Playdate Valentines Party

Of course we had to have a Valentine's Party for one of our playdates.  We did the regular party thing... BINGO, sugar cookies, and hanging out.  Thanks Grandma for having it all cute for us!

The girls got Valentine shirts from Grandma.  Here they are sporting them.

Best friends

Brooklyn L.O.V.E.S her cousin Lily.  She loves Lily just like she loves all babies!  Poor Lily is a trooper and puts up with all the love (smothering) Brooklyn gives.

This is what Brooklyn was doing pretty much the whole time- frosting her cookie, then licking it, frosting it, then licking it!  Yum!  The candies would only be on her cookie for a minute before she put them into her mouth as well! :)

On the other hand, Maylee takes sugar cookie decorating very seriously!

Yes, more hiking pictures...

My strong Maylee holding up the boulders.

My whole family (minus Kelsie and Kyle) got together on a Saturday and hiked South Moutain at 24th Street.  I love that trail.  Perfect for kids.  Fun with rocks and boulders.  

January Playdates

Here are a few pics from the playdates we had.  

Halle came up with the idea of going hiking and having a picnic!  How perfect!  Getting exercise and playing together.  Maylee wanted to bring along the camera she got for Christmas.  She loves taking pictures of other people, I just wish I could get her to like getting her own picture taken. :)

We also scored some passes to the Children's Museum of Phoenix at the library!  With my membership and the passes we only had to pay for one person.  Maylee always loves it when someone else joins us at the museum.  

My baby is a SUNBEAM!

Maylee was so excited to have her first week in primary!  Here she is before church on the big day!  She was all set to go with her church bag- scriptures and song book.  My little cutie pie!

Gotta get the hiking in while you can!

Our little family has gotten into hiking the last few months.  The weather has been so perfect, so why not get outside and get a little exercise!  Maylee is an awesome hiker!  Of course we don't go real far, but she goes a couple of miles!  Brooklyn wants to be out walking as well, but we keep her in the backpack as long as we can.  Sometimes, she even takes a little catnap!

The rest of our Christmas vacation...

We thought that going all the way up to Mapleton would mean that we would have a white Christmas, but that was not the case this year.  We were a little bummed but we were successful in finding at least a little snow to do some sledding and to make a snowman.  So one day, we headed up the canyon by the house and found the perfect spot to play around.  Maylee was a big fan... Brooklyn wasn't so sure.  Fun or not, they both looked like cute little marshmallows in their snowsuits!

Jeff tied a rope to the sled and pulled them around.  Up and down a little hill.

Another day we went and checked out the Bean Museum.  During my whole college experience at BYU, I only went there once and it was an assignment for school, but it really is a neat museum!  The girls really enjoyed looking at all the animals.

Jeff's grandpa had a 90th birthday party at The Little America on December 29th.  The room was gorgeous and the food was delicious.  He sure is an amazing man.  He is still cracking jokes and recalling things from when he was a boy.  It was a nice evening.  

Maylee got to sleep in Grammie and Poppa's hotel room with the rest of the kiddos and apparently partied all night! :)  Friday morning, we hit the heated pool and then had a nice lunch in the coffee shop.  It was a fun way to end our vacation with everyone.  That afternoon we headed down to St. George and then drove the rest of the way home on Saturday.    

We had a blast spending time with everyone.  We sure are blessed to have such great families!  

Christmas!

Christmas was in Mapleton this year, so we began the long voyage on Thursday, Dec. 23rd.  Thank goodness we can stop in St. George on the way.  It was the perfect rest stop.  We spent the night, relaxed a bit, and then headed up north on Christmas Eve.  

We had pizza and milkshakes for dinner (a tradition Jeff's family had while growing up which I think is so fun).  Yum!  It doesn't get any better than that!  And then Poppa read us a Christmas story.  Oh yes, and we set out cookies and milk for Santa.

Here's the cute, little group of kiddos on Christmas Eve in their new Christmas jammies.  

Christmas morning the girls woke up at their regular time, 7am.  We had to wake everyone else up!  Sorry, Landon!  And then, once we woke up, we had to wait... and wait a little bit more until everyone was ready to head downstairs... the girls were very patient.  Luckily, the stairs provided the perfect waiting place. :)

Santa came to Grammie's house!  He left Maylee a bike with training wheels (just what she had been talking about for months!) and a Let's Rock Elmo for Brooklyn (it coordinates with her cute new jammies from grandma and grandpa)!

Even though it was cold outside that didn't stop Maylee from getting on her NEW bike (she made laps around the house)

The rest of the morning was spent opening up the rest of the gifts and then hanging out until it was time for church.

I absolutely LOVED that Christmas fell on a Sunday this year!  I think it is the perfect way to celebrate.  We still do the presents and the whole magic of Santa, but then we get to go to church to hear about Christ and the true reason for the season.

Our little cuties!

Christmas a little early

We celebrated Christmas with my family the Monday before Christmas.  We started the big night with some pizza, had a friendly gingerbread house contest, and then opened presents.  The girls were going nonstop from one present to the next!  They were in heaven!

Zoolights!

Christmas festivities...

With Christmas approaching, our playdates were spent frosting and decorating... and in Brooklyn's case- eating!

 our cute cookies makers!

 I love this picture.  Maylee is hard working on getting the frosting exactly where she wants it on her gingerbread house and Brooklyn is working hard on eating as much candy as she can sneak in front of me! ;)  She was all about decorating and then eating it immediately. 

Thanksgiving Part 2

Thanksgiving Day was spent at my Grandpa Dearden's house with my mom's whole family.  I haven't seen my mom's side of the famliy for a really long time, so it was so fun to see them again.  

Here are the cute girlies at their own special table!

Oh, the mountains!  Seeing them in all their majesty made me miss them.  

Thursday was all about eating lots (and lots) of yummy food.  Friday was family picture day at the Odgen Railroad Station.  That place was cool!    

Then, of course, we needed to check out the temple lights!  We stopped by Crown Burger and then walked around.  I think we went on one of the coldest nights!  We were all freezing (but maybe that is because we are wimpy Arizonians!)  And then we were able to meet up with my dad's side of the family.  They had a talent show with the kiddos and Maylee even got up with Robert and Cailin to preform their talents- hula hooping!  It was hilarious! :)

And this is the main reason we went up to Utah for Thanksgiving... for this great man!  It was my Grandpa's 80TH BIRTHDAY!  His party was on Saturday.  I'm happy we were able to be there for his special day.  Unfortunately, by the time this picture was taken the girls weren't wanting to sit down and smile! :)  But don't let the picture fool you, they sure had a blast being with all the cousins and family at Grandpa Ralph's house.