Our cows...

We have three cows in the pasture out back and everyday Harper loves to go see them. The other day she wandered on out all by herself because she couldn't wait for us any longer. I was able to capture the moment from the back deck. That black cow is scared of everyone. He is constantly by his mom's side. However, Harper has some special powers because he immediately came over to her. I love that my kids love animals almost as much as their mom does!!

Marlee's 5!!!

Well the day arrived and it was definitely bittersweet. Marlee has always seemed older than she is because she is constantly trying to do whatever Rhaegan is doing. But today she seemed 4 going on 5 because I would not allow myself to admit anything different. I don't want any of my kids to get older but when it comes to Marlee, I get teary- eyed thinking about her aging. She is such an amazing little munchkin and everything she does or says makes us all smile. 

Her birthday party had to be spectacular this year, according to her, and it had to include horses/unicorns. She LOVES horses and unicorns and even asked for a real horse as her only present. I tried to do my best to give her the party of her dreams while staying within a very strict budget:) Her cake was my favorite part of the whole event. I love making my kids' birthday cakes! She was so excited to see this beautiful unicorn on top.

The next best part was watching her greet her guest, all three of them:) From left to right: Rhaegan, Marlee, Savannah, Emalee. (Missing from the picture: kaylee and memselle).

She received a lot of wonderful gifts!! Unfortunately we weren't able to get her a real horse this year but we told her not to lose hope for one another year;-)

This was as close to a real horse as she got!

I love my little gooser!!

I hate that she's a year older but I love the wonderful little lady she's becoming!!! Happy Birthday, Marlee!!!

Valentines day

Shae has claimed valentine's day as his holiday and each year he does such an amazing job surprising our girls with cute little gifts and treats. This year was no different!!!

I even got my box of chocolates! 

SNOW!!!!

Our girls have been waiting all winter for a good snowfall but it never came. Then last weekend their wishes came true. We received about a foot of snow over two days and you better believe they enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Harper enjoys sitting in the snow but the minute you stick her in a sled she's not a happy camper. We of course made her go anyway because we knew she would love it after a while:)

Marlee is our little snow angel. She will just lay there making snow angels until she's blue all over.

Yummy!!!

Our three little snow bunnies!

And a big smooch from daddy to finish our day of sledding. We are so glad it decided to snow!!

Christmas 2013

This year for Christmas we got to head down to Utah and spend it with my mom and dad, my sister and her daughter and my grandparents. It was so much fun!!! The girls were of course spoiled beyond repair.

Christmas Eve movie with papa was one of the highlights. My girls really wish we lived closer to them!

Then Christmas morning was filled with a massive amount of presents and pictures. Marlee had been asking for the game Pop the Pig and when she saw that Santa had remembered she was thrilled!

Harper was loving ripping the wrapping paper. She didn't really care what was inside though.

Harper loved Avery right from the start. Unfortunately, Avery didn't share the same amount of affection towards Harper. Luckily his toy was a great buffer between the two:)

We had a great time!! Hopefully next year we can be together again. Living so far away for everyone is definitely not a favorite of mine.

8 Years Old!!!

This little girl is no longer little; she is 8 years old!! I still can't wrap my head around this concept yet. She was just a baby and now she's getting her ears pierced and completely into fashion. Where did the time go? She told me a couple years ago that she wanted her ears pierced but I told her she had to wait until she was eight years old. Well the time arrived:(

She was so brave and so excited!!! I don't know if I was worried it was going to hurt for her or if I was just sad because she is older but I was so emotional while she was sitting there all brave and stoic. 

I try to make my kids' cake each year for their birthdays. Rhaegan wanted a purse cake so I did the best I could. She loved it so it was a success.

Friends and cousins came to celebrate with her making her day super special!!

Grandma Cupps sent a box with 8 presents in it because she was turning 8. Of course for any kids opening 8 presents is a dream come true. Among those eight presents was a pair of gloves and hat. Rhaegan was thrilled because all she has are mittens and mittens are apparently not cool anymore. She was hoping Santa would bring her some gloves for Christmas. Now he doesn't have to:) Happy Birthday, Rhaegan!!! We love you so much and can't believe how grown up you've become. We are so happy and proud to be your parents and hope you had a wonderful day!

Holiday Spirit

I love chocolate covered pretzels!! The mixture of salty and sweet flavors is irresistible. This year I thought it would be fun for Rhaegan and Marlee to make some of these yummy treats. They had a blast and I think they all turned out beautifully!

Rhaegan, my little perfectionist, was still decorating long after Marlee had finished and left the room. It was definitely a fun family activity for us. It might just have to become a new family tradition:)