2.10.2011

girls night out

it's been a few years since i took my girls to the nutcracker and
with brighton's love of dancing, i thought it would be a great year
to go. in past years, skylar & sailor have had a hard time sitting
through it so i was sure brighton would need a few breaks........
i was wrong, she was on the edge of her seat the entire time.
it was just as fun watching her as it was watching the ballet!


we came home and got out my old toeshoes. we each took a turn
trying to dance in them. brighton immediately went and put on
her snow white dress and danced for hours and hours. loved it!

2.06.2011

i finally have a dancer

i've always wanted one of my girls to dance.....i think brighton
might be the one. not that she's so amazing, but because she
loves loves loves it. brighton takes from a little neighborhood
lady with a lot of her friends and in december, she had her
first recital. honestly, one of the sweetest moments of being
a mom. here she is before it started, too shy to face the
audience. it took a lot of coaxing but we finally got her going!


so, we need to work on the legs and mouth working separately.
every time she'd plie, so would her mouth! so cute and funny!

she learned to skip about 1 week before the performance and
she hasn't stopped since. she skips everywhere we go. iYit!

2nd dance to i saw mommy kissing santa claus...such a treat!




brighton with her dance class: abby, mia, miss tiffany,
sophie, maren, andie and i don't know the other's names.
next recital coming in the spring. i'm counting down the days!

2.05.2011

i'm a proud mamma

1st term of junior high. first 4.0 of the family:)

grand america thanksgiving

our new thanksgiving tradition might be to not have a tradition.
ever since living in nyc, and experiencing thanksgiving in different
ways, we've found that we like non-traditional thanksgivings. this
year we went with good friends to the grand america in slc. fan-cy!


we lingered long after everyone left, no surprise. the blacks,
the andersons(x2), leslie deucher and lots and lots of children!


devri, madeline, sailor, hayden, nic, and quinn


boston with his fancy dessert


the big girls table...............devri, madeline, sailor, and skylar


our friends stayed the night, here's the view from their room


the hallways were filled with fancy gingerbread houses.
the kids looooved looking at them. okay, i did too!




we found a piano in a quiet hallway, quinn played away. the
girls (and passer-bys) were very interested (he's amazing).


the boys, were boys. wrestling as quietly as they could.

brighton was smiling so big, she couldn't close her mouth!
.
we raided the lobby, where one sweet little old man was sitting.
i don't think he knew what hit him! kids were everywhere.
we had a fun night of games at shayne's house. can't wait to
see what next year brings......maybe a stay-at-home year?!

2.03.2011

1st annual

joe, the forever planner of fun, arranged a ping pong tournament
for the night before thanksgiving. he rented out richey's pizza
place, took the day off to move tables and make a trophy, and
invited 30? of the best ping pong players he knows...............


brackets were made, pizza was served, and competition was fierce


luckily, joe made it to the finals, only to lose to scott wells
(the old man of the group;). we know where we'll be every
wednesday night before thanksgiving for years to come!


poor picture of the golden paddle trophy

trying to get in the spirit of thanksgiving


2.02.2011

favorite tradition!

waaaaaay back in november, we headed up into the mountains
and cut down our Christmas tree (here it is, groundhog day, and
i'm blogging about Christmas! at least i'm getting caught up!)



hayden, teaching boston how to be a boy--
throwing snowballs at the girls................

our first snowman of the year

grandma pam (background) after hauling her tree down the mtn.

grandma pam getting in on the snowball action!

grandpa jeff, taking in the beauty of the mountains...or maybe pam

brighton, not afraid to get snowy!

hayden thought it would be cool to throw these huge
snowballs on top of the car.........................................

and he succeeded!

joe, coming out of the woods with our tree......................


joe, hoisting our 25 ft. tree above his head (for our 10 ft. ceilings!)

getting warm in the car--feeling all snowed out!


the twins, happy to be out of snow clothes! red noses and all!