Merry Christmas from our Family

2014 was another wonderful year for our family.  We have enjoyed watching our children grow, enjoy new experiences and adventures.  
We enjoyed going to Jordanelle Reservoir with Matt's parents. They have a boat which the girls loved to try and drive.  Emme enjoyed swimming in the lake while Livi's favorite thing was riding on the inner tube at full speed.   We also took the family camping for the first time in a camper.   We enjoyed hiking, smores, and being around the camp fire.  The girls had fun playing in the base of  Bridal Falls.  We took several trips to the zoo, Wheeler Farm and to our favorite hike Silver Lake.  As you can tell our kids love to see different kinds of animals.   Which helps as we added to our family this year.  For Easter this year they received chicks.  They are loving helping Daddy care for them and collect the eggs.  We also got a rescue dog named happy.  He is such a sweet and happy dog.  He is Pomeranian mix.  The kids adore him.  Alex crawls all over him and the dog just licks him.  Livi adores him more then we expected since she has had a fear of animals for such a long time.   We always find Happy curled up next to her.  

    Matt and I celebrated six years of marriage with a little trip to Vegas.  It was so nice to get away and spend time together.  We of course took Alex with us since he was too little to be away from us that long.  He seemed to enjoy the attention.  It was nice to spend time together as a couple.  Later in the summer Matt and I hiked Mount Timpanogos.  At the top you can go through the caves and see the different rock formations.  Matt is so tall it was hard for him to get around in because you can't touch anything.  It was a fun experience.  I died the whole way up and Matt died going down.  We hope to hike it again in the future but I don't think we will do the cave again though.  

Emme turned five this past November and began Pre K since her birthday fell after the school enrollment date.  She is loving it.  She runs full steam to class each day.  She comes home giving us full report on everything.  She loves her teacher and does not want to move on the kindergarten next year.  She has enjoyed the holiday programs they do.  She loves singing and dancing.  She is our little artist.  She loves to draw, color and creating.  She can sit for hours drawing and be perfectly happy.  

Livi turned three and is in full princess mode.  She loves to dance and make up little songs.  Her imagination grows constantly anything and everything can be a toy for her little plays.  She has even created argument between meatballs and broccoli resulting with the broccoli in a time out.  She is starting to show us the naughty threes.    Since she decided to skip the terrible twos she is making up for it now.  

Alex is one.  He is full of energy and enjoys being into everything.  He is a little monkey who climbs on the couches and chairs.  He loves anything with wheels, especially his cars when his sisters let him have them.  He insists on having everything his sisters' have no more baby food for this little man.  At 15 months he has decided to start walking.  He is already tall enough to open doors and is very good at getting into our closets.   

Matt has been working in the housing in the jail.  In his off time he is loves playing with our silly kids.  He enjoys playing video games, watching his zombie movies.  Along with hiking and spending time with his family.   He likes keeping his yard neat.  

Alicia continues to enjoy being a stay at home mommy.  She tries to fit in a good book and genealogy in between chasing kids.  After the kids go to bed she tries to work on various projects.  

We are happy to add that Alex has been given a clean bill of health at his last appointment.  He was born with a heart condition that we have been waiting to see if he would need surgery or not.  Priesthood blessing do work as when he was only a day old he was bless his heart would be healed and it is.  

  Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all.  

Emme's Christmas Program

     Every big holiday Emme's preschool they have a little program.  The kids learn different songs and dances.  The Christmas so far has been the cutest.  They sung several cute songs one about Christmas lights I had never heard.  You could tell Emme was really enjoying her self.  She even made a ornament as a present in class for us.  She is loving preschool.  When we had a discussion about going to kindergarten next year she began to cry.  She doesn't want to leave her teacher.  She is so cute and sweet.  Sadly the video is too long to load on here.

Silly Girl

The Beginning of the program

Singing about being a Christmas Tree

Rudolph the reindeer

With one of her friends

Singinig with her class

She made a present in class for us a ornament  for our tree.

She loves her teacher so much she started crying about going to  kindergarten next year.
 She is loving every minute of  preschool. 

Temple Square

Our girls are so in love with all the lights.  As we drive the oohs and awes over every decorate they see no matter how small.  It has been a couple years since we have gone to see the temple square lights.  Last year we skipped because of Alexander and the year before because I was pregnant.  Last night we took the girls up to see the lights last night.  Alex got to play at his grandparents since we decided he would enjoy that more.  Plus he was just getting over a cold that had been hanging on for dear life. We listen to and sang Christmas songs all the way up.  The girls loved the different colors.  The naivety was a huge hit.  When we went up stairs to see the Christus statue Livi proclaimed that the baby Jesus grew up.  Sadly the spirit was broken by a couple who sat next to us.  They made fun of sister missionary's accent and her testimony.  They were members by some of their comments.  Then they said they wanted to high five the statue.  So sad the lack of manners.  It was pretty crowded and several teenager knocked Livi over a couple times.  Over all we all had lots of fun.  Emme said she loved the pink lights the best.

Watching the nativity

With Daddy being silly

In front of the Christus

Lots of lights

Santa Santa Santa

    We love this time of year.  The lights, music, and decorations are so beautiful.  The girls are in love with Christmas.  They are bouncing around singing their versions of Christmas songs.  We decorated our house the Monday after Thanksgiving since that was the next day Matt had off.  I need him to reach the boxes cause I am short.  A lot of our decorations didn't make it out of the box this year due to little man.  Even after we did our tree about six inches of the bottom have very little on the branches as he pulls them off we move them up to the higher branches.   
    This year we went decided to try the Riverton Christmas party.  We heard it was fun.  Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive on a fire truck.  That was cute but the super long line to see Santa was not.  We stood in line for almost an hour before we got to the next line to see Santa.  So not thrilled.  The girls were really good for the amount of waiting.  After the picture there are craft kits or sugar cookies to decorate.  By the time we got to the sugar cookies it look like some one had been using their fingers, so we had plain cookies.  I love sugar cookies with butter cream but I had a very long class in college about food born illness so no.  They had some other things to do but the girls said they wanted to go home.  So we got a hot chocolate and a scone before heading home.   I got some weird looks when I said I didn't care for Utah scones.  They are deep fried dough.  I prefer the English baked kind.  

Grouchy by the time we got to Santa

Fried Scones

Emme thought it was like a donut but it needed chocolate



Saturday we decided to go up to Cabela's and see Santa again.  The girls were so excited.  The wait was only 15 minutes and the pictures were completely free plus we could take our own pictures.  The kids loved looking at the different animals while we waited.  They pointed out the ones they knew and loved learning the few they didn't.  The elves came through to talk to the kids and Mrs. Claus talked to girls while waiting.  Livi informed her she was not Mrs. Claus because she didn't have white hair.  So we told her that Mrs. Claus is up at the North Pole keeping the elfs on track.  That seemed to work. All the kids enjoyed the trip.  Alex didn't cry with Santa.  The kids enjoyed visiting the shooting range with their free tokens.  Alex loved the fish tanks.  He was pointing and clapping.  After we left we went to Harmons there was Santa again.  Emme announced there was two Santas.  I told her that Santa followed us because of her and Livi fighting in the car.   The two Santas was quickly forgotten as they had ham samples.  Our kids love ham.

Emme's art

Waiting to leave

Santa at Cabela's

Shooting at their arcade shooting range. 

Santa at Harmon's

This has been my project the past week.  I don't trust the kids with our Nativity.  So I made this one out of felt they can play with.  They love it.  

Emme turns five

Our sweet crazy Emmeline turned five.  She was super excited for her birthday party and just the thought of being five.  She has grow into such a sweet little girl.  She loves art.  She is always coloring, drawing or creating.  She loves to be organized and help clean.  She loves books especially ones about animals.  For the moment her favorite animal is horses/ponies.   She loves going to the library so she can pick out new books for us to read.  We always leave with more then we can carry.  She always makes laugh and is so full of energy.  

Glitter moustache

Stockton, Tracey (Matt's cousins) Linda (Matt's Aunt) and Marnie (Matt's cousin)

Alex with cousin Marnie

The Birthday girl doing her art

My Little Pony Party

Her cake.  (I didn't make it this year Got it at Sam's club.  I was sick before her birthday)

Happy Birthday to our Emme

They were silly each wearing on of Aspen's boots

She got Ponies, and Ariel.  

Cute new clothes

Her new art stuff as tall as she was.  

Cousin Stockton stole her ponies

Alex loves his cake.

On Emme's actual birthday she wanted five pancakes.  She also wants ham lots of ham.  So for her birthday breakfast I made her pancakes and we sang.  She was thrilled when she saw her presents.  She got new bedding.  She wanted My Little Pony sheets.  She had been asking for them nearly a month before her birthday.  We also got her a easel.  At first she didn't understand what it was and didn't want it.  However once it was put together she loved it.  She draws on it and writes her name.   We invited Matt's parents to go with us to Wenover for the buffet so Emme could have all the ham she could eat.  She said it was the best birthday ever.  She got everything she wanted.

Her new present "What is it?"

Loving it

Birthday Pancakes

Birthday Cake 

Halloween

Happy Halloween!  The kids love this holiday and so do we.  Sadly Emme came down with a cold last Friday passing it along to all to Livi, Alex and me.  Livi got over it quick but it hit me and Alex harder.  Emme's preschool had a program that morning.  She was super excited.  They had been learning songs and dances for it.  She loved that her Grandparents came with us.  She was the loudest kid singing.  She knew all the songs but one she didn't know all the verses but neither did the other kids.  There are thirteen kids in the class.  Emme loves her preschool class.  She is learning more and more each day.  She loves her teacher and learning.  Poor Livi though wanted to be up there singing and dancing with the kids.  She wants to go to preschool too.  Next year she gets to go.

When she gets nervous she chews on her sleeves

Livi was  so cute in her pumpkin shirt

Part of her class missing  5 kids I could get them all in the shot.  

Dancing.   The cowboy next to Emme didn't move or talk the whole program

Hugging her grumpy sister

With her teacher

Her pumpkin she decorated

Poor Alex still wasn't feeling well when it was time for trick or treating.  It was nice and warm but we decided it was best for him to be inside.  So Matt took him to his parents so that he could play and not be stuck in the stroller.  The girls were so anxious.  Livi was Rapunzel her favorite princess.  Emme was Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.  We started out about 530.  Of course we went first to our neighbors who always make the girls a special treat.  Every house Livi told her life story.  "I am Livi I am Rapunzel I am three years old  Look at my dress  I love to dance.  We are going to Grandma"  We had to remind her to say thank you and move on or we would still be at the Spencers. They tried every door they came across.  In Alaska we would only go to house with the porch lights on because that was the signal they had candy.  Here there will be lights on no candy and houses with lights off with candy. So the girls just tried everyone.  They wanted to pet every dog they saw we even had some lady invite them in the house.  (Complete Stranger we had a nice long talk with the girls after that) It seems people in our neighborhood just let their cats wander around or we have lots of strays.  Emme is allergic to cats so we had to remind the kids not pet them.  We had one who follow me around the neighborhood.  It was a cute cat but we really don't want to see how bad her allergy is.  (So far we have hives and eyes that swell shut)  After a couple of hours they were tired and climbed into the wagon and had Daddy pull them home stopping at each house along the way.  We then went to Grandma's house for a late dinner.  The girls love showing off their costumes. They love their Grandparents. Alex was having fun playing chase with Grandpa when we arrived.  That little boy adores him.  He launch at him when he see him.  The girls were begging for another sleep over but we had their cousin Zayne's party the next day and then Emme's.  Halloween was super funny.  The next day Livi asked to go trick or treating again.

Off we go

Our first stop

Waiting for Livi

Love the sunset

So cute