Braces 2012

 Well- here is by beautiful daughter with her braces on and OFF!!!  Yep- that is off.  After almost two years of having them on she now has them off.  It is so much fun to see her smile.  She has been doing a lot of it lately.  So- she got them off on the 19th  and since then she has gone back in and gotten her retainer which she needs to wear for the next 3 months 24 hours a day except to eat & sports.  After the three months are over we go back in and they will check her and decide if she can only were it at night.  Brianna is having a hard time talking right now and she thinks that is kind of funny.

After her last appointment I scheduled Paige for an appointment.  At her last dentist appointment he said that she looks to have some teeth trapped and would like to have that looked at.  She will be going in the middle of Feb.

skiing 2011/ 2012

 Shane decided that he would attempt to take Brianna and Paige skiing by himself.  Brave man, huh!  Brianna went skiing last year with Shane  and for her birthday we purchased some ski gear because she loved it so much and was looking forward to doing it again.  Paige was very excited to go up and have some special time with her dad.

 Here is a picture of my skiers.  This was B's 4th time going and P's 1st.  Shane stayed with them on the bunny hill the whole time and didn't even leave them to go do a fun run.  Isn't he just the greatest dad ever!!!! I'm glad that they had fun.

Look how cute they are!  After their second time going I asked B if she had fun she said, "Yes."  I then proceeded to ask how Paige did.  This is what B said, "Well- I said a prayer for her because she did a cartwheel down the mountain."  I said, "she did what?"  B, "She was going down the mountain and  then the next thing I knew she was going down and then her legs were flying and then she had crashed." I said," was she ok?"  B, " Yes." I said, " where did you say a prayer?"  B," I was on the chair lift by myself and then I said it."  I am just proud of my daughter that realized that her sister could use some help and knew who to ask.  :)

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas!  Shane's parents were able to come and spend it with us.  The only bad thing is that it comes and goes way to fast.  I wish that you could make it go in slow mode.
Brianna prayed that they wouldn't wake up to early because we told them that we were only going to open our Santa presents and our stockings before church.  So- I love that prayers are answered.  The kids didn't wake up until 7.  We opened those gifts and then got ready for church and then came home  and finished the gifts.  Ryker didn't make it all the way through the gifts before he needed a nap.  Reese also slept in her swing through the whole thing.  That was nice!  By the time gifts were done I needed to get our dinner going.  Unfortunately, I was  a sleeping zombie because I didn't go to sleep until close to 3am. Dinner was good but I would have rather just taken a nap.  :)   We all love that mom and dad were able to come and spend it with us.  It was fun to share some of our traditions with them.  I'll post some of my favorite pictures later.  I just want to do a quick update now.

Stake Activity Girls 2011

 This year the stake took the activity girls ice skating.  This was Brianna's first time ice skating and she did a great job.  She only fell down like 5 times.  The  rinks smallest size of skates were a 3 and she wears a size 1 so they were a little big on her.

Brianna's 10th Birthday

 We celebrated her birthday twice this year by opening presents and having cake at home on her birthday and then a week later we had her friend birthday party at the bowling ally.  She had a great time with her friends and we enjoyed not having the mess at our house.

 Here is the cake that I made for the friend party.  It was the best tasting cake I've ever made.

 Lauren and Ryker helped me set up the table while the kids were finishing up their game.

Brianna had fun opening her presents!

 Here are some of her friends bowling.  They played one game of normal bowling and then the last game was crazy bowling.

Here is a picture of all the girls except one that had to leave early.  She had a good time.  Happy Birthday Brianna we love you!

Thanksgiving 2011

Well- another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  This year we were able to spend it with our good friends the Rogers.  We had a lot of fun playing games and talking.  The food was good too!  :)

Reading in Bed

Brianna and reading in be goes hand in hand.  She love to read in bed.  We have caught her reading well past 10pm.  This night I went to go and check on her to make sure that she went to sleep and this is how I found her.  Yes- She is ASLEEP.  We have found her like this a few other times.  It continues to amaze me that she can fall asleep and still keep her book up and open just like that.

November 18 Snow

OK we might be a little strange.  But WE LOVE THE SNOW!!!  This year we got our first and only snow on November 18th.  We are waiting and praying that we will get some but it is now into January and thinking we might not get it.

As soon as we woke up and saw the snow we all new that we were going to be playing in the snow.

 Ryker was so excited to play but I worried about him getting cold so I put a hat on him and then his hat from his coat.  About an hour after we were out there I noticed that he didn't have any of them on.  I told Bri to put on his hat and she said, "I think he is hot mom."   So I checked and yes he was all wet with sweat.  His new coat is very, VERY warm.  So- I don't have to worry about him getting cold.

 Brianna wanted to make a snowman but I think this is about as far as she got.  It was taking all the snow to make one and we still wanted to build a fort and go sledding.  I think that this ball ended up at the top of the hill for part of a fort.

 Having a hill in our back yard had provided many hours of fun in the winter.  But in the summer it is a pain to mow.  Paige and Lauren are working great as a team.  Thanks Paige for helping your little sister.

Indoor soccer 2011

This year we decided we would give indoor soccer a try.  Both of the older girls soccer coaches wanted to play indoor so Paige did indoor games on Saturdays and Brianna did indoor training on Thursday nights.  Both of them had fun doing it.  Paige enjoyed playing with most of her normal season team and making new friends.  She got aggressive on the field which was fun to see.  Brianna's coach came and picked her up and drove her to all the practices.  That made it really nice for us.  She is great.  Brianna loved it because she got to spend time with one of her friends on the drive and learn new skills.

 Brianna is watching Paige one of her first games.  The soccer field is a lot like a hockey rink with grass and glass to watch through.  Which made it hard to get good pictures of her on the field.

 Ryker and Lauren both enjoyed playing on the bleachers.

 Do you love those great big RED eyes.  I need to photo shop those!!!

Here is a picture of Paige playing.  She did great and we are really proud of how much she has improved and listens to her coach.  Good job Paige.