Trees and Gingerbread

Enough said.

Going to school in the snow

Well, we ride the bus now and the girls have to walk to the end of our street to get to the bus. Here are the girls walking to the bus on the second day of the big storm. And playing in the snow.

Birthdays

Lucy is now 6 and Eira is now 2. Enjoy these photos. This is Lucy's birthday party that we had one week before her actual birthday which happened to be moving day.


On moving day, we surprised Lu with balloons and presents and then went out to eat.

We had a little family party for Eira. One with grandma on her birthday and then another one the day after since her actual birthday seemed to be a little much for her. Eira loves to wear either one of Lucy's dresses over her clothes or one of her sister's swimsuits. Here she is wearing one of Lucy's dresses.


Yup, here is a swimsuit. She has been wearing a swimsuit since, oh, August.

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at Mom Groberg's house with an interesting guest list consisting of my brother Jason and his cute family, my dad (who is here on a mission) and Geoff's siblings. These pics are of the girls helping Grandpa Giles with the Thanksgiving punch and other various Thanksgiving chores. Mom has the girls make these cute turkey decorations filled with M&Ms.


I had Amanda and Lucy each prepare a relish plate for Thanksgiving. Both artistic, both fun. Amanda's is on the left and Lucy's on the right.

Moving

So many people showed up to help us move, thank goodness. If you were one of those people, thank you so much. Too bad our moving truck showed up a half hour late and everyone ended up moving our stuff twice! From our house to the garage and then from the garage to the truck. You are all lifesavers.




This is a picture from our new kitchen. Yup, there are still boxes in places there shouldn't be boxes.

So much has happened

Okay, so now we are in our house and SOOOO much has happened in the past two and a half weeks. I'll try to spare you all of the pics but we've moved, Lucy and Eira had birthdays, Thanksgiving, decorating for the holidays and one of the biggest snow storms I've seen will be in the next few posts. Bare with me:)

Moving Day

Yup, it's so here! We move on Saturday!! We've waited for 2 1/2 months for this house. We so look forward to living there.

New Moon Girls' Night

Okay, this will be the last Twilight post for another six months( when Eclipse comes out). I had so much fun with Sara, Lisa, Mary and Georgianna. Even though it was so midnight (I'm getting too old for this) it was worth hanging out with these girls. Even moms need crazy nights out. Thanks, girls!

The Burning Question

I was going to post a review of the new Twilight saga installment New Moon but instead decided to answer a particular burning question. WHAT THE HECK IS THE DEAL WITH TWILIGHT? Now, before you non Twilighters start gagging and leaving my blog, hear me out. This is a two part essay so bare with me. First, why the heck do we see thirty something moms (me included) flocking to the bookstores and/or movie theaters to partake of this vampire romance faster than the targeted audience tweeners can sigh over the overly perfect Edward Cullen? Here's my take. It's not about hoping that an Edward type character will save us from our provincial life with his sculpted cheekbones and century old knowledge of what makes a girl swoon. It's not even about trying to live vicariously through a bunch of mystical teenagers who are beautiful beyond belief. I think it's about love. It's about obsession. It's about remembering the passion from our own lives and letting it wash over us one more time. We were all teenagers once. I don't know about you but I've had my heart stomped on so bad that I thought I would pass out of existence, or at least I hoped I would. And I also found a love that made me look forward to an everlasting existence.
Which brings me to part two of my burning question essay. Team Jacob or Team Edward? I am Team Jacob all the way. I believe I married my Jacob. Let me explain before you think I mean that I settled for second best (If you are even remotely familiar with the books, you know what I mean). Edward and Bella have this sweeping love affair. Well, as sweeping of a love affair that teenagers can muster. They love each other, overlooking each others flaws, clinging to passion and outright infatuation. They are drawn to each other, both to each other's outward appearance and scent. They can't live without each other. Edward treats her like a glass doll protective and sheltering. He omits information from their lives to save her from pain and worry. She is constantly questioning how it is possible for such a gorgeous creature to love one such as her while he is all the while professing his undying (no pun intended) love. Then we have Jake. He sees Bella's flaws yet loves her anyway. He tells Bella how things are, not pulling any punches. He wants her to know what is going on around her. He is her sun, the brightness in her life that outshines the darkness. He is equal parts tender and intense, devoted and realistic. Between them there is an intensity that smolders and grows, a lasting, deep fire of friendship, companionship, love. Do I need to continue or do you get it already? Yup, I'm kinda making a mountain out of a molehill by comparing such deep concepts with characters in a fictitious book. But, maybe it gives insight into what the heck is up with Twilight. Oh, by the way, the movie was pretty good:)

Hey, are you a fan, too? You can totally get a chance to win the soundtrack if you go to www.twilightmoms.com. It is a fun fan site for us moms who like the franchise. Good luck:) Oh, yeah, who else has midnight tickets?

Amanda's new hair

Mandy (and especially her mother) was getting sick of her long hair so she wanted it cut. But only if she could donate it, which she was able to do. She donated 11 inches to Locks Of Love, something she's wanted to do for some time now. Aren't our kids amazing?:)

Halloween

I have to say that I'm quite glad that Halloween is over. It was fun and horrible all at the same time. My girls are so dang cute. Amanda was two different things a glam vam (or glamorous vampire or, for all of you Twilight fans, Alice Cullen kind of) and Cinderella which she decided to do 5 minutes before we left to go Trick-or-Treating. Lucy is a darling Mermaid and Eira is our sweet and simple Cinderella. Now, on to Christmas. Oh yeah, and Thanksgiving. Oh yeah, and moving. YEAH!!!!

100 Days of holiday cookies

Need some holiday cookie ideas? Here are some great ones. I'm so excited for Christmas:)

Our Zoo trip

We had a day off of school so we decided to go to the Zoo! We hadn't been for a while and had a great time. Actually, the zoo is a bitter sweet trip, don't you think? Nothing so majestic as a large tiger, orange and black, sleek and impressive, pacing in his too small "environment", in front of a glass barrier separating him from the gawking humans. A bit too real? Nonetheless, we had a good time watching our girls. Oh yeah, did I mention the baby elephant? Oh my. I couldn't stop looking at her she was so darling and small, as far as pachyderms go.

Jabez is back!

My little brother is back from Iraq! He surprised everyone and came home a month early! In Iraq, he received the Bronze Star for bravery. We are so proud of him and what he has done. Jabe, we are so glad you are back, and back safe.

This could be our new house!

Hey, all. This is it! Our new future home in Elk Ridge. Okay, so we are just under contract and still the inspection may prove it unfit for us but it seems that all will go fine and we will be in it by the end of October. HOORAY!!

Lu's first day

Lucy is officially a kindergartner! "Will you stay for a while on the first day of school or will you kiss me and say good-bye?" Lucy asked me. Sensing her trepidation, I said "I'll do anything you want. What do you want me to do?" In true Lucy form she says,"I want you to kiss me and say good-bye." I guess it was me who was nervous.

Miss Manda

Our sweet Amanda was baptized on July the 3rd. We were so blessed to have had so much family in town for the fourth that could then come to Amanda's baptism. Mandy is indeed a special spirit, sometimes so much older than her 8 years. We are grateful for her and for her decision to become a member of the church.

Pretty

Yeah, I know, I'm a little intense sometimes but look at this! It is so pretty. Rainbows do fascinate me.

Can you believe it?

Here is our cute house. . .FOR SALE! The time has finally come to move into a house with more room. We have been here for 8 1/2 years so the move will be tough but we also look forward to our next adventure. We won't be going far. We aren't quite sure where we are going but we know we will probably stay in Utah county.

Lucy's graduation

It's hard to believe that Lucy is finished with Pre-school. Her class had a cute graduation program on Wednesday. They each had cute little parts but Lucy's was the best:) We love you, Lu Bird. You are really growing up, sweetie.

Our Garden

Yup! We tried planting a garden this year. Last year we only did a flower garden. This year we tried planting tomatoes, cantaloupe, squash, carrots, pumpkins and watermelon. So far, nothing has popped up. We are getting a little nervous since we planted nearly two weeks ago. Okay, the tomatoes are up, being as we planted plants:) If things don't get growing soon, I'm going to go buy some veggie plants. I will have fresh produce this year.

Amanda learned to ride her bike!

First, Amanda learned riding the itty bitty bike. Her and her dad had been working on it for a few days. When she was feeling more confident, she got on her regular bike. She loves it. We told her she would but she had her doubts.

SOCCER!

Mandy played soccer for the first time (on a team) yesterday! She was awesome! She was put in as goalie twice and played full back, too. (is that a position?) She was timid at first in the goalie box, but then she was all over it. She would run out of the box and grab that ball. Man, she was fearless. It was so fun to watch. She plays twice a week until the second week of May. Here are some fun pictures her dad took.


Eira and Lucy had fun, too. They can't wait to play.