fun in the sun with cousins

no amount of time is ever enough with our cousins. we spent all morning and afternoon together and parting ways is always devastating. good thing we only live 6 miles apart.

i made green pancakes for breakfast. the girls thought that was fun.

they asked if they had to wear "all green" or just some green. i told them just something green...and then they both dressed from head to toe in every shade of green. i talked annie into changing her shirt...the combo was too much for me. 

17 march 2017

st patty's day

Christmas 2016

mom and dad stopped by after a movie. (it's their "off" year). we were just getting home from our party. they were hungry as every food joint was closed, so i whipped up some pancakes and sausage and we had a nice visit while they enjoyed breakfast for dinner. the girls tucked themselves in bed they were so excited. molly requested the three pigs as her "bedmor" story. she had a huge smile on her face, gave me a squeeze, a big kiss on the lips and told me she loved me. i'm officially freezing time. these precious girls are at perfect ages. the house got quiet, the tree looked beautiful, santa visited, our elf left (peace out). the snow started to fall and we made it to bed before midnight. Christmas eve was delightful. feeling grateful and so blessed.

the older girls came in our room around 6:30 am. lucy snuggled in bed with us. annie was too excited and paced around our room until 7:30 when we woke little sis up. i snapped a photo of our sweeties wearing their matching nightgowns (their dad picked out), before we said prayers and went downstairs. 

and just like that it's all unwrapped. we got some really fun family games and toys this year. we've been working on legos all morning, doing pretend makeup, having tea parties in the castle and the wiiU is all charged ready to play. everyone is happy, happy, happy around here today.

a white Christmas! it was magical to wake up to so much snow! hooray for new gloves and ear muffs!

we had a total chill morning and i LOVED it. no rushing off. no where to be until 1:00 church. we laid around in jammies, played with legos all morning. played the wii. had a good breakfast. i absolutely loved Christmas morning this year.

our sacrament meeting was short and sweet. i'm totally on board with 45 minute church. we sang Christmas songs and the bishop gave a blessing to our ward. i was teary singing, "oh come let us adore him, Christ, the Lord." it's been extra special to have Christmas on Sunday. i looked down my row of beautiful blondes in their darling new sweater dresses and stick on earrings. my heart was so full.

then molly smashed her finger in the bathroom door and cried the rest of the meeting. she's asleep on the couch with a mitten over her hurt hand so she doesn't have to see it. i didn't get a family photo but here's 3.5 of us.

molly carried around her pretend makeup bag and applied it on herself and others all day long. i knew that would be her favorite gift. we had such a fun filled day and loved spending the evening with most of the sandberg clan.

the sandberg cousins got in on the sock exchange too. several of the kids got gumballs with their sock gifts. i mentioned to caden that i hoped someone would share some with me. he set his pack on my lap without a word and walked away. sharing is caring. 

25 december 2016

gingerbread houses

we hosted the bateman clan for gingerbread houses this year. the cousins loved seeing each other as they don't see each other very often. denise made a good spread of sloppy joes and veggies and chips and dips and plenty of pop. the house was bustling with cousins and candy well into the evening. grandma and grandpa givan stopped by too. they were darling about our baby news (they were pretty much the only ones to say anything about it). they are just so loving and kind. i love them. the girls had fun decorating our costco special gingerbread house. it was a jumbled mess of frosting and candy. denise's house, that she carefully decorated after the party was intricate and beautiful.

3 december 2016

fish lake 2016

fish lake is such a special place to our family. dad always has stories to share of being there with this parents and sisters and other relatives years ago when he was a young boy. he told us of how he used to stand on the pier and watch for his dad's boat to come in from the lake. he would watch for the light on the boat. we always walk by where their old cabin used to be down by the lake.

i'm so grateful for generous relatives who share their beautiful cabin with us. 

we look so forward to going every other year. 

we celebrated our dad's birthday down at the fish lake cabin this year. 37! oh my!

we watched movies, (we watched the first harry potter movie since we had just finished reading the book) and played games. we snuggled new baby carly, went on walks

and rode bikes a little bit. we always prepare and eat good food. 

i was early on in my pregnancy and not feeling well. i was violently ill the night before we left for the cabin. (the only time i've thrown up in all of my pregnancies). i was so hoping i could pull myself together and manage to have a good time.

i did just fine and no one even suspected.

everyone thought i would bring some homemade treat down like i usually do but i haven't felt like making or eating sweets with this pregnancy!  

ali spruced all her people up for new family photos.

 14-16 october 2016

lucy turns 7

opening birthday presents first thing in the morning.

molls and i took in a little treat to lucy's first grade class. her teacher, mrs forman is a sweetheart. 

lucy had a ball with her sisters and cousins at classic. 

she flipped into this foam pit time and time again. 

after we were all sweaty and tired we went home.

birthdays kind of stress me out. but she wore a smile today and that's what mattered.

she requested apple pie and vanilla ice cream for her "birthday cake." such a perfect choice for this girl, born the first day of autumn. 

lucy is an old soul and always has been.

she uses big words even if she doesn't know how or when to use them.

she shares a room with annie and they are best pals.

lucy is a great little 1st grader, a good student and a help to her teacher.

lucy has beth wickham and deb vogler as her primary teachers and they are the sweetest.

we love our lucy girl. can't believe she's really 7!

22 september 2016

pineview reservoir - august 2016

at the beginning of the summer, ali and i penciled in "pineview reservoir" in our calendars. august 27th seemed like light years away when we first talked about it. we wanted to have a last hurrah of summer with the families, rent some paddle boards, get the kayak out, pack a picnic and get raspberry shakes in huntsville...and that's just what we did.

before we left, griff and annie paddled and swam across the cove to rescue the littles who had tried to man the kayak themselves. silly 6 years olds.

27 august 2016