeat of yesterday's vomit incident.) With some good naps, and going to bed early she should be feeling better by Monday.
