Christmas party and skiing

12.18.2013

Cam had his Christmas party last night. Sage had her 1st grad play at the same time! Luckily Nana and Papa saved the day. They came down to go to the play and took the girls back to their house. We went to the party and then went back to their house to spend the night. We were planning on skiing the next day!

Cam's party was at the Grand America! It was so nice. The Buffet and entertainment were great. I'm thankful for such a good company who takes care of their employees!

And I'm thankful I was able to spend the night with Cam. Our "alone" nights are few and far to come by! It was nice to have it "just us"!

Today we went up to Brighton to ski with Sage. It was bring a "canned food" day and ski for $20. We obviously had to take advantage of that! 

It took her the first run to get the hang out it again, but it came right back to her!!

We had such a great day! I can't wait until Reese can join us!

Cam is so patient with Sage. He is such a good teacher!

Somedays I just can't figure out how I can love my little girls so much! 

We went home, had dinner, tried to clean a messy house, got the girls bathed, got in a fight with Reese (again), and just wanted the girls to go to bed...

But Home Alone was on.. The girls couldn't quit laughing (it was the part of  all the pranks), so I quit cleaning, made up with Reese, and finished the show! 

Made for a good ending to a good day, but I was still ready to put them to bed!

Christmas 2013

Christmas!!

The most wonderful day of the year.

And I agree...

We spent Christmas with Cam's family this year. We went up to Salt Lake in the afternoon.. 

We hadn't seen Santa yet, and knew we had too, so we went to the mall to see Santa. We thought the line would be forever long, but no line!! Yay.

Reese was so shy... Sage was polite. 

We then went to Mel and Ruth's. We ordered Chinese food, went to visit great Grandma and Grandpa, unwrapped Christmas jammies, sprinkled reindeer food, left cookies and milk for Santa, and read the nativity.

The girls were finally ready for bed!

Then Santa came!

The girls were spoiled as always. We always say we are going to cut back, but then Christmas Eve comes and we have lots of stuff! And yet- I never regret it!

All the stress, all the worries that everything will be perfect is worth it!

I almost get giddy waiting for Christmas morning to come to see the girls get so excited for Santa!

The after! The girls loved everything. I was happy!

Breakfast! Crepes and breakfast casserole. Delicious. 

A morning run with Ruth and my new beats headphones! A surprise that I loved!

Reese telling me she loved her iPad mini. 

Sage playing Monster Highs, while listening to music.

(While driving home Christmas Eve, we were teasing Sage she was going to get a lump of coal for Christmas. She said, "it's ok.. I like coal and I want to try to make a fire with it."  That's why I love her.)

Reese givi her cousin a makeover with her new makeup kit!  She does an amazing job. (Insert sarcasm)!

We had a delicious ham dinner and just hung out!

It was a wonderful Christmas. Perfect actually! I have such a great second family. I love them! They are so great!

Christmas makes me nostalgic, homesick actually.. But it's weird.. As much as I long to be little again, or to be home, I love more where I am at right now! I love my family of four, so very much. 

I love my family traditions, and Cam's family traditions that we have combined and also started our own. 

I love the magic of the Christmas. 

I love the family get togethers, games, stories, dinners, etc. 

I love to look back and reminisce about Christmas' from the past, but even more, I love Christmas now, and the yeas to come!

Sage- Student of the Month

Sage was Student of the Month for December! 

This girl is absolutely beautiful inside and out! Such a sweetheart! I love everything about her! Just everything. 

Proud of her and her accomplishments at school!

More December Fun

Oh man.. December is quickly coming to an end. It's been very very busy, but a blast. 

We went to Salt Lake with Cams family. We met up for dinner at Litza's Pizza and then went to see the lights! 

I just love being with family. It's endless laughs. 

Reese was making me laugh... And I can't remember why!

My parents where in Salt Lake as well that night. They were there for a wedding and keeping in low key. We didn't know they were there. Well, Sage comes back from the bathroom and says, "I found the other grandma and grandpa"! What are the odds? So funny and great to run into them there!

The weather in Salt Lake was beautiful! A true winter wonderland. It makes me very happy!

The girls went back up to Nana and Papa's for pj's and cookies. An annual tradition.  So Cam and I got a hotel room so we could pick up the girls the next day. It was nice to just be us. We went to see the Hobbit with Hill and Jared, then went to the hotel. We slept in, I ran, ate some breakfast and relaxed. It was perfect! A good weekend. 

A little snow man family that Sage made!

(Dad, Mom, Sage, Reese, and Belle)

Gingerbread House building contest!

Grandma Su sent home gingerbread houses for the girls and gingerbread trains for the boys.

We went out to Brooke's, ate dinner and decorated. 

Mike and Shay, Meg and Joe, were at Grandma and Grandpa's in Rexburg. 

Les was in Canada. 

We sent videos and FaceTimed! It was a lot of fun!

All the kids won a prize!

Thanks mom and dad! 

December, thus far!

December is going by extremely fast. I feel like we are running out of time to pack all of our activities in! 

It's so hard to find a balance of "fun" activities, yet reminding the girls why we celebrate Christmas! 

I'm trying to enjoy everyday... Somedays I do a better job than others!!

Reese spends a lot of time running errands with me! She's such a good little "run around" buddy!

Festival of Lights! A yearly tradition. This year was so pretty because everything was snow covered! 

It always seems when I'm ready to élan out the door and yell at Reese to get her coat on... This is how she comes out!!

Fine, whatever!! Just get in the car!

Cam spent the week in Vegas, so we find ways to keep us busy! 

We have a friend that works at a Marriott and she let's us come swim! We're very thankful for that!

Yay! Dad's home! That means the traditional cafe rio when he gets home for dinner!

I love the pink leapard in his pocket! That's a good dad!

Letters to Santa!! The best part is when he sends one back!!

More activities to come!

Snow!!

I love the snow! I love winter (well, until the middle of February). I love how pretty everything is. I love how it forces people to slow down. I love how you have to be bundled up, layers and layers. I love how the lights glow through the snow. It's beautiful!

The girls love the snow. It's fun to watch them play and make angels!

Thanksgiving break..

11.21.2013

It was the Mendenhall year for Thanksgiving, but since we were all together for Disneyland we decided to stay home instead of traveling again. 

We invited Cam's parents over to eat with us. I was a little nervous to cook a turkey, but it turned out really good! I missed my family, but it was nice to have be with our little family! 

After dinner we went to the movie, Frozen. One of my top favorite disney movies. Maybe it's because it's about 2 sisters.. stories like that always get me.. thanks to Sage and Reese!

It was a wonderful day. I'm so very grateful for Cam, Sage and Reese! Those 3 people make me so happy! (Along with many others), I'm so blessed. 

Haha. Party foul.. Left in the freezer too long. 

My favorite part of Thanksgiving.. Left over turkey sandwich and looking through sale adds.

Brooke and I did go out around 7am. We found a few things. We had to go out.. We would have failed tradition if we didn't!

That night SF had the parade of lights. So we went down to Main Street to watch with the Schofields! It was cute, but cold. We left a little early! We figured we could see it all again in the Festival of Lights!

Saturday we went swimming to the hotel where our friend, Stephanie, works. It was something to do and the kids liked it!

Charlie, the Elf, came back over the weekend too. He made us the traditional mini pancake breakfast! I'm glad he's back. He's fun!

It was a nice, long weekend break! I wasn't ready to start a normal week.  Although, I do like our routines! I am excited for the holiday month though!