Happy 4th birthday Iris

Iris is 4!  Where o where did those years go??  Goodbye baby...hello little girl!

Rainbow Dash My Little Pony cake

Look who's moving in for some icing!

Our house is now exploding with ponies and princesses.  Lucky girl!

December fun

We've had lots of snow in Salt Lake already this winter and we've tried to make the most of it.

Backyard fun

My bundled beauty

Fun on the Dad designed backyard sled run

Ready for a run at the sled hill

Rosy cheeks

Post hot tubbing snow angels. Jeff is not going to fly very far!

Barrick Christmas Party

I just needed to put these pictures up as evidence that the old folks still get out and have some fun!  Too much fun in this case, but it was our one night a year to get fancy for the Barrick Holiday party.  It was at the Grand America this year.  We didn't win the amazing raffle, but we had good company and good food and the night was a blast. These are pictures of pictures from the photo booth they had, so a little blurry but still fun.

Christmas 2013

I just realized my last post was November 1.  I've been slacking!  O well...just in time for a Christmas post.
We had another fun holiday.  At 3 and 6 years old, both kids are still believers in the man in red.  We left him some milk and pie and Miles even made him a present.  We made sure to leave both things right near the fireplace so they wouldn't be missed :)
It was the year for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Legos, My Little Pony, Sophia the First and a whole bunch of other fun stuff.  And again...I looked around at all the fun and all the love and was so thankful for family, health (minus the bronchitis that rocked my world for the past 2 weeks), shelter, food in the fridge, a job I really like, etc.

My favorite!

A chocolate a day...

Gingerbread fun

Note the icing all over his face. Tis the season!

Door decorations compliments of Miles

Tree trimming

Twas the night before Christmas...

Proof of the love

Their not-so-secret hiding spot

Personalized Portable North Pole message from Santa.  The kids LOVE them!

Iris, 3 years old

The sure sign winter is coming

Fillin' the tub!  Let it snow!!!

Goodbye tooth #2

Thanks Mrs. Lund for the sweet packaging

Sporting the gap

Halloween Happenings

We had a busy week or so surrounding Halloween.  We made our first trek to a place called Corn Bellys, which claims to have one of the biggest corn mazes in the country.  Tip for anyone headed into a corn maze...make sure you take water and remember to sunscreen if it's a 75 degree sunny fall day. It will make the experience much more enjoyable!
We also went to Garden After Dark up at Red Butte Garden, which we do every year.  We met up with a bunch of folks and the posse of kids went wild.  It was fun.  I just feel like I need tracking devices on my kids these days when we are in a crowd!
We hosted the 6th annual Dickey Pumpkin Carving Party last weekend.  We had awesome weather and a big crowd of friends.  We did more preparation ahead of time so I actually had time to mingle and eat and catch up with some people I haven't seen in much too long.  I really miss our old Brookhill Drive neighbors.
Halloween was yesterday.  It was a day full of costumes at school, parades and multiple trick or treating sessions that resulted in way too much candy sitting on my counter today!  The kids loved running around with the neighbors for a bit, then we finished the night down the road in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood.  Miles crossed paths with some new school friends and that was pretty fun.  Good times!

Fun at Corn Bellys

In the maze...before the excitement wore off

Corn monster! 

Garden After Dark. Quinn, Amber, Grayson, Miles and Iris

Why not show my Halloween spirit with paint, right?!

Speaking of showing Halloween spirit...who is that masked man and what is he doing in my kitchen?!

The artists in action

At work on his gargoyle

First Steps Halloween parade.

Cutest witch in town

Love them so much! 

Goblin Valley

We just took our last camping trip of the season.  We went to Goblin Valley, which is becoming a bit of a fall tradition.  It was cold but fun.  I was very thankful for many layers of blanket in our nest!  We stayed for 3 nights which made it feel like a real getaway and not just chaos with a lot of drive time.  I hope the kids continue to dig camping as much as they do now because I love the quality family time.

Happy campers

What's in the hole Miles?!

Her first hike with her very own Camelback

Follow me

Look Ma, one hand!

There are worse places for a snack break

Exploring Little Wild Horse Canyon

"I'm just resting Mom"

Sarah Daly covered with a pile of lovely little girls

Munching apples while high above the goblins

Posing

Relaxing in her throne

“There is beauty, heartbreaking beauty, everywhere.”
― Edward Abbey

Girls Trip to Indiana

I couldn't stand the thought of not getting back to Indiana until next summer so Iris and I packed our bags and headed back for a great visit.  We all would have gone, but Miles is in school now and we didn't want him to miss that many days.  I had good family and friend time and the weather was perfect.  Indiana in September is the place to be!  As always, I would have loved several more weeks back there, but it helped that I had the boys back here to come home to.  See you all next July!

Cute cousins

Striking a pose!

Just a swingin'

Love, love, love my bros

All but Jen...smiling at 3 different cameras but i love it

Sarah, Meg and I

Miss you Mom and Dad

Cousins at the Ft. Wayne zoo.  Iris was apparently feeling like an animal!

Fun on Loon Lake

My BFF since high school.  Amy with Rose.