Christmas

Okay, I think I finally got my camera figured out. The pictures were too large and so it would take forever to download one picture. I figured out how to change the size and now they download super fast which is awesome. Hopefully now I will be able to keep up and maybe finally go back and finish blogging about the last three months but for now I will start with Christmas.

We had a great Chirstmas. My parents and brother when to Chicago while my sister had her baby so we celebrated with my parents a little early before they left and then we went to Utah for a few days to spend Christmas with Jonathan's family. It was very relaxing besides the lack of sleep we got most nights (teething baby- not fun). Abigale and Lydia are the only grandchildren on that side so they got plenty of attention! They actually did better when we werent around so we took advantage of that and left them with many babysitters while we enjoyed the time off. Jonathan and I went shopping, out to lunch, to movies, etc. It was great and the girls had a blast. (Lots of pics to follow:)

Abigale and her preschool group went caroling and it was really cute. Here they are holding their jingle bells:
Lydia was happy to be inside with her future husband. Right before this picture she kept kissing him and they would just laugh:

Every year we have a Christmas party with just our family. We get out an air mattress and watch Chirstmas movies and sing songs. We always have to end the night with Elf. It is getting more fun as the kids get older.
Eating pizza and watching the movie:

Usually involves a lot of jumping on the bed and playing:

Then we get creative:

Love this picture of her:

UTAH
We had to start the trip off with building a snowman since we had been promising Abigale. The snow was not quite cooperating but we did the best we could.

The girls loved it:

Grandpa Tanner getting in the action:

Happy as can be . . .

Until she face-planted! Her outfit was a little snug (a lot snug) so she couldnt really put her arms down (think Christmas Story) and so she landed right in the snow. (Being good parents, we had to get a picture before we helped her):

The final product:

Grandma had to save Lydia:

Inside for some relaxing time with grandma and grandpa:

The girls favorite part of Christmas was playing with the dog:

On Christmas Eve we took the girls to the Nickelcade so they could go on all the rides and they loved it:

Christmas Eve:

Pretty girl:

The best we could get with both of them:

Building a Gingerbread House with uncle Aaron. Right after she went to bed the house collapsed so we threw it away. First thing on Chirstmas morning Abigale wanted to go downstairs to see the house so we told her that Santa ate it, luckily she was excited about that!

Christmas morning!

The girls must have been very good this year because they got everything they wanted and much more! Random pictures but I thought they were cute:

Abigale sat down next to Lydia and told me to take a picture. Lydia was not loving the idea

Our friends just gave us this easel and the girls are obsessed with it:

We are Alive I Promise

So I have a lot of updating to do- trip to Park City, Jonathan's birthday, Abigale's birthday and Dora party, Halloween, pumpkin patch, etc. but blogger is not letting me upload my pictures. We just got a new camera (the main reason I have been missing from blogger- no camera so no pictures for a few weeks) and it is having a hard time recognizing the pictures or something. So stay tuned for lots of updates soon including our trip this weekend to Utah and Lydia's first birthday!

Trip Home to Pocatello

A few weeks ago, I took the girls and went to my parents house in Pocatello. I planned the trip to see my sister, who flew home from Chicago, and also to go to my cousin's wedding. We had a really fun and packed week and it was so great to see my sister with her cute belly (she is having a boy in December) and just relax and of course eat a lot of good food! We started at the Eastern Idaho State Fair which was full of good food (tiger ears- YUM!) and also animals which was Abigale's favorite.
Checking out the rides:

Lydia really wanted to get this ostrich while her sister was in the petting zoo. She kept yelling at it and reaching for it.

She loved feeding the animals

This duck snapped at her finger and she thought it was hilarious:

Papa and Abigale on a kangaroo ride. She loved the rides but she couldnt stop talking about the rides at Disneyland and wanted to go back.

We spent the rest of the week helping Papa mow the lawn:

Watching BYU football:

Spending time with family (Jeffrey, my cute pregnant sister, and my grandma and grandpa):

Made dry apples:

We made three cute halloween pillows (which I am still working on finishing): Watched movies on the laptop with Nana (Abigale was obsessed with watching Frosty the Snowman and I love Lydia's smile in this pic):

Our last night all together we made a fire in the fire pit and cooked spacemaker sandwiches. It was a beautiful night and Abigale couldnt get enough of all the attention. Poor Uncle Jeffrey had a little shadow all week but he was so great with her and Abigale had a blast:

It was also Jeffrey's birthday the day after they left so we surprised him with chocolate molten cake and as you can tell he was thrilled and surprised:

Abigale is lucky to have such a fun and crazy uncle who will play her games. I think he had playdough on his eyes or something:

Jonathan came for the last few days so that we could celebrate our 5 year anniversary together while my mom watched the kids (more on that later). We also took the kids to a petting zoo/park and then out for ice cream. It was a great ending to an amazing vacation.

Looking at the puppies:

LOVE this picture:

Family shot:

Our Sweet Little Lydia

I know it has been awhile since I posted but I wanted to dedicate a post to Lydia for my own rememberance so this might be really boring for most of you. Sorry in advance.

Anyway, Lydia is almost 10 months old and is still our little sweetheart but her personality is definitely becoming more apparent. She went to the doctor last week and she is no longer in the 98th percentile for weight! Here are her stats:

Weight: 21.3 lbs (85th %)

Height: 28.5 in (75th %)

More facts about Lydia:

-She is a little tease and will hold toys out for her sister and when Abigale tries to take it she will put it behind her back and smile.

-She just started to crawl (finally!) and can pull herself onto her knees and every once in awhile all the way to her feet

-When she is tired she gets delirious and will laugh so hard at anything and everything.

-Obviously she loves food. She is not picky and will eat anything you put in front of her and lots of it. I can never tell when she is full because she just keeps eating so I have to just cut her off.

- She is a great sleeper. She takes two naps a day like clockwork and usually both are for 2 hours or longer. She sleeps 10-12 hours straight almost every night but every once in awhile wakes up in the night. It is usually when her belly is hurting and as soon as i feed her she goes right back to sleep.

- When she wants to be put in her crib to sleep she will push away from me and arch her back.

- She only has her two bottom teeth.

- For some reason when she first sees someone she knows (grandparents, especially) she gets really nervous and starts to cry but after about 5 minutes she is fine. Just needs a little warming up.

- Whenever music comes on she starts swinging her hands and bouncing up and down.

- She always has a runny nose and her hair is almost always in her face because she likes to pull her hair things out.

- If she wants attention she will make grunting noises until you look at her and then she will just smile at you.

These are just a few things that came to mind about our Lydia that I dont want to forget. She is such a doll and we love having her in our family.