Easter 2014

Enjoy some pictures of our cute girls on Easter:

Etta's first Easter egg hunt- she got the hang of things pretty quick.

Aven found more eggs than her basket would hold.

Sam Dog tried to photobomb almost every picture.

There she is again.

My mom wanted a picture with the girls. This was honestly the best one. Etta was being a cheeseball and Aven was making a funny face- sorry Mom!

sdfsfs

Easter Princess Party

Because I'm an awesome mom, I took Aven to a special Easter princess party, hosted by none other than Elsa and Anna. Her bestie, Alyssa and her mommy Shylah joined us. It started with all the little princesses gathering  to decorate Easter bags while the Frozen soundtrack played. When "Let it Go" started playing Elsa and Anna made their appearance, singing along. It took Aven a minute or two to warm up and start singing along. Alyssa was literally in shock for the first ten minutes. She was as white as a ghost with a deadly serious look on her face. It was pretty funny. After Elsa served her a cupcake she finally warmed up a bit and got into the fun. Aven loved every second. The party was hosted by Part of Your World Princess Parties, I have hired them to do Aven's birthday party next month. If you live in the Salt Lake area I would highly recommend them! Below you will find many, many pictures of their fun day:

Elsa serving Aven some sprinkles in her tea.

It was definitely a magical day for all these little princesses.

Eating cupcakes and donuts- doesn't get much better than this!

She was all business on the Easter egg hunt.

Besties!

There were even bunnies to pet. Here is Alyssa having her turn.

Aven loved their fuzzy softness.

Game time with Anna.

Making a pretty bracelet.

We had a great time!

Thanks Anna and Elsa!

Aunt Nique and the Cold Day

It was supposed to be a nice warm day, so we decided to go to the zoo with friends. Instead it was cold and windy, but we had fun anyway. I'm just ready for Spring to get serious about being here. I can't handle all this "is it gonna be spring, or isn't?" drama any longer.

It was cold, but they insisted on playing with the water globe anyway. Aven decided it would be a good idea to splash some of that water on her face.

Sometimes it seems like they have more in common with apes than they do with us, but we love them anyway.

Aunt Nique was missing her little chillies today, so she came zooing with us. She needs a new profile picture for her dating website, so we pushed all the kids off the statue and let her get cozy.

Just kidding- we didn't push them off, but we did ask them to get off.

Yep. We did it again.

Aunt Nique was just one of the kids today. We love her.

Midway Ice Castles

After a month of talking about it we finally made it up to the Midway Ice Castle. It was the last day of the ice castle and President's Day, so it was packed- not exactly magical. We waited in line for about an hour so that Aven could get her picture with Anna and Elsa from "Frozen". The great thing about going to a place like this with kids is that throngs of people don't really affect how much they enjoy it. They had an amazing time and since we were there with Ian's parents and brother we took turns standing in line so that everyone got a chance to see the castle. We will definitely go again next year, but we will plan more carefully and be a lot more selective about which day we go so that we don't feel like we're in the middle of a herd of cattle. Despite the place being jam-packed we did manage to get a few decent pictures:

Cute smiles!

Ian, his brother, and Etta in the ice maze.

With my littlest love.

There is nothing suggestive about this picture at all.

The crowning moment- a picture with two of her favorite princesses.

On stealing and stuff.

I posted this on Facebook yesterday:

So, today has been the most *AWESOME* day EVER. My bag got stolen out of my car at Aven and Etta's daycare this morning- all my ID, credit cards, membership cards, work i-pad, not to mention my lunch are all gone forever. They even made away with my favorite lipgloss. Motherfuckers. I'm seriously pissed and tired and just done with this day.

I know worse things happen every day, but when someone steals from you it really hits hard. It was not a good day. I felt physically sick all day, had a pounding headache, but I somehow managed to make it through my day as a middle school teacher. My wonderful husband got on the phone and got to work cancelling credit cards and calling our insurance agent. He was very gentle and supportive all day. He got me some cash since all my ID and credit cards were gone and he wanted me to have at least one thing that allows a person to function in the outside world. He even brought me my favorite indulgent lunch from Culver's: cheeseburger, deep fired cheese curds, fries, and a raspberry cordial concrete.

When I told Aven what happened she asked if a bad guy stole my stuff. I told her yes and she then proceeded to make up several fantastical stories about how it all went down and how the police were going to catch the bad guy. Four-year-old kids are amazing.

I felt much better when I woke up this morning, but I still felt pretty naked without my stuff. I borrowed Aven's froggy wallet to keep the card the police officer gave me with his name and my case number and the cash that Ian got for me. I felt paranoid leaving anything in my car at the daycare this morning even though I locked the car. My wonderful friend, Allison, brought me a gift and a card, my boss sent me a nice e-mail, another wonderful friend gave me a big Caramello candy bar. The people in my life really are amazing and I love them.

I was teaching my 4th period when I got a call from the office- a lady was downstairs with my bag. I ran down and a nice lady had found my now ripped up bag in the middle of a road near the daycare yesterday morning. It still contained my lunch bag, extra car keys, and work keys and ID (which is why she knew where to bring it). I know it sounds totally corny, but I hugged that lady and almost started crying. I know I will never get most of my stuff back, but I feel SO much better. Most people are good and want to do the right thing. So, even though I still have to go stand in line at the DMV I feel pretty darn good.

The rescued stuff.

Aven's First Ski Lesson

Aven has finally reached the magical age of four- the minimum age required to enroll a child in Brighton Little Rippers lessons. The night before, she was excited to the point of being manic. I was afraid she might get nervous and clingy when we got there, but she walked right into the ski school room and sat down at a table. Her morning instructor told us that she struggled, but tried very hard. When I picked her up she told me: "I totally fell down a lot of times". After lunch she had a second lesson and did great. By the end of the day she was doing pizza and french fries like a little pro! While she learned, Ian and I enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day on the mountain. I am so relieved that Aven's first lesson was a good experience. She's looking forward to going again soon.

Ready to go!

On the lift.

A selfie in Ian's goggles.

Me! 

Waiting for Daddy at the end of the day.

Goofing around near the patio of the Brighton Center. She somehow had some energy left over.

It was just so beautiful and warm. By warm I mean 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, Shylah, that is considered warm on a ski day. 

Learning feels good!

This happened about 10 minutes into the car ride home. She was one tired little girl!

The Babe

Well, the baby of the family is rapidly approaching a point in which she will no longer be a baby. It's bitter sweet. I love watching her grow and learn, but knowing that I am not going to have any more babies I feel a little sad to let the baby stage go. She still likes to cuddle but can be very defiant. When she says no, she means it. She is starting to express herself in entire sentences. Just this morning she said "I go ow-sigh?" ow-sigh means outside, in case you didn't get that. She's lots of fun and really good at asserting her independence.

Here are a few pictures of her playing ow-sigh this morning:

And just for the heck of it, here's one of Grace enjoying the snow:

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We really had a great Christmas this year. My girls are just such a joy. Below are some photo highlights from the festivities- enjoy!

Ian made us an amazing dinner of chicken cordon bleu, rosti, caesar salad, and sacher torte.

Christmas Eve jammies. This year we did a "Christmas Eve Box". It had new pajamas for everyone, a movie, and stuff to make s'mores. I think we'll keep that one up, it was fun!

Etta got an Elmo chair from Santa.

Santa brought Aven a game called "Robot Turtles", which teaches kids how to code.

Ian, Etta, Aven, and the Mario Bros. blanket I made him.

Look at my pretty little Aven!

Aven and Uncle Brance.

A couple Minnie Mouses

A couple Jamines and the inevitable breakdown of Christmas night.