Amelia

We celebrated Amelia's birthday this week and before I include some of the pictures from that day and I want to take a minute like I have with Laura and Josh this week to say why we are so grateful for her and why she is so special. Being the oldest, Lia puts up with a lot. But she is so patient and so helpful. She is also always full of good ideas and is so creative (a trait she does not get from her mother). My favorite part of every day is picking her up from school. She always has a big smile on her face and runs to the car as if we haven't seen each other in days. I don't know what we'd do without Lia.

We started out the day at Lia's school where I got tell her class all about her. She also got to have lunch with some of her cousins and then we had her Utah Jazz party with her friends. Lia loves the Jazz (the Utes are second in line to the Jazz) and Deron Williams, who's jersey she is wearing. Her grandmas and grandpas and some of her aunts and uncles came over that night for another party. I hope she had a fun day. We sure love you Lia!

Laura

I have been meaning to put a picture up of Laura going to dance class, but for some reason whenever she goes to dance I haven't had the camera, until last week. I love this picture of her. Laura adds so much excitement to our lives. She always knows how to make things interesting. I am so grateful for her and for all the things she's taught me about patience and kindness. We love you, Laura! 

Josh

I've been thinking a lot about Josh lately and how much we enjoy him. He is such a happy little guy and has added so much to our family. I think part of the reason I've been thinking about him so much lately is because he is not going to be the baby for much longer... we are having another baby in August. We are so excited and are really looking forward to this new addition to our family, but it has caused me to reflect on how fast time flies and my how things change before we know it! When did he get to be so big?

I left Josh upstairs with his sisters and ran down to the office to get something right after we got home from running errands. This was how I found him when I got back upstairs. (This is why I don't spend much time in the office--where the computer is, something always happens while I'm down here. The next time I went down to get on the computer, Lia glued her fingers together with super glue.) Josh was enjoying himself so much, I couldn't do anything but laugh and take a picture.

The girls got their floaties out when we were getting ready to go to St. George (which I will post pictures of next time... I'm afraid I'm a little behind) and Josh had a great time with them. He is such a ham sometimes for the camera, I love it!

The "U" Game

The girls have decided they are HUGE Ute fans (even without a lot of encouragement from their dad). They were so excited to go to their first basketball game and wear their new shirts. Because Nate and I both graduated from "The U," we like their enthusiasm, but I'm not sure I'm thrilled about their new-found hatred for BYU. I can't tell you how many times I've told them, "I don't want to hear 'BYU stinks like poo' anymore!"

This was my attempt at taking a picture of all three of them. They were so good during the whole game, but at this point they didn't want to hold still anymore.

A Night Out With Dad

I thought these pictures were kind of funny. Nate took the kids to the grocery store for me one night when I was feeling pretty lousy (lousy enough to let Laura go to the store in a cheerleading outfit and snow boots). It was a treat for them because they got to be with dad, had dinner there, and got a "driver cart" for Josh and two little carts for the girls. I have since tried this and it's actually not as chaotic as I thought it would be, but Dad is definitely a better sport about those kinds of things.  Speaking of dad, Nate was so great those few days when I was sick. He took care of everything and let me stay in bed until I was able to function again. Thanks Nate!!

Some bright spots in bleak January...

Laura feels how I do, I think--she's ready for summer! She puts on her swimming suit just about every day. Josh was trying to join in on the fun here by climbing up on the table.


Guess who came to our house? The tooth fairy! Thanks to a little help from Grandpa Nelson, Lia lost her first tooth and was so excited! Apparently there are three more loose teeth now.


I'm not quite sure how I feel about this picture...they all look darling, but they're glued to the TV, even Josh. I think he lasted about two seconds after I took the picture, but he was pretty tuned in for a couple minutes.


Lia after her first piano lesson. She's been begging us for months to take piano from our friend and neighbor Jennifer and we finally have a REAL piano for her to practice on, which I'll explain in the next picture.


This was an early Christmas present from Nate's aunt and uncle. We're actually just "piano sitting" while they're on their mission, but we couldn't be more excited! Nate's been brushing up on his piano skills and is a great helper for Lia. I love to him hear play and I have even sat down once or twice to pluck out a few notes.

Christmas

Our early Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's house. I was glad Josh stayed in his costume long enough to get a picture. He's not big on hats lately. He looks like a perfect little wise man in this picture.



The girls got to be angels. They get so excited for this that for weeks before the party they'll ask me what everyone is going to be and what they are going to be. I love them as angels.


My mom and me. She puts so much time and effort into Christmas every year and it always turns out great. And Christmas Eve wouldn't be the same without my dad reading from the scriptures while also describing the peaceful and amusing scene in front of him while his grandkids act out the nativity.


Lia and Laura waiting to see what Santa brought them (although there was really no question in Lia's mind--She KNEW she was getting an American Girl doll).

Josh is his new pajamas and slippers. He couldn't figure out how to get the slippers off once the girls put them on, so he kept them on all morning. It was so funny to see him walking around in them.

Although you can't see it here, Josh got a train set and I've never seen him so excited about a toy. He laughed and said "wee" every time he'd send a train down the track. Watching him was one of my favorite parts of Christmas this year.

Laura with her "Kit Kittridge the American Girl doll." She took her everywhere for the next few days. Somehow I missed getting a picture of just Lia with her doll Ruthie. Every year we realize after all the presents are opened that we watched more than we took pictures. I don't know which is better. All in all, we had a great Christmas. It was nice to have Nate home and have some time to just be home with the kids.