Christmas movie night!

We have a fun month of family nights planned for December and we had our first one on Monday. We did a movie night and watched "THE Christmas movie." This is a home recorded compilation of several Christmas Greats including: Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch, Emmet Otters Jugband Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Haha, it even includes the commercials and some news reports from the 80s that came on during the TV airing of the shows. No movie night would be complete without a treat of some sort, so of course we served peppermint Ice Cream with Hot Fudge. I'm sorry I have no pictures of the event, but stay tuned for pictures of an adorable new five year olds birthday party!

Counting Down

We have one very excited for Christmas girl.(and another one that wonders what all this craziness is about.) Get ready! 23 days to go!

Journey to the NORTH POLE!

The day after Thanksgiving, we packed up some leftover turkey sandwiches and set out for a trip to the North Pole! Mckinley, like always was so excited that she was sitting in her spot in the car at least an hour before we were ready to go, but we finally got everything packed and began the 3 hour drive to the North Pole. (You didn't know it was so close did you?....Oh yes, not much trouble at all for Santa to be checking twice when you only live 3 and a half hours away from the North Pole. My girls should be very worried.)

On the way, we saw tall, snow capped mountains, frozen waterfalls, rivers and we drove through a tunnel! When we got almost to the top of the mountain, aka Heber, Utah...cold enough to play the part of the North Pole, we checked in to our hotel. (What? Hotels at the North Pole? No no no, you have to take a train, or a reindeer, the rest of the way.)

As soon as we got to our hotel, we brought our things in and Mckinley kept saying, "this is so much cool!!!" Dolce made herself right at home by promptly throwing Pooh bear and her Lovee in the garbage. We ate our turkey sandwiches and then went for a swim in the pool that was very reminiscent of glacial North Pole water and probably had ice chunks floating in it. Mckinley even swam with her broken arm held up out of the water.

Then we all took hot baths and showers and got dressed in our jammies for the magical train ride to the North Pole. On the train we got hot chocolate and Mrs. Clauses cookies brought around by Mrs. Clause herself. We had to pick up Santa at the North Pole so that the kids could let him know what they were wishing for for Christmas. Mckinley has consistently said that she wants a baby that jumps up and down. However, she surprized all of us by telling Santa that she wants a wagon. Dolce was very fascinated with the lights on the train, and the hot chocolate.

When we made it back to our hotel, we were quite amazed to see that Santa had already been there. He had left a little gift for the girls on their beds. They opened them to find slippers to keep their little piggies warm!

Then we read some Christmas stories. We always read the story about Jake and the Christmas Orange. David always gets the job of peeling the oranges and he has to get faster at it everytime we have another baby so that everyone but him can have an orange. Then we all practice feeling charitable and make him a Christmas Orange. Like Jake in the story. (If you notice the picture of Dolce eating her orange, she looks like she was in a very charitable mood.)

The next morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel and then drove down into Salt Lake. We met up with Sunni and Shawn for lunch and catching up. Mckinley would not let Sunni get very far out of her sight. She insisted on sitting by her and had so many things to tell her, including that she and Sunni have the same color of hair! If you compare, you can see it's true. She has the same color as Sunni. David's is quite a bit darker.

That evening, we went to Bonsai for dinner which is just like Benihana. We love watching the chefs prepare the food and it was so fun to see the kids response to it. Not one to let any opportunity pass her by, Mckinley even tried to catch some shrimp in her mouth. She jumped out of her chair and ate it off the floor when she didn't catch it.

Then we spent the rest of the evening at Temple Square enjoying the lights and company of friends.

What a fun trip!

Thanksgiving at the Kid Table.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my Grandma and Grandpa Riddle's house this year. I got to go over the day before and watch my Grandma make her famous, (at least famous to us) butterscotch pie. The next day, Mckinley was so excited to wake up and watch the Macy's parade that she was up at 6:30.(She may have thought we were actually going to a parade...) I made mashed potatoes for the occasion. Everything was so yummy and very traditional. I sat
at the kid table so I could help Dolce eat. She felt like such a big girl sitting on a big girl stool. (She was, in fact, tied in place with a dish towel. But that didn't make her feel any less mature.) Mckinley was so excited because she got to stay after dinner with my Grandma and play.

It was a very Happy, Yummy, Thanksgiving.

Broken Dishwasher?

No, we don't have a broken dishwasher. But how are we supposed to use it for what it's for, when it's so much fun to do this with? Haha! We love this crazy lady!

What's That, What's That, What's That?

Dolce was too little to remember the last time when she saw snow. So the first snow of this winter season Dolce woke up very early and was in awe of all of the white mystery stuff outside. She kept pointing out the window saying the only words she know how to say, "what's that, What's that, What's that?" (When she says it, it sounds more like "what's at, what's at?") When we took her sister to preschool, she couldn't wait to touch it and taste it. It was definately not what she was expecting and she cried when her little fat hand got cold. Just one of many discoveries that comprise every day, of a 1 year olds life.

Happy Birthday Dolly!

Dolly had her one year old birthday today! I can't believe that it's already been a year with this little angel. She has developed such a personality. At one year old:
She walks all over the place. She's still very bowlegged and pigeon toed, but that doesn't stop her.
She gets in to everything she can. We have had to put child locks on cupboards to keep her from pulling everything out.
She loves bath time. I can hardly get her to sit down in the bath tub. She is always standing up playing with the toys.
She's still very attached to her mommy.
She has a very big smile, with 5 teeth.
She wont sit in her stroller very long. She wants to be held by mommy.
She hates her high chair and wants to be fed while mommy holds her.
She dances whenever she hears music. She bounces up and down.
She has a favorite winnie the pooh stuffed animal that she loves. Any toy her sister is currently playing with is also her favorite. Mckinley is learning a lot about sharing.
She still wakes up at least once and usually twice at night. But she goes to bed right at 9pm.
Most days, she just takes one nap.
She is a very picky eater. She spits things out if they aren't the perfect temperature or what she is expecting.
She knows that her Daddy is wrapped around her finger and she always smiles so big for him. Most men she is very shy with, but not her Daddy.
She likes to sleep with her "lovee" which is a pair of silky pajama pants that at one point belonged to me, but have since been commandeered by her.
She loves playing with Mckinley. She waits very anxiously in the mornings for her sister to wake up and play with her. They chase each other around the house all day long, making me crazy!
She loves to have stories read to her. She spends a lot of time looking at books on her own too.
She has such a feisty personality. She makes the most fearsome noises at us sometimes.
She can go up stairs, but coming down is a bit frightening as she thinks she can just take a step down without looking. So we have to barricade the stairs.

We love her so much! What a wonderful year we have had with this baby girl. I can't believe it has gone by so fast!