Christmas 2011

Instead of exchanging gifts with my side of the family this year, we decided to spend more time together. One of our activities included going on a Christmas story scavenger hunt hosted by the Grand America hotel downtown. It was very cute. I especially liked all the decorations. We got a delicious cookie from the bakery when we turned in our completed scavenger sheets.

On Christmas eve instead of exchanging gifts, we played a white elephant game. Don't be fooled by the cute wrapping above. These are all silly-as-can be gifts. The game was a lot of fun. I was especially pleased that my niece Cait was so excited to get an ugly junior high picture of myself.

I ended up with this awesome "teacher" nutcracker.

Tyler and I made these houses for the girls for Christmas this year. They almost didn't happen, but luckily Tyler was able to get a computer up and running in the nick of time.

Ella & Lily love when Shelby comes all the way from St. George to visit.

We enjoyed Christmas dinner at the Jones' house this year. Here are all the Jones cousins.

Minivan Express

The girls hopped into bed tonight & found this ticket on their pillows. They grabbed their robes, slippers, some hot chocolate & some yummy cinnamon toast and we were off. We drove around the neighborhood looking for neat Christmas lights. We found a bunch of great houses. The kids were so excited and I took a lot of pictures. Too bad I didn't have a memory card in my camera.

I think this is going to become a yearly tradition.

Also, we sold our business today. Woo Hoo!

Daycare provider

I have Lily in Daycare twice a week. It was the only way for me to get anything done (business wise). Lily thinks I'm rude when I work on the computer while she's home and since most of my work is done on the computer, obviously I have a hard time getting any work done.

Anyhow, her Daycare provider is looking for another kid or two to watch. Full or part time. She runs her business out of her basement in her home in South Jordan (near Daybreak). She does a preschool in the morning, then play time in the afternoon. She always has fun projects and activities for the kids. She is VERY organized. Since Lily loves tomatoes so much, during the summer, she would let Lily pick her own tomatoes to bring home each night (a whole bag full.) Our entire family has been very pleased with her services.

If you are interested in learning more about her, let me know, and I will pass her information along to you.

Did I mention she takes the kids on fun field trips in her ultra-long van? Here's her blog.

Dance Recital

Last night was Lily's dance recital. She did a great job!
Ella decided not to take dance this year. I didn't try to convince her since it's a bit out of our budget anyhow.
We ended up signing Ella up for a Free community class instead, called “How to make & keep friends.” It was a great class. She loved it. The best part is, it worked! Her bully is now her friend. Kids from school have started inviting her over to their homes to play with them. I might sign her up for it again this coming year.

Lily's Birthday

Except for taking down our spot at yet another boutique yesterday (which wasn't much work), and Tyler finishing up a little bit of my mom's house later that night. We spent the WHOLE day playing! Besides our trip to St. George a few months ago, it's been a long time since we've taken a whole day off from work. It was a fun day. Happy Birthday Lily! I'm glad we got to spend the whole day doing fun things with you!

Playgroup

Since Lily was mad at me on Thursday for being selfish and “hogging the computer” and not letting her have a turn on it. I realized I wasn't getting much work done on the computer anyhow, and decided to take her to a playgroup activity that a lady in my neighborhood organizes each month.

I wasn't expecting much. Just a bunch of kids playing at the church... but It ended up being amazing. There were crafts, and games, and food, and lots of activities. Even Santa came. It was Lily's first time seeing Santa in person. She was a little scared, but VERY excited.

I think we need to make more time in for playgroup in the future.

Moving Day

Last Saturday was busy. We set up & took down our spot in a holiday boutique, got our house ready for a showing, worked a little on my mom's house, then helped move her in. After a full day of work & sweat it was a fun treat to go downtown with my family to see the lights. We haven't taken Ella down to see the lights since she was one, and Lily had never been. They were excited to see so many lights.