Christmas Day

This Christmas was a little different than past years.  In the past, we have spent Christmas Day in Cache Valley, but this year we came home Christmas Eve so we could spend Christmas Day at home.  It was a hard change, but a very good change.  It was nice to just spend the day opening presents at a leisurely pace and playing with our presents.

Clara and Ashlyn were very excited for their Barbie doll house.

Ashlyn loved her outfit and matching outfit for her doll.

Clara also loved her outfit and matching outfit for her doll.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with the Gittins family.  We ate, played games, had a visit from Santa Claus, and opened presents.

Christmas Activities

Each year, we make a schedule of Christmas activities that we want to do during the month of December.  We try to do one activity each day.

Clara's letter to Santa. She asked for a Ken doll, a Barbie house, and a toy bird.

Ashly's letter to Santa. She asked for a beautiful pink dress, a pink baby doll, a doll house, a pen, a pink and purple fan, and a ping pong game.  She also wanted to see Santa and for Santa to love her.

We cut out snowflakes.

We went to the electric light parade.

We bought presents for a little girl from the Angel Tree.  Clara and Ashlyn were insistent that we give her sparkly pink shoes.

We decorated our Christmas tree.

We decorated our house.

Clara had a dance recital.

Ashlyn had a dance recital. She danced to Frosty the Snowman.

After their dance recital, the girls got to sit on Santa's lap.

We went to Temple Square to look at the lights.

We delivered gifts to our neighbors.

Owen as a Little Sister

Like most little boys with big sisters, Owen has had his fair share of experiences where his sisters treat him as a doll and dress him up like a little girl.

Thanksgiving

Per tradition, we had two Thanksgiving dinners.  We had lunch with Jeffry's family and dinner with Aubree's family.  We also stayed an extra day with Aubree's family.

When Jeff eats Thanksgiving dinner, he mixes up the whole plate into one big mess.

Clara and Ashlyn at Hooper Springs.

Clara and Ashlyn playing "Pooh stick" (from Winnie the Pooh) on a bridge in Soda Springs.

Clara and Ashlyn at the geyser in Soda Springs.

Owen

Owen is growing so much.  Here are some pictures from the last few months.

Anniversary Gift

For a few years, Aubree has been wanting a nice wheat grinder.  So for our anniversary, I surprised her by buying her one for our anniversary.  She was very excited to get it!

Halloween

This year for Halloween, Clara dressed up as a pirate princess, Ashlyn was a fairy dancer, and Owen was a lion.

Autumn Leaves

We always get a lot of leaves in our back yard.  Once again, the girls loved watching us rake them up into a big pile and then jumping in them.

Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  The girls loved doing the small hay maze and picking out their own pumpkins.  And they had a lot of fun painting the pumpkins when we got home.