She wore blue...velvet.

Christmas was another wonderful holiday for our family. The girls left out the cookies, milk and of course thank you note to Santa. They went to bed and woke to stockings full and gifts to open. It was so fun to see them smiling and enjoying themselves. They are just each so sweet and so grateful.

Our girls Christmas Eve night in their new jammys from Mom and Dad.  It's a tradition to get new pj's.

Ellie and Savannah going through their stockings.

Madelyn liked a gift so much that she went and hide in her toy box.

Our Ellie in her beautiful blue velvet Christmas dress.

Savannah...

This picture took begging, pleading and about 10 takes.  But it was worth it.

This is probably the last family picture minus our little Violet.  These past two and a half years have been wonderful with just our three girls.  They bring us joy, stress, laughter and love.  Ellie, Savannah and Madelyn...you are the best gift your Daddy and I had this Christmas.  Here is to next year when we have four beautiful gifts.

To our ding dong ditcher,

There are moments in life that hit us harder than others.  The thing that gets you through them is faith in God's plan and wonderful people around you. I truly believe that our Heavenly Father uses people to help bless each other.  Today I was reminded of that.  Today I remembered why we celebrate Christmas and what true service and love is.  We were blessed today with money, more yummy goodies, beautiful hand made blankets, all the ingredients for an amazing homemade pizza and something completely un-expected.  Tonight as we were reading to our girls there was a ring of our door bell, actually about five rings.  As Moroni stood in the door way there was silence for a minute.  I asked "who's there?"  He replied "who ever it was they're sure a fast runner."  "Huh?"  Then I walked over and I saw what he meant.    

Some one(s) left presents on our door step. One for each one of our girls and some yummy non-mint(Moroni was happy about that) candy canes. They were signed from "heart." I was stunned. Still am.

Our family has been through an interesting time these past few months. We have had a lot of highs and lows. One thing that has kept us smiling is each other and the love of family and friends. This was yet another blessing that I did not see coming and yet we were blessed with.  So, to who ever it was that decided to bless us this Christmas season.  All I can say is THANK YOU and that you truly are doing Heavenly Fathers work.  I just hope we can bless others the way we have been so very blessed. 

It truly is a Merry Christmas.

SWEETNESS

Why are people so sweet?  Over the past few weeks we have been blessed with many "sweets" in this house.  All have been made by wonderful friends/family and all safe for our girls.  I have to give a special shout out to one friend who took the very recipe that I posted just a few days ago and made it for our family.  Ellie finally had her first home-made chocolate chip cookie.

Okay this wasn't the cookies, it was a donut from the day before.  But isn't she cute?

I re-connected with an old friend recently and she wanted to know all about our girls.  After I wrote it all down I realized how I would like to share my thoughts about our girls with everyone.  So here goes...

Lets see my girls are AMAZING, if I do say so myself. Ellie is our oldest and she will be 7 in about a week. She is the classic oldest and pretty much always does everything right and is a social butterfly. She loves everyone and is such a special spirit. She is so in-tuned to others emotions and feelings and really feels for them. I truly meant it when I said she was special. Savannah is our almost 5 year old. She looks like a mini-me and is our cuddle-bug. She has always been a Mommy's girl and takes pride that at the moment she is the only one who is. She is different then Ellie because she truly decides if something sounds right to her or not. She challenges you and wants to know why she has to do something. She is more shy, but will always be the most loyal friend you will ever have. She is so special and wonderful.  Madelyn is our 2 1/2 year old and she has fully become a two year old. She is our baby. She does the funniest faces and we call her our little 'ham.' She will crack you up to no end. Her voice is funny in and of itself. It's lower in sound and its so funny to see this cute little curly blond haired girl talk with such a low voice. She loves her sisters and "Sa Sa"(Savannah) is her favorite. She is a Daddy's girl and thinks that he walks on air. She makes you smile by just being around her and she is very opinionated about everything. She talks very well for her age and makes sure you know what she is thinking. Her laugh makes you smile and she really is the sparkle of our lives. Girl #4(we are going to call her Violet) comes in about 5 weeks. I am so curious how she will be and who she will look and act like.

So grateful for our girls!!!

Here are some fun pics from the last week or so....

 Dance party 2010!



There really is a whole lot of SWEETNESS going on right now.

Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our sweet family has been blessed with many things.  One of them being food allergies.  Most of the time I am so grateful for food allergies.  I know that statement to some might sound insane, but I truly have seen the blessings in our life because of them.  This time of year however, has a few draw backs when it comes to food allergies.  The fact that our sweet oldest can never have any kind of cookie(normally), is kind of a problem.  So a sweet friend of mine found this recipe for me and I had forgotten all about over these past few months.  I thought though that I should "pass it on"  to someone who might know or have a child with egg/nut allergies.  Below you will find a recipe for EGG FREE Choc. Chip cookies.  Un-heard of normally, but this amazing women has figured it out. So, I hope this finds itself in the hands of someone else who really needs it.

For me, I just wish my hands actually wanted to bake them!!  Maybe next year...

My Ultimate Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie

Yields about 4 dozen cookies

Allergy Note: contains dairy and wheat

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 375ºF. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla. Gradually blend dry mixture into butter/sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop heaping tablespoons (I use a 18/8 cookie scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown.

Blog Scare

Yesterday I was trying to make our blog a little more pretty.  Well, in the process I lost everything on my blog that I had done for almost a year.  In the grand scheme of life...really no big deal.  However the only reason for my unease was the fact that this blog is kind of like my journal, and my memory in no way could remember all we did this past year.  So, Moroni stated that I needed to "phone a friend" and get some back up.  I decided against it, because I thought who could possibly help me.  I now believe that people's ears really do ring when you talk about them, because a minute later my phone was ringing and this person was on the other line.  So after venting, a three way call, many new tabs being opened and a lot of laughs...our blog made a FULL recovery. 

I believe in miracles BIG and small.  This was a very small miracle...but I will take it!!

"Where's the apple juice."

 One of my favorite things in the world is water.  I love WATER!  I love drinking water, I love to hear rain drops falling on my home, and I love the sound of the ocean.  Everywhere I go I usually bring a some sort of bottle of water with me.  While I am pregnant however water makes my nausea so much worse.  I simply cannot drink it.  It's a funny thing when you start to crave water:). 
So this morning, I was drinking apple juice and Madelyn was next to me and she was drinking water.  She asked politely for a drink of my juice, which I did give her.  But then she wanted some apple juice in her glass.  Daddy tried to tell her there was water in her glass and that if Mommy put some apple juice in, there would still be water.  But in this cute little two year old's mind I think she thought, "If Mommy puts a little apple juice in my water...the water will become apple juice."  So I did.  I put a little bit of apple juice in her water.  The smile that followed was enormous.  Then she took her first sip.  Looked at her cup, looked at me and finally she uttered..."Where's the apple juice?"

I think next time she will be smart enough to ask for her own apple juice ;-).

Catching up...

It all started with a Truck....

A couple of weeks ago, our van was red flagged, which means we cannot drive it until FORD can fix the axle that is broken.  Well, the thing about fixing something is the fact that you need to have the part in order to fix it.  Long story short, we have to have a rental until the beginning of February.  Sounds fun right?  Not so fun when they want to give you a Ford focus that seats four and you will be having family member #6 in a few weeks.  So with a lot of complaining, brown nosing and sucking up we got what I have found to be Moroni's dream car.  A Ford F150.  It was black, fun and very manly. 

Our three girls all in a row.

Here is the truck.  It was a sad moment when we had to turn this in for the van that we would have until they fix ours.  But, I do know what Moroni is going to get one day for his Birthday:).

We blinked and it was Thanksgiving...

Our pink ladies on Thanksgiving morning.  They enjoyed orange cinnamon rolls while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.  Daddy was gone playing football, so it was a girls morning in.

Uncle Doug and his horsey rides.

Uncle Doug has to get a bigger lap.

The day after Thanksgiving brought us to a pool with some friends...

This is the first time Madelyn was at a pool and she did not scream.  She actually LOVED it.  I was so relieved.  We have finally passed the fear of water stage.  The new one however is fear of the dark.  This one could take a while.

Savannah loving a good swim

Then reality hits...

SNOW is coming.  It was going to happen.  Even if you are not prepared...it comes.  I was stressing about the boot purchases I was going to have to make and soon.  Well, a friend at church offered these adorable boots for Madelyn.  She said they were reindeer boots and really cute.  This past Sunday she brought them for me and she was not kidding.  Look at these boots...

Could they be any cuter?  YES, they can.  Because Madelyn loves them so much and requests to wear them around the house 24/7.  Her and Savannah actually had a race while they were each wearing their new boots.

So, we had trucks, turkey, swimming and reindeer boots.  Over-all it's been an interesting few weeks.

Only got one!

It's been a rough few weeks around our household.  Lets see we have had sinus infections, ear infections, high temps, lots and lots of coughing, asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.  Sometimes you just wonder when it's all going to end.  When you start to see a little bit of the end you are just so grateful!

This past Saturday I got a phone call from one of my favorite people.  She said she was coming by to give me my Christmas present early.  This person is my one and only.  She is my only Sister.  I have been blessed with many "sisters" through marriage who I love so very much.  This one however is the only one that grew up with me, fought with me, loved me and spoiled me from time to time.  Money is very tight for us these days(even though the miracles keep coming).  And there are certain things I would never buy for myself.  So I wondered what my "rich" little sis couldn't of waited until Christmas to give to me...

A REAL COACH PURSE!!!  I know it seems very materialistic and it is.  But sometimes it's just a designer bag(after being sick for 29 weeks) that just does the trick.  I instantly fell in love.  I was so grateful.  My one and only Sister got me probably my one and only Coach bag.  She just knew even if we had the money I would never spend it on myself.  In her words I would always buy something for the kids or for Moroni before I would ever buy something like this for myself.

So even though I only got one...she is pretty great ONE to have!

LOVE YOU MONK!

 

FALLing and Thrill seekers

We have had a very fun filled week.  For those who have been to our home, you know that we have beautiful trees that surround it.  We enjoy them very much especially in the Fall.  Raking has become our past time and our entertainment.

Stop and pose...please:)

She really is starting to look older.  I'm not ready!!!

Beautiful BLUE eyes!

I am still cleaning up leaves after all this leaf fun.

Next part of the fun was our first trip to an indoor amusement park called Knuckleheads.  It was so much fun and I have come to find out that our oldest is quite a THRILL seeker.  Ellie just loved all the rides and wanted to do them over and over.  Poor Moroni was saddled with a 7 month prego wife that couldn't ride with the kids on anything.  So he had to go on everything at least 3 times and I do mean at least:.

Ellie's first real ride.  It went forwards, backwards and I'm pretty sure Moroni is still sore.

Savannah got her turn.

Daddy and Madelyn flying a plane.

Choo CHOO.

This is the ride...the one I looked at and thought "there is NO WAY I will let the girls ride this one."  Well, I was chatting with some other Mom's when another sweet friend came up to me and said that the girls were riding the "big" one.  I ran(well waddled) over and couldn't believe me eyes.  I saw three of my favorite people strapped in and being prepared to be dropped and picked back up, over and over.  I pulled out my camera because the look on Savannah's face said it all.  This would be her first and ONLY time riding this one.  She didn't scream or yell.  She just looked freaked.  Ellie however was having the time of her life.  So something in that moment was made perfectly clear Ellie was just like her Daddy and Savannah was just like me.

Lucky girl!

Pictures....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2010!

Just us Ballerina's. 

I know...they really are so PRETTY!

Madelyn looking so cute.

Savannah and one of her famous poses.

Do you like Ellie's butterfly on her forehead?

Trunk or Treating...

Kids waiting on Daddy's at the Marathon.  They enjoyed a little sucker break.

$ $ $ $

$ Tree!

Moroni warming up before the big race.

The girls enjoying a treat from Daddy.

Life is great and we have the pictures to prove it!!!