Christmas Break: Part 2

The first weekend  in Rexburg we had so much fun with my family, including Megan and Mike, and their kids.

On Saturday, we all went to the movie Tangled, which I absolutely LOVED! It is such a cute show. Then we went home and the kids got to open their pajamas from grandma.

On Sunday, we had a Christmas Dinner with both of my grandmas. Then the kids opened their presents from Grandma and Grandpa and  their presents from each other. My mom made them all the cutest aprons. Lilly's cousin Maddox had Lilly for Christmas and gave her a Barbie Potty Training Pups set, which she has wanted forever.

Over the 2 1/2 weeks that we were at my parents Lilly played with her cousins, Brinley and Ashlyn and also my youngest cousin Harley. She always needed a friend over or she would go crazy!

Brinley, Ashlyn, and Lilly watching "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

When none of her friends could come over then she would play with the cats. She loved carrying them around and leaving them love notes in their bed. She was obsessed!

 On Saturday the 18th my mom took me and Lilly to the Nutcracker at the high school. Lilly LOVED it! She sat through about 2 hours and then fell asleep. She loves ballet!

That same day Gus flew in and met up with us in Rexburg. We were so excited to be with him again!

The next day it snowed and snowed. Lilly helped Gus shovel the driveway. 

Lilly getting ready to throw a snowball at me

That night we had a family party at my Aunt Gina's house. We had dinner and chatted. Then Santa came with a bag for of gifts for all the kids. Lilly was totally freaked out. Santa sat down and started pulling out bags for each of the kids. Lilly held her hands over her ears because she was so nervous for her name to be called. Of course she was the last one to be called! It was so funny!

Lilly is very lucky to have 2 great-grandmas on my side to visit when we go to Rexburg. She loves them both so much and we made sure to visit them as much as we could.

Every morning and night Lilly would beg my dad to take her to feed the goats. She loved spending time with her grandpa. 

On the 22nd, before we left to go back to Utah for Christmas we had my parents open their presents from us. We got my dad a rice cooker and my mom a cute pair of black boots. We let Lilly get everybody something at the dollar store. She gave my dad a box cutter and my mom some dish rags.

We always have such a fun time when we go to Rexburg! It was wonderful to spend so much time with my family.

Christmas Break: Part 1

On December 5th, Lilly and I boarded a plane for Utah for our extended Christmas break. Now, Lilly has flown plenty of times and has never been motion sick, but this time was different. For the first 2 hours she watched videos on my ipod, colored in her Strawberry Shortcake coloring book, and played with play dough. The second 2 hours were VERY different. She started to tell me that her tummy hurt, so we got out the barf bags. She threw up about 7 times over the next 2 hours.

When we landed I just wanted to get off that plane as soon as possible. We were sitting at the front, so when the plane landed I jumped out of my seat to get our bags down and make a run for it. As I was pulling our 2 carry on bags down, I looked over to see Lilly move her sick bag away from her mouth and throw up all over the seat and floor where we were sitting. A kind old man behind me grabbed a cheap Delta blanket and threw it over the seat so it would be easier to clean up. I sat back down and waited until everyone got off and then drug Lilly off the plane and on to safety.

We spent the next 4 days in Utah at Gus's parents house. Lilly played with the Henshaw cousins and the McEwan cousins. She couldn't get enough of all those kids.  She also loved playing with her Grandma and Grandpa Henshaw and Aunt Emo.

Lilly loved the "putting dice on each other's face" game

I shopped, hung out with Megan, and went to lunch with my friends Rachel and Natalie.

On Monday, Susan and Vernon took Me, Lilly, and Emo to the lights at Thanksgiving Point. Lilly had a great time hanging out the car window and looking at all the lights.

On Tuesday night, we went to the "This is the Place" Park with Gus's family. It was really fun to walk through the pioneer houses, make fun little crafts, ride the train, and see the reindeer. At the end the kids were able to sit on Santa's lap. Lilly didn't want to but stood next to him and told him that she wanted a new iPad for Christmas.

On Wednesday, we went to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum with Megan and her kids. It was so fun! Lilly loved digging in the sand.

On the 9th my dad picked me and Lilly up and drove us to Rexburg, and the next day Megan, Mike, and the kids joined us.

4 Year Old Stats and Ballet

Last month I took Lilly in for her four-year-old wellness check-up. She did wonderful, as usual. She is now in the 95th percentile in height and the 70th percentile in weight. So she has gone up 5% in height. I am thinking that someday she will be just as tall and skinny and beautiful as her Aunt KA.

She was a champ with her shots. She had to get three of them and of course she didn't even flinch. She is amazing!

Lilly has been going strong with her ballet class. We just finished up a 10 week course, and she will start another class in January. I have asked her many times if she would like to do something different but she always chooses ballet. She just LOVES it!

Lilly's friend Brielle was not happy that I was taking this picture!

The Farm

While Lilly and I were at my parents house last June, my dad took lots of pictures of Lilly. That is usually my job, but at the time I was pregnant and SO very sick. My mom took care of Lilly for me for three weeks while I laid on the couch and vomited. My dad liked to take Lilly out in the mornings and evenings to feed the animals. It gave my mom a good break and it was great bonding time for my dad and Lilly. Lilly loves Grandpa's farm. She loves all the animals and the miles of open land. She tells me daily that she wishes that we could live there.

She even helped my dad milk the goats!

One day, on the way to feed the animals, Lilly was running and tripped right into a big mud puddle. She hung her head and said, "But...I didn't want to get muddy!" I think she was a little offended that my dad would even think of taking her picture at a time like this, so she continued to hang her head.

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving at our own home, and I must say it was wonderful! We had other options, but in the end we decided to kick it by ourselves. I made a yummy dinner, and while we ate we talked about all the things that we are thankful for. Lilly is thankful for: mommy, daddy, her brothers, Grandpa Sir's farm (but NOT the chickens because they are "way out of control"), Grandpa Henshaw's ice cream, and our new elf "Elfie" (you can see him at the top of the picture).

After dinner we took naps. Well, just Gus did. Then we bundled up and headed over to the ice skating rink. I didn't skate because I am a complete disaster on the ice. So I left Gus (who's actually pretty good on skates) in charge of Lilly. Lilly couldn't even stand up so Gus pushed her around the rink until he was exhausted.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A Visit From Aunt Emo

Last Weekend Gus's sister Emo came for a visit. Actually, she came to run the half marathon in Richmond and then stayed for a few extra days.

On Sunday, Emo, MJ, KA, and Clint came over for Sunday dinner. It has been a while since they have all come over and it was wonderful. My favorite part of the night was when MJ brought out her Ukulele and Lilly ran to her room to find her harmonica that Grandpa Sir gave her. They put on quite the show for us.

 Since everyone had to go work on Monday, Emo got to hang out with me and Lilly all day. We went shopping, ate lunch at Panera Bread, and then hung out at our house. Lilly had a great time playing with Aunt Emo.

Florida Trip 2010: Days 9-11

On vacation day 9, October 10th, we lounged around the condo and recovered from our long week. We also swam in the beautiful swimming pool.

On vacation day 10, October 11th, we decided to brave the crowds one more day and go to Disney's Animal Kingdom. I was so glad that we did.

We rode Expedition Everest, which is a roller coaster that goes backwards. It was pretty fun. Then we rode Kilimanjaro Safaris. We boarded a safari type vehicle and went on a ride through the "African Savanna." It was pretty neat. Lilly loved it and wanted me to take a picture of every animal she saw so that "Daddy could see them too." It was cute.

After the safari, we went to "It's Tough to be a Bug" 3D show. It was SO fun. It was a little intense when the huge black widow spiders came down from the ceiling, and Lilly had to close her eyes. But it was a really fun show.

Later, Me, my mom, and Lilly went and got ice cream cones and waited in line for the Finding Nemo Show. I think the Nemo show was my very favorite thing at Disney World. We had the best seats. It was like a Broadway play. It was amazing! Lilly was mesmerized throughout the entire thing. We loved it! I actually filmed a few of the scenes because I knew Lilly would want to go back and watch them.



After the show, I bought Lilly a bubble gun. She had a great time leaving a trail of bubbles behind her everywhere she went. Then we called the boys and found out that they were at the car. They were done, so we said goodbye to Disney World and left to meet them.

On vacation day 11, October 12th, we woke up bright and super early and drove to the airport. We said a quick goodbye to my family and flew home. Lilly and I loved every minute of our vacation but were so excited to see Gus and be home.

It really was the best vacation ever.