Annabelle had to make a Secret Santa gift for her Girl Scout troop. She was thrilled to pick her friend Sofia’s name and had this pink blanket in mind for her. She did the measuring, cutting, and tying. She truly made it on her own and that made it even more special. It was a great idea to do homemade gifts and she put her little heart into it. 

Her “exhausting” pose

When you get tired of cutting it’s always nice to have a little sister nearby to pick up the slack. 

Blanket complete

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. The library books all have a Christmas theme now…

Pete Rose is back!

It’s Christmas card time! My most favorite time of the year. 

We had an early morning flight. Just enough time to snap and few pictures in front of the Christmas tree and then off to the airport. It was a fun-filled weekend, but back to work we go. Bring on the holiday catering and office parties. We’re ready for them! 

We were able to fit a lot of sight seeing into a short trip. For lunch we drove to Park City. It’s a beautiful little Ski/Resort town. It reminds me a lot of Vail. We had lunch and explored and picked up a few sweatshirts (all our sweatshirts say Breckenridge on them so it’s nice to change it up every now and then).

The girls each got a new stuffed animal with a Park City sweatshirt. 

They have been prized treasures ever since. 

We took a scenic drive to BYU. It’s a beautiful campus nestled in the mountains. Since it was a Sunday nothing was open. Not even the gas station. Luckily there was a Starbucks open or that ride back to the hotel could have been rather unpleasant for one of my gals. 

We joined the Johnsons for dinner at a delicious Peruvian restaurant. We all had so much fun catching up and we were so, so sad to say goodbye.

When we got back to the hotel Gwyneth was worn out, but Annabelle wanted to explore. We found the pool and a couple beautiful Christmas trees. 

We spent a chilly morning exploring This Is the Place Heritage Park with the Johnsons. It’s a blast from the past, reminiscent of the time when Utah was first settled. There was plenty to explore and a fun little train to get your around the park. A wedding was taking place in the chapel on the grounds and my only gripe was the candy store was closed. Everything is just a smidge better with taffy, right? 

Original Brigham Young house

I really do adore this little face. 

Who needs to ride in the train when you can ride on it?! Always the jokester. 

This evening we attended church with the Johnson’s to witness Emma’s baptism. So  proud of her. Both Emma and Darron did a wonderful job. They are always so kind to include us in their special family moments and we are so grateful for their friendship. We attended a reception at Kristen’s brothers afterwards where we enjoyed a trio of delicious soups. A perfect celebration for a very special young lady! 

We headed to Utah today to meet our dear friends, the Johnsons. They moved to California last summer and we have missed them terribly. We were invited to Emma’s baptism and just couldn’t miss the opportunity to celebrate with them and to see a new state. 

We have driven through Utah, but never stopped to explore. It is beautiful. We stayed in downtown Salt Lake City and our hotel was just a 3 block walk from Temple Square. We were lucky enough to see the first night of the Christmas lights in the Square. Such sparkle and twinkle! 

After a very busy travel day, we celebrated our anniversary with sorbet in the hotel restaurant. Married 16 years! Not too shabby. We’ve got plenty more where that came from and so many blessings in our lives. 

Poppy and Melissa arrived last night with plenty of time for us to have a delicious meal at Morton’s. Where else did you think we would go? Around 11 pm Auntie Becky, Uncle Darnell and Lily arrived from Chicago. The girls had to wait up for them which made for a bit of a rough next day.  

They were very excited to see their cousin Lily! 

Poor Madison stayed home with YaYa because she had the flu. Boo. 😦 

Luckily we will get to see her for Christmas. 

I picked Annabelle up from school early and we attended a funeral together today. Her friend, at 8 1/2 years old, lost her battle with cancer. There are not even words for the sadness we felt.

We joined many of the girls from Annabelle’s girl scout troop to pay our respects. Nothing will ever prepare you for seeing that small little casket. Or the sad little tears running down the faces of 7 and 8 year olds. You can never prepare nor should you. Sometimes you just have to accept the sadness.

You just hug. Hug your daughter, hug friends. And you cry. And you let her squeeze your hand as hard as she can while you sing and pray for that sweet little angel. And you hold her hand as you walk to the car even though that’s not really cool anymore. And you are so immensely thankful for your blessings.

And you talk and talk and talk to your 7 year old and even though you don’t feel like you have the right answers you keep talking and talking and talking with her….

It has been a weekend of play dates for the girls. Gwyneth went to her friend Jenna’s for the afternoon and Annabelle’s friend Julia came over to play. Annabelle and Julia have been begging for a playdate. I’m so glad we could finally get it set up. They are very silly together and very kind and there was a lot of laughing. It was a very good weekend. 

Both girls had sleepovers tonight. What the what??? I know it sounds nuts, but it’s actually easier to have four girls in the house. When only one has a friend over the other seems to cause trouble. Each of them having a friend to play with is the key to a peaceful evening at our casa. 

Gwyneth’s friend, Ruby joined her. They played games and watched Sofia the 1st. They informed me they were staying up all night long, so I tucked them in, heard 5 minutes of giggles and then silence. They slept great! 

Annabelle’s friend Karsen joined her. They call themselves the “blonde twins”. Their birthdays are just a week apart…Annabelle’s due date was actually Karsen’s birthday and Karsen’s due date was Annabelle’s birthday. They love that. (Gwyneth and Ruby, above, have the exact same birthday!)

They played games, painted nails, read books, and made popcorn. There was so much laughing and happiness. 

Annabelle and Gwyneth celebrated Francesca’s 7th birthday with her and met Elsa. They were thrilled. We haven’t been to a princess party in some time and the girls were excited to dress up. They ate pizza, sang songs, made wishes, and read stories with Elsa. They wrapped up the party with cupcakes. 

Annabelle = Elsa

Gwyneth = Anna

Fabulous sisters

Singing “Let It Go”

Making reindeer faces:

“Freezing” the camera