Christmas and Birthday( or lots more pictures of my kids...)

So I finally got my Christmas decorations put away a week ago and I thought I would finally do a post about some of our December activities. Enjoy!

These are not my kids but my kids did make them or decorate them I should say. We bought these ones pre-made from the store for a fun activity at Grandmas.
For Christmas we did a 25 day countdown. Each day of our advent had not only candy but also an activity for us to do. Here we are the first night playing Christmas Bingo.
This was Bananas EARLY birthday party. We had it at the start of December so we could make Christmas cookies!! First friend b-day party I ever let her have and we only invited 2 people but it was still crazy-but it was fun.
Yes this is my beautiful disaster. She tends to use the frosting and sprinkles like lotion...
Here is my detail oriented lady. She is precise and thoughtful in almost everything she does.
Aww My girl at her first ever school singing concert. She was the "star of the show" (I didn't say it her teacher did) But I did agree!
Candy Houses are always fun- and tasty!
Bear punched a hole in the roof and filled the whole thing with candy like a bank.
Oh here we go cooking again- this time gingerbread cookies for Santa- Daddy was our official taster.
Look no frosting lotion!! Success- oh wait I did the frosting they did the candy on these ones...
Trying to get a nice picture of our Christmas Eve Jammies....hmmm
Bananas sings for the Family
Bear cutes it up on the floor. Love this one of her!
After Christmas we spend a few days in St George. We went on a nice hike to Johnson's Arch. It was perfect for young kids- and our of shape people like me....not to strenuous but beautiful.
She was fearless running ahead and climbing high.
She preferred to keep her feet on the ground and play in the dirt.
Here we are in front of the arch. I just love the red rocks and the green brush. We also went past the arch and down on into a little alcove and played echo.
I love my girlies -
The snow storm that drove us home early from St. George was well worth it for the ladies.
Here she is my beautiful 6 year old girl. I can't believe how big she is getting.
Love the big puffy cheeks- and the cute headband Aunt Amanda made!
This one is for Grandpa!

IT HAS BEEN HOW LONG.....or what we have been doing since July.

Look at my cute Family!!

You know I am not a very good mommy blogger. I have to say I am the same way about writing in a journal. Really consistent for a while then....not so consistent. If you asked me as a teen what my biggest weakness is I would have said procrastination. Now if you asked me I think I would answer consistency. So here is a quick catch up of some of the stuff we have been up to for the last 4 months.

This little Bear had her 3rd birthday. I can not believe it. She is growing up so fast.

These are the cupcakes she requested. Chocolate with pink frosting.
We did get a little time in with nature. This was a beautiful hike around a lake. I can not remember where it was, and my hubby is unavailable to ask. I think it was by Snowbird. It was short and easy and pretty. It was also a rainy day. Thankfully the downpour let up and we got to go on the hike.

Here we all are. The intrepid explorers. Baby Bear is looking at the dead fish we found in the water. It was pretty much the highlight of the day for her. Funny girl!

Me and the Hubby. I am trying to get more pictures of us together. There are a lot of pictures of the girls, lots of him, a few of me but not many of us as a couple. I have taken it upon myself to fix that.

My Little Banana started Kindergarten which she loves. This is a pic of her first day finery.


Speaking of my Banana....this picture is SO her.

Here we are feeding ducks at First Dam. This baby with my hubby is my cute 1 year old niece. Though, because she belongs to the twin brother I think she looks like my girls. I just might have to keep her.....

Here we are at the Aggies football game. They even WON the game we went to!!

Awww hugging Big Blue

We also got to spend a weekend at Bear Lake. It was the perfect early fall day. It was warm enough to play in the water but cool enough that we did not bake.

I love my girls!!

Here my Bear shows off her budding fashion sense. She chose the whole look all by herself.
She was very proud of it as you can tell by the look on her face!

On to Halloween.......

Meet Witchy and Wicked our pumpkins. Yes my girls name their pumpkins and no it was not my idea. They come up with these things all on their own.

Here is my Spider Princess- Her costume gave me so much trouble.... I have got to learn to sew a strait line one of these days....... But I really like how it turned out. Trial and Error was my motto on this one but I think we got it right!

My little pumpkin. I love how her costume turned out!!

Had to add the one with my other cute niece (that I need to keep). She smiles and looks at the camera almost without fail....*sigh* one day perhaps my girls will learn that. Kidding!! I love the crazy looks I get on my girlies faces.

We tried out a recipe from the cookie cook book I got for my birthday. Treasure Chest Brownies. We had a lot of fun but I have got to find my cake decorating set (that is somewhere in the garage)....maybe I should just buy a new one or ask for one for Christmas.... Trying to do the decorative work with a baggie that was double pleated did not work so well. Next time I will make sure I buy the non pleated.....They sure were yummy. How can you go wrong with brownies, fudge covered graham crackers, m&m's, and chocolate frosting.

Last of all Bear FINALLY got to start a gymnastics class. She is so excited to get to go in the big room like sissy!

So that is a brief history of the last 4 month. Have a great rest of the Month. Let's see how long it takes until I update again..........

"How I Spent My Summer Vacation"

We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago to Heber here in Utah. While I packed the girls made this delicious cake. I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. Anyways here are a few shots of how we spent our summer vacation.

Here is a shot of the girls and their cute cousin. We are at a church in Midway waiting for fireworks.
This is a trick that my girls have done since they could stand. Cam loves to let them stand on his hands and they love it too.

Cam and another cute niece. I caught then both playing with their phones.... I call this Cams smoldering look:)
I was a great fireworks show- especially when you consider how small the town was.
We took time while there to take family pictures. I did get a shot of them BOTH smiling and looking at the camera- you can tell their sisters cuz they both have the same fakeish smile...someday we will get a good posed picture!
Here we all are and looking at the camera too!! Here is a question. How do you convince your husband that when you are trying to take family pictures that he should take the hat off??? I haven't figured it out yet.
We also spent a day at Deer Creek playing and trying to use the canoe...but this was the only ride that happened because the water got really choppy so .....
The girls made use of it on the beach. They took a trip to Squid Island and were attacked by giant squids and found treasure. So I think it was worth hauling the canoe - it got a lot of good use!
They also delighted in attacking their only boy cousin. Thank goodness he was such a good sport! Don't worry I got in the water too. I wasn't a party pooper but it is my blog so I can choose to omit photos of me in a swimsuit.
We were in Heber so we had to go to the Dairy Keen. THIS is what it is like when we go to fast food places with our kids. I had an awesome turkey sandwich and you have to love their shakes and fries.
Plus the big train outside is lots of fun.
After Heber we spent a few days in WJ and went on some local outings. We finally made it to the Living Planet Aquarium. We had a lot of fun their. Here are a few highlights.

This is the penguin tank. We got to watch them get fed then jump into the water and swim.
I especially love the coral reef tank. It is so fascinating.
The girls love the jelly fish!
It was worth the trip for sure. Here I am with my girls on a giant frog.

We fit in a couple of other fun things as well. I saw Eclipse, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. We also went to Cams 10 year reunion. It was a nice vacation and I want to go back.....