Happy Valentine's Day!

Despite having a house full of sickies, we shared a lot of love and had a sweet day. Should we do the math? Strep x2, croup x1, bilateral ear infection x 1, colds x5, sinus infection x1. Can we move on to Easter now?  :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We are filled with gratitude as we recall the wonderful year we’ve had. Most especially, we are grateful for family, for peace, and for our Savior whose birth we celebrate at this glorious time of year.

Last fall, we found a rare discount on Disneyland annual passes, so we took advantage and made 2012 our Year of Disney! We went four times and have had so much fun watching our girls light up and play in such a magical place. It’s been a joy to see the little ones progress and graduate to bigger rides and braver experiences. Of course, visiting the princesses always ranks high on our favorites, but we also loved the new Cars Land. Amanda loved Splash Mountain, and Katie loved California Screamin’ (the big roller coaster). Ellie’s favorite was Dumbo. Brett and Wendy prefer Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Tours. We will look back fondly on these trips for many years to come.

Katie (6) entered first grade this fall and is participating in a Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion program. She spends half her school day with a teacher who only speaks Chinese to her.  Although it has been a challenge for her, we are so proud of Katie for her hard work and courage in learning to speak and write a difficult new language.  She has matured and grown much, truly becoming a joy to her parents! Katie still enjoys gymnastics, singing, riding her bike, playing games, creating new train track routes, writing stories, and, to her parents satisfaction, reading!

After years of feeling left behind, Amanda (4) has finally been able to go to school like her big sister—preschool, that is. She has made new friends, been on field-trips, and is preparing to learn to read. Amanda also enjoys gymnastics and, after hard work and practice, has perfected her cartwheel! She is a good friend to Ellie and loves to play pretend with her. Amanda loves to dress-up and play school, church, or “Mom.” Funny how when they play house, no one ever plays “clean the house!” J She’s a great singer and dancer.

Ellie (2) is leaving babyhood behind, much to mommy’s dismay! She has gained an independent streak of doing things herself. She runs, jumps, and climbs to keep up with her big sisters. She loves babies and dolls, doggies and animals, and is finally learning to play briefly with her sisters’ trains before destroying them. She loves to get on her shoes and jacket and GO (usually not caring where)! She has moved up from communicating with sign language and now speaks 4-5 word sentences and we’re amazed at her vocabulary explosion. Katie and Amanda think it’s funny to get Ellie to say big words.

Brett is still working locally with a small business law firm. He enjoys the people he works with and is gaining more experience, but often misses banking. He tries to keep up with all the projects that come with a 60 year old house, and our beautiful yard. He enjoyed taking his family to two BYU football games this season, the first with unseasonably warm temperatures and the second 12 hours after the biggest snow storm we’ve had in a year!

Wendy continues to work at community clinics in Salt Lake and Provo. She enjoys volunteering in Katie’s classroom a couple times a month and chaperoning as many field trips as possible for Katie and Amanda.  She loves the days when the laundry is done and we can all play together!

We pray that you and your family enjoy a wonderful holiday season, filled with the warmth and love that comes from our Savior and Lord. May you also know of our love and gratitude for you and the way you have touched our lives for good.  Merry Christmas!

Love,

Brett, Wendy, Katie, Amanda, and Ellie

It's official

The season has officially started.  That's not mentioning we've had our Christmas lights up for 6 weeks and on for 3 weeks!  :)  Tonight we saw the Christmas lights on Temple Square, the lights and water fountain show at the Gateway (and rode the trax train twice--the girls love the train). We're so excited for Christmas and I'm already loving the season.  It helps that the shopping is all but done!  Really, I think Christmas just keeps getting better and better, and I love who I get to share it with!

Merry Christmas!

Where did the summer go??

Brigham City Temple Open House

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

I have been a horrible poster, barely keeping my head above water by organizing my pictures.  We've had a fun summer and I hope we can remember some highlights.

•  Started out summer with DisneyLand in June.  Super fun, but being the third time in a year, I was getting tired of it.  Thankfully, we flew so we didn't top it off with two days on the road.

•  Much more moderate in our visits to 7 Peaks.  Whereas we used to go 2-3 times a week, we probably only went a dozen times this summer.  And that's okay by me!  I only went 3-4 times without Brett.  Katie was great and a pretty good swimmer.   Amanda thinks she's as good as Katie, which terrifies me.  Ellie is clingy and I can't do or see or help anyone else!  The first time on my own, I lost Amanda (she left the pool "looking for Mom") within 5 minutes, Ellie fell of the crocodile (I caught her but she freaked out anyway) and while I'm frantically searching for Amanda and starting to panic, Katie is desperate to go to the bathroom.  I didn't dare leave the pool, but I also didn't dare send Katie to the bathroom alone.  I vowed to never do this alone again (even though I did).

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• Amanda (and by extension Ellie and Katie) took tumbling tots.  Once again, I'm amazed at how strong, flexible, agile, and balanced these girls are!  It only took Ellie watching Amanda once for her to try and do all that the big girls do.  Katie's love for tumbling was rekindled and I wish we had time/money to chase that dream more.
• Katie begged me to teach her to play "I am a Child of God" on the piano.  She's memorized the first 3 bars or so.  I want to start her in lessons, but she's got a big school year ahead, so we're trying to pace the addition of new things all at once.

  

  Thanksgiving Point Gardens

  
  

• Amanda spent the summer talking and singing constantly!  She makes up songs, she narrates her play stories.  At one point, Brett and I worried that she didn't talk at much/early as Katie.  She's making up lost time.  She still doesn't always speak terribly clearly, and tends to get emotional easily, but she's got a lot to say!  (Like calling hand sanitizer "hanitizer" and belt loops are "Belt pockets".)
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Amanda's birthday build a bunny-Rapunzel

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• Ellie has grown a passion for climbing over the summer.  She climbs up on the table and drinks everyone's drinks.  She climbs up on the counter from the bar and terrorizes whatever she can get to while I run to get her!  She has also started an independent streak.  About 3 weeks ago, she refused to be fed or helped feed.  If she's not feeding herself, she's starving and throwing a serious fit!  Meals times just got a lot messier (and they weren't that neat to begin with!)



Katie's Chinese Teacher: Tong Lao Shi




• Katie went to Chinese Immersion Summer camp.  She had a week of Chinese and learned so much!  She had a program at the end of the week and those kids had learned songs, colors, numbers, enough to present to the parents.  I'm impressed.  Where I worried it would be too much for her, I wonder now if she hadn't been in the program, she'd be bored!

  

  Rodeo!

• Katie solidified reading over the summer!  She ended school with mid-level readers, and she's now reading a chapter book and similar!  I'm so impressed.  She is really a brilliant girl and I'm so proud of her!  (in more ways than one!)

  

  Farm Country Pony Ride



Car show at the Utah County Fair




• Amanda started preschool and loves it!  She wakes up early with Katie and is so excited to put on school clothes and get her backpack. I've never seen her so compliant with getting dressed, coming for hair styles, etc.  I'm so glad my girls love school.
• Ellie is such a tag along. She does whatever Amanda does.  She wants to play trains with Katie (but still destroys a fair amount).  She wants to ride bikes with Amanda.  She wants to read with Katie.  Last night, Ellie woke up at one a.m. (very unusual) and was frantic to find Katie.  She struggled to get out of my arms and ran down to the kitchen, then family room.  Finally, I had to take her into Katie's room and show her that Katie was in bed asleep before she'd calm down.  Then she had to find Dad (again, family room, then bed).  I wondered if she was spooked somehow.  Anyway, Ellie loves Katie.  Katie loves to cart around Ellie (and Amanda tries too as well---argh!) 



County Fair




• Ellie has also lately grown a love for a certain baby doll.  The very same, Katie's first doll (that I got at a thrift store!)  The funny thing: Katie loves that doll and is usually very protective of it. She won't share it with Amanda or friends-which is often a source of contention.  But, Katie hasn't tried once to take it from Ellie or limit Ellie with it!  I can almost see the sibling love!  Amanda, on the other hand, steals the doll from Ellie all day long!
• We went as a family to the Thanksgiving Point gardens (always so lovely) and the Dinosaur Museum (such a crowded zoo!).  I took the girls to Farm Country and stood in line for almost two hours for pony rides.  Ellie was terrified of the horse, so I basically held her at arms length, over the horse, for a couple of laps around the coral.  The things I do. . . . . :)  Amanda and Katie loved it, but they were ready to melt by that point.  We all loved the mini goats, the sheep, the horses.  We took a tractor-drawn wagon ride (the horse-drawn had a crazy line).  The girls then made friends with the driver, who let them sit in the tractor seat.
• Brett spent a lot more of the summer working that we've been used to.  That was definitely a benefit of the student status--summers were either lighter or had intermittent breaks in between things.  We missed him on a few of our adventures, but we're glad he could come on some.
• Amanda had her first "friend" birthday party.  It was a princess dress-up party and it was a hit!  We had all Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel.  They had fun making crowns, pinning the kiss on the frog prince, and dancing the "musical chairs ball".  I'm glad we had a no gift policy, and we almost at an entire cake this time.  Almost!
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• We took the girls to see an outdoor play of "Wizard of Oz" and "All Shook Up".  They loved dancing at All Shook Up, but not too impressed.  Wizard of Oz, however, was a huge hit!  They loved it and recreated it for weeks after.

  

  Car Show at the Fair

• Brett and I also went to the outdoor showing of "Fiddler on the Roof".  It was great-complete with rain and packed crowd.  I'm glad it was just the two of us and we enjoyed it.  Brett and I also went to Capitol Theater to see "Wicked" (thanks Lauretta!).  It was amazing!  I loved it and wondered how soon we can see it again (or when they'll make a movie!).  Really, so great!

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

Farm Country

In between that, we had picnics, play-dates, go-gurts, water guns, bike rides, county fair and rodeo, baseball games, walks, and duck feeding. It's been a busy summer and I was excited to have the structure of fall come, with a naturally enforced bedtime (everyone is tired by 7:30 pm now, not just Mom!)

We love Hootz the Owl!

Jedi battles.

7 Peaks

Anyway, I hope it's been fun and memorable for the girls.  We're on to becoming big now!
PS-Please forgive the horrible layout--I've had issues for the past 2 hours trying to get pictures to upload properly, and now I'm giving up!

the Beach

While in California, we spent a day at the beach.  Ellie was not a fan of sitting in the sand, or touching the cold water, but as long as she could sit on a towel and eat grapes, she was happy.  Katie and Amanda loved it and helped Dad start a sand castle.  They ended up just burying each other though.  Lots of fun!

 

 Katie fears nothing!

 Checking the hole size.  Ellie has no idea what's coming. . . .

 Katie thought it was fun to be buried in the sand; Amanda played along because her big sister did it.  Ellie just thought we were silly, and was ready to be out after about 90 seconds.  :)

 The group at the beach.  After we'd had our fill of playing, we went to that restaurant that's at the end of the pier.  It's called Ruby's.  It was a fun diner, and had awesome shakes and sundaes.  I know.  We tried them!