Sophia in the Ensign

A neighbor of mine is an artist and often does work for the Ensign.  He painted Sophia a while ago and her picture was in the December issue for a Latter Day Saint voices story.  It turned out so cute!

November and December randomness 2012

Sophia still takes long naps in the afternoon even though I have to bribe her by letting her sleep in my bed.

Sophia loves taking all the screws out of the "play" keyboard.

At the Festival of Trees visiting Santa and watching Sara perform.

I let her help me one time and now she wants to butter the bread for grilled cheese sandwiches every day.  Sometimes she just wants to do the butter, not actually eat the sandwich.

Sleepover in Sara's bed.

Brandon decorating his gingerbread house.

Sara working on her gingerbread house.

All three gingerbread houses done.

16th Anniversary trip

This past November Ben and I went to Jackson Hole for our 16th anniversary.  We went to Targhee and I took skiing lessons and Ben went snowboarding.

The boots were too tight and by the end of the day I was so tired!  I was very sore for a few days and had a very hard time walking.  I don't know if it's something I want to do again, but I had a great time.

We were only gone for a couple of days, but we had a great time relaxing and wandering the shops in Jackson.  We ate really well and drank a lot of hot chocolate!  I am so lucky to be married to my best friend and I can't wait to see where we are in another 16 years.

Family pictures 2012

Every year I kept seeing these families I know with gorgeous family pictures with the beautiful fall colors.  There is a small window in Idaho when the leaves turn colors and before it gets too cold and it snows.  I kept missing that window and didn't make an appointment soon enough.  This year I called in September to make an appointment and started putting the outfits together.  Here are a few of my favorites:

It was a lot of work putting all the outfits together and getting everyone ready, so it will probably be a couple of years before I do it again :)

Halloween 2012

Brandon was a zombie this year.  My son has finally entered the stage of gross Halloween costumes. 

Sara was a prom queen.

Sophia was her favorite princess Ariel.

The kids got lots of candy and were out late having fun.  Sophia outlasted them all and did not want to stop trick-or-treating.  Most people commented on how late she was out; it's a good thing it was kind of warm this year :)

Zurie

Our dog Zurie...........let's just say that some days are better than others, meaning some days I clean up more messes than other days.  She has really bad separation anxiety, so when I leave she destroys.  For some reason she has a personal vengeance against bags of any kind and always rips then to shreds.  It has kind of helped with my habit of leaving things in bags laying around the house.

We did our best to kennel train her, and even had the kennel in our room, but I think she is also claustrophobic.  Whenever we would put her in there at night or when we would leave she would hyperventilate, stress out and poop.  One morning she broke out!  The kennel is taken apart and stored in our garage now.  I also doggy-proofed the laundry room so she could stay in there, but with the separation anxiety she just freaked out and pooped every time I left.  Now she goes outside when I leave.  We are in the process of finding a dog house or maybe building one ourself.

For the record (Nicole)  we still have her and are getting better at entertaining her, so when she is left alone she doesn't have a lot of pent up energy.  We realized it's our fault she is doing a lot of bad things, and we need to be better about walking and playing with her.  Now to deal with the digging.......ahhhhh, the joys of having a puppy.  It's not for the weak or the lazy :)

Brandon's birthday

We went to Classic to celebrate Brandon's 10th birthday.  I didn't get a lot of pictures because the kids were always moving so fast!

Sara and Sophia on the big inflatable slide.  I found out that since Sophia is three I could go on the inflatable things with her even though I didn't pay for myself.  She loved it!

Happy birthday bud!  You keep me centered and are the calm in my everyday stormy life!  

Love you!

Random Pictures from October

I know it's hard to see but Sophia is combing her hair with a fork just like Ariel.

Brandon went to his first karate tournament and did really well.  He came home with one first place, one second place and two third place finishes.  It was a long day!!

Sophia loves puzzles!

Disneyland part 2

Disneyland in August? Not a good idea!  It was soooooo hot!!  Since Brandon likes to go on rides and Sara doesn't so much one of us would go with Brandon and  the other stay with the girls.  We would switch off after we met up for lunch or sometimes switch every other day.  Sophia had to go to the bathroom a lot and the stroller was a pain, but it was lots of fun when you got your turn to go on some real rides and hang out with Brandon.

Sara did go on a lot of rides, but she doesn't like anything fast, high or scary.  Whoever was with Sophie also got Sara and they went on all the classic Disneyland rides together.

I got Sophia's face painted and it had kind of washed off and smudged half-way through the day.  I was trying to stay positive and not think about the waste of money, but it was expensive for face painting!  When Ben was taking her around on some rides an employee said that she could go back and get it redone the same day for free!!  Yippee!!

Sophia waited in line to meet the princesses at least 4 different times!  It was by far her favorite part.

Ben talked Brandon into going on Tower of Terror in California Adventures and it quickly became his favorite ride.  Brandon is all about going on rides and loves roller coasters and anything fast.  He is lots of fun at amusement parks!

We went on Ariel's Adventure 6 times I think!  Sophia loved it and would not take her eyes off the characters.

Sophia loved all the rides in A Bug's World and ran from ride to ride until it was time to go.

This is the souvenir Sophia picked out and she still takes her around everywhere and sleeps with her at night.  Overall we had a great time, but I will never go in August again!