February 27, 2011

A New Year's Eve Worth Mentioning

As I go through and get caught up on my posts, I realized I had neglected New Year's Eve.  How could I forget New Year's Eve, you ask?  Well, I didn't take a single picture.  Not one.  And since my memories are visually stimulated, I missed this one fun night.

In the past we spend New Year's Eve celebrating with my family.  But this year, my folks were in California with Tom's family so we were on our own.

My work is on the calendar year, so end of quarter is also the last day of the year.  It sucks but it is how our family has gotten to celebrate New Year's Eve for the past 6 years.  But this year turned out differently.  I was able to completely close our quarter by the 30th.  On the 31st there was not a single order that I needed to track or locate.  It was awesome.

We went to Dan and Angela's for a very fun family oriented party.  Everyone played games.  Everyone ate lots of yummy food.  Everyone laughed and had a blast.  Ivy played dress up (because that is what she does every single chance she gets).

It was a great night and very different than what we typically do.

February 25, 2011

Ivy's Birthday

Ivy is five – and all day she reminded us that it was her birthday and that she is five.  Oh the list of things that she can and will do now that she’s five!  I’m crossing my fingers that her “now that I’m five I’m going to do whatever you ask me to do” really does happen.
We went on a field trip with Jade’s second grade class.

We went to Tokyo for a Teppan dinner.


We opened presents.
We read her book and called it a night.
Happy Birthday Ivy Rose!

February 23, 2011

Baby Lydia's Blessing Day

Here are some super sweet pictures of Baby Lydia on her special blessing day.



February 21, 2011

1 Month old Lydia

I am having so much fun taking pictures of my new little niece.  On Christmas day she wasn't in the most cooperative mood but she was still adorable for the few pictures i was able to get of her.  My favorite 1 month old picture of Baby Lydia was when Grandpa Wayne was holding her.  I love the love and tenderness that is so apparent in his face.





February 20, 2011

Sanford Family Christmas Exchange

After the rest of the cousins arrived at Grandpa and Grandma's house, we had the cousin gift exchange.  The girls had a blast playing with their cousins.

Grandpa Wayne came over and enjoyed having a little friend on his shoulder. :)



February 19, 2011

Santa-centric

Christmas Eve came to an end after we read the Nativity, The Night Before Christmas and hung their stockings.

The girls slept peacefully and woke in great moods ready for a morning of opening presents.

From Santa the family got an XBOX Kinect and we each got a game for it.  The girls didn't get very excited about it until they learned what fun they could have with the kinect.

Grandpa and Grandma gave the girls a new "wii motion" remote.  It was pretty cute that their pajamas matched their new remotes.

The girls gave each other webkins and were so excited that they both thought of the same thing to give each other.

Grandpa and Grandma also gave our family tickets to see "Mary Poppins" this fall at Capital Theater.  We are extremely excited for it.




February 17, 2011

Christmas Eve Outing

This year we went to Brigham City for Christmas Eve.  Brigham City has two Christmas attractions that are very fun to see.  There is a house at the end of a street that celebrates the holiday by displaying large wood cutouts of Disney characters.  They also have music playing.  The girls loved getting to see all of the different characters.

I wonder how their neighbors feel about having their street becoming a holiday attraction.  Plus, the cutouts have expanded beyond their own yard into both of their neighbor's yards.

After we went by the "holiday house" we went to the other great Christmas attraction.  The Lights at Willard Bay.  The lights are great and the kids love them.  After we drove through the lights we went over to the concessions for hot chocolate and SANTA!

Santa promised them that they would be by the house if they promised to go to bed when it was time.  I'm not sure what Grandpa and Grandma asked for nor what Santa promised them.






February 14, 2011

Annie

My parents love taking my girls to musicals. Which is something that I really loved doing when I was growing up.  I have very fond memories of season passes to the DeJong concert hall at BYU.  It was a highly anticipated event every other month.  We'd go with my family, my cousins and my grandparents.  It gave me an amazing foundation in the arts.  I am so grateful that my parents are continuing to build the foundation with my girls.

Right before Christmas, they went up to "Annie" in Heber.  Daddy Warbucks is a long time family friend, so the girls got to go backstage for pictures afterwards.

They had so much fun and were very thankful to Grandma and Grandpa for taking them.




Thanks again, Mom and Dad.

February 13, 2011

Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma

My folks were headed to California to spend time with Tom and Anne for Christmas, and it was our year to spend Christmas with Scott's family.  So on the Saturday before, Mom and Dad came over for Thai food and Christmas presents.

The girls were so excited about their Christmas present that I had to capture the excitement in "The Best Christmas Gift EVER!!!"

Way too much fun to be had by all of our family this year - looking forward to lots of mini golf, bumper cars and the water park.

February 12, 2011

Snowball fight

Saturday snow storms are my favorite because the are the ones that the girls get to play in the very most.  They get to help daddy snow blow/shovel the walks and then the get to build big beautiful snowmen.  They also get to have fresh snowball fights.  (I'm not a huge snowball fight fan unless it is fresh and powdery snow that doesn't hurt).  The best part of a snowball fight is when I manage to capture the perfect facial expressions that say....

"I'm gonna get you, dad!"


"Think I have a chance of winning this challenge?"

"Aw, man, come on dad, I'm a girl.  A headshot?  Really?"

Gotta love a snowball fight.

By the way, Ivy was pretending to be involved in the fight too, but she spent the better part of the time hiding.

February 11, 2011

"Apple School's" Christmas Program

Ivy is the perfect little Christmas elf.  You've heard me talk about how she reminds me of Lucy Little?  Well, I'm thinking a Christmas elf is the next best fit.

Ivy had one line in her Christmas program and said "The dolls are all lined up and ready".  Although I'm not sure what they were lined up for, she did a great job on it.  Unfortunately her positioning on the stage made it difficult to take great pictures or any pictures of her while she was standing at the mic.

We were really proud of her and what a great job she did.





Afterwards, we went to JW's with Grandpa and Grandma for some really big hamburgers.

February 10, 2011

An early visit from Santa


When I was a little girl, Santa came to visit us on Christmas Eve.  He would bring us our Christmas PJ’s and we’d all get to sit on his lap.  It was always a wonderful time and we were always so excited when he’d show up.  Some years it would be right after we finished acting out the Nativity or other years he’d come just as everyone was packing up to go home.  But we always knew he’d come and we were always very excited about it.
Then one year, a dear friend from the neighborhood died.  Santa didn’t come after that.  Instead there was just a knock on the door and a bag full of presents was left on the door step.  Getting our Christmas PJ’s was still fun and a tradition that has continued for many years, but it just wasn’t quite the same.
This year, my sister called me and said she had some great news.  Santa’s niece had called her and asked if Santa could come over to her house on Sunday for some pictures.  Of course she said yes and extended the invitation to us.  We were so excited.  For days the girls talked about how the “REAL” Santa was coming to Aunt Kat’s on Sunday.   They told their teachers at church that Santa was coming that night and how excited they were.   Kat had kept it a secret from the boys, so the girls were put to quite the test to see if they could keep a secret.
During the prayer before dinner, Ivy blessed that they could have a fun time, and then she paused… for a very long time.  The adults were all worried that she might finish the sentence with “A fun time with Santa”.  She broke her pause and said “a fun time playing with each other”.  We all sighed in relief as she passed the biggest test of secrecy in her nearly 5 years of life.
Santa was AMAZING.  He told stories about how Santa came to be.  There were carols sung and jokes told.  Poor little Ivy nearly cried though.  He asked each of the kids what they wanted for Christmas.  When she said that she wanted a make-up kit, Santa said, “Why on earth would you want a make-up kit.  You are such a pretty little girl without it.  You don’t need any make-up.”  I watched her get her I’m-not-going-to-cry-face as she fought back the tears.  Santa saw the look as well and said he’d see what he could do.  So, I guess my 4-year-old will be gettingmake-up for Christmas. (On a side note, I really hate the play make-up.  It is greasy and ugly.  Why can’t E.L.F. release some children’s play make-up that isn’t greasy or gross colors.  Kids have just as much fun with pretty colors and powders as they do fluorescent pinks and purple greasy make-up that ruins clothes or furniture).
Santa even had every adult sit on his lap to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  Me?  I want my girls to be happy.  That’s the only thing I want that constantly weighs on me.
At the end of the night, Santa sat all of the kids down and talked to them about the true meaning of Christmas.  He reminded them that Santa is fun but that Baby Jesus is the reason we have Christmas.  It was the perfect way to end a very fun night.
By the way, if you are looking for a great Christmas movie to watch with your family, I would highly recommend “A Christmas Story” and I’m not referring to the one where Ralphie sticks his tongue to a pole.  This Christmas Story is about an orphan in Finland named Nicholas.  It was a beautifully done, tear-jerking, heart-warming Christmas story.  We watched it the other night and both girls have brought it up several times since.

February 9, 2011

Team Pictures

This year, Jade's gym decided to do team pictures.  (This is one of those niches that it would be very fun to get into).  The girls had so much fun getting all dressed up in their competition leotards and posing for the camera.  I had fun capturing the experience and watching my little girl perform for the camera.





Here are the Level 4's from Jade's gym.  Some of the girls are on the older girl team but because Jade is taller she's kind of mixed in with the older ones.

February 8, 2011

Clay Animals with Grandpa

Grandpa Wayne and Grandma E gave the girls "Clay Animals" for Christmas last year.  The girls love to play with them.  They don't dry up like Playdoh does and my dad actually got to enjoy them as well.  (The smell of Playdoh makes him dry heave - funny but not real easy to play with).  We were all very impressed with dad's mad skills.  I have to say, my favorite part of these pictures is his smile that shows how much he was enjoying playing clay animals with Ivy.



February 6, 2011

Sweet Sister Time

I absolutely love when the girls decide to get along.  I know it takes a lot of effort for them, so when I hear all happy sounds coming from where they are playing, I'm extra proud of them.

Scott and I were preparing dinner while the two girls were playing in the living room.  We don't usually let them play in there because the paint is extra fragile and marks with the simplest of scratches.  But this one Sunday, we were glad we let them.

I sneaked in to take a couple of pictures of them and to listen to what they were talking about.  They had one of my children's cookbooks and they were pretending to eat the food.


February 5, 2011

Baby Lydia

The day after Thanksgiving, we welcomed a beautiful new little girl in to our extended family.  Lydia was born to Mike and Kristal right in the middle of Black Friday specials.  After she was bathed and had eaten and spent her hour or so in the nursery, the four of us headed over to meet her.





I absolutely loved taking some brand newborn pictures of pretty baby Lydia.  She was so cute and so little.  It is amazing how quickly they grow up.  I'm looking forward to taking a lot more pictures of this little girl.