Family Photo

For my birthday we went to dinner with Reed and Jackie and afterwards I thought, we need a new family photo.

Well here it is...

Christmas Eve 2011

We'll start with Christmas Eve since I have so many fun pictures to share. Christmas Eve 2011 was definitely one for the record books. For starters we were able to be with Shae's family this year which was wonderful. Christmas Eve was spent with Shae's two brothers and their families and Grandma and Grandpa. It was a normal evening, nothing crazy had happened. Then was all opened our gifts from Shae's brother Darin. Him and his wife had made all of us Marshmallow Guns!!! The basement of Reed and Jackie's house quickly turned into a war zone. For the next 30 minutes we dodged and ducked from flying marshmallows. It was so much fun!

Rhaegan and Atalya were being Charlie's Angels or something in this picture. So Serious. 

Before all the chaos began we all opened up one gift from grandma and grandpa. 

When Marlee opened hers she was overjoyed by what she found inside. The Lion King is one of Marlee's favorite shows so finding a kissing Nala and Simba was almost more than she could handle. 

Rhaegan got her princess nightgown which is something she had been asking for for months. 

It was a great Christmas Eve. Christmas Day pictures to come...

It's about time

Well, it's been almost a whole month since my last post and I hate that. December and January have been the busiest months ever. I finally have a free second to sit and update. Over the Christmas break we were able to do a lot of fun activities. One of which was bowling. I'm not good at bowling but I love to do it. Rhaegan and Marlee also enjoyed themselves tremendously. Marlee, as you can see, watched intently as each ball rolled down the lane. So intently, in fact, that she didn't even notice her pants falling down.

We went with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor and our cousins. We all had a great time and can't wait to go again. 

I will be including more Christmas pictures soon....stay tuned!

We Tried

We attempted to take a family Christmas picture this year but it did not work out the way I had hoped it would. Here are two okay shots. Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Rhaegan's 6!

I can't believe this day is actually here. Today my litttle girl turned six! I honestly remember bringing her home from the hospital, all 6 lbs of her. She has been such an amazing blessing in our lives. I am so proud and honored to be her mom. Her birthday actually started yesterday on the 9th. We decided to do all the family gifts then because her party was going to be today and we wanted to spread out the gift opening. So Friday morning she opened up some gifts from Aunts & Uncles, Grandparents and us.

I'm not sure why Marlee decided to be sleeping in the picture

Rhaegan was so excited as she opened each and every present. Her face just sparkled as she discovered what was underneath the wrapping paper.

Of course books are always a safe buy for Rhaegan and thanks to Auntie Krista and Uncle Josh and Grandma and Papa Cupps she got a good amount of them.

This Ariel Jewelry box was also a huge hit. Anything princess that sings is going to be a keeper.

Then this morning we had a birthday breakfast of orange rolls and scrambled eggs, one of her favorites.

My favorite part of the birthdays is the cake. I love decorating cakes, cookies, etc. Then her birthday party began. She had been asking for about 2 weeks if it today was the day. Luckily my answer was yes today.

All her birthday guests

Patiently waiting for the pinata

And of course pizza was served! The party was a Panda party with the inspiration coming from Rhaegan's stuffed panda bear. With a panda party the color scheme is a little boring; black and white. So I added a little hot pink to make it a little more girly. Everything turned out great and Rhaegan was so excited to share her birthday with her best friends and family. We love you, Rhaegan!

Christmas Party

Our ward Christmas party turned out to be quite enjoyable. I was asked to be in charge of the kid area which luckily I had helped with in our ward back in Utah. I had a few ideas so it wasn't too bad. I got foam ornament kits for the kids make their own ornaments, had a table with Christmas coloring pages and crayons and of course I movie playing in the corner. It was a big hit.

Rhaegan and Marlee were both great helpers and loved teaching the kids how to make the ornaments. 

The movie kept the attention of so many kids it was amazing. 

The food was yummy and the entertainment was great. Shae was asked to participate in the 12 Days of Christmas skit so of course I signed him up to be the 10 Lords a Leaping. He had to leap across the stage like a ballerina. It was so funny. 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Our Thanksgiving was welcomed with a case of Croup. Marlee woke up during the night with this cough that sounded like I was sleeping next to a huge seal. She couldn't breathe very well and was very warm. Our kids have never had Croup before so I wasn't sure what to do or even what was really wrong. Of course it had to be Thanksgiving morning when her doctors office was closed. So at about 7am we took her to the E.R. They knew right off what it was, gave her a dose of Dexamethasone (steroid) and off we went. She slept a lot that day and didn't eat anything but she was still typical Marlee.

Marlee even wanted to help by setting the table.  

Then it was back to the couch where her binkie and blanket were waiting for her. 

Rhaegan was worried about her all day. She helped her whenever she needed something which was great for all of us adults since we were spending a good portion of the day cooking. We had great food and delicious desserts so our Thanksgiving turned out just fine.