Dinner party

We had our friends the Martins and Andersons over for dinner last night. It was a fun time. The kids loved having other kids to play with, Richard especially was glad to have other boys around.

Hannah with her GIANT olive claws and nap time hair. She was funny.

Brady and Brock.

Hannah and Callie the Barbie and Tinkerbell.

Richard, Callie, and Brady.

Dress-up time!! They all played really well together

Sister Anderson made the yummiest dessert so I will post the recipe when I get it from her!! :) Thank you all for such a fun night. The ladies and kids hung out for a bit, but the men went to the college basketball game and had a nice time.

Bed time buds...

Due to the impending move, I've taken the kids' beds apart and they have been sleeping on their couch/beds. I was just headed to bed and peeked in to check that they were covered. This is the beautiful sight I found. Hannah loves her older brother so much and this really proves it. They are the best of buds and it makes me so happy.

A Richard Story

Richard turned to Hannah this morning and said, "Hannah you look just like Janey." I asked who Janey is. Richard replied, "Janey is my friend in my dreams. She is in my head. She doesn't really come, but is just in my dreams." Then he said, "let me tell you one of my dreams.

'Once upon a time there was a beautiful, beautiful girl name Janey. One morning she came to my house. When we lived here. It was a beautiful, beautiful morning. And there were pretty, cute flowers. And there was a nice good smell of dogs. And they had poo on their faces. The end.'"

Happy 5th Birthday, Richard!!!

My little tiger was born 5 years ago. He was 14 weeks early weighing 1 lb 4 oz and was 11.5 inches long. We are so happy that is alive, healthy, and happy. What a little miracle!

I think he had a pretty good birthday. We had a party in Utah a couple of weeks ago, I posted pics. And we had a cake at playgroup last week, also posted. So tonight we were pretty laid back. We had cake over the weekend and today he got to open presents and play with them. :)

Richard got a soccer ball, football and bath color (thanks Martin's!), Disney movies (thanks Mom!), Batman and Transformer toys (thanks to Chris's family!), more bullets for his Nerf gun, a Spiderman puzzle, and a Hot Wheels octopus color changer track. And Chris's cute chef gave him some money and M&M's. He used the birthday money he got to buy 2 more color changing creature Hot Wheels so he was pretty darn happy.

My beautiful girl love checking out Richard's new toys, but felt a little left out so I gave he a Strawberry Shortcake puzzle I bought her for her birthday. She was a pretty good sport.

The many silly faces of Hannah banners.

Richard took the following three photos. He was so proud of himself.

Self portrait

I love this of Hannah and myself. Though I look a little scary.

My love

In honor of upcoming Valentine's Day I wanted to post a few pics of Chris and myself. I am even more in LOVE with him than the day we married. He is a wonderful husband and father, a great example, a terrific provider, and my BEST friend. I LOVE YOU, BABE!!!

Videos

Playgroup

We went over to the church this week for playgroup. The kids had so much fun and we got to have chocolate cake for Richard's birthday, so some of the kids have remnants on their faces. :)

Park day

It has been warmer the last week so the kids and I have been out more. The low 50's are a stark difference from sub-zero temps and we were so glad to get out and run around. I even climbed and hung upside down on the monkey bars. The kids thought that was too funny. :) And we found a Frisbee that we played with for a while. Too fun. The temps are dropping again for a few days, but maybe we'll sneak out again this week!

Movie Review..."Leap Year"

I got to go see this adorable show tonight and loved every second of it. Of course you can pretty well figure out what will eventually happen to a certain extent, but what a great and fun story. As I've said before, I am a helplessly, hopeless romantic so I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy. And I quite like Amy Adams. She has a simple, sweet charm about her that doesn't feel put on. I feel that she played this part perfectly. The guy, Matthew Goode, was so funny and he did a great job, too. They had a perfect chemistry.

I came out of this show feeling optimistic, like I want to live each day as an adventure. To find joy in the simple things of life. That it's ok to laugh at yourself and find humor in your trials. And that love and companionship are priceless.

This may not be the dynamite blockbuster of the year, but it is one that I will buy and watch again and again. It really had a positive impact on me that special effects, robots, blue alien-like creatures, and gore could never have. It's been a while since I've walked out of a movie feeling so uplifted and joyful. I am grateful that I didn't have to sit there worrying about sex scenes, violence, or terrible language. I got to sit back, relax, laugh and have fun with my good friend.

Thank you to Maria for coming with me and for Jessica for being so great to watch my kids. I have incredible friends! :)

Whirl wind trip to Utah

Over the weekend we took a quick trip to Utah. Joe was in town and I really wanted to see him. We got to spend a couple of hours catching up and it was really great. It has been almost 4 years since I saw him last so it was fun to talk to him in person.

My Mom got this DVD player and Hannah decided she wanted to watch a show. She loved it.

The kids got their Christmas presents from Chris's parents while we were in town. It was so fun for them to have another Christmas celebration. Look how happy they are to open gifts!

Richard got 4 race car tracks this year. Two like the below photo that connect and two Hot Wheels dinosaur tracks that connect. We have had so much fun with them!

I love this of Hannah helping Grandpa put her stroller together. She was so excited to get a stroller for all of her dolls and animals.

What a little pink diva girl. I love her!!!

I just thought this was so cute...a Barbie princess playing Speed Racer. This is totally Hannah!

What a handsome kid! I love how happy he always is.

Bryce, Larry, and Kyle. Don't look so happy gentlemen. They are so funny.

The January birthday kids. While we were in town we had a cake and a little party for Brielle and Richard. We had so much fun and the kids were a riot. They love to show off and perform and that is what they did all night love. They were pretty worn out by the end of the night.

Hannah kept sneaking into the birthday kids' pics. She wanted to celebrate, too!

I love this of Annette, Donette, Janna, and Donnell. What fun ladies!

Bryce and Chris. (I can NEVER get him to just do a normal smile. No wonder my kids always have silly faces.)

Hannah and Colby got an un-birthday present to help celebrate Richard and Brielle's birthdays.

Chris helped Colby open his un-birthday present.

Wow, cars!

Hannah making a series of faces...

Mark and Lisa let us come to their home for banana splits. It was great to see family!

Paul, Heidi, and Riley

Brittany and Rocky, Heidi was sneaking candy. :)

Bo, Brady, and Richard (the 3 little trouble makers, lol)

Mark and Paul (I'm so sorry I cut your head off!!!)

Lovely ladies...Heidi, Lisa, and Brittany

Mark and Mom

Paul, Bo, and Brittany

Lisa gave the girls scarves and Annie and Chloe used them as skirts. Richard wanted to pose with them. So funny!

We had a really great trip. Next time we hope to see more extended family and friends but we loved seeing those we got to see. Thank you to everyone who made it such a great visit for us!