Go Baby Go!

Little Al has learned a new trick. The first time I saw her doing this I grabbed the cam but she was pretty much done. I started at the beginning again. So between the two times I pieced together this little show for ya. What a nut. We sure love her!

Celebrating 5 years!

Me and Dave were married 5 years ago on December 28th. Can ya tell we were fitting the wedding in between semesters hehe. It was fun reflecting on our past 5 years. Where we started, living in his grandparents basement as poor college students, to where we are today, living in a home we love with our two sweet little girls and Howie. We are still madly in love. Not meaning to gag ya all or anything hehe. On our honeymoon we went to Jackson Hole and just loved it. Every year for our anniversary we try to get away to Jackson Hole or West Yellowstone. Its something I look forward to so very much. This year we had so much fun. Enjoy the following pictures and stories!

We stayed in a cabin. The cabin had two queen size beds (bunk style) and a fold out couch. It also had a mini kitchen which was nice. Me and Dave took the top bunk. Ali slept on the bottom one and Emma had the fold out one all to herself. It was fun hanging out in our little cabin together. Emma loved, loved, loved, climbing the ladder up onto mommy and daddy's bed. We had to hide the ladder after awhile.

My absolute favorite thing we were able to do was go cross country skiing in Teton National Park. It was breathtaking!! Dave carried Ali in a snugli inside his coat, yes, that he why he looks 9 months pregnant. I pulled emma in a sled. I told her I was her "neigh" and she had a good time yelling "giddy up." The girls did really well until Ali got hungry and Emma got cold. We were hauling bum back to the car and I dumped Emma out. She was a trooper though. Poor kid. It was really so much fun. For those of you who have never been cross country skiing you have to go! Notice in the pictures how beautiful the scenery is!

This is Ali enjoying the ride.

We also did the tourist thing. Ate yummy food. Browsed the boardwalks and stores and played with all the big fake bears.

There is the best story behind this next pic. The last time we came to Jackson Emma was 6 months old. In the visitors center they have this bear cave. Inside is a hibernating stuffed bear. Dave crawled through it and just as baby Emma peered inside he "ROARED" and out popped the bear. Little baby Emma screamed and started crying. Dave did the exact same thing this year. Em had the exact same reaction except this time she also fell over in her fright. So flippin funny. Don't worry after awhile she started laughing about it. She wouldn't allow us to take Ali anywhere near it though. What a good big sister. If you see her ask her what the bear said and then what she said. She will tell you the funniest story.

Cheers! Three plastic cups. One bottle of sparkling cranberry juice and a cheesecake. That's how we celebrate!

We don't usually do anniversary gifts because our anniversary is right after Christmas. We always just count the trip as our gift to each other and exchange letters on the night of our anniversary. This year Dave surprised me with this ring. It matches the other Sapphire jewelry he has bought me over the years. What a sweet romantic huh. I had the best time in Jackson Hole with my little family. I cherish them.

through the eyes of a child

I'm trying to kill time while I'm uploading all our music. Anyway I wanted to share the sweetest story. Emma loves to play pretend. She spends most of her day in her own little world. Anyways on Christmas Eve she was pretending to be mama and I was supposed to be Daddy. She pulled a paper bag out of the drawer and started filling it with food and "making treat-treats" to put in it. She got it all ready handed it to me and told me how much she loved me. Then we had to kiss....a lot. It made me laugh. Em was totally acting out our nightly ritual of sending Dave to work. It tickled me to see me and Dave through Emma's eyes.

Christmas Day!

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What a fun day! Christmas morning Emma woke us up at 6:30. We had to drag Ali out of bed....she isn't an early riser like Em. Emma was sooooo excited. We had fun opening presents. Dave got the biking camera he has been coveting from Santa. Emma got a Boots and Dora backpack, figurines and movie (she loves her boots and Dora) and Ali got some baby toys and a play mat. In my sock I found Ipod skins. That got me a little giddy. Dave made me go down to his shop and use his big Circular Saw to cut open my present. I screamed the whole time. Inside buried beneath packaging foam and sitting on weights was an Ipod Nano. Don't worry after saying Thank you I reprimanded him for spending so much. I mean we set a limit! I secretly love it so I wasn't too upset hehe. Oh my heck so when we got down to his shop Dave also had gifts he had made for us. He made Emma a cute little rocking chair made out of our old Christmas trees. He made me, well is in the process of making me a log dresser! I was so touched. That boy is amazing. He has now made me an entire bedroom set.

We had a fun morning of just opening presents, enjoying pigs in the blanket (our traditional Christmas morning breakfast) and just hanging out. We had to get going sometime though. We visited with Dave's family in Mantua for a while. Em and Ali got a rocking horse. Emma was in heaven and named it Starsky. We then went and spent time with my family. All I can say is my girls got spoiled!!! Emma got a big girl bike. She is so cute on it. My fam got me new pots and pans, bake ware and a new cookbook. I'm am so flippin excited!

That afternoon we headed up Logan Canyon to go sledding!! My dad and Matt came. My dad brought his cross country skiis and pulled Em around in a sled. Me and Dave got a chance to go down together. I was scared of the speed so I put my feet down to slow us down. I ended up gasping for air and getting covered in snow. We had a good time. It was a great day filled with family and fun.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Dave, me and our girls spent the day making delicious treats for family and

neighbors. They were so cute. Ali layed on the counter and smiled and jabbered and Emma stood on her helper stool and helped me with every task I would let her. That evening a huge storm hit but we had plans to head up to Snow Basin for their Christmas festivities with B and Jess....so we went. It was a crazy drive up there. There were moments where it was complete white out conditions. We couldn't see a thing! Anyway we arrived safe and sound and enjoyed fireworks, a torch parade (skiers carrying torches skied down the mountain), Santa, hot chocolate and Carolers. It was so much stinkin fun! Emma loved the carolers. She was right up in front of them dancing her heart out. That kid has the moves! I'll try to upload the video of her. It may take awhile so keep checking back. That night Emma had a hard time because she couldn't understand why she had to be asleep for Santa and Rudolph to come. She wanted to show them her necklaces. Luckily all the hot cocoa and dancing wore her out. She was asleep as her head hit the pillow. On the subject of sleeping Ali is now (usually) sleeping in 8 hour stretches at night. WAHOOO! She is also to the point where we get her in her jammies, give her kisses and hugs and lay her down in her bed and she is out within a few minutes. Did I mention she has recently found her thumb. It is her very best friend. I always wanted a little chubbaroo who sucks their thumb. Hehe. Anyway Christmas Eve was so much fun. I think we are going to try to hit Snowbasin again next year! Thanks B and Jess for the invite!

Caught Red Handed

Sometimes the picture says it all.

Creative Wrapping

If you are like me, you grab some colorful wrapping paper, some ribbon and bows and a couple cute tags and sit down to wrap your Christmas presents. Not Dave, this morning he brought my present up from his shop and placed it under the tree. He built a wood box. My present is nailed/glued inside. He then used the wood burner to decorate it. Creative huh. I tell ya being married to that boy is a fun adventure! Anyone have any ideas for me on how to open it on Christmas morning? I asked Dave and he just said, "huh, I didn't think that far ahead, it will be tricky though because its kinda breakable."

This was Dave's wrapping job from last year. Every time they had a patient come into the ER who needed a cast he would save the casting supplies that weren't used and they were just going to throw away. He put my present in a cardboard box and put a cast on it. It took a steak knife, some pruning shears and a good 20 minutes to get that one open. Its a good thing I'm in charge of wrapping the girls' presents. Seriously, I need ideas on how to get this years gift open.

Ho Ho Ho and other Happenings

I had to post this pic of the girls and Santa. I love it. They are all looking at the camera. Well ok, facing it. We took the girls to the newgate mall the other day. They have such a awesome indoor play area. Its a favorite of mine during the winter when it is to cold for the park. Santa was there, right outside the play area. Emma was actually more excited to see the life size snowman and Rudolph. Anyway, Em ran right up and sat on Santa's lap. In the car I had been asking her what she was going to ask Santa for (a horse, of course) but she forgot and was content to just snuggle into his lap and show him her necklace. On that note Emma is becoming such a girly girl. Its so funny to me. Every morning after brushing her teeth she fixes her hair, puts her necklaces on and then rifles in my makeup drawer and pulls out some lip gloss to smother on her little lips, or Ip Gloss as she calls it. So while we were at the mall Emma pushed Ali around in the stroller. It took forever and Em ran into a few displays but she was so proud pushing around her baby. It kills me how patient Ali is. She just sat there looking around happily as she was jostled about.

This is a pic of Emma at her very first movie in the theatre. I am huge on firsts can ya tell. That's why my girls' baby scrapbooks are bursting. My parents were so sweet and bought tickets for my whole family to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks yesterday. It was so much fun. I was able to sit and gossip with Tyler for awhile hehe. Anyway Em didn't weigh enough to hold the seat down and it kept folding up on her. Ali was so good. I was worried about taking the two to a movie but they were awesome! Thanks mom and dad for such a fun day of shopping, skiing (check out Dave's blog) and movies!

Celebrate!!!

He's done!!!! Dave just finished his last final...not just for the semester but his last final for his bachelors degree. All that is standing between him and his degree right now is his internship. Hurray!! I'm so proud of the boy. He is truly amazing. Dave went to school full time, worked an average of 60 hrs. a week and found quality time to spend with his family. There were so so many times he would work all night, go to class, sleep a few hrs in his truck and head back to work. I think a lot of people (me included) got to the point where they said, its Dave, its not as hard for him. After watching the toll it took on him though I decided it was hard, really hard, but he did what he had to do. He would often give up sleep time to spend with me and the girls. So, way to go Dave, we sure love you and are darn proud of ya!

It may not be pretty.....

but it was fun!! We tried our hand at making a gingerbread house today. Hehe. Where did we go wrong? Maybe it was because Dave just cut out some shapes and they really didn't fit together, or because I didn't add the egg whites in the frosting. Could be because Em was a little zealous in her decorating. Ah who cares, it was SO MUCH FUN! Its all about the process right! Not shown is our cute little gingerbread family. There were the four of us (Dave, me, Em, and Al) Howie, a horse for Emma and a jolly snowman. You have to admit our house has character huh! It is now the centerpiece of our table. I am so proud of it!

Look closely. Dave has flour all over his face. Hehe, he had no idea!

Emma had a blast decorating the house. She took her job so seriously though and became pretty distraught when we would have a cave-in. I love the expression on her face, her utter concentration. She gets that look whenever she is working on a project.

Now you know why we had bite marks in our final version!

and here is sweet Emma....following her daddy's example. Yum. You would be surprised what Emma will do when copying Dave. Some pretty unlady like noises if you know what I mean.

Our little Santa slept through the craziness. Isn't she sweet. Check out her little Santa Baby shirt. Courtesy of Uncle B and Aunt Jess. Adorable huh.