Disney on Ice

Last month we had the fabulous opportunity to take the girls to Disney on Ice -Dare to Dream at the US Airways Center with the Daynes. Averi dressed up as Mini Mouse and her friend Quin dressed like Snow White. They looked SO cute! I was curious to see if the show was going to keep Averi's attention the whole time but there was not a dull moment.

 

This picture captures the moment perfectly

 Doug being a nerd

 We got to see Princess Tiana, Cinderella, and Rapunzel (Averi's favorite).

 We debated getting a sitter for Kadence and leaving her home but she actually did pretty well and enjoyed the show up until the end when she started getting restless.

I felt like a celebrity walking along the sidewalk having almost everyone ooh and aah over how cute Kadence looked in her cute bunny jacket.

Averi's First day of Primary!

I can't believe Averi is already out of nursery. Kinda sad but also fun. I was a little unsure how she was going to do with the change, but she actually was excited "to sing songs in primary". She sat next to her friend McKenna and didn't seem to even notice (or care) that I left.

 

Doug and I each peeked in on her to see her in Primary and Doug caught her and her friend Zach goofing off. They were leaning forward and then throwing their heads back. Sounds super fun! Anyway, her teacher told them to stop, so they did. But then Averi whispered to Zach and they did it again. Little stinker!

Christmas 2012

 Christmas Eve-Eve. All ready for church in the adorable dresses from Grandma and Grandpa (not Doug, he's in a suit!).

 On Christmas Eve we went to the Daynes and celebrated by eating dinner and decorating sugar cookies for Santa. There was also a puppet show of Little Red Riding Hood, but it was a little hard to follow given that the director (and most of the participants) was under 6 years old :) So cute anyways though! The kids loved decorating the cookies but I think they enjoyed eating them more than decorating them. Averi would lick the knife every other time she stuck it into the frosting. Needless to say, she got a tummy ache on Christmas (and unfortunately also got a fever which luckily didn't turn in to anything). Too much fun, I guess.

We finished off our time at their house with a dance party to our favorite Christmas songs. Those kids have got some mad moves! 

The finished cookies

 Christmas morning!

Averi woke up long before Kadence so we debated whether to start the festivities without her. We decided to let Averi ride her new bike (which she was ecstatic about!) and see the presents that Santa didn't wrap. We started to open stockings but then I started feeling bad that Kadence was sleeping through the fun (not that she would have cared). So finally I got her out of bed against her will and brought her downstairs. We had a bit of a rough start with her and we were starting to regret waking her up! She had been battling a bad diaper rash for a few days likely due to a change in diet (and too many sweet potatoes). It was so bad that it would actually bleed in spots... poor little baby. Anyways, during the day I would often just let her crawl around in the buff so it could air out. So Christmas morning she woke up with a messy diaper so I changed her, and while she was without diaper (in a matter of seconds) she peed on the carpet. Ugh! After I got it cleaned up, I figured "well she already peed and pooped so I'm sure she will be fine without a diaper for a few minutes". Nope! She pooped on the carpet too, so we had a lot of frantic cleaning to do before we actually got to look in our stockings. This picture was taken after all that:

  

 Kadence enjoyed opening presents for about 15 minutes and then turned grumpy so we set her up in her high chair with some snacks. She enjoyed eating blueberry muffins and crackers while watching the rest of us open presents. So easy (yet so hard) to please! She is also sporting her new "I heart cupcakes" shirt given to her by Cousin Rix.

 

 Averi opening a present from Kaly

 Kadence's Stash...most of it

 (most of) Averi's stash. She also got a Beta fish that she named "Blue" and another outfit that she just couldn't wait to wear!

 Christmas evening we had dinner with our friends the Andrews and their two boys. The food was amazing and we had a great time. Unfortunately Averi wasn't feeling well (this is when she got the fever) and just vegged on the couch the whole time.

We are so grateful for the good friends that we have made here. We missed seeing our families over the holidays but we really did have a very merry Christmas!!

Sittin' with Santa - Round Two

We had our ward Christmas party on the 8th. It was a pancake breakfast. Since I was on the planning committee, I got to flip pancakes for a while while Doug and Averi got ready for the the Nativity. They both got to be shepherds. Averi was pretty stoic about the whole thing and was a bit mopey even (Doug just ended up carrying her out onto the stage) but it was still really cute to see her up there.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to flip this picture. This was at the rehearsal the night before.

Kadence siting in Santa's lap. She wasn't  too agreeable about it but she did much better than she did the first go around.

 Averi still pretty non-expressive (and completely silent) with Santa.

 Us

 The kiddos. I was babysitting Katelyn that day so we got to bring her with us. Averi loved it!

Sittin' with Santa - Round One

My friend Tammy told be about a title company that was hosting a free Christmas Party for kids on Thursday night. I am SO glad we went! First, the kids got to sit on Santa's lap. Averi had fallen asleep in the car on the way there so she was unsociable (to say the least) with Santa. She didn't mutter a word and I had to basically just hold her near him. Kadence, on the other hand was quite vocal about her opinion on the matter. She was NOT thrilled with the situation. She started screaming bloody murder the minute she was put on his lap. Haha! Poor little thing. Luckily, she went right back to her charming self after being rescued. Then we got our free copies of pictures with Santa and a ticket for "Santa's Candy Shop".

no, my hair is not green in real life!

this has to be one of my favorite pictures of her :)

 

After visiting Santa, the kids (Averi and Katelyn) went to the next room to spin the prize wheel. Averi won a penquin tatoo. Then they went on to the cookie decorating room and decorated sugar cookies. Lastly, they went to Santa's candy shop to redeem their tickets for a bag full of various types of candy. I should also mention that there were snacks, sodas, and cookies for everyone to enjoy as well. I could not believe it was all free!! I am definately doing that again next year.

Thanksgiving 2012

 

 Thanksgiving morning me and the girls went across the street to watch Doug play (or should I say star) in Turkey Bowl 2012! It was fun as always getting to watch the game, mingle with friends, and play on the playground.

 

Dinner commenced at about 2pm.

 The only think Averi would eat was the corn and a roll. And I was left to eat all of the sweet potatoes and raspberry salad on my own :) The more, the better, in my opinion! YUM!

 

 

Here is Kadence finishing off the left-overs. Okay... maybe just bits of a roll.

here's a bit of roll stuck to her face to prove it :)

Dogs and more dogs

So I signed up online a while back to be a host for a dog-sitting website. I didn't really think much would come of it but a few weeks later, I got a "job". Two shih-tzus needed a place to stay for 4 days over the Thanksgiving weekend. Coincidentally, I dog-sat a friend's new puppy over the holiday as well. It all went down fairly smoothly and of course Averi was loving it! She would always tell the dogs "oh, you are such a cute little puppeeeee" while scratching their necks and petting their backs. She is obsessed with animals :)

Here are the kiddos with Tinkerbell and Kenai at the park. They were pretty good little pups overall, and were surprisingly tolerable of the kids.

 Averi surrounded by dogs on the porch...her personal heaven!

 Kadence quite enjoyed towering over the dogs while they were in the kennel too :)

Cute lil pup