The Day My Little Brother Got Hitched

It took awhile for us to get the pictures back from Kyler and Whitney's wedding which is why I am just now posting pictures from it....

But it was a beautiful day and we were all just filled with joy for these two!

SLC Temple

Carmelle Reception

The reception center was gorgeous; as were the ladies. :)

It was a long day...especially for some of the littler people.   :)

Lots of fun dancing!

 We learned one thing...

these two aren't quite ready for babies just yet.  Lol!

So glad to have you in the family, WhitDawg!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful!

I realized I just have a lot of random photos from this winter, but they're all "winter-ish" so they're all goin' in one big post! This is what we've been up to lately!

The first snow of the season.

PS--Lily is not a fan of the snow. Too bad, cause she looks cute all dressed up in her snow bunny gear.

Our snow family.

Lights at Temple Square.

 Keeping busy indoors :)

 Lily loving the Nutcracker at grandpa's house that Jack is terrified of:

 Our weenie and marshmallow roast with Quincy and Jessica in the snow: 

(Technically it was just Quincy and John doing the roasting while the rest of us 

sat indoors in the warmth enjoying the food they prepared.)

Sibling Love

      Jack did something a couple of days ago that blew us away. He's usually a nice, protective brother, but he doesn't usually go out of the way to show Lily love (which is understanding because the kid is three after all). The following is a dialogue between he and I this morning:

Jack: "Mommy, Lily needs a night light."
Me: "It's ok Jack, I don't think she minds the dark too much, yet."
Jack: "Mommy, I need to go to the store to get Lily a Princess night light."
Me: "Ok...do you wanna do some chores for me today? Maybe you can earn some money to get her one for Christmas."
Jack: "Yeah!!!"
Me: "Alright...(we'll see how long this lasts) :)

     So we started in the kitchen, I taught Jack how to scrub the chairs and bar stools and he cleaned all of them. So I gave him fifty cents, and explained that he would need two more quarters to get Lily's nightlight.

Me: "Good job, Jack. Tomorrow you can do some more chores and earn two more quarters."
Jack: "No mommy, I need to do some more chores so I can get Lily a nightlight right now!"
Me: "Oh, ok..."

     Jack then proceeded to dust the piano, the entertainment center, the coffee table, take out the recycling, and vacuum his room. The kid just keep going! John and I were so impressed by his genuine concern for Lily. So we took him to the dollar store where I knew I had seen some Princess night lights.

Ready to go to the store!

Checking out all by himself...

It's Tinkerbell (better than princesses in my opinion).

The boy's got good taste. :)

Lily LOVED it. 

She gave Jack lots of hugs and kisses.

An Arizona Thanksgiving

       I have to admit, I've never had a warm Thanksgiving like we did this year in Arizona. It was close to eighty degrees almost the whole week we were there! It seemed so crazy to me. We had SO much fun with John's brother Russ, his wife Vanessa, and their girls Anna and Emma!

We picked Jack up from preschool and headed straight to AZ! Jack made a turkey hat at school where the teacher wrote something that they were grateful for. Jack's said "I'm thankful to go to Arizona." :)

Enjoying the nice weather outside.

 Playing "Ring Around the Rosies."

Cousins building a fort and playing inside.

Lily's first "big girl pony tail" she sported on Turkey Day. (I couldn't get enough of it).

The turkey craft the kids made with John out of fruit. 

 The big boys playing Street Fighter II on the Wii.

Too much fun! 

Tracy Aviary and Museum of Ancient Life

      

MUSEUM OF ANCIENT LIFE

       A couple weeks ago I got to see my friend Jenny Lowe who's been living in Georgia, and Amanda, one of my friends from high school. We took the kids to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point which was totally awesome! The kids loved it, too. ;)  But the sad part was, my phone underwent surgery and my pictures didn't make it :(  So I took Jenny's pictures from facebook, but I lost a ton of really cute ones!

TRACY AVIARY

      My other friend Jenny W. and I decided to take our kids to the Tracy Aviary right before it started getting really cold! It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

Feeding the ducks & Jack reassuring Lily.        

         

Feeding the ducks...and Jack, apparently.

  

Following a Peacock:

Funny note: I told John we were going to the aviary and he said, "Oh, cool! That's the place I got pecked in the face, on a preschool field trip." And guess what happened to a certain little someone while we were there!...

Reading and looking at the the bird that was about to peck Lily...

We just thought these kids looks so cute "reading the signs" we forgot about the rules....that rope is there for a reason. Poor Lily got a little too close to the Reeve's Pheasant and got pecked a couple times on her cute, chubby little hand! At least it wasn't in the face...right? 

Halloween 2012

       Holidays with kids is so much fun. It's like being a kid again because you get to do all the fun things that you used to do! Halloween is one of my personal FAVORITE times of the year because you get to let your inner 7 year-old out and dress up like a something crazy, or stupid, or freaky!

Halloween Night:

Buzz and Jessie from the "Toy Story" movies.

The kids {and mom and dad} rewarding themselves after trick-or-treating.

My full costume:

(The dress was kinda big but I got it for cheap at D.I. and did a crude patching job). 

Halloween Party:

John and I dressed up as Jack Skellington and Sally from "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Jack and Ethan competing at the Pedometer Race!

The doughnut eating contest.

Lily and her friend Ashlyn.