Christmas and Five Year Anniversary!!

I know, I know. It's about time! Thanks for the push Becky & Brian! Well, are you ready for a whirlwind of pictures? Because that's pretty much what our break has been! Life is crazy trying to keep up with two houses and be everywhere else too! I'll start where I left off . . .

• My parents were able to come visit us in TF for a few days before Nick was done with school. It's always fun to have them visit! My Mom made a 'real' gingerbread house with the girls . . . yes, she has a lot of patience! We also went and saw an awesome Christmas light display with my parents and the Womack fam.

• Nick finished up his first semester of nursing (YAY Nick!) on the 15th of December. We then celebrated our five year wedding anniversary! Yes, I said five . . . crazy! Thanks to my parents who took the girls . . . we were able to have a fun, relaxing few days! Here's my hunk of a husband . . . isn't he good lookin'!?
  
• We went to my cousin, Clark's wedding in Utah while we were there. It was fun to see both the Bailey and Davis extended families while there too! Sadly, I don't think I took a single picture. I think Brian may have a few though. =)
• From Utah we headed back up to Idaho, so we could decorate the second house for Christmas . . . coming in a few days. The girls were excited to be back. It's always a party to find all the other toys here. We spent Christmas eve with Nick's family and had a fun party. Then we came home and of course had to do the Christmas ball and open pajamas. They fell asleep together in their Christmas Eve jammies (my Mom & I made them) . . . so sweet! They are great buddies these days. Lately, Lucy cries when it's time for Kate to take a nap, how cute is that?!
  
• This was the first Christmas we've had with just our little family, and it was so fun! I was a little worried that it would be boring, but the girls were so excited! Kate was hilarious . . . she was screaming and squealing at every little thing, so funny. All Lucy wanted for Christmas was a Barbie and a song (whatever that means). She also got an art easel that has already been used a ton . . . she is into anything artsy, and will spend hours drawing or writing or painting. She can now write Lucy, Kate, Mommy, & Daddy all by herself- and is very good at it. Anyway, Kate figured out the opening presents thing pretty quick and had a great time. Lucy and Kate also got . . .
  yes, a PUPPY for Christmas from Grandpa Barney. A replacement for Sadie. Her name is Sammy and the girls love her.
• Next, we headed to Oregon for New Years! The girls did a lot of this . . .

• We couldn't miss this one, it was the year to open the much anticipated TIME CAPSULE! On New Years Day of 2000 our family (my Grandpa & Grandma Bailey, Mom & Dad, and siblings) all sat down and wrote letters that we would put in a box and not open until New Years Eve 2009, ten years later. Sounds kind of cheasy, but was so neat. We all laughed and cried. Ten years is a long time . . . so much has changed. I've since graduated from high school and college, been married, and had two little girls just to name a few things. What will the next 10 years bring? The time capsule was so neat that we all wrote letters again, including Lucy, that we will open in 2020! Well, we played lots of fun games and ate good food and also celebrated Christmas again! My girls are going to think Christmas comes every other week!
  

• Then, it was time to say goodbye. We had lots of fun, and enjoyed having Grandma Bailey there too. The girls love Grandma-Great!
  

• Now we are back to this . . .
  
  the girls love to ride in the tractor with Nick. Nick's the only one who's braved sleighrides this week . . . it is sooooooooooo cold! So, we are back for a while longer until we go back to TF for school. Only three semesters left!

HOORAY for Nursery!

Yay, I've been waiting for this Sunday for several months now. Kate is officially in nursery! Wahoo. I'm not sure who was more ready . . . me or her? She's so fun and starting to talk a lot more. She loves Lucy so much and wants to do or have exactly what she does or has. I'm beginning to see that we need multiples of everything, one just doesn't seem to work. She loves books and dolls and is always toting around one or the other. Lucy filled me in after church about how Kate did in nursery. "Kate had fun, but she just cried a little bit so I helped her." So sweet. She's such a great big sister. Here's a pic of Kate before church, she did not want to smile, as you can see. And notice the next couple of posts too. I've been a crazy blogger tonight!

Thanksgiving in Oregon!

We made it to Oregon for Thanksgiving again this year! We had so much fun. Sadly, I didn't take very many pictures. Lucy had been talking about going for weeks before. She loves to go to "the Oregon" as she calls it, but she especially likes to hang out with Grandma & Grandpa. We stayed busy while we were there. Nick did a lot of hunting with the boys in the wee hours of the morning. My Mom and I started an adorable quilt. And pretty much we just partied! We went ice skating and had lots of fun. Lucy was so excited to go . . . but after about a half an hour of the skates and cold, she was ready to get her "skaters" off. She did great though.
Kate had fun trading off with Grandpa & Uncle Brian going around the rink!
We had to go cut down a Christmas tree too! I can't remember a year we haven't done this. Such a fun tradition. And it wouldn't be the same without being drug around on a tube behind the suburban with a tow rope!

Lucy with my cousin, Jordan. Check out his sweet stitches above his eye. He crashed the night before ice skating. Poor guy!
And here it is . . . our beautiful Christmas tree. Sadly, all of our Christmas decorations are in Lewisville, so we made do with what we had! The girls are getting so grown up . . . I can't believe it, wish they'd just stay little girls forever! They are so much fun.

Jon Schmidt Concert!

A couple weeks ago we were able to go to a Jon Schmidt concert! It was AWESOME! If you ever get a chance to go, GO. He is a great performer and entertainer. Nathan and Alisa were able to come with too, we had so much fun. He even played his "Love Story Meets Viva La Vida" with the celloist guy. If you haven't heard it, check it out on youtube, it's amazing! After, he signed books and CD's. I got some sheet music, so I was excited! Now for a piano . . . maybe someday.
It was neat to meet him. Lucy is holding up the ball that he threw into the audience and Nathan caught. He gave it to Lucy and Jon signed it, she thought it was so cool! Good times.

Balanced Rock

Yesterday, we went on a little drive to "Balanced Rock" in the Salmon Falls Creek Canyon, near Buhl. It was so cool. It is just a giant boulder sitting on another rock. It is about 50 feet high and the base is only 3 feet by 17 inches. Pretty amazing that it hasn't fallen over! We took the girls and hiked right up to it. It was lots of fun, here's some pics . . .

Some pretty amazing rock formations! Check the post below for more on the last month!

A Very Random Catch Up

Here are some pics from the last month or so. Most recent to oldest. This is how Kate just woke up from her nap today. Isn't she so sweet?!

More of the cute fairy princesses on Halloween!
Our Jack-o-Lantern
The trick-or-treaters. Lucy loved this. Nick, not so much. Haha. No, we had lots of fun!
And here is Lucy on her last day of swimming lessons, "jumping off" the diving board. She was so proud of herself and actually did it several times. She really did improve a lot from the beginning and she LOVED it!
Kate checking on Howdy. She loves the horses. I'm pretty sure "horsey" was her first word.

So these next few pics were from a trip I took last month to Las Vegas to Charlyn's wedding. I was able to ride down with Char's brother and sister, and then home with Becky & Brad. Thanks again, guys! Charlyn was one of my many AWESOME roommates from Rexburg. Char's always been a great friend and example to me. Love her to death.

The beautiful bride and husband on the wedding day!
It was so fun to see everyone at the wedding. Char, Becky, Morgan, Diane, and Erin were all able to be there. This is a group of us in the Bellagio. Yes, I'm husbandless. Thanks for watching the girlies, Nick! What an awesome husband!
Me and Morgan, she has two adorable little girls too! Funny- I have SEVERAL good friends with just two little girls.
Becky and I. Love her.

Sorry for the enormous post. I feel better though, now that it's done!

Sneak Peek . . .

My hard work paid off . . . I must say they make pretty darn cute fairy princesses! See them in the Virtual Costume Parade on Make It and Love It, HERE.

Happy Fall

Nothing like a peanut butter & jelly sandwich picnic in the leaves.

Just chillin'.

Cutie. Finished just in time.

Already!?

Yes, it snowed a couple nights ago. This picture was after it all about melted. We probably had four inches. I was hoping we still had a good month before that happened!
Lucy started swimming lessons yesterday! She has been counting down the days. The pool is only a couple blocks from our house, so that is nice. She loved it and had so much fun! Lucy is a lot of fun these days. I can't believe how much she has grown up lately. She's my buddy. She's pretty tall, and everywhere we go people can't believe that she's only 3! Lately, she's been really into playing "house" with Kate and her dolls. It's so fun to listen to her make conversation. She definitely keeps us laughing!