St. George- December 2011

We went to St. George between Christmas and New Years with my parents and the Cooks. Unfortunately, I only took one blurry picture of Julia. Fortunately, Corey got a picture of Macy with her first ever fish.

Christmas 2011

Christmas card 2011

Christmas 2011 started out crazy for us. JD and I were in charge of our ward Christmas brunch. Man, I was happy and exhausted when that was over.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the cultural hall after it was decorated but here are some of the trees we used to decorate the tables. We folded about 30 magazine trees, glued sequins to styrofoam forms and bought a few at them.

After the party we were ready to focus on our family Christmas and went to get a tree. We ended up with a little live tree, that is now planted in our backyard. Maybe in a few years it will be our big Christmas tree.

This was our first year with an elf and it was really fun.

Macy was Mary for the Summerhays Christmas Eve nativity on Christmas Eve. She was so cute and took the role very seriously.

The girls were excited and adorable on Christmas morning. I took video of the present opening and apparently didn't get any pictures.

Macy had to check if the reindeer ate the carrots she left for them. They are very messy eaters.

I loved having Christmas on a Sunday.

We then had a great night with the Ashby family.

Macy was an angel.

Christmas with kids is such an exciting and magical time but most of all, I hope that I can teach them the importance and miracle of the birth of our Savior.

Ballerina

JD and I loved going to parent observation day at Macy's ballet class.  She was really into it.  She was very good at memorization and following directions.  Her free dancing was hilariously good and our homework needs to be skipping. 

We love our little princess ballerina!

Fall 2011

four wheeling in the backyard

September 11th memorial

canyon drive to look at the leaves ending with a walk around Silver Lake

Corn bellies

Julia's First Haircut

The mullet had to be stopped so Julia got her first little haircut on November 19th.  It is much harder than it looks to cut a straight line, after her hair dried I was trying to even it out for days.  I don't think I will doing very many more haircuts.

I love her little face!

Happy Halloween

Double First Day

On September 7th, Macy had her long-awaited first day of preschool and dance class.


She has been so excited for school this year and was counting down the days until she could see Miss Debbie (or, as Macy pronounces it, "Stebbie") again.

She was also excited for ballet class, though she did inform me that she already knows how to dance. She insisted that the pose below is what ballerinas do. So, she may be able to learn a few things after all.

Summer 2011- Part 2

we went to the reservoir 2 or 3 times with cousins 

We visited IKEA, the aquarium, the zoo and the park all more than once

Despite Macy's cast and then Julia's bandages we had a great summer!

Julia's Accident

Julia burned her little hands on the oven door.  It was heartbreaking.  She cried for about an hour and was a total trooper after that.  We had to go up to the University of Utah burn unit to have them looked at.  We had to apply ointment, keep them bandaged, and stretch her wrists and hands for two or three weeks.  We were so blessed that she healed very quickly and fully.

Leaving the doctor's office the day it happened.  Look at those sad eyes.

It happened the night before Macy got her cast off. The nurse bandaging her happened to pick matching bandages.
So they were twins for  the night.  I was afraid instacare would call child services.

She adapted to the bandages quickly and didn't let them slow her down much.

Macy's Summer Accident

On our first big outing onto the parkway with Macy's new bike, she took a healthy tumble. And broke her arm. She had buckle fractures in both forearm bones. She wore a splint and sling for a week and a half and then a neon-green cast for four weeks. She was very brave and never complained about the cast. The scrape near her eyebrow made us very glad that she was wearing a helmet and it wasn't worse. And we are all happy the cast is now off and she is asking to ride her bike again.

2011 Summer: Part One

Grammy and Grandpa are home after three years!

not pictured: trip to the zoo, swimming, birthday parties, playing at parks, walks, bike rides, family events and playing with cousins.  


This is our first "out of school for summer" summer. We are making sure to pack in the fun. We are trying to catch up this week with quiet time in the backyard, snuggling up on the couch reading (mostly the same favorite books over and over), cleaning the house, and finishing a few projects.  We will then be ready to pack in the activities for the last six weeks of summer.

Tiny Parties

I love planning parties!  Especially for the little ones I love best. We had a tiny party for Julia. We ate tiny hamburgers, taquitos, mini corndogs, mini watermelon, mini veggies, mini sodas and waters. Macy and I made mini pinatas for all the kids. I realize I go overboard but I love it, it is my creative outlet. She got the most adorable gifts and sincerely loves them all.

Like always one of my favorite details was JD's additions. The front of the invitation read, "a teeny cake, a ton of fun, a tiny girl is turning one." JD added to the back, "DISCLAIMER: Julia is tiny compared to the average human being.  Next to another baby, she might not appear tiny."

I have a post coming on Julia's birth story and all the reasons we love her so much.