Catch Up... {December}

Once again, this month just flew by!  We had a fun filled December!

We went to Benj's work Christmas party at Red Rock... Benj insisted on the bowtie.  I like it though!



We tried to make a gingerbread house... it would NOT stay up.  But the girls had fun eating the candy.  :)





Lexi had her first piano recital.  She played Rudolph, first on her own then a duet with her teacher.  She did so good!!  She's only been in lessons since October, but she loves it so far!



Benj and I celebrated our 11 yr. anniversary.  My brother volunteered to babysit so we could go on a date.  We went to dinner at Terra Rossa in Red Rock and then saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie (loved it!).   Bret brought cousin Abby to come play and this is how we found her when we got home, snuggling with Ava in her bed.  :)  So cute.





Did this fun activity with the girls while on Christmas break... Baked Tortilla Snowflakes



Benj really wanted to take the girls sledding up at Mt. Charleston.  He had bought a sled a long time ago.  So we headed up and I got one picture before our camera battery died.  We got more pics on Benj's phone though.  The girls lasted about 20 min before they were "COLD!"  Yep, we are pretty wussy living here in the desert.





Catch Up... {November}

Wow, I have really slacked off with the blogging.  We had an eventful November!  I got to go on a girls trip... where did we go?  Omaha, Nebraska!!
One of my bestie's, Apryl moved there this summer and we had never been to Nebraska... so we flew there to see where she lives.  Thanks to my honey for holding down the fort and playing Mr. Mom that weekend.  He even had to deal with a sick Reesey Piece.  :(  But everyone survived!  This is just a small schedule I left for him:

 Apryl, Ashley, Me

We had a great visit and I've come to better terms of Apryl moving away from me now that I've seen where she lives.  ;)

My parents came to Vegas for Thanksgiving.  Bret and Natalia hosted, and it was awesome.  My mom and I did Black Friday shopping at midnight, just to hit Target and get a few deals.  Then our family left Friday morning for Utah.  Benj's sister Debbie got married and his whole family was there.  It was wonderful to see everyone and spend time with them!  All the cousins had a blast playing together, my girls were in heaven.

Lexi and Ava got to carry Debbie's train on her dress

We got to meet up with my parents again in Salt Lake as they were making their way back up to MT.  We went to dinner and went to Temple Square to see the lights.  Benj and I hadn't been since we lived in Logan, so it was cool to show the girls and it was amazing just as I remembered. 

                                                                                                    

Reese turned 18 months on Thanksgiving day!  She is growing up so fast.

She is talking so much!  She surprises us every day with a new word she now knows or some 2 word phrases.  Her favorite:  "Want some!"

She is 20 lbs. even

loves Good Luck Charlie (seriously, she screams when she hears the theme music)

hates nursery at church

is still hooked on a binky (I'm dreading the day we take it away... soon)

has THE cutest toddler run ever

waves to everyone when we are out in public

I have enjoyed catching up on reading all your blogs!  Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!

Halloween

                          We partied ALL weekend for Halloween this year.  From eating "spooky" foods,                                                        

to attending an adult only Halloween party (that's Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ya'll),

 to making Halloween sugar cookies,

 to carving pumpkins, and another pumpkin party with friends (pics are on my phone),

 to Benj's work trunk-or-treat,

 to our ward trunk-or-treat,

 to class Halloween parades.

We were so exhausted, that we skipped trick-or-treating on Halloween night all together.  Plus, our kids (and me) didn't need any more candy!  We stayed home and had our own little party.  We made our mummy pizzas, lit some candles, handed out candy  and watched Spooky Buddies.  :)   And yep, the kids were o.k. with that.   Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

I Can be Crafty...

There's this website called Pinterest that I may be a tad bit addicted to.  Basically it's a virtual bulletin board where you can collect all kinds of things you like from different websites or blogs.  I have "pinned" many recipes, crafts, kid items, tips for the home, etc.  It's like getting a new magazine in the mail every day (and yes, there's a pin of that quote.  :)  And a couple of weeks ago, I made my first craft from my "I can do this!" board.  If you know me well, you know I'm not really a crafty person... I would rather go out and buy a wreath than make one.  But I'm pretty proud of this.  There was quite a bit of running around (2 different trips to 2 different craft stores), but I did it!! 

You can find the wreath tutorial here. 

First Day of School

It's the first day of school!

Lexi is in 3rd grade and Ava is in Kindergarten... I can't even believe it. They were so excited this morning. No big breakfast in this house today, the girls were too stoked to eat much. Lexi has P.E. on Mondays, so she couldn't wear a skirt. But she sure was excited to wear her new Converse shoes. :)

Ava goes to school from 8-10:30. This new schedule is going to take some getting used to. She loved her first day and can't wait to go back tomorrow. And thank goodness for a.m. Kinder... she is napping as we speak.

Summer Wrap-up

Here are just a few pictures of what we've been up to in August:

Swimming lessons

The girls were here for 4 weeks, 3 times a week

Ava was a bit timid at first in the water, but did just fine and passed to the next level. (I signed them up for Level 1 two times, just in case) Lexi did just fine and probably should have been in Level 2. But we didn't do lessons last year, so she got to do Level 1 twice.

Mt. Charleston
We went up to the mountains one weekend to get out of the heat. We had a picnic and found some cool logs set up like teeter totters. After playing, we went for a fun hike.

Newport Beach, California

We went to Cali this weekend, just to play at the beach. It was so fun, the kids have a blast, it's hard to get them to leave. I am all sunburned, but I'm glad we got this last getaway before school started today.









Reese loved the ocean and the sand. The girl wouldn't sit in one spot for a minute. She mostly wanted to walk the beach, in the wet sand by the water. :)

Benj and the girls made a sand truck

This picture cracks me up. Ava was laying on her tummy and Reese copied her and laid down too. Wanting to be like big sister, I love it.

There is our summer wrap-up! Now on to school starting and getting back into a routine... I'm ready!

Hope you all had a wonderful summer!!

Lexi's Baptism

It's 3:15am and I can't sleep... so why not update my blog?
Lexi got baptized at the beginning of the month. She looked beautiful in her white dress. And she was especially excited to be getting baptized with 3 other friends from her primary class.

My parents

Noah, Lexi, Anna, Sam

We are so proud of the great decision Lexi made to be baptized! It was a special day. Thanks to all the family and friends who came to support her.

Montana

The girls and I road tripped it up to Montana in July, before Benj flew in for our family vacation. We had such a good time hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Here are a few pics:

Tea party on a rainy afternoon

Yard games

Romeo wanted to play too :)

Darby Logger Days

The duck pond

Helping Grandpa mow the lawn

Running through the sprinklers

Here is just a random pic of Reesey in her denim diaper.

It was so good to be home and to enjoy family. Thanks mom and dad for such a great visit!!