Playing in the Snow

We have lived here in Vegas now for almost 7 years and have never made it up to Mt. Charleston when there was snow on it. This year I decided my little "city" girls needed to go play in the snow. I think it might have been Ashlyn's first time, but Madison has played in the snow at Grandma Julie's before. It was so much fun, but we didn't expect to see so much snow and we didn't even bring a sled! We improvised and Madison still got to slide down the hill, but next time we will be better prepared. They had so much fun and before Ashlyn fell asleep that night she said in a really sleepy voice "Mommy, thanks for coming to the snow with me". It was so cute. They even had sleigh rides up there with big Clydesdale horses so we might do that next time too. It was nice to drive only 40 minutes and be in snow and then drive home to dry roads and warmer weather.

Christmas 2009

This year we finally made it to our ward Christmas party and it was a lot of fun. The girls got to see Santa and tell him what they wanted. Finally this year Ashlyn didn't cry when she saw Santa. They also played music to dance to and the girls loved it and had fun jumping around.
My favorite memories of Christmas are driving my mom around to deliver goodies to the neighbors, opening one present on Christmas Eve, and eating Lil' Smokies with my Dad. I decided when I had children that I wanted to have traditions that we did every year so they would remember. One thing that I started with Madison was making reindeer food and leaving it outside for them to eat. The first year we scattered it outside on the driveway and the cleanup wasn't fun to do so this year we just set bowls out. I loved seeing Madison's face when she saw the bowls were empty. She giggled for 30 minutes. It reminded me of one year my dad took his boots and a deer leg from his hunt(gross I know, but it totally made it realistic) and made tracks in the snow up to our house. I was so excited to see those tracks!

Here is the calm before the storm! and the next pictures will show the aftermath. lol

We had a really good Christmas this year and had lots of fun just hanging out as a family. Each year just gets better and better.

My "Paycheck"

Today was a pretty good day. My sister had her baby, a beautiful baby girl named Ruby Lynn and I got my "paycheck" for the week. Tonight after I finished tucking Madison in to go to bed she said, " You don't have to do that you know, I can do it myself" and I answered while giving her a kiss on the cheek "I know, but I like to do it." She kissed me back and then said "I know because that is how you get your paycheck" "Because you just got it huh". Now to explain the "paycheck". Earlier in the week Madison was being really rude to me so I tried to explain to her why it bothered me so bad. I told her that my job was to take care of her, Ashlyn, and Daddy by cooking and cleaning and everything else we mothers do and that I don't get an actual paycheck like Daddy does. I told her my paycheck was love.

Being a mom is hard sometimes, but the "pay" is pretty good.

Halloween 09

This Halloween was pretty crazy. We had alot going on. Madison had a fun week at school full of pumpkin carving, a party, and a parade around the school. This year Madison dressed up like a vampire and Ashlyn was a witch. On Halloween day we woke up and went to the NHRA Drag Races that are here twice a year. It was alot of fun and had alot of things for the kids to do in the pits. We left the races early and still barely had time to feed them, get them dressed, and rush to our ward's Trunk or Treat. We were done with Trunk or Treat by 8pm so we decided to pass out candy at our house. It is still pretty warm down here so we sat outside and waited for the trick or treaters. I will never look at my neighbor across the street the same again. I actually couldn't sleep Halloween night because he is so creepy. lol He had his garage all decorated with creepy things and he was playing creepy music. We walked over to introduce ourselves because he hasn't lived there very long and also to get some candy. As we got up the driveway he came walking out of the corner of the garage dressed like the guy from SAW. I've never seen the movies, but from the previews I pretty much know what it's about. He didn't say anything and just stood there! My kids were freaked. Even his daughter didn't say anything! Ashlyn ran up and got her candy and we just laughed and started walking away. As we were leaving his daughter said "It's a Happy Halloween, haunted house style!" and then they both laughed creepy laughs. We sat outside and watched him scare people for a while because he was so weird and it was pretty funny to see people's reaction to him. Maybe he didn't talk because he was so incharacter. I'm still kind of creeped out by him. lol

Fun at Grandma's

Last night the girls got to make doughnuts with Grandma Bonnie after we had Sunday dinner. I had never even tried these before but they were so easy and really good. All she did was use the premade biscuits like Pillsbury and gave them each a frosting tip to cut a small hole in the middle. Then she fried them in oil and when they were done we let them sit on a paper towel until the grease was mostly gone. Then the fun part started. They each got a bag with cinnamon and sugar in it and they got to shake all the doughnuts. They were SO good!

Rock Springs

This weekend we packed up and headed to Rock Springs, Wyoming for our niece's birthday party. It is a LONG drive. It was about 9 hours to get there. Our portable dvd player wasn't with us, but our kids were actually really good. It was pretty cold there and the day we left it was snowing! We had a really good time visiting with Aaron's family and bowling for the party. Here are a few pictures of our visit. Thanks Shannon for all the good food!

Soccer

Last night was the first soccer practice for Madison. This year our Stake is doing a free soccer league. It was fun to watch her learn how to play. She did pretty good for never having played soccer before except for one small class at the rec center. She kept putting her finger in her mouth and I thought she was just being shy or something until I figured out that she was wiggling her lose tooth! She wants it to fall out so bad but is too scared to let me pull on it. The pictures are really bad because I had to take them with my phone because I can't find my camera charger. Hopefully I find it soon because I've missed alot of Kodak moments.