When Grandma comes to town...

My mom arrived in Utah on Thursday and everyday since then has been filled with fun and surprises. Her parents (Oma and Opa Plumb) celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary last month so all the kids decided to throw them a surprise party. My mom and her sisters arrived on Wednesday and Thursday and then it was off to preparing the special event. Friday we shopped and shopped and, oh yeah, shopped some more. Along with the food and decorations for the party our purchases included a new big girl bed for Rhaegan!!! She has still been in her crib and I figured since there is another child on the way it was probably about time to promote Rhaegan to a big bed. She loves it (well jumping on it at least).I loved this picture because it shows everyone how long her hair is. I just can't bring myself to cut it yet.
The big SURPRISE... my brother and his family decided last minute to make the long drive up to the party without telling my mom. The look on her face when they walked through my front door was priceless. I think the words "oh my crap" came out of her month at least 4 times. It was so much fun.

Then it was off to cooking. Well my mom did the cooking and I did the cleaning up. She made two salads that were both amazing. I will post the recipes later.


And of course Rhaegan was so excited to see her cousins. We hadn't seen Paige since she could walk so that was an extra treat for us.

Trick or Treat

We had a lot of fun this year on Halloween. Rhaegan is finally old enough to understand the whole trick or treating concept. She was so excited to show off her costume and to be able to trick or treat with her cousins. I was a little afraid that Rhaegan wouldn't go up a knock on the doors much less say "trick of treat." I was completely wrong (thank goodness). She walked right up to each door, opened her bag and patiently waited for her turn to receive her candy. It was so fun to watch. I can't believe how big and independent she's getting. We hope you all had a great Halloween. This was an amazing feat for Rhaegan to walk through this entrance. She really wanted the candy though so she put on her brave face and walked right up to the door. Getting her to stop directly underneath for a picture was a little harder though.
A little stop for a mommy/daughter picture.

As you can tell Rhaegan was a butterfly. She wanted to be Ticker Bell but the costume was too expensive and not warm enough so she decided to settle on the butterfly. She loved the wings and was always wanting me to take pictures of them.

Rhaegan and her cousin Atalya preparing to head out on the town.

...and it's going to be a.......

Well the verdict is in and I thought Rhaegan should be the one to tell everyone. She's the one who's inheriting a new brother or sister. I have to say though that we are all really excited and can't wait for his....or her arrival.

Rhaegan's new favorite thing...

Rhaegan has a new crush....it's Michael Phelps. When we were at Costco the other day we were picking out cereals and as we approached the Frosted Flakes we hear Rhaegan say, "It's Michael Phelps." What did you just say was my first thought. The Olympics have been over for 2 months but Michael's lasting impression will apparently last a lifetime. Of course we purchased the cereal and thought that that was the last we'd hear of Rhaegan's crush. However, this morning as Rhaegan and I were eating our breakfast she couldn't concentrate on anything else but the Frosted Flake cereal box. Luckily I had my camera right there and was able to capture this video. I honestly didn't tell her what to say. This is all a little two year old suffering from an adorable crush.

Hiking the "Y"

A couple of weekends ago, Shae, Rhaegan and I decided it was the perfect time to introduce Rhaegan to what most BYU alumni and students call "hiking the Y." I use to hike up to the "Y" at least 3 times a week with my cousin Natasha before I got married and I am here to tell you ladies, there is no better workout for your hind quarters. We really should have had a backpack of some sort to carry Rhaegan in but we didn't and we still made it work (Shae carried her on his shoulders, bless his heart). We actually had a lot of fun and the view, as you can kind of see from the pictures was beautiful. There was a storm rolling in across the valley and from way up of the mountain you could see it in its entirety. Rhaegan had a fun time and still asks us when we can "climb the Y again."
I had to get a picture from the top. Well we weren't quite there but it's all the same.

My New Favorite Thing

My new favorite thing (which I was suppose to post Saturday but forgot) is Royal Chocolate Cheesecake. I made it several days ago and oh my goodness, it was to die for.


I am also loving all of the fun Halloween treats I've been seeing on the cooking channel, on the Internet, in magazines. The only "Fall" treat I've made were pumpkin cookies with a vanilla icing. I think Rhaegan and I are going to try this fun treat this week.

I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great week!

It's snow time...

We had our first snowfall this past Sunday. All the kids were so excited to get all their winter gear on and head on outside. Rhaegan was so excited to wear her snow boots (which are too small now). Her snowsuit still fits which is nice but we had to go buy her new gloves and a new hat. I hate how fast she's growing. She was having so much fun running around...

sitting around....
and sliding around. Rhaegan loves the snow which isn't the greatest development for me because I'm not the biggest fan. Shae may have to so a lot of the sledding and snowman making this year.