Road Block

My commute to work is usually pretty awful.  This morning was particularly awful, taking me over 2 hours to get to work... as I approached the campus I found out why the delay.  It was such a CRAZY windy day, my car felt like it would blow right off the road.  For this tree...it blew right on to the road!!

Trying out the New Sled...

Trying out a Christmas present from Santa. Super fun, but SUPER cold! We only go a few runs in before we had to go inside to thaw out!

Merry Christmas!

Since Jesse dad had the girls for the first half of Christmas, we needed to go up to Logan to pick them up.  They got to spend some time at Grandma Joyce's with Nana and Papa, and we got to come up and enjoy the family and open our first set of gifts.  Aunt Tracine went all out this year and there were gifts galore for everyone!  Poor McKel, was of course, sick for the holiday, with the flu :(

This is how we found sweet McKel when we arrived in Logan

Handsome boys

Avril has been waiting for this moment for a LOOOOONG time!  She is so excited :)

Beautiful and wise Grandma Joyce

This grandpa is very loved...

Merry Christmas!

Grandma Joyce and Nana (with her iPad for photos)

Avril got a Frozen hat and gloves! :)

Lots of hats for Christmas this year...

Pirate Avril

Bret loves his new hat from Aunt Tracine

A happy Mike with his new hat!

good times...

bunny ears!

Avril is in love with her new Frozen pajamas!

check it out!

Posing with Papa

We got Grandma Joyce a new apron, since her old one was full of holes and falling apart.  Thought it would be perfect for her!

Poor little one doesn't feel well...

A new Frozen pillow!

Treats to share with Ali :)

Uncle Robert came to join in the festivities as well

McKel helps mommy open some gifts :)

Each girl got a new ballerina music box from Aunt Tracine!

McKel's new Hello Kitty blanket was a hit!

Even sickly, she looks like an angel :)

Now to South Jordan, to open even more gifts!  Merry Christmas to all!!

My Sweetheart

Avril insisted that I have some artwork displayed at my desk at work.  She quickly drew, colored, and cut out this rainbow hand and wrote "I Love You Mom," all one morning before I went to work.  She is always so sweet and thoughtful, I can't even believe I created such an angel girl.  I always look at her hand picture and it makes me feel so grateful to get to be a mommy to my precious girls.  I am just overflowing with love for my sweetheart girls.

Happy Birthday to Me!

These girls are what a mom needs to feel loved and special.  I came to pick them up in Logan, at Grandma Joyce's house, and this is what Avril made for me.  It made me so happy.  I am so blessed to have these two sweethearts.

Friends

It's always wonderful to reunite with old friends.  I was lucky enough to have a visitor from WAY back in my UC Davis college days.  I haven't seen this girl in over 10 years!  But we picked up right where we left off, and had a blast- we went swimming in a giant indoor rec center in Provo, with Adele's family :)
I am so grateful to have good friends...

Adele and me at the pool :)

giving the rock climbing wall a try... that is Mike in the far corner, and Adele beside him in the middle

 And here are a couple videos of my daring husband perfecting his dives: 
Such a fun day!

iPad!!

For my birthday/Christmas this year, my parents gave some $ toward a new iPad.  I have already put it to good use:

So attractive!

Probably why I was able to snatch up a guy like this...

Anyone can find love...

I know, shocking.... ;)

Neighbor's Christmas Ugly Sweater Party

Our neighbors, the Suazos, threw a very fun Christmas party with a very special visitor who came.  SANTA!!  The girls were entranced by the special visitor.  They could not believe their eyes, that Santa actually came to visit.  They were both a little shy, and Avril was nervous that she wouldn't be on the good list.  She was so relieved to find out that she was!  She kept talking about how glad she was that she wasn't on the naughty list, after she got official word from Santa.

Santa and his elf make a grand entrance!

Two girls who can barely contain their excitement...

The girls were filled with curiosity about the strange visitor...

Santa asks Avril to come sit on his lap...

A couple of short clips of the girls interacting with Santa:

Trying to capture a photo of mommy and the girls...

And trying...

And trying...

Guess this will have to do!

Santa poses with the girls :)

Familia shot

Sadly, we did not win the ugly sweater contest, but I thought we made a pretty good effort...

McKel's Birthday PARTY!!!

I decided to go all out for McKel's party, since we usually just do something small with the grandparents at home, for birthdays.  So I arranged to rent out the Jump Around Utah, and invited lots of kids to come join the fun.  We also had pizza and cupcakes.  When I asked McKel what kind of a party she wanted, she said she wanted a chick party... so I bought her a new chick T-shirt to wear, and bought some light-up chick party favors for the kids.  Other than that, there was lots of jumping, and lots of fun!!

Our friend Sierra (our old next door neighbor) came all the way down from Logan for the party.  This meant a lot to us, getting to have her there.  These girls have a blast together.

A nice father/son picture.  We were so glad that Bret was able to come to the party!

My good friend Sara came with her little boy, Matthew :)

Even the grandparents got some bounce time in!

Adrian and Brittney were able to come too!

And Uncle JJ!

Mike preparing for a really cool jump...

A toe-touch, caught mid-air!  :)  Showing off for his son...

Nana enjoying time with the grandkids

McKel catches some air!

Papa, McKel, and Parker jumping together

Parker and George jumping...

Sweet Avril

A family photo for the Christmas cards...

The birthday girl eats her cupcake:

There's that silly personality!

Avril and some of her playmates from Lotsa Tots daycare- Gabe and Lainey

scarfing down the cupcake!

Sierra

brothers... notice Mike in the background...

3 generations...

Pizza!  Pizza!

Edison loves it!

Olivia jumped even with a broken arm!

Sierra's brother came and showed off his cool tricks!

me and my mama!

Nana and Papa with the Bday girl!

Another shot, with a silly smiley McKel

Mommy daughter shot

All the grandkids...

Grandparents with grandkids...

The Parkinson family :)

Since we wanted to maximize jumping time at the party, we took all the presents back home to open...

This giant puppy dog from Lainey was McKel's favorite gift.  She is IN LOVE with it!!

so soft!

Avril even got to open a present...

Happy girls!

Some lovely artwork, made by Avrill, for her sister :)

A Hello Kitty stepping stone!  Made form scratch... super fun for parents to make (sarcasm there).  It was pretty complicated, but she loved it... so it was worth it :)

LOVE

Finally!  A booster seat!  Like her big sister has...

Proof that we all had a blast:
 Jump around! Watch Papa! and me :) launch Ali Hurricane!  racing!

To end my post, I want to share what a joy it is to have McKel as a daughter.  I can't believe she is 4 already.  Time has FLOWN by.  She was supposed to be my baby, and she is definitely far from a baby now.  She is active, energetic, goofy, athletic, and learning new things every day.  There is nothing more heart-warming than watching McKel get excited about something.  She lights up the whole room.  She jumps up and down and bursts with happiness, grinning from ear to ear.
I can't talk about McKel without talking about her affinity to take tumbles.  Her exuberant energy overflows from her little body and causes a lot of crash landings.  She will have a lot of good stories to tell some day :)
She adores her big sister, as she always has.  She looks up to her and tries to be just like her.  Yet, she is definitely no Avril, she is unique McKel, and that's what we love.
Not long ago, when I went to pick her up from daycare, there was an accident form for her due to a bloody nose she got from a little boy hitting her.  There was blood all over her clothes.  The little boy's name was Gabe, and he happened to be the cute little boy in some pictures above, since he came to the party.  He was the sweetest thing.  After watching McKel play with him at the birthday party, I can more accurately see what must have happened.  McKel tackles and wrestles with the boys, which is what I watched her do to Gabe at the party.  I think I had the wrong person pinned for the bloody nose!  McKel is quite the tomboy, and prides herself in that, often saying when you try to give her something girly... "I don't like girl things, I only want boy toys."
McKel also does have a softer side, that we've been lucky enough to see more of.  She loves to spontaneously run and give you a hug or tell you that she loves you.  This is always a surprise, when you least expect it, and sure to cheer you up!
She is our little Mac, our little Kel Kel, our little Mickey, and we love her.  Happy 4th Birthday McKel!!!  :)

Avril couldn't wait to try out her new stepping stone present.  Mike was able to pour the mixture into the mold and make the Hello Kitty stone for Avril to paint.  Totally a kid friendly toy (ha!).

McKel was thrilled that she got balloons.  One of her favorite gifts :)